Latest Cycling News for September 27, 2005

Edited by Hedwig Kröner

"Mr. Versatility"

By Hernan Alvarez

Alejandro Valverde (Spain)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Spain's Alejandro Valverde had to shoulder a lot of responsibility during the World's men's race in Madrid. Replacing compatriot and world champion Oscar Freire in a world championships on home soil is not an easy task for anyone. But Valverde responded extremely well, taking his second World's silver medal at just 25 years of age.

Valverde's condition for the race was in some doubt as he had hardly competed since winning stage 10 of the Tour de France in Courchevel during July. Initially, Miguel Martin Perdiguero was the first option as leader for the Spaniards in Sunday's race because Valverde was far from his peak in during August. But in September, Illes Balears team director Eusebio Unzue and national selector Paco Antequera thought it would be much better for him to do a special training programme for the World's than to race in the Tour of Poland. And their strategy proved to be the right one, as Alejandro joined Tom Boonen and Anthony Geslin on the podium.

The rider from Murcia is one of the candidates to replace Lance Armstrong as the 'King of the Tour de France', along with Ivan Basso, and showed on Sunday that he is capable of attacking and sprinting against the best sprinters. He has proven even further the fact many have known for a while - that he's an extremely versatile rider with the potential to become a real superstar very soon.

Sunday's press conference saw Valverde speak about his plans for the future before talking about the racing itself, saying, "I haven't raced since the Tour [de France]. The idea was to do the World's and then do the three classics that are left [in the season calendar]. There are two [Zurich and Lombardy] that I think are pretty hard, and now in my condition I can try to do them the best I can."

Asked if the special training he did without the rigours of competition was better than racing, Valverde replied, "I don't know; when you compete you get into very good condition, but with training you can do what you want. You can train for five, six, seven hours; with intensity, without intensity, behind a motorcycle, behind a car. You don't have a limited time. I think you can train very well at home."

Finally, he commented on the race itself, saying, "My preparation had nothing to do with the sprint I did, but Boonen is so very fast and very strong for this kind of race. I started the sprint very early, he caught me and he passed me pretty easily."

Geslin: "It's all about positioning"

By Hedwig Kröner

Anthony Geslin (France)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Even more so than the squadra Azzurra not being able to score a medal at the recent World Championships in Madrid, French rider Anthony Geslin was one of the big surprises of Sunday's road race. Finishing third behind Tom Boonen and Alejandro Valverde, the young Frenchman also shares more than the podium with the two: all three riders were born in the year 1980, which proves that a change of generation is undoubtedly taking place.

Back in France, the Bouygues Telecom pro still couldn't believe what he'd done. "I don't realise it, really," Geslin told L'Equipe. "It's weird to open the newspapers and see my face grinning back at me!" The 25 year-old then explained his view of the sprint in Madrid, and that his way of achieving top placings without really getting noticed [he was top ten three times in the 2005 Tour de France - ed.] is all about catching the right wheels.

"I'm not a guy like Boonen - I'm far away from having that much power so I have to take advantage of the other's air aspiration," he continued. "It's all about positioning. On Sunday, as we went into that final curve, I was on Boonen's wheel. I saw Valverde start the sprint and I thought - very, very early. That false flat was hard so I let four of five guys pass me on purpose. After that, it's a question of feeling - you can make the right choices or fail, but you have to try.

"So I jumped from wheel to wheel, doubling the guys one by one. At one point, I was on the right hand side, and I felt that I had to go to the left, so I crossed over because I felt that the road would be opening up over there. When I passed the line, I knew that I was third, very close to Valverde..."

For Geslin, the bronze medal is a personal accomplishment but also an important sign to the criticism French cycling has received in the last years. "There's a generation of young French riders who is emerging at the moment, 25-year olds, and we have to be given the time to ripen. I'm happy to have shown that we can succeed in one-day races, however important they are. The French are not beer-drinking guys who don't know how to train, as has been stated before."

Kelly on McQuaid

By Shane Stokes

Former world number one Sean Kelly has had many dealings with new UCI president Pat McQuaid in the past. The two rode on the same Irish teams as amateurs and then, in later years, Kelly was the star attraction of the McQuaid-promoted Nissan Classic in Ireland, winning several editions. Cyclingnews asked him at Sunday’s Elite road race championships if he thought that McQuaid would continue in the same vein as his predecessor Hein Verbruggen, or if he would be a different-style president.

"I have only talked to Pat briefly so far because he is so busy here, but for me he has to run it a bit differently," said Kelly, who was working at the World's as a Eurosport commentator. "He has to bring in some of his own ideas and his experience. He has a lot of that, of course, coming from cycling background, racing as professional and then organising many races. He has a vast experience and he has been working also within the UCI a long time, so he has seen what is needed. I reckon he has a lot of ideas which he will try to enforce himself."

