International Cycling Blog

Tour 2008 clear favourites: Evans, Valverde and Cunego

2008-07-05T10:07:00.001+01:00

On the eve of another post-Lance Armstrong Tour de France, it is anyone's guess as to who will don the maillot jaune of best overall rider when the three-week race concludes in Paris. There are only a handful of contenders, but just how they will perform on the parcours with decreased time trial kilometres but more mythical mountain stages is unknown.

When organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced the route of the 95th Tour de France, it was clear that a rider who could excel in the mountains and hold his own in the time trials would have a shot at the overall win. The riders' climbing legs will be put to the test with four mountaintop stage finishes – Super Besse (stage six), Hautacam (stage 10), Prato Nevoso (15) and L'Alpe d'Huez (17) – while their time trialing abilities will be put to use in only 82.5 kilometres over two stages (4 and 20).

Due to the problems in Team Astana 2007, Alberto Contador, the defending champion and winner of the Giro d'Italia will not be at the Grand Départ in Brest. The 25 year-old followed Johan Bruyneel from Team Discovery Channel to Astana over the winter, a team which carried with it some baggage in the eyes of the ASO. Last year, Alexander Vinokourov's positive doping test during Tour forced the team to withdraw; adding to the doping positives of Matthias Kessler and Andrey Kashechkin, the team completely reorganised its management, but that was not enough to get an invite to the biggest cycling race.

His absence narrows the list of favourites to just five men: Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo).

Australia's Evans – top ten in the last three years, including second in 2007 – is the hottest pick for the 2008 title. Last year, just 23 seconds separated him from a Tour victory. This year, his morale has surely been raised thanks to one of his best spring campaigns in years – with wins in Vuelta a Andalucía (stage), Paris-Nice (Mont Ventoux stage), Coppi e Bartali (overall and stage) – and the recent announcement that the Silence-Lotto team would be 100 percent behind him, leaving top sprinter Robbie McEwen to look after himself in the bunch gallops.

"I've always had the idea I want to prove to the team what I'm capable of, so I can win their faith and hopefully what I'm capable of is winning their belief in me," Cadel said in a recent interview with Cyclingnews. "They will work for me and work 110%. Two years ago I wasn't sure of myself, if I could win the Tour and now all the indications are there that I can, so..." Adding power to Evans' punch will be new recruit Yaroslav Popovych, former lieutenant of Armstrong.
Cunego has shown considerable growth as a rider since winning the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the type of results and maturity that is needed to win the world's biggest cycling race. The 26-year-old won the young rider classification in his only Tour de France appearances (2006) but failed to live up to his earlier promise until he won the Giro di Lombardia last fall.

"I want to have good results. I hear the journalists, and I want to win," he stated after his Lombardia win. Cunego proved he is on track in 2008 by winning a stage in País Vasco, Klasika Primavera and, above all, the Amstel Gold Race, all the while skipping his home Grand Tour to focus solely on the French race. Cunego will be saved somewhat by the minimal number of time trial kilometres, and will have an edge when the race heads to his native Italy on stage 15 to Prato Nevoso.

Valverde, known as the 'Green Bullet' in some circles, might just be blasting his way to the top of the Tour de France podium. The 28 year-old Spaniard from Murcia who glimmered throughout 2006 has that same spark this year, thanks to big wins like Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Dauphiné Libéré. The former was a welcome addition to Valverde's solid palmarès, but the latter, coming only three weeks before the Tour de France départ, indicates that his one-day racing legs have developed to handle stages races.
If Valverde, who DNF'ed on in 2005 and 2006 before going on to finish sixth last year, can stay in contention through the early mountain stages he could just be the 'Yellow Bullet' in the Alpine stages leading to Paris. Look for a certain 2006 Tour de France winner, Oscar Pereiro, to back up his team-mate.

Two consistent riders that could make the jump from a fourth or fifth place to first overall are Menchov and Sastre. CSC-Saxo's Sastre has finished no lower than 21st in the last seven Tour editions, however, the 33-year-old has really been flying below the results radar since the start of the year, with 20th in the Dauphiné Libéré as the highlight. Working in favour of CSC is its depth; it has the Schleck brothers – Fränk and Andy – to back up the Spaniard. Fränk showed well in the recent Tour de Suisse despite a wicked-looking crash and younger brother Andy, best young rider in the 2007 Giro d'Italia is team's GC joker.

Winner of the 2007 Vuelta a España and best young rider in the 2003 Tour de France, Denis Menchov is a class act to be watched. The 30 year-old Russian is the only one of the riders thus far mentioned who will start the Tour de France with a Grand Tour in his legs; his consistency through the Giro d'Italia netted him a fifth overall.

Outside favourites for the overall title include Italian Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott), Frenchman Christophe Moreau (Agritubel), Colombian Mauricio Soler (Barloworld), Spaniards Samuel Sánchez and Haimar Zubeldia (both Euskaltel-Euskadi), Luxemburger Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia), Czech and recent Tour de Suisse winner Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas), and Belgian Stijn Devolder (Quick Step).

Sprinters
Sprinters will have a limited chance to shine in a Tour de France that kicks hard in the first week with sharp finishing climbs. The first bunch gallop might not arrive until stage three to Nantes, and a sprinter will have a hard time grabbing the leader's jersey as there are no time bonuses awarded in the 2008 Tour. Other sprint stages are likely to be Châteauroux (stage five), Toulouse (eight), Narbonne (12), Nîmes (13) and Paris (21).

Belgian Tom Boonen, winner of the green points jersey in 2007, was specifically asked not to return following an out of competition test for cocaine in late May. Following the controversial ASO decision, the team will rely on Steegmans for the sprints while protecting Devolder in his overall run.

Keep an eye open for men of speed such as Baden Cooke and Robert Hunter (both Barloworld), Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto), Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), Stuart O'Grady (CSC-Saxo), Mark Cavendish and Gerald Ciolek (both Team Columbia), Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Gert Steegmans (Quick Step), Erik Zabel (Team Milram) and Magnus Backstedt (Garmin Chipotle - H30). Without Boonen or the Giro d'Italia maglia ciclamino Daniele Bennati in the mix, the fight for the maillot vert in this year's Tour will go to the sprinter who can best survive the climbs.

Seeing spotshe maillot blanc à pois rouges usually goes to the man who is willing to risk it all in an escape on a mountains day or from a dominating GC rider. Colombia's Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) fell into the first camp last year thanks to his stage win to Briançon. Soler went on to keep the polka dot jersey all the way to Paris, and will be back again this year to give it another go.

Look for stage nine to Bagnères de Bigorre to provide the first glimpse of the overall contenders in this category when the race hits its first major mountain.

Expect other strong candidates to be Juan Manuel Gárate (Quick Step), Zubeldia, David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval-Scott), Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Team Columbia), Kreuziger, Trent Lowe (Garmin Chipotle - H30) and Soler's team-mate, Félix Rafael Cárdenas.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/tour08/ (05.07.2008)

Tour de Suisse - Stage 7 Live

2008-06-20T22:07:00.002+01:00

Gold jersey holder Kim Kirchen as much as all other top GC players were expected to save their legs for tomorrow's crucial Individual TT, and as we join the stage in progress we find three riders on the front, none of whom is an overall threat. But the big news of the day is (better, was) that when the Belgians Johan van Summeren (Silence-Lotto) and Sebastien Rosseler (Quick Step) and Germany's Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner) made their move after 30 kilometres, they got nobody else but overall runner-up Roman Kreuziger as fellow attacker. The Liquigas talent from the Czech Republic, trailing Kirchen by 27 seconds at the stage start, stayed with them about a dozen kilometres, but he must have realized that the presence of such a main overall contender in the lead quartet was not of help to (and perhaps neither welcomed by) the three others, and eventually resolved to sit up and wait for the bunch ... and save his own legs for tomorrow's crucial Individual TT of course!

