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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

Latest Cycling News for March 21, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones

Boonen reflects

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) sits pretty
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
Click for larger image

After the initial emotions subsided after the finish of Milan-San Remo, eighth placed Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) re-examined his race and where it went wrong. Boonen was one of the few sprinters who used the truncated Paris-Nice as preparation for M-SR. Nevertheless, he appeared to have plenty of strength to get over the climbs on Saturday and not waste too much energy in the lead up to the sprint. He even managed to find the most sought after wheel, that of Alessandro Petacchi's, but just seemed to jump halfheartedly then hesitate when Petacchi put in his own move at 200m to go. That was fatal for the Belgian, because he lost the wheel and was swarmed by other sprinters.

Boonen explained the last part of the race to Het Nieuwsblad: "I went through the last hairpin bend well, Bettini swung off the front perfectly to the left, so that Petacchi came into the lead. At that moment, perhaps I should have gone full out. Alessandro waited a bit, Freire as well. That fraction of a second of doubt cost me because at the moment that he [Petacchi] jumped, three or four men came up to my right. Then when the road narrowed I was closed in by Wrolich, who had done his work, and bumped [Philippe] Gilbert, who came from the right and closed the door a couple of times. At that moment I was sprinting for no more than second. I just find it disappointing that I couldn't measure myself against Petacchi. It's frustrating, at best."

On the other hand, Boonen rated it as "my best Primavera. There's a day and night difference between the other two times. I finally know Milan-San Remo...But this remains a fat shit race. Suddenly there are the capi, you're at the bottom on Via Roma and then wham, bam a chaotic sprint. That after a super-long and dangerous route with cars left and right, spectators jumping out taking photos, motorbikes in the middle of the riders on the descents, nervous colleagues, rolling garbage bins. All obstacles.

Finally, Boonen rated himself "10 percent stronger" than this time last year, and believes that he can win La Primavera one day.

Freire surprises

Oscar Freire
Photo ©: Sirotti
Click for larger image

World Champion Oscar Freire was perhaps one of the biggest surprises in Milan-San Remo, in that he didn't finish on the podium despite being in excellent form. Like many of the other sprinters who were there at the end but missed their chance, Freire's race fell apart in the final half a kilometre on Via Roma.

"Up until 500 metres to go, everything went according to plan," he told De Telegraaf. I went over the Cipressa and the Poggio easily. In the sprint, it all went wrong. I was closed in and couldn't get out either side."

Rabobank team manager Theo de Rooij told Algemeen Dagblad, "Oscar left a lot out there. Because he waited too long to start the sprint, he was closed in by the others. I'm afraid that a second or third place went begging, and that's a shame."

Teammate Erik Dekker, who was the only Rabobank rider in the front group at the end, commented that Fassa Bortolo was so strong, Petacchi included. "He was 10th over the Cipressa and according to me he was in the first five on the Poggio. Of the 40 that were with me after the descent of the Poggio, there were at least 42 sprinters. It was unbelievable how quick they came along."

Cyclingnews' Milan-San Remo coverage

Full results, report & photos
Live report
Photos

Hoste crash adds to Discovery's woes

The Discovery Channel team has suffered a number of setbacks in the last week, culminating in the crash of Leif Hoste during Milan-San Remo. With 40 km to go, Hoste hit Cristian Moreni as several other riders came down when the road narrowed because of parked cars. Hoste has a swollen right knee and has been advised not to ride for several days. He is very much in doubt for Wednesday's Dwars Door Vlaanderen, and could even miss Saturday's E3 Prijs in Harelbeke.

Discovery couldn't field either George Hincapie or Max van Heeswijk in Milan-San Remo, as Hincapie had a cold and Van Heeswijk had sinusitis, a sore throat and toothache. Hincapie will not ride Dwars Door Vlaanderen and is also in doubt for Harelbeke. "He still has two weeks before the Ronde [Tour of Flanders], three before Roubaix. But nothing more can go wrong now," said Discovery's director Dirk Demol.

Latest ProTour rankings

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)
Photo ©: AFP
Click for larger image

Following Milan-San Remo, the third round of the ProTour, the UCI has updated its ProTour rankings. Sprinters continue to hold sway at the top, with seven of the top 10 riders all fast men. After placing second overall in Tirreno-Adriatico and winning Milan-San Remo, Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) is the new ProTour leader with 93 points, ahead of World Champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) on 78 points and Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) on 70 points. All three riders performed well in both T-A and M-SR, again reinforcing the notion that Tirreno-Adriatico is the best preparation for Milan-San Remo.

In the teams rankings, Fassa Bortolo is on top with 47 points, ahead of Liberty Seguros on 41 and Rabobank on 39. Spain leads the nations rankings with 174 points, but Italy is catching up on 155, while Germany is another 28 points back.

Rankings as of March 20, 2005

Individuals
 
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                   93 pts
2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                         78
3 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner                           70
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC                               50
5 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Illes Balears           41
6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole                        35
7 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems               35
8 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir  35
9 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC                                 31
10 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone    30
 
Teams
 
1 Fassa Bortolo                                             47 pts
2 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                                41
3 Rabobank                                                  39
4 T-Mobile Team                                             38
5 Saunier Duval-Prodir                                      38
6 Davitamon-Lotto                                           38
7 Gerolsteiner                                              37
8 Team CSC                                                  37
9 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                        36
10 Credit Agricole                                          29
 
Nations
 
1 Spain                                                    174 pts
2 Italy                                                    155
3 Germany                                                  127
4 United States Of America                                  70
5 Australia                                                 40
6 Norway                                                    35
7 Belgium                                                   32
8 France                                                    30
9 Luxembourg                                                15
10 Switzerland                                              11
 
Full rankings: Individuals, Teams, Nations

Setmana Catalana begins

The 42nd edition of Setmana Catalana starts today (Monday) with a 165 km stage around Lloret De Mar, and finishes on Friday, March 25 with a 16 km time trial at the Würth factory in Anoia. The 2.HC ranked stage race will feature triple Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras (Liberty), dual Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni (Lampre), last year's winner Joaquín Rodríguez (Saunier Duval), 2003 winner Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo), 2002 Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), 2003 World Champion Igor Astarloa (Barloworld) and Iban Mayo (Euskaltel).

Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel), who was initially down to ride, will not participate after getting sick during Paris-Nice. Neither will Liberty's Joseba Beloki and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, for the same reason.

There will be a total of five stages with the third stage between Castelló d'Empúries and Coll De Pal (Bagà) over 157 km being the toughest. Preceded by a Cat. 2 and Cat. 1 climb, the final climb to the Coll de Bal measures 19.5 km and ascends 1310 metres, and will almost certainly determine the general classification. The fifth stage may also have some bearing on GC, as it is a 16 km individual time trial with some small undulations.

The stages

Stage 1 - March 21: Lloret De Mar - Lloret De Mar, 165 km
Stage 2 - March 22: Lloret De Mar - Empúriabrava, 168 km
Stage 3 - March 23: Castelló d'Empúries - Coll De Pal, 157 km
Stage 4 - March 24: Baga - Palau Solita I Plegamans, 162 km
Stage 5 - March 25: Instalaciones Würth - Instalaciones Würth, 16 km ITT

German team for Track World's

The German Cycling Federation (BDR) has sent a strong team to Los Angeles to contest the 2005 Track Cycling World Championships, between March 24-27. Totaling 18 riders, the team is equally balanced between sprint and endurance riders.

Men - Sprint

Carsten Bergemann (Chemnitzer PSV): 1000 m, Team Sprint
Jan van Eijden (RV Dudenhofen): Keirin
Matthias John (RSC Turbine Erfurt): Team Sprint
Sören Lausberg (RSV "Werner Otto" Berlin): 1000 m (reserve), Team Sprint
Stefan Nimke (RSC Sprintteam Berlin): Sprint, 1000 m, Team Sprint
Rene Wolff (RSC Turbine Erfurt): Sprint, Keirin, Team Sprint
Michael Seidenbecher (RSC Turbine Erfurt): Sprint

Women - Sprint

Christin Muche (RSC Cottbus): 500 m, Sprint, Keirin
Susan Panzer (RSV "Werner Otto" Berlin): 500 m, Sprint, Keirin

Men - Endurance

Robert Bartko (RSV "Werner Otto" Berlin): 4000m Individual Pursuit, 4000m Team Pursuit, Madison
Robert Bengsch (Berliner TSC): 4000m Individual Pursuit, 4000m Team Pursuit
Henning Bommel (Berliner TSC): 4000m Team Pursuit
Guido Fulst (RSV "Werner Otto" Berlin): 4000m Team Pursuit, Points, Madison
Leif Lampater (RSG Heilbronn): 4000m Team Pursuit
Andreas Müller (Berliner TSC): Scratch, Madison

Women - Endurance

Charlotte Becker (RSV Unna): Points, Scratch
Verena Jooß (RC Friesenheim): 3000m Individual Pursuit

Event Schedule (local time)

Thursday, March 24

19:00-21:50

Team Sprint (Qual to Final)
M Points Race (Final)
W 500m Time Trial (Final)

Friday, March 25

10:00-13:55

W Sprint (Qual through to quarter finals)
M Individual Pursuit (Qual)
M Keirin (1st round)

19:00-22:15

W Points Race (Final)
M Keirin (2nd round and Final)
M Individual Pursuit (Final)
M Kilometre Time Trial

Saturday, March 26

1000-1455

W Individual Pursuit (Qual)
M Sprint (Qual)
M Team Pursuit (Qual)

19:00-22:10

W Sprint (Semis and Finals)
M Scratch Race (Final)
W Individual Pursuit (Finals)
M Team Pursuit (Finals)
M Sprint (Qual through to quarter finals)

Sunday, March 27

14:00-18:00

W Keirin (Qual through to Finals)
M Sprint (Semis and Finals)
W Scratch Race
M Madison

New Zealand Junior Track World's team

Cycling New has announced the New Zealand Junior Track Team to compete at the 2005 Junior Track World Championships in Vienna, Austria between August 7-10.

Sam Bewley (Rotorua)
Bridgette Broad (Auckland)
Rushlee Buchanan (Te Awamutu)
Eliot Crowther (Tauranga)
Westley Gough (Waipukurau)
Logan Hunn (Auckland)
Jonathan Lewis (Christchurch)
Malindi MacLean (Auckland)
Michael Northey (Auckland)
Jesse Sergeant (Feilding)
Darren Shea (Christchurch)
Adam Stewart (Christchurch

Coach: Tim Carswell (Christchurch)

Scharping elected German federation president

The former German Minister of Defence, Rudolf Scharping, has been elected as the new president of the German Cycling Federation (BDR). Scharping, 57, will succeed Sylvia Schenk, who announced in September 2004 that she wouldn't be standing for re-election.

Merckx gets a museum

The world's best ever cyclist, Eddy Merckx, will have part of the new Velocity cycling theme park in Eisden, Belgium, dedicated to him. The museum will feature mainly photos and video footage from the Merckx's enormously successful career. Merckx was one of the driving forces behind the Velocity theme park, which is set to open this summer.

Source: ANP

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