Kelly stated that there are priorities that need to be tackled. "There are of course a lot of things which need to be changed - the ProTour needs a number of modifications, for example. It is just one year old at the moment, not even one year, so there is a couple of changes that need to be made. Some of the things that need to be looked at issues regarding what teams that are in and others that should be in, and also the tensions with the Grand Tour organisers. There is a lot of hard work ahead for Pat, a lot of things to be looked at in the future."

As a former race promoter, McQuaid has perhaps an advantage over Verbruggen in solving the difficulties between the UCI and the Grand Tour organisers over the ProTour. Kelly says that this experience, and also the fact that he is new to the job, both play in his favour.

"I think that he is more neutral, he went on that basis and is starting with a fresh slate. The other candidates that were going forward were not - take Gregorio Moreno, for example. He is more on the Grand Tour side. I think that Pat is more of a middle of the road president; he will have to work with the three big Tours, of course, so we hope he can sort something out. That is something that must be done."

Kelly said that compromises must be made on both sides. "The thing is, the big Tours think they are up there on cloud nine and they have their own ideas. They have to back off a bit. A bit of leeway from both sides is needed."

Aerts & Hushovd to 'Kivi' remembrance crit

Belgian rider Mario Aerts as well as Norwegian Thor Hushovd will be attending the annual remembrance criterium for deceased pro Andrei Kivilev in Kazakhstan on Wednesday this week. Both riders took a flight to Kazakhstan capital Almaty straight from Madrid, Spain, where they had participated in the World Championships on Sunday.

"Alexander Vinokourov asked me to come to his home country on the last day of the Tour de France," Aerts told Belgian media. "To ride the annual remembrance criterium for Andrei Kivilev, his best friend who died in Paris-Nice two years ago. I was Vino's room mate at the Tour and we stayed friends. So at the World's in Madrid, he asked me for an energy gel - I shouldn't have given it to him because he put us in pain during three laps in the end!"

Lance loves Austin with free Sheryl Crow concert

By Tim Maloney, European Editor

With Sheryl Crow's new disc "Wildflower" being released later this week on September 27 and a short concert tour slated to start in mid-October, her fiancé Lance Armstrong, the retired seven-times Tour de France winner turned guitar tech has decided to organize a free concert by Crow in Austin to thank his hometown, aptly entitled "Lance Thanks Austin", scheduled for Sunday, October 2, at Auditorium Shores in Austin at 4pm.

It's a special day for Lance, as it's the ninth anniversary of the diagnosis of his testicular cancer and he will also be able to welcome participants in third Tour of Hope, a cross-country cycling event that Armstrong participates in to raise awareness for clinical trials. But most of all, Lance wants to return the love from the good folks of Austin, who have supported him since he moved to the Texas capital in 1990."It has been an honour for me to call Austin home," said Armstrong, "And it's always nice to see the folks of Austin over in France at the Tour. It is my pleasure to say thanks to my fellow residents for their continued support."

Liberty riders at Wheelworks

On October 2, 2005, six members of the Spanish Liberty Seguros-Würth team, including Roberto Heras and Joseba Beloki, will be appearing at Belmont Wheelworks, MA, for a Conference/Reception. The majority of the store on Trapelo Road will be closed off from 2pm to 4pm to host the event, in which team video footage will be viewed. The Spanish pros will be ready to answer any questions the public might have, as an interpreter will be on hand.

The riders attending the event are: Roberto Heras (Winner of the 2005 Vuelta a España for an unprecedented fourth time), Joseba Beloki (Finished top three in overall standings of the Tour de France in 2000, 2001, and 2002), Marcos Serrano (Winner of Milan-Turin 2004 and stage 18 in the 2005 Tour de France), Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Ranked 9th in the 2004 Olympic time trial and wore the yellow jersey in the 2002 Tour de France), Alberto Contador (2005 Winner of the Semana Catalana and touted as the next Miguel Indurain) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Winner of three professional races in his rookie season of 2005, including the Jacob´s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia).

For more information, go to www.wheelworks.com/liberty_seguros.htm

Symmetrics support Room to Read

Symmetrics Cycling is supporting Room to Read's October 1, 2005 Tekst Fundraiser at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Room to Read is a charitable organization whose mission is to provide under-privileged children with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education. Current efforts are focused on Cambodia, India, Nepal, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Symmetrics Cycling has donated a package for the auction fundraiser. The package includes: a 2006 Symmetrics Cycling Team Clothing Kit, a 2006 Team Training Camp Ride & Lunch and a VIP attendance at the 2006 Tour de Gastown bicycle race event.

For more information on Room to Read's Tekst Fundraiser, visit www.roomtoread.ca

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