First Edition Cycling News for September 11, 2006
Edited by Hedwig Kröner
Vuelta stage 15 wrap-up
Surprise win for Förster
Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner)
Photo ©: AFP
|
Team Gerolsteiner had something to cheer about on Sunday afternoon: just
as his teammate Stefan Schumacher was battling it out for the overall
victory in Poland, Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner) sailed to a surprise
victory in the bunch sprint in Almussafes at the Vuelta in Spain. The
German, who is regularly amongst the top ten in bunch finishes, outsprinted
Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC) and Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) in that
order, taking advantage of a light left hand side turn just before the
finish line, which he took on the outside. Milram's Alessandro Petacchi
was one of the riders who got blocked in that final curve.
"It was so close, but when Robert has a good day it's extremely hard
to keep up," Team CSC's directeur sportif Kim Andersen said after the
stage. "But even though Förster's victory was very convincing, Stuart's
second place was equally so and he has every reason to be satisfied with
his effort."
No changes occurred on the top end of the general classification.
In the 182km-long stage taking the peloton from Motilla del Palancar
down to the South-East Valencian coast, a breakaway of two challenged
the bunch in vain. Escaped since km 7, Jorge García (Relax-Gam) and Kjell
Carlström (Liquigas) tried to keep off the bunch on this all-downhill
stretch of the race, but hard a very hard time to do so. After the duo
saw its maximum lead of 6.30 melt away again, the man from Finland lost
contact to his companion with 90 kilometres to go, and decided to sit
up. The Spaniard then continued on his own, but was eventually caught
with 15 kilometres to go.
Click here for the Full
results, report & photos and live
report.
An interview with Francisco Ventoso
Beating the best
At the finish of Stage
3, the big names were in Almendralejo - Erik Zabel, Robbie McEwen,
Alessandro Petacchi and Thor Hushovd. The bunch sprint came but none of
them prevailed. On that day, it was Francisco Ventoso who had his moment
of glory. Hernan Alvarez Macias found out what it's like to beat
the best.
Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval)
Photo ©: AFP
|
From that moment on, his name didn't sound strange to many cycling fans.
He is another rider who comes from the interminable youth categories of
Spanish cycling, and in the future, Francisco Ventoso may be another great
sprinter like Oscar Freire.
When Cyclingnews caught up with him after Stage
11 in Burgos, he said of day: "Today [September 6] it was what we
call a transition stage," said Ventoso "but with the climbs at the beginning
and the tension in the peloton, together with the wind, the stage wasn't
very comfortable in the end."
He was also among the riders who made the right breakaway in Stage
10. "We arrived in Cantabria, which is my home town, and I really
wanted to get in the right breakaway. I was lucky to get in it but I couldn't
finish off the job in the finale," stated Ventoso. The Spanish rider finished
fifth that day, 7 seconds behind the winner Sergio Paulinho of Astana.
Francisco Ventoso is having a good season; before his win in Stage
3, he had already been doing well. "I had good results during the
whole season," he said. "In the Vuelta a Valencia, Paris-Nice... in the
classics in Belgium, I did pretty well too. In the Tour [de France], I
never went better than seventh place, but here in the Vuelta a Espańa,
I was rewarded and I was able to win, beating all the big guns."
Click
here to read the full interview.
Coming up on
Cyclingnews will cover the 60th edition of
the Dauphiné Libéré live
as of stage 4 on Wednesday, June 10, at approximately 15:00 local Europe
time (CEST)/ 23:00 Australian time (CDT)/ 9:00 (USA East).
WAP-enabled mobile devices: http://live.cyclingnews.com/wap/
|
Vinokourov and Kashechkin miss doping control
The two leaders of the Astana team, Alexandre Vinokourov and Andrej
Kashechkin, missed the doping controls carried out by the UCI in the morning
of stage 15 on Sunday. When the inspectors arrived at the team's hotel,
the two Kazakhstanis had already left in the team bus to go to the start
of the stage in Motilla del Palancar, some 80 kilometres away.
The inspectors asked for the bus to turn around and come back, but the
team personnel refused. "The inspectors arrived too late for the two riders,"
team spokesman Jacinto Vidarte told Reuters. "The hotel was a long
way from the start town, and the stage started at 10am in the morning.
Everybody was due to ride in the team cars, but the two Kazakhs had breakfasted
early and decided to go in the bus because it would be more comfortable."
It is not yet known whether this will have any consequences for the
two riders, who are both within the Top 5 of the overall classification
at the Tour of Spain. Their teammates, which still were at the hotel,
as well as the riders of French team AG2R were all tested and declared
fit to start.
Petacchi fractures hand
Milram's Alessandro Petacchi will quit the second Grand Tour this year
because of a broken bone. The sprinter, who had just recovered from a
knee fracture he suffered at the start of the Giro d'Italia - ruining
his racing program from May to August - broke his hand after stage 15
on Sunday.