Without such an "uncomfortable" breakaway companion, the three-man move could prosper and Scholz, van Summeren and Roesseler increase their advantage over the field to close to five minutes around the halfway point of the stage. It must not be that difficult for the two Belgians to work well with each other: the guys were team mates in the 2002 (at Domo-Farm), 2003 (at Quickstep's young gun squad) and 2004 (racing with the Relax-Bodysol outfit) seasons.

The breakaway trio made it to the feed zone (73 km. from the finish) with their lead still slightly under five minutes. Kim Kirchen and his teammates are not in a hurry to bring Scholz, van Summeren and Roesseler, and neither is David Loosli: none of the attackers poses a threat to the Swissman's leadership of the KOM classification.

Johan von Summeren, Sebastien Rosseler and Ronny Scholz hold on to their five-minute margin also as they hit the Lobsigen slopes for the first time. They obviously stayed clear on this comparatively easy ascent too. The lead trio is now on the way to the first of three passages across the finishing line at Lyss town.

1710 CEST - The peloton became serious about the chase as the race moved into the first lap of the final circuit, and, also courtesy of of Ronny Scholz's misfortunes (the German had some bike problems and his breakaway mates slowed the pace in order to wait for him), the gap was halved to 02'30" about 44 km from the finish.

Scholz's riding tool is not fine at the moment either, and the man makes the decision to stop and change his bike. The front trio is back as one in the twinkling of an eye anyway. Three chasers from Kirchen's Team High Road drive the peloton charge and gain a further dozen seconds in the last thousand metres.

Good news for Tom Boonen and his fans: the Belgian finally got back to making the news for his accomplishments on the road and won the fourth stage at Ster Elektrotour in the Netherlands.

We've got an update from France's Route du Sud stage race too: Noan Lelarge took both line honours and the overall leadership in today's 17-kilometre ITT.

1716 CEST - 40 km to go, 2:15 the gap to the three escapees in Switzerland. No significant updates from the Tour de Suisse: the lead trio hold on to their advantage of 02'15" with 39k left, on the way to the second passage of the only climb of the day.

Lyss' 11,000 residents welcome the Tour de Suisse for the second time: a stage of the nation's #1 bike race finished into town also six years go, with the bunch sprint won by Erik Zabel. Ete is in the bunch also today, and could give it a go at saluting the local fans from the podium again, but there are some presumably faster riders in the pack.

1725 CEST - Ronny Scholz leads the breakaway to the summit of the Lobsigen "ascent" (in fact a veeery easy one). But the peloton is under two minutes back about 35k from the finish. The peloton is stretched as the pace goes up with Lazlo Bodrogi (Credit Agricole) the final rider in tailgunner position on the back.

Rabobank and Astana are giving the future Team Columbia a precious helping hand in the chase. David Loosli in the pink jersey comfortably stays at the bottom of the pack. With all KOM points he picked up over the past stages, there's no need for him to waste energies today for the category 4 climb.

Euskaltel also move "en masse" towards the front of the chase armada while Fabian Cancellara is yelling at someone in the field. The reason for this attitude from the Swiss riding sensation goes beyond our knowledge, sorry.

1732 CEST - 29 km to go, Gap update: 01 minute and 36 seconds as the stage steps into the last 30 kilometres, with the Rabo-boys still keeping the pace high. Van Summeren win the Lyss intermediate sprint. Behind Rabo, Astana and High Road/Columbia are staying close to the front.

Ronny Scholz, Johan van Summeren and Sebastian Rossler made it to the line for the second and penultimate time under the (unsual) sun. The last lap, covering 27 kilometres, has just started. The gap continues to fall for the three out front. They won't be crossing the line in the top three places the next time though: the Rabo-led group cut the gap further down to 01'05".

1740 CEST - And with still a good 25 kilometres to be covered, it fell under the minute because of the onslaught by Rabobank. Efforts from Astana, Rabobank and High Road are going in the right direction.

1743 CEST - 22 km to go, gap 42 seconds. The powerful Kim Kirchen sits in the first places of the group, but also another overall contender like Stijn Devolder, sitting in fourth pace in the GC, shows up on the front.

Scholz, Rossler and Van Summeren have the peloton on their heels: the lead is down to half a minute as the going gets vertical again with the line currently about 20k away. The three lads will likely be toast by the top of the climb, the gap falls to ten seconds.

1750 CEST - The race is winding through Merlingen, 18 km from the finish. The three guys are about to be caught. And caught they are: Rossler, Van Summeren and Scholz are swallowed up by the field. Perhaps even earlier than expected. All downhill at this point... Perhaps even a bit too early. More attacks could come in the last ten miles of such not exactly flat circuit. It's up to Rabobank to keep the tempo high in order to avoid that.

Oscar Freire is very attentive. The Spanish sprinter, looking for revenge on dual stage winner Robbie McEwen, sits in fifth wheel. Nobody managed to try an attack in the last three kms. The group stay as one with 14k remaining.

1756 CEST - 10 km to go, The peloton is strung out High Road, Gerolsteiner, Rabobank, and Silence/Lotto at the front. Several nasty clouds are trying to chase down the sun. But they're not being successful in their attempt to turn the sky grey again. And thankfully so: we had enough of bad weather over the past weeks. Credit Agricole took over the task of driving the field into the last ten kilometres of today's leg.

8 km to go, Leif Hoste puts in an attack as they reach the top of today's climb for the third and last time. But another move follows: and it's CANCELLARA! The Swiss stepped up the chase to the Belgian attacker. The Lotto rider opened up some kind of gap, putting 10 seconds into the bunch, but Cancellara and Markus Fothen are coming.

6 km to go. Contact was made: three top-class riders are in the lead some 8 kilometres from the finish. And now the Belgian is struggling to stay with the two others. Another rider launched a late attack: Philippe Gilbert. And Kim Kirchen himself covers his move!! Both guys joined the front group.

FIVE MEN in the lead with half a dozen kilometres to go. But Devolder, Kreuziger and others close down on them. And Cancellara attacks again!

1805 CEST - "Spartacus" is giving a further display of his power and class. And make the gap. It takes a motorbike to chase him down now!! Cancellara riders at over 60 kph, and takes a dozen seconds on the Rabo-led field. 9 second gap!

It's Fabian vs. the Rabo-boys. The gap is ten seconds as they go under the three-to-go banner. Lampre's Alessandro Ballan moves to the front to help the chase.

The gap is EIGHT seconds with 2 kms to go. Neither the solo leader nor the hard-riding chasers are giving signs of surrender.

A Liquigas man attacks the field. Cancellara goes under the flambe rouge. But the advantage is just 5-6 seconds. Folks, we are having a race! Fabian desperately tries to resist... 500m to go. 400 ... 300 ... 200 ... he gives it everything. And he wins! Zabel took the sprint for second place.

FABIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN CANCELLAAAAAARRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

What a guy! What class! The Swissman had the time to turn back and raise his arms in triumph before coming across the line. Cancellara was exahusted after the stage, but he did something sensational today, racing at about 60 kph over the last 4-5 kilometres against a whole army of chasers.

Stage 7 Results
Gruyères - Lyss 171km
1. Fabian Cancellara
2. Erik Zabel at 02"
3. Robbie McEwen at 02"
4. Robert Foerster at 02"
5. Danilo Napolitano at 02"
6. Danilo Wyss at 02"
7. Markus Zberg at 02"
8. Anthony Geslin at 02"
9. Oscar Freire at 02"
10. Sebestien Hinault at 02"

1816 CEST - No news on the GC side of the matter, with Kim Kirchen firmly in control of the yellow jersey, Roman Kreuziger trailing him by 27 seoconds, Igor Anton in third at 33" and Stijn Devolder as fourth-placed rider with a 46 second time gap to make up for.

Cancellara nabbed a great stage victory on home roads, as the man is from the Bern area of Switzerland. He even had the time to show his tongue to the cameras and point to his jersey in the last few metres of the stage.

Cancellara can finally climb the podium, get the flowers and salute the crowd that, needless to ay, goes wild. Now it's Kim Kirchen's turn to celebrate in yellow. The Luxembourgian showed his excellent form also today as he covered some late attacks, and sent a clear message to his rivals one day before the race decider.

King of the Mountain David Loosli (Lampre) and King of the Hot Spot Sprints René Weissinger (Volksbank) come next on the podium, with Oscar Freire, still leading the points classification, as last protagonist of the ceremony.

General Classification After Stage 7
1. Kim Kirchen THR LUX 30h41'42''
2. Roman Kreuziger LIQ CZE 27''
3. Igor Anton EUS ESP 33''
4. Stijn Devolder QST BEL 46''
5. Thomas Lövkvist THR SWE 56''
6. Andreas Klöden AST GER 58''
7. Andy Schleck CSC LUX 01'04''
8. Serguei Ivanov AST RUS 01'06''
9. Markus Fothen GST GER 01'06''
10. Oliver Zaugg GST SUI 01'13''

A quick look at Stage 8 and one sees that the 25 km mountain time trial could produce significant gaps and will be decisive in determining the final general classification of the race on the penultimate stage of the tour of Switzerland.

www.dailypeloton.com / Photo : www.as.com (20.06.2008)

Euskal Bizikleta 2008 - Stage Two Updated

2008-06-07T23:26:00.001+01:00

Euskaltel's appointed sprinter Koldo Fernández De Larrea made local fans in the Basque Country of Spain happy as he sprinted to victory in Saturday's second and "halfway" stage of the three-day event, which started at Agurain and finished in the same town after 162.7 kilometres.

The stage, featuring an easy parcours, came down to a field sprint after all breakaway attempts were brought back. The final rush to the line was tight enough, but the Spaniard eventually triumphed over Australia's Baden Cooke (Barloworld) and Spain's José Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne), with Antonio D'Aniello, Cristiano Fumagalli and Diego Milan in the other top six spots. Koldo notched up his third win so far this season.

Julian Sánchez Pimienta (Spa - Contentpolis-Murcia) assumed the overall leadership in the race - after stage one winner Daniel Moreno got a ten-second time penalty for hanging onto his team car - in front of compatriots Jaume Rovira (Extremadura-Grupo Gallardo) and Luis Pasamontes (Caisse d'Epargne), all of whom with the same GC time with just one stage to go.

The "breakaway of the day" came about two dozen kilometres into the stage, courtesy of four Spaniards and a Russian rider: Alexandr Arekeev (Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo), José Alberto Benítez (Saunier Duval-Scott), Francisco José Martínez Pérez (Andalucía-Cajasur), Ricardo Serrano (Tinkoff) and Oscar Pujol (Burgos Monumental) built up a maximum advantage of 05'47" by the km. 78 check. The front group was down to four men as Pujol lost contact after 103 kilometres, while chasing efforts from Koldo Fernandez's Euskaltel and Sánchez Pimienta's Contentpolis were cutting down the gap significantly.

Things went from bad to worse for the escapees as also J.J. Rojas' teammates joined the pursuit on the front of the pack. The gap was no more than 01'30" as the race came across the line for the first time. And with Caisse d'Epargne further picking up the pace as the going got vertical in the 25-km final circuit, the breakaway looked 100 percent doomed to failure. Arekeev, Benítez, Martínez and Serrano had to wave white flag about 15 km from the line.

The peloton split into two groups soon later, with the Caisse guys driving the first half and taking some 20 seconds out of the dropped ones, but the main bunch - with about 80 riders inside - regrouped again with 10 kilometres to go. Then Ceramiche Flaminia rushed to the front of the strung-out peloton and dictated the pace for some time, until the Russian Eduard Vorganov (Karpin Galicia) tried a surprise move with 4 km remaining; but he couldn't be a match to the flying peloton riding at 55 kph, no matter how good his legs were. Another Karpin Galicia athlete gave it a go again as soon as his team mate was reeled in, but he wasn't allow to make any gap either. This one was meant to be one for the sprinters, and in fact it ended up in a battle of fast wheels, whose outcome you already know.

www.dailypeloton.com / www.fundacioneuskadi.com

Tour de Suisse (SUI) - 14-22.06.2008

2008-06-05T16:29:00.002+01:00

The Tour de Suisse is one of the most prestigious stage races in the 2008 UCI ProTour, and the breathtaking roads in the Swiss mountains and along the lake shores offers a spectacular backdrop for the aggressive racing.

The nine days of racing are held across the whole of Switzerland, from Geneva to Zurich and from Bern to Lugano, with stages often visiting the UCI headquarters in Aigle. The Tour de Suisse always draws huge crowds along the roads each day as Swiss cycling fans remember the great riders of the 72-year race history, such as Hugo Koblet, Beat Breu, Pascal Richard and Alex Zülle.

In 2007, Vladimir Karpets of the Caisse d’Epargne team dominated in the time trials and rode impressively in the mountains, beating Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen of the T-Mobile team by a minute. Swiss Cycling’s current biggest star Fabian Cancellara, of the CSC team, won both the time trial stages in 2007. The second was around his hometown of Bern and his dominant performance proved he deserves his double world time trial title.

Cancellara will again be the man to beat in the time trial stages in 2008. He would love to challenge for overall victory or at least hold the leader’s jersey, but the power that helps him win against the clock becomes a handicap in the often decisive mountain stages.

www.uciprotour.com

91st Giro d'Italia - Stage 15 Interviews

2008-05-25T20:16:00.001+01:00

"I dont know what to say. Thank you so much to Baliani, to Perez, to the whole team. Thank you for real, boys" Emanuele Sella said.

Navigare's Fortunato Baliani said that he's pleasantly surprised by Sella's accomplishments.

More from the stage winner, whose second stellar performance in a row was jeopardized by the silly behaviour of some "fans" and "supporters", that got a bit close to the rider in the last few kilometres, and might have made him fall. It's not the first time it happens in cycling, and we think it's not the last one either, unfortunately: "

Cheers from fans are a pleasant thing, and a huge morale boost. They give me more grinta. But those fans were quite dangerous". More from the guy: "I didn't think I could react like this to all my previous misfortunes. I discovered a "new Emanuele Sella". I don't think I can make the hat-trick tomorrow though, I spent a lot over the past two stages, so it wouldn't be that strange if I paid the price of such efforts in tomorrow's ITT".

