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Tour de France News for June 16, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones & Chris Henry

Mercado ready for July

Juan Mercado
Photo: © Jeff Tse
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"Today I discovered the Galibier," said Juan Miguel Mercado (iBanesto.com) said simply after his victory in Saturday's stage 6 of the Dauphiné Libéré. "The break went well, although my directeur sportif Eusebio Unzué suggested I wait for Mayo on the climb when he was still a few seconds back. He did the descent flat out, which wasn't easy, but we had nothing to lose."

After a strong climb of the Galibier and a fast descent with Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Mercado launched a late race attack after race leader Lance Armstrong caught Mayo and the two GC leaders eased up. With 15km to go, Mercado was in the lead group along with Armstrong, Mayo, and iBanesto.com teammate Francisco Mancebo. The Spaniard Mercado won alone in Briançon with 26" over Mayo.

Motivated after his victory, Mercado added that his objective is to "shine in the mountains of the Tour de France." Francis Lafargue, second directeur sportif for iBanesto, also commented on the team's outlook for the Tour de France. "We have climbers, but no leaders like Miguel Indurain," he said. "The leader for the Tour will be Francisco Mancebo, who at 28 has the necessary experience."

Armstrong cautious, despite Dauphiné win

Dauphiné champ
Photo: © AFP
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After winning the Dauphiné Libéré for the second time in a row, US Postal-Berry Floor leader Lance Armstrong remained cautious as to his chances in the upcoming Tour de France. "Call me a favourite, but don't say it's as if I've already won the Tour," he was quoted in Het Nieuwsblad. "It's not that simple. It will be three really hard weeks."

"This race was much harder than last year. The parcours, the heat, the competitors, and of course the crash. Maybe it was my hardest Dauphiné ever."

After eight days of racing, His final winning margin over Euskaltel's Iban Mayo was 1'12, with David Millar (Cofidis) finishing third in 2'47. In last year's Dauphiné, Armstrong's winning margin was 2'03 (over teammate Floyd Landis), and he went onto win the Tour de France by 7'17.

That could be taken as a sign that Armstrong is slowing down, or his rivals are catching up, but in stage races the main objective is to win, with the time difference being secondary. What was interesting about the Dauphiné was that Iban Mayo looked to be as good as, or better than Armstrong on all the major climbs, however he lost 1'26 in the third stage time trial and that was more than enough to lose the race. Armstrong has two strengths: his time trialling and his climbing, and it's difficult to find any riders at the moment who a) possess both qualities in abundance and b) are in form.
Ouch
Photo: © AFP
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Armstrong's crash in Stage 5 was certainly the biggest scare he's had for some time. "The crash was really frightening," he said. "But also a lesson for my teammates. I immediately got back on my bike again and defended my jersey, instead of staying on the side of the road and groaning of pain. It's good that my teammates have seen that their leader is ready."

The crash certainly did not help him against Mayo on the Galibier on Stage 6, and he had to descend to the best of his abilities to catch the Basque before the finish in Briançon. "When I rode from the hotel to the start on Saturday, I felt like an old guy: Stiff and sore. For that reason I didn't climb the best on the Galibier," he explained.

His team director Johan Bruyneel added, "Armstrong did not really have to panic after the crash on Friday. He knew that he had to remain vigilant. It was necessary for him to hold back a little on Saturday to recover his rhythm again."
Fast against the clock
Photo: © Jeff Tse
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Apart from that, Armstrong's time trial performances in the Dauphiné were comparatively better than last year, and that is just as important for the Tour. His US Postal team also showed itself to be ready, and come Tour time, Armstrong should be able to count on riders like Roberto Heras and George Hincapie, who are riding the Volta a Catalunya this week.

As for his rivals, "Mayo was very aggressive, he has surprised me a lot. I expect him again in the Tour. Maybe he was the one who made it much more difficult for me this year than in earlier years. But don't worry, I'm as strong as last year." Bruyneel also pointed out that "The main rivals of Armstrong weren't there. Beloki is in form and we'll see Ullrich in the Tour de Suisse. Simoni? He is a customer, but he's never proved anything in the Tour."

With no more racing to come before the Tour, recovery and training are foremost on Armstrong's mind. "Now I'm going home as soon as possible," Armstrong said. "One week with the family and in particular recovering from the crash. I've never felt so strange. since Saturday I've been taking antibiotics. I have to be careful not to get an infection in the elbow."

Tour says no to Pantani, so Pantani says no to Tour

By Tim Maloney, European Editor

La Gazzetta dello Sport's Claudio Gregori eloquently encapsulated Marco Pantani's career as the mercurial climber from Cesenatico made a popular comeback at this year's Giro d'Italia. "First he was an angel, then a demon, and now Pantani's just a normal man", wrote Gregori. Although Pantani finished 14th in the Giro, he may have even cracked the top 10 had he not crashed hard and lost 15'00 on the descent of the Colle di Sampeyre during Stage 18. No matter, as this year the roads of the Giro were lined once again with I Pantanisti, Marco's tifosi, re-energised to cheer on Italy's most popular rider.

Although Marco's Mercatone Uno-Scanavino squad was not granted a Tour De France wild card, Pantani declared his desire to be present at this year's Centenary Tour. And it almost happened, as thanks to the hard work of Mercatone Uno's business manger Cornacchia, both Jan Ullrich's Bianchi squad and Vini Caldirola were willing to take Pantani and his Mercatone Uno co-sponsor cash as "guests" for the Tour De France. The UCI had also given its OK for a guest transfer, but the still emotionally fragile Pantani had hardly touched his bike since the Giro concluded two weeks ago, and had lost interest in racing the Tour in the meantime. The always proud Pantani may have felt that as a former Tour winner, he deserved an invite to the Tour in his own right, and not as a "guest" in another squad.