After the finish in Almussafes, Petacchi slammed his right fist into
the team bus of Danilo Napolitano's Lampre squad, out of anger and frustration
because he felt that Napolitano had obstructed him in the sprint earlier
on. After unsuccessfully appealing to the race jury, Petacchi went to
the Lampre bus to complain to Napolitano, and broke a finger of his hand
when he burst out.
"I was very angry," explained Petacchi. "After being injured so many
months, I had the concrete possibility to finally return to success. I
wanted to give my season a sense at all cost, after I had to abandon the
Giro d'Italia early because of my accident.
"In any case, I admit it was a stupid gesture. I'm sorry and I ask my
teammates and the team management to forgive me. But the anger was so
intense that I couldn't control myself. I condemn my gesture very severely,
but I am just a man, not a machine, and sometimes men make mistakes. Today
I made a mistake, no doubt."
Indurain: "Valverde very concentrated"
By Antonio J. Salmerón
Five times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain visited the Vuelta
in Cuenca yesterday - a perfect opportunity to ask the Spanish champion
who was his favourite rider for the overall victory in Madrid. Indurain
didn't have any doubts when he responded, "Valverde seems to be very concentrated
on the Vuelta. He has demonstrated that he's very strong. Only Vinokourov
could be able to beat him, but, after what we have seen today, Vinokourov
has a lot of hard work ahead of him. Furthermore, we have to take into
account that Valverde is on home turf."
Miguel Indurain warned that, "the last week of competition will be decisive
for the overall classification." Indeed, the third week of racing one
has as main difficulties two mountain stages finishing on the summits
of Calar Alto and La Pandera respectively. In Indurain’s opinion, "both
of them are very important for the GC."
But what did the Grand Tour specialist think about the time trial in
Vaciamadrid? "It's not different to what happened before," he responded.
Contrary to many people, Indurain think that there are "enough time trial
kilometres" in the race, totalling more than 60 kilometres.
In addition to praising Valverde and Vinokourov, Indurain also had a
word for Carlos Sastre (CSC): "He was able to finish both Giro and Tour,
so now, in the Vuelta, it's normal that his performances will weaken during
the third week of competition at the Vuelta," he added.
One more for Astana
Maxim Iglinskiy has signed a new contract for next year, binding him
to the Astana team. The 25 year-old Kazakhstani was reportedly not offered
an extension of contract by his current team Milram, but will be happy
to join his fellow countrymen around Alexandre Vinokourov and Andrej Kashechkin
next year.
Iglinskiy, a pro since 2004, won a stage in the Deutschland Tour last
year as well as the GP Cittŕ' di Camaiore. This season, he became national
time trial champion.
Melchers injured
Mirjam Melchers van Poppel (Buitenpoort-Flexpoint), who made her return
to racing last week at the Euregio
Ladies Tour, was injured in a crash on Thursday's stage three, which
affected several riders. The crash in the closing kilometre to the finish
in Aachen, Germany, occurred in rainy conditions.
According to an early statement by the Buitenpoort-Flexpoint team, Melchers
van Poppel has been taken to hospital with a suspected broken hip, pelvis
and jaw. Surgeons intended to operate as early as possible on her hip.
Twin Lights Ride on September 30
Nearly 1,500 cyclists are expected in New Jersey for Monmouth County's
Twin Lights Ride on September 30. Taking place on a Saturday for the first
time in its five-year history, the event offers cyclists of all ages and
experience levels a choice of five routes: a guided 15-mile loop through
Sandy Hook, a strenuous 100-mile "Monmouth Challenge", and middle-distance
rides of 30, 50, and 75 miles. All rides will go off from Huddy Park,
beneath the famed Twin Lights lighthouse, in Highlands, New Jersey, starting
between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m. depending on distance.
All riders will receive meticulous directions, and routes will be clearly
marked with signage and arrows painted along the side of roads. Support
services such as bike repair, medical assistance, and strategically positioned
rest areas stocked with snacks and beverages will be available along each
route. The free post-ride festival, open to the public, will feature live
entertainment, food, and massage at Huddy Park on Waterwitch Avenue between
Bay Avenue and Shore Drive in Highlands.
Cycling enthusiasts are encouraged to sign up early, to ensure that
they receive a free t-shirt by being one of the first 1,000 registrants.
The cost is $40 for adults ($25 for children), with a $5 increase for
people registering at the event. Registration and ride details are at
www.bikenewyork.org.
Cyclingnews online editing positions - applications have closed
Following on from the brief announcement in the News
last week about openings for online production editors, Cyclingnews
would like to thank everyone who applied for these positions.
The response has been overwhelming and we will attempt to contact all
applicants this week. The standard has been very high and it's going to
be a very challenging process to sort through the applications.
Please be patient as we attend to this over the next week, and thanks
again to all who applied and expressed their desire to work for Cyclingnews.
Previous
News Next
News
(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2006)
|