In after-stage interviews Riccardo Ricco kept whining about his ITT misfortunes: "I would be wearing the Maglia today without that fall in the ITT". He can make a point, but as the same time he seems to forget that also Alberto Contador had some problems in this sense.

Alberto Contador may have moved into the overall leadership of the race today, but he wasn't too "all smiles" after the stage. The Spaniard conceded that he's not having the best stage race in his career: "I had a hard time on the Giau, but ate something and recovered. Then my rear wheel broke in the last part of the final climb. Well, after all tomorrow is another day. But I think that Riccò is a stronger rider than myself at the moment".

Contador's team manager Alain Gallopin somehow echoed Alberto's statements: "I am more confident than I was yesterday. We held on today. We went through some hard times on the Giau, but things went fine in the end. It's not going to be easy though: Simoni, Riccò, Di Luca and Menchov are all strong and dangerous challengers to Alberto".

Gilberto Simoni's after-race smile could be a sign that he was not that exhausted at the end of such a demanding stage; "but my legs are exhausted" he admitted. Adding that "I gave it everything I could today. But this is a high-level and tight race; one may try and attack, but can' make much of a gap. I saw that Contador was struggling at some point, but he recovered well later. I am 36 but I keep fighting anyway. I did last year, so why shouldn't I do it this time again? One year can't change everything".

Danilo Di Luca conceded not being as good as he was the past year, but this doesn't mean that the gutsy man from Abruzzo is giving up the battle. Quite the opposite: "My condition is basically the same as in the year 2005. And I'll keep fighting to the end. The race will be a close one until the finish at Milano".

Sella was just great today, but so was the whole CSF Group-Navigare climbing machine. One of their least-known members is Domenico Pozzovivo, whose main after-stage words were as follows: "Both Emanuele (Sella) and I are tiny climbers, but with different ambitions. He's always hungry to get into some breakaways, and my goal is to stay in the group with the best ones and enjoy its "top of the overall" atmosphere. I'll see what I can do in the ITT tomorrow, but it's not going to be easy forme: I'm not accustomed to its gradients".

Joaquím Rodríguez
The Italian Emanuele Sella reiterated the success he already had yesterday in the 91st Giro d’Italia and won stage 15, a short one with only 153 kilometers to go, but a very hard one and considered as the queen stage of this Giro. The course presented many difficulties before the finish at the top of the Passo della Marmolada, and the bad weather made things worse.

Joaquím Rodríguez, who finished the stage at rank 13, was once more one of the heroes of the stage.

“I really feel very well”, told the rider of Caisse d’Epargne after he crossed the line. “I've had very good feelings since the start of the Giro and today, in spite of the efforts I did yesterday, I had perfectly recovered, which gave me the possibility to go one more time with the winning breakaway. But like yesterday we could do absolutely nothing when Sella attacked. He is really too strong. Anyway, I am satisfied because I was able to be ahead in both the big mountain stages and we will keep on trying to win a stage. We really deserve it!"

Team CSC
Nicely Fought by Voigt and Larsson
Jens Voigt and Gustav Larsson made their mark on Sunday's 153-kilometer queen stage of Giro d'Italia. The route went from Arabba to Passo Fedaia and the rider in the Mountain Jersey, Emanuele Sella (CSF Group) made a repeat performance and took another solo victory.

The peloton had to climb five very tough mountains and the mode was aggressive from the beginning, where among others Sella and Voigt were very active in creating a break. They succeeded on the first mountain and a group of nine was formed.

The break lasted for half the stage but on the third mountain Voigt and five of the others from the group had to let go. Behind them the peloton was also separated, when about 15-20 riders left the others behind and Voigt managed to tag along with this favorite's group all the way up the fourth mountain.

Further back was Chris Anker Sørensen and Gustav Larsson in a group with Andreas Klöden (Astana) and a few others. This group also counted about 15-20 and managed to maintain a lead of one and a half minute to the Voigt group.

Voigt was unable to keep up when the favorites took turns attacking, but behind him Gustav Larsson got across the last climb in good shape so he maintained his chances of moving back into the overall top-10.

Kim Andersen "Again we've gotta hand it Jens Voigt who had yet another great day. He's up there all the way till five kilometers before the end of the queen stage, which shows both great form and will power – very impressive. He's definitely a possible candidate for a stage win before this race is over. Gustav also fought well and I think he's in great shape still also."

"Unfortunately today was most likely the end for Chris Anker as far as the overall standings go. He had a really bad day and this was not the stage to do badly in. He's done his best and we couldn't ask for more. This year's edition of the Giro has been grueling and you pay the price if you have a couple of bad days," said Team CSC sports director Kim Andersen after the tough stage.

Stage 14 Comments Update

Team Lampre - Marzio Bruseghin
A good day for Marzio Bruseghin. In the 14th tough stage of Giro, Lampre's rider showed a very positive performance: he pedaled with the best riders on tough Manghen climb and then he began the last climb to Alpe di Pampeago at his own pace and in the last kilometers he overtook most of the opponents that approach the climb at full speed.

"My legs were hard because of the cold, I was not in a perfect condition - Bruseghin said - So, when the best riders began the last climb at full speed, I preferred to keep my own pace, it was the right decision".

Bruseghin moved into 3rd at the end of the stage. Other blue-fucsia cyclists: Smzyd was brilliant until 3 kms to go and he reached the arrival in 28th position at 11'40", Spilak was 68th at 23'28", Loosli was 73rd at 26'01", Baldato was 94th at 29'43", Gavazzi was 114th at 36'04" and Bossoni was 116th at 36'25", while Lorenzetto had to abandon after a fall in the first part of the stage. Before the start in Verona, Damiano Cunego met his team mates, encouraging them in view of the last week of Giro.

Team Caisse d'Epargne
The riders of the team Caisse d’Epargne, Joaquím Rodríguez and José Rujano, finished third and the fourth in Stage 14 after they were part of a breakaway which started at km 13 km. Another rider of the team Caisse d’Epargne, Fran Pérez, was the same break.

“The team Caisse d’Epargne showed one more time that it is really competitive and always present in the important stages”, commented Eusebio Unzúe after the stage. “With three riders in the break, we could hope to win the today stage. Fran Pérez did a great job so that Rodríguez and Rujano arrived in the best conditions at the foot of the Passo Manghen, but when Sella attacked they just could do nothing, just let him go. Since the beginning of the Giro, we try to go in the breakaways, but there is no way to win a stage. We already tried with Joaquím Rodríguez in the first stage, later with Fran Pérez and Pablo Lastras, and again today. I hope that our job will at least get a reward. We will try again till the end of the Italian race.”

Team CSC
Brilliant Stage 14 Win by Sella
The guy with the Mountain Jersey completely stole the scene during Giro d'Italia's first tough mountain stage. Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare) crossed the finish line solo almost five minutes ahead of his closest pursuer after the 195 kilometers from Verona to Alpe Di Pampeago.

Jens Voigt was part of a break with 12 others – one of them Sella, when they reached the first of two very grueling mountains, Paso Manghen. During this particular climb Sella left the rest of the break behind.