Next Tuesday, Pantani will meet with Davide Boifava of Mercatone Uno-Scanavino to determine his program for the rest of the season, including the Vuelta a España and a possible shot at the World's in Hamilton, Canada. Thus, this year's Tour de France won't have the two top Transalpine cyclists. Neither Pantani nor World Champion Mario Cipollini with be at the start of the Centenary Tour this July 4th in Paris.

Ullrich focusing beyond Tour

Team Bianchi leader Jan Ullrich enters the Tour de Suisse Monday with the goal of fine tuning his training and testing himself in the high mountains just weeks before the Tour de France. Ullrich, who spent 2002 out of competition, remains modest in his ambitions for the Tour, despite the popular consensus that he remains one of Lance Armstrong's biggest challengers.

The ten day Swiss race will also provide Ullrich a low-pressure finish to his preparations, as he will not face off with Armstrong or Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni. Ullrich heads into the race with a solid performance on Sunday's GP Kanton Aargau/Gippingen, finishing 6th and in the same time as a lead group of seven riders.

"I don't want to put myself under much pressure since I wasn't able to prepare ideally for the Tour," Ullrich told Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.

Ullrich has never finished the Tour de France below second place overall, and won the event in 1997. Despite showing good form in this return to competition this year, and weathering the storm surrounding the demise of Team Coast, the German maintains that this year's Tour would be an ambitious objective, and has decided to focus on the second half of the season, including the Vuelta a España, which he won in 1999.

"Of course I'd like to perform well in the general classification this year," he added, "but my priorities are still the Vuelta in September and the World Championships after that."

Rebellin prepares for Tour, thinks of Italy

Italian Davide Rebellin has chosen this year to skip the Volta a Catalunya, which begins Monday, in order to prepare solely for the Tour de France. Leader of the German Gerolsteiner squad, Rebellin was deprived of a start in the Giro d'Italia due to injury, and is now focused on the Tour, Gerolsteiner's first.

"I want to be a protagonist in France and also continue in August for the World Cup races and the Italian classics," Rebellin told Datasport. Still feeling the pain of his shoulder injury, Rebellin expects to compete for stage victories in the Tour and not concern himself with the general classification.

Rebellin is also considering a change of team, having reportedly received offers from French and Spanish teams, and "an important Italian team". While Rebellin has not offered any specifics, a move to Alessio could be possible, as the team has several aging riders who may retire at the end of 2003, and could be looking to bolster its UCI ranking and revitalise its classics ambitions. Rebellin could be a good fit in the Alessio formation, whose headquarters are not far from Rebellin's home in Galliera Veneta, whereas there is likely no place for him in the Fassa Bortolo team of Giancarlo Ferretti.

"It's premature to speak about this," Rebellin said of a move back to Italy, "but it's a possibility to satisfy my desire to return to racing in Italy after two years in Germany."

Gonzalez de Galdeano philosophical

By João Cravo

Fate has decided that Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will not be riding the Centenary Tour this year. Ironically, the final blow didn't come from the six month ban that he incurred from the CLPD, which he was deeply convinced he would overcome. Instead it came after a crash with three kilometres to go in the Tour of Germany time trial, which left him with a broken collarbone. It was to be the last race that Gonzalez de Galdeano would ride before the Tour.

After having surgery on the collarbone, which was fractured in three places, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano finally realized that once past the door of the Clínica La Esperanza he would not be going to France this July. "This time it's for good," he admitted, "Now I know that I will not ride the 2003 Tour."

If pain killers helped to ease the pain of the wounded flesh, the words of wisdom of doctor Mikel Sanchez played an decisive role in ONCE's and Igor's decision not to tempt fate any further. "Igor had a triple fracture of his collarbone and also a small haemorrhage in his head," said Dr. Sanchez. "He should have a rest period of at least two weeks before restarting training. He would not be in good condition to participate in the Tour."

Now Igor hardly can wait for the time to go home. "I'll be a dad in few weeks," he said. "My little baby-girl will bring me the morale I lack now."

Igor has just passed through a hard test, but he believes he will come out of it stronger than ever. "What I lived in the last few months is part of the choice I made to be a rider," Galdeano reflected. "You have to assume it and adapt yourself to all the situations your job puts you under - bad or good."

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will not be there to help Joseba Beloki when the blue postmen ride the Pony Express uphill to deliver Armstrong in yellow in Paris for a fifth time in a row. "Unfortunately I can't do anything about that," he said. "I must resign myself to my fate and start thinking about the Vuelta. This is very hard to live with, but there's no use crying over it."

Wielinga may ride Tour

Rabobank has added Remmert Wielinga to its pre-Tour de France selection, after he performed very well (8th in the final stage and 12th overall) in the Dauphiné Libéré. Team manager Theo De Rooij told journalists at the start of Stage 7 that Wielinga will now prepare for a possible start in the Tour, which means he will skip the Route du Sud next week. Wielinga is thus part of Rabobank's 13 man long team, which will be reduced to nine come Tour time.

"I knew that I could climb but it is unbelievable when you're suddenly riding on the wheel of Lance Armstrong in a mountain stage," the 25 year old was quoted as saying by ANP.

 

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