Voigt fought hard to hang on but had to give in and on the final climb he was caught by the favorites, who had kept a low profile for a surprisingly long time considering the amount of attacks in the Giro so far.

The favorites were separated somewhat during the last two or three kilometers, but Team CSC had both Chris Anker Sørensen, Nicki Sørensen and Gustav Larsson among the last 20 riders in the favorite's group. However at the very end all three of them had to give in when Denis Menchov made a move and was the first from the group to finish.

Behind them Giovanni Visconti was fighting for the Pink Jersey but had to let go in the end and Gabriele Bosisio (Team LPR) took it instead.

D.S. Kim Anderson commented, "Jens was up front for a long time and showed great strength and generally speaking I definitely think our effort today was good. The climb towards the finish line was extremely steep and Gustav fell a bit short. There's no doubt he's better on the long less steep climbs. Chris and Nicki did well also until Menchov split the favorite's group and when the pace increased they couldn't keep up. It's been a tremendously tough race so far and it's no wonder all the riders are feeling a bit worn out now."

Tinkoff Credit Systems
Vasil Kiryenka's Stellar Performance Atop Alpe di Pampeago
Stage 14 of the 91st edition of the Giro d'Italia marked the beginning of the mountains for the peloton, the stage took shape a mere 10km into the stage with a large breakaway of thirteen riders which included Tinkoff's Vasil Kiryenka. The Belarussian would cross the finish line in second place 4'38" behind Emanuele Sella (Csf-Navigare).

Sports Director Orlando Maini said of the stage, " the team unbelievably thrilled at the outstanding performance today of Kiryenka. The stage was extremely difficult and very important for the general classification, and from the very outset of the Giro, we stressed to our riders to be attentive at opportunities to escape, even if the distance was a sizeable one from the finish. Kiryenka rode beautifully and cleverly to finish second."

www.dailypeloton.com / www.marca.com

91st Giro d'Italia - Stage 14 Live

2008-05-25T00:04:00.001+01:00

Stage 14 Verona - Alpe de Pampeago/Val di Fiemme 195 km
1553 CEST - Emmanuele Sella's gap on the bunch is down to 5.50 Will Sella's move bear fruit? The Manghen summits is still over 14 kilometres away. One more "The Salbaneo" showed that he just can't wait. Perhaps the other fugitives, who quickly lost a minute to the peloton, were going too slow for him.
He is riding a great rhythm though. The pack was beginning to gain time, so if he wants the mountain points, this was the time to go.Danilo Di Luca is losing some teammates on the Manghen slopes. The Astanas are having less problems than the LPR guys in following the tempo set by Gibo's royal lieutenants.Bertolini doing an impressive job in the pack today.

Overall leader Giovanni Visconti is not having a hard time either. Paolo Bettini is not around to help him today, but another classy riders such as Juanma "the Iron Man from Irun" is. Vincenzo Nibali follow the wheels of Liquigas' co-leader Franco Pellizotti. Sella has created a solid gap on the rest of the breakaway. Sella has 12 seconds on Golcer and 30 seconds on the others of the former break The pack is still about 60 riders strong so the pace isn't that high

45 km to go - The Gruppeto is beginning to form, as Bennatti falls of, and fights back on. 13 degrees celsius (54 F) and 83% humidity on today's stage. Sella has 35 seconds on Golcer and Rodriguez, 50 seconds on the others, more than 1.00 on the World Champion Bettini and the bunch at more than 6.00

Alessandro Bertolini, stage winner a few days ago, Gabriele Missaglia and Venezuela's Juan Carlos Ochoa, all three guys working for Gibo, set the pace back in the peloton.Astana lost just one man so far on the Manghen: Vladimir Gusev. Just look at how the peloton is stretched out. Good job from Bertolini, who seems to have been at the front forever now, and having said that, now Bertolini finally drops off the front.

Riders are beginning to struggle now as the pressure finally starts to show. Maxim Iglinskiy was dropped by the "Rujano group". The Kazakh apparently sat down and kept waiting for the peloton with Contador, Kloeden and Leipheimer. He might well be of help to his three team leaders. Zabel and Bennatti dropped.

The peloton's gap to Sella stays around 07'20". The maglia rosa is currently third wheel in the bunch. Sella has now 7.23 on the bunch. But the Diquigiovanni tempo machine are steadily lifting the pace. Strong riding from Sella; he'll definitely pick up the points for the jersey today.

Andreas Kloeden looks in good shape as he keeps sitting in fourth wheel. Riccardo Riccò is some 20 places behind. The bunch is really getting thinner, the Maglia Rosa off the back, Giovanni Visconti struggles to stay with them. In the bunch it's Possoni who attacks!

1610 CEST - Sella getting a lot of bottles from the team car. Seems unlikely he has drunk the last one, so perhaps he is getting worn out. Possoni, the young climbing prospect from Bergamo (and from the High Road team) was picked by many pundits as one of the most likely surprises of this year's Giro; and he's starting to show off in his favourite kind of battlefield.

Sella went under the 40k to go banner. The top of the climb is just half a dozen kilometres away. Ochoa the last of Simoni's helpers comes to the front. Who will be the first to open up the fireworks? Visconti has three helpers with him, as he tries to limit today's gap. It will be an extremely tough day. Visconti has Tonti, Garate and Seeldrayers accompanying him.

1615 CEST - The current GC leader is putting in a good defense of the Maglia Rosa. He has lost just half a minute to the 36-strong group with all main overall contenders. And the aformentioned domestiques are helping him make up for such deficit. Serpa has a mechanical. The Colombian, one of Gibo's strongest lieutenants, punctured.

1617 CEST - Sella has 8'15" to the favorites now; he looks like a good candidate for the win today; without accidents he should do it. It's incredible how invisible Simoni has managed to be so far in this race; even today when his team has been laying all the pressure. One is not surprised that the other riders are worrying about Simoni.

The first chasers on Sella are 2.00 down, meanwhile, Sella is 3 km from the KOM. Unlike Gibo, Emanuele Sella is being anything but invisible today: "Il Salbaneo", away over the last 140 kilometres, extended his advantage over the "main peloton" to over eight minutes. The pace has really dropped off in the front group. Dropped off being an understatement, of course; only about thirty riders left.

The "Visconti Group" trails them by just 50 seconds. The group with all best ones is 08'10" behind Sella. Visconti is doing well; if he doesn't crash and burn on the final mountain, he will defend the jersey for yet another day. Pfannberger looks as if he is toast, and drops off the favorite group.

1625 CEST - Gap update: Sella leads his closest chasers by 02'06". The group with all top GC men stays 08'40" behind at the latest check. And the Gruppo Maglia Rosa is a further 40" back. The Maglia Rosa is 9.40 down on Sella. 1.00 behind the gruppo with favorites

35 km to go - 1 km to the top of the Passo Manghen. Dog on the road in front of Sella. Some spectators are just idiots. The group is no more as stretched as it used to be a few minutes ago. A clear sign of their lower speed. Another sign is the new gap update: 09'30". Sella is on top of the Manghen and takes more points for the KOM jersey. He is also on his way to make his day more sunnier with a stage win.

1632 CEST - The question then, is how much of himself did he leave on the slopes of Manghen. If the big riders start moving on the final mountain, he could have trouble. We expected more race action or are they saving energy for tomorrows queens stage and the ITT to the Plan de Corones.

Sella is doing some epic riding, isn't he? It's not over until it's over, we know, but his chances to make it to the finish are growing exponentially. Surely, Simoni must move today, given how hard his team is working. Visconti is doing fine too. He lost just a further 15 seconds to the Contador/Simoni/Ricco group over the past few miles, taking his deficit up to only 01'05".

Steve Chainel won the 4th stage in the Circuit de Lorraine. Jonathan Hivert of Credit Agricole remains in the lead. Stay tuned on Daily peloton for a round-up of that race this weekend.

Kiryienka and Rodriguez are the nearest chasers on Sella at 2.40. Nasty, narrow descent today. So thankful that there is no rain today. Di Luca is really watching the Astana duo Kloden and the Accountant.

1647 CEST - José Rujano came in fourth at 03'00", over the summit, with Jure Golcer in fifth place 03'40" behind the solo leader. Ochoa has fallen off, and Vandenbroeck is now leading the "peloton". Vandenbroeck has had a great Giro thus far. The same Golcer fell in the first part of the descent, apparently with no serious consequences thankfully.

Less than 30K for Sella. Over 35k for the "Gruppo". It wasn't Jason McCartney but Slipstream's Jonathan Patrick Mc Carty who abandoned earlier in the stage. Savoldelli is preparing himself for the descent and has put on his vest. Will El Falco strike on the dangerous descent? The group of favorites is led by a horned streaker with only his underwear on as he jogs ahead of the riders and the snow covered slopes.

It's an advantage for Visconti that the favorites didn't attack on the Manghen; the bunch is on top of the climb at about 11.00 down on Sella. Definitely. Visconti is on another good day, it looks like. The gruppo Visconti is on top at 12.45 from Sella. That's about 1.45 behind the Ricco/Di Luca/Simoni/Contador group. Sella's lead ballooned in an impressive way.Barring a catastrophe, Emanuele Sella is going to win today...

1647 CEST - 20 km to go, Sella has 10 minutes on the favorites and 2'30" on the chasers; it's difficult to see how such an experienced rider could mess this one up. In 12 km Sella starts the final climb up to Alpe di Pampeago. Sella's gap on Kiryienka and Rodriguez is down to 1.55. Two LPR riders in front... looks like Bosisio in first place.

In Olympia Tour the penultimate stage was won by Lars Boom. He also extends his lead in the GC. Tomorrow the queens stage through the hills here in the netherlands.

15 km to go - Sella is still riding hard in the front. Impressive. 2'32" between Contador and the pink jersey. Visconti will need to battle for his jersey if he is to keep it. Bosisio is also in with a good chance. The rest of the break that was with Sella are about 2 minutes back from Sella.

www.dailypeloton.com

91st Giro d'Italia - Stage 12 Live

2008-05-23T14:55:00.001+01:00

91st Giro d'Italia - Stage 12 Live Coverage Part 2
30 km to go, Dionisio Galparsoro is about to be caught after 145 kilometers on the escape... now the sprinters teams come to the front for their assault on the Carpi finish line.

Stage 12 Forlì - Carpi 172 km
1646 CEST - Gap update: Dionisio Galparsoro's advantage was down to some 100 seconds with some 30k remaining. He has been away for 145 kilometres, but still has legs good enough to keep riding at 41 kph. Too bad that the bunch is flying at about 48 kph!! "

1652 CEST - The gap hovers around the minute as Galparsoro winds through the streets of downtown Modena. It seems the rain can't be stopped now. The peloton came into town too. They are currently tackling a cobbled section. Tonti, Visconti, Bettini and other Quick Step guys are on the front.

1659 CEST - 20 km to go, Good news on the weather side of the matter: things are taking a turn for the better: it stopped raining as the Giro got out of Modena. And it isn't raining over the line either. The finish is technical and features everyone's favorite...cobbles!! Dionisio hasn't given up the fight yet with his gap falling to 40 seconds and back up to a minute as the peloton strings out toying with the optimistic rider in orange.

Bad news on the breakaway side of the matter: Galparsoro had his lead further reduced to 45 seconds with about 18 km remaining. The peloton will be happy to close the gap in the final 10 km. The roads look dry as we head to the finish and the riders have discarded their rain gear.

A few minutes ago High Road's (as in Mark Cavendish's) DS Valerio Piva talked of today's finish: "Bennati definitely proved that he's the best sprinter around now; but today's finish is more appropriate for those with some good knowledge of track cycling too, like Cavendish and McEwen".

1707 CEST - OOPPSSS, here comes the pile-up of the day!! Some riders, near the front of the field, fell. Amongst them Lampre's Lorenzetto and CSF's recent stage winner Matteo Priamo. Nibali from Liquigas was caught up in the carnage; but the white jersey wearer got back in the saddle. yes.. It looks like Mirko Lorenzetto took the biggest hit.. he is still on the blacktop, now he is up trying to ride.

Showing some fair-play the peloton slowed the pace down. Lorenzetto soldiering on looks to be in agony however. Erik Zabel apparently was among those involved too. But, unlike his Italian teammate, "Ete" did not suffer any serious consequences. Mickael Buffaz and Tony Martin also fell, but were back on the bike soon. Lorenzetto is currently riding too.

Erik Zabel lost some time to the peloton, but no Milram riders stopped to wait for him! Apparently Liquigas' Charly Wegelius also fell too. The Brit is trying to make his way back into the field, and so are many others. AT LAST! Marco Velo finally slowed down and waited for Zabel. The Italian is now pacing the German.

1714 CEST - Barloworld are moving up.. perhaps it is time for the former Italian Champion, Enrico Gaparotto to give the sprint a go today. The one who "benefited" the most from such misfortunes was obviously Galparosoro, still away as the bunch goes through Soliera town, about 8k from the finish.

1715 CEST - 7.5 km to go, More teammates helping Zabel now. Ete hasn't made contact with the "gruppo" yet. He will, sooner or later, but might well pay for such effort in the sprint.

1718 CEST - 6 km to go. The peloton is now being driven by the High Road guys. And High Road's High Pace is making things harder for poor Zabel.

3.5K to go. Ete finally managed to get to the back of the field. But it will take more efforts for him to make it to the FRONT. Which is what he has to do! Cavendish is neatly tucked in the High Road train.

1721 CEST - 3 km to go. The race time has been neutralized. And escapee Dionisio Galparsoro finally caught.

1.7k to go. They are flying! Zabel is nowhere near the front of the strung-out field. But Bennati, Bettini, McEwen are there!

1723 CEST - ULTIMO CHILOMETRO: 1 km to go. Wiggins is pacing Cavendish. Bennati hasn't got any teammates around.

Cavendish left in the wind too soon. Ongarato attacks! 400m to go... Here comes Robbie. And Bennati follows ... here's the sprint... Cavendish is there too! Its a two-man things: Bennati vs. Cavendish! WHAT A FINISH: DAMN CLOSE!

Sure it was either Daniele Bennati or Mark Cavendish. The Italian sprinter is uncertain about his victory too "I don't know. I can't tell"

1726 CEST - here come the news: the winner is .... DANIELE BENNATI!

DANIEEEEEELEEE BENNNAAAAATTTIIIIIII Wins!!!

The Photo finish spoke in favour of the Italian, that notched up his third victory. Cavendish 2nd, McEwen 3rd. Koldo Fernandez in 4th. Paolo Bettini snatched 5th and Germany's Robert Forster was 6th. Daniele Bennati managed to hold off the oncoming Brit by a just couple centimetres or so so.

Benna had the early lead with Cavendish coming on the outside in a burst of speed catching Bennati at the finish line as both threw their bikes at the line. Amazing that Bennati held him off as Cav flew by with a much higher speed over the line.

After finish interviews:

Daniele Bennati: "I've finished Vueltas and Tours already, so I want to make it to Milano this time. I know that tomorrow's stage and the one into Locarno will provide me with some more chances to win, and there's the Varese stage too; with fewer riders in the teams during the last week it's gonna be difficult for us to keep the race under control (and chase down breakaways), but I'll give it a go also in the Varese stage ...".

Giovanni Visconti: "With the Euskaltel guy on a solo breakaway basically all day long, today was a quiet day. Late in the stage we (as in "Quickstep") moved to the front and kept riding tempo; our goal was to avoid potential risks, wet roads are always dangerous, you know. I fell yesterday, but the pain was not that annoying at the end of the stage today, still, I know for sure that it will be hurting again tomorrow. But what matters to me now is that I still have the jersey ".

Andreas Kloden talked again of his (in)famous interview to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. The interview that got CSF-Navigare's boss Bruno Reverberi so upset, as the German reportedly accused "Priamo's team" (aka CSF-Navigare) of having poorer and less serious anti-doping policies than his own team Astana, CSC, High Road and Slipstream. Today Kloeden said that he was misunderstood, perhaps because the true meaning of his words got lost in translation. Commenting, that all he wanted was that all teams would undergo as many tests as Astana, Slipstream, High Road and Team CSC are currently doing (he added that he has done 24 tests so far this year, but this is no problem to him). AND said that he didn't name any names at all in the (in)famous interview.

Claudio Gregori, the Gazzetta dello Sport journalist that interviewed Kloeden, was at the Italian TV after-race talk show, and confirmed that Kloeden DID name names. But not with the intention to be offensive to anyone: the Astana rider was just expressing the hope that all those teams he NAMED might undergo the same amount of tests as Astana, High Road etc, etc.. Well, that was Gregori's version of Kloden's words at least.

Tomorrow's stage 13 travels 177 kilometers from Modena to Cittadella and surprisingly flatter than today's stage and another day for the sprinters to test Daniele Bennati's legs and determination. And perhaps try to keep the ciclamino wearing rider from adding another stage victory to his collection. So pick your favorite and cheer him on.

Thanks for joining us for today's live coverage. Join us tomorrow for Stage 13 for the sprinters duel... assuming some fast legs can make an opportunity to "cheat" the sprinters with a break away and beat them to Citadella first.

www.dailypeloton.com

Urbino crowns Bruseghin

2008-05-20T20:02:00.001+01:00

Bruseghin wins the tenth stage, a 39 km time trial, 8 seconds ahead of the Spaniard Alberto Contador. The Italian from the Quick Step team holds on to the leading position in the general classification.

Marzio Bruseghin has won the tenth stage of the Giro d’Italia, a 39.4 kilometre individual time trial from Pesaro to Urbino, in which the cyclists were forced to race in the rain in some parts. The Italian from Lampre-Fondital, 33 years old, finished with a time of 56:41, and an average speed of 41.705 km/h. Second, 8 seconds behind Bruseghin, was the winner of the Tour de France 2007, the Spaniard Alberto Contador (Astana). Third, 20 seconds behind, was today’s favourite to win, the German Andreas Kloden (Astana). Fourth was Marco Pinotti (High Road), the speciality Italian champion: he finished 36 seconds behind Bruseghin.
THE OTHER STARS – Fifth place for Paolo Savoldelli (LPR), 44 seconds behind. On the final slope, the ”Falcon” had a technical problem (his chain was caught in the pedal) and had to change bikes, losing some time. Menchov finished 6th, 46 seconds behind, but 8 seconds ahead of Nibali, who, in any case, made a good effort, better than his team-mate Pellizotti. Gilberto Simoni had an excellent time trial: a time of 57:43, just 1 second worse than the American Leipheimer. Danilo Di Luca’s performance was disappointing: a time of 58:52, 2:03 behind Contador and 7 seconds worse than Riccardo Riccò, who lost at least 15-20 seconds due to a fall 18 km from the start.
THE NEW CLASSIFICATION – Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) held on to the pink jersey, gaining significantly on the German Russ (Gerolsteiner), who this morning was 34 seconds behind Visconti, and riding, on the whole, an excellent race. The Sicilian stopped the clock at 57:46, the 12th overall time. The new classification is as follows: Visconti has 3:31 on Russ, 5:50 on Bosisio, 6:59 on Contador, and 7:52 on Bruseghin. Kloden is sixth at 7:54, Nibali seventh at 8:04, Savoldelli eighth at 8:09. Riccò is ninth at 8:32, and Di Luca tenth at 8:33
MOVING AHEAD – Wednesday, the Giro continues with the 11th stage: Urbania-Cesena, 199 kilometres over the Apennines, practically without any flatland. There are three King of the Mountain stages: San Marino, Monte Carpegna (category one) and Sorrisoli, which is 25 kilometres from the finish line.

www.gazzetta.it

Big Bennati

2008-05-18T18:26:00.002+01:00

Daniele Bennati has won the esprint the ninth stage of the Draft d'Italia, of Civitavecchia to San Vincenzo, 218 km. The toscano of the Liquigas, 27 years, has done the bis after Milazzo's victory burning Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), which was mending. In the podium also there were Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto) and the German Erik Zabel (Milram). Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) preserves the maillot rose and in the general classification there have no been variations of relief.

THE CHRONICLE - Of Civitavecchia 181 went out. Krivtsov's immediate leak, Buffaz reaches it and the two puts in agreement for the elopement. The average is kept on the 38 per hour while the squad(gang) leaves them to do: in Castiglione della Pescaia's zone, after 130 km of career, the delay is of more 8 '. To them less(fewer) 30 Filippo Savini's fall (Csf), which ended in a pit: the corridor tries to continue, but it(he) is bound to rise to the ambulance. To them fewer 15 It(He,She) Seals, that it(he,she) had attacked in the last one espirnt of San Carlo with Bettini and surprisingly with Ricc ò (getting up almost immediately), it(he,she) goes away with the attackers and it(he,she) tries against foot, without achieving it. But the squad(gang) closes and the fraction is directed towards the foreseen epilogue to the esprint.

Translator : http://traductor.ya.com/translator.asp / Photo: http://www.gazzetta.it

Giro d'Italia - Stage 7 Interviews Roundup

2008-05-16T22:55:00.000+01:00

Below are comments from some of the main characters in Friday's Giro d'Italia hilly stage.

First of all, Gabriele Bosisio, today's surprise stage winner. The young gun from the outskirts of Milan - but resident of a small town near Como in the north of Lombardy - dismissed rumours (if there was any) that he may have upset Di Luca by going for some personal glory instead of helping il capitano: "According to our stage plans I should make it into the breakaway of the day and that is what I did. In case Di Luca was going to attack in the last climb, I would have stopped and waited for him, but as Danilo was too distant (from the front group) we decided that I could try and win the stage. I won, and Danilo had a good result anyway, for he dropped some of his rivals. It couldn't have been any better".

The other side of today's stage was Emanuele Sella, literally in despair after the victory hopes he harboured throughout the day evaporated because he had a flat at the wrong time, only seven kilometres from the finish. He just couldn't hide his disappointment - to say the least - in front of the Italian TV cameras, and when he stopped repeating "nothing goes right, nothing goes right" he explained that "I have never been able to win again at the Giro since my first time back in 2004, I even thought I was never going to win again, but today it was looking like I could make it at last. After staying clear for 180 kilometres I was beginning to hope for victory, I knew that my legs were good, and I was confident that I could be a match to Bosisio. Instead, the unexpected happened". The green jersey he held on to, even taking his advantage up to impressive heights, meant a very small amount of solace, as it was overwhelmed by frustration, but nevertheless he promised that he'll do everything he can to maintain the KOM leadership until the Milan podium; and once his understandable disappointment abated, Sella and Bosisio even traded compliments: "I know him, I know how strong he is, and I know that he's definitely going to have other chances in this race", the stage winner said of his colleague. "He (Bosisio) got a well-deserved stage victory today" was Sella's response.

Team LPR's Danilo Di Luca failed to deliver in front of his home tifosi, but wasn't sounding too embittered after the stage: "Piepoli and Riccò are very strong. Regardless of what someone was saying, Contador is not here on holiday, but I didn't understand his tactics. He never helped us, perhaps because he was waiting for Kloeden, or maybe he was just a little exhausted, I don't know. I attacked 2.5 kilometres from the top of the (penultimate) hill and closed down on Piepoli, who forced the pace again, bringing also Riccò and Alberto with him. It was too late for me to win the stage, but we had "Boss" (Bosisio) in front ... and he really was the boss today; plus some of my rivals got dropped and lost important seconds, so I'm just happy with the way things were".

The solid performance by Alberto Contador, as well as the Spaniard's attitude, had some impact on the Saunier Duval duo Piepoli-Riccò, or at least that's what one may gather from their after stage comments. Leonardo Piepoli joked about it "I know him, and I have never believed that he came to the Giro just to train. I think he will be a protagonist in this race. If being on holiday by the sea before a Grand Tour makes one so strong, I think I'll go on holiday myself right before the Vuelta ...". The Flying Trullo added - about today's stage - that "we planned to give it a try, and we did. We couldn't open much of a gap, but managed to take a few precious seconds out of some dangerous rivals. Hope this will prove useful GC-wise".

Comments from Riccardo Riccó were less funny, but more harsh on Contador: "Things didn't go as we hoped for, but we can be satisfied, also because now we know the Giro's hierarchy better. We know that Contador, who has been telling us all the time that he wasn't in good shape, has been telling us lies all the time. He must have been on holiday by the sea, yes ... by the Madrid sea, preparing for this race. Someone really on holiday until ten days from the start cannot go so fast like he did today. I'm sorry that he didn't cooperate with us. At some point Piepoli and I got upset at him, because we wanted him to help, but he was unmoved, and refused. We didn't appreciate that. Well, besides that there was a nice duel between me and Di Luca. This stage bolstered my confidence however, also because unlike other riders I can rely on a team mate like Piepoli, that proved decisive also today. To have him on my side in the next mountain stages will be crucial".

And what did Señor Contador say in his defence? "I almost reached my limits today. Riccó, Di Luca and Piepoli were going very fast, but the truth is that I didn't think I could reach such level". In his defence, we might also add that, with hierarchy inside Astana arguably not established yet, a more cooperative attitude towards two GC rivals of the TdF winner himself, but also of teammates and fellow overall contenders Kloeden and Leipheimer, could have been potentially self-damaging.

Giovanni Visconti maintained the jersey despite the tricky uphill finish. He must say a big "thank you" to out-of-ordinary domestique Paolo Bettini for that. It doesn't happen every day to have a two-time World Champion riding hard to pace you back into the field, and the young gun from Palermo sounded well aware of that: "Well, it's not the first time that he helps me. People may think that a World Champion would never do that, but Paolo is a true gentleman and he helped me, just like the whole team did. That was impressive. So in the end I could close the gap (when I get dropped) and even put some time into the second-placed rider overall. I hope this may prove to be an important thing".

www.dailypeloton.com

52nd Vuelta a Asturias - Stage 2B

2008-05-04T22:52:00.000+01:00

Samuel Sánchez of Euskaltel-Euskadi won the 17-kilometre ITT from Nueva town to Llanes Sunday afternoon. The Spaniard covered the route in a winning time of 19 minutes 51 seconds, averaging close to 52 kph. Andrei Kunitski (Blr - Acqua & Sapone-Caffé Mokambo) took the runner-up spot at 07" and was the only rider capable to ride faster than Sánchez in the last portion of the parcours. Worthy of mention was also the solid performance of Cristopher Froome, fifth place getter against the clock.

But the "battle for yellow" had Angel Vicioso as winner this time: the LA Aluminios-MSS rider took fourth in the stage, losing just 25" to the first place finisher, but notably gaining 35 seconds on Stefano Garzelli, who at his turn dropped to spot number four on GC. Such that all podium places currently belong to members of the same Portugual-based squad: Vicioso leads his teammate Xavier Tondo by 28" with Tino Zaballa in third at 33" - and Garzelli as "best of the rest" a further two seconds down.

The race resumes Monday with the third and easiest - on paper at least - stage, from Llanes to Avilés over 168 kilometres, with the Robellada, coming after 33 kilometres, as the only categorised climb of the day.

www.dailypeloton.com / www.marca.com

Cavendish Wins Prologue in Romandie

2008-05-01T01:01:00.002+01:00

British High Road fast man, Mark Cavendish, soared to a convincing victory in the opening prologue of the Tour of Romandie on Tuesday evening. The Manxman tore round the 1.9 kilometre prologue in Geneva, Switzerland to take his fourth road win of the season ahead of Italian Daniele Bennati and Swiss rider Michael Albasini. High Road team-mate Bradley Wiggins placed fifth.

"It was the perfect distance for me, if it had been longer it would have been more Bradley's type of time trial." Cavendish, who averaged a jawdropping 56.425kmh for the prologue, said afterwards.

"I went all out from the start, when it's that short there wasn?t much point in doing anything else, with it being hardly two kilometers it's just like a sprint. I was just hoping I could maintain that speed all the way through right to the end. The wind was very strong on the return part. Like a wall! That meant the last 500 metres were really tough though, I had gone in so deep that I thought I might crash. I'm very pleased with this result. I know I've got good form and it's a good sign for the races I've got coming up like the Tour of Italy."

"We didn't bother using references to other riders times during the prologue because it was such a short distance. It was just a question of going as fast as possible and seeing what happened." added directeur sportif Tristan Hoffman. "The course was perfect for Mark - urban, flat, and not too technical, just a few minor corners so he could use all his power. The weather was ideal for the top guys as well - warm and dry."

Although most of his professional wins have come in sprints, Cavendish's Swiss victory is not the first in a time trial prologue - last year he won the opening race against the clock in the Tour of Britain.

www.britishcycling.org.uk

48th Vuelta Ciclista a La Rioja - Stage One

2008-04-26T12:30:00.001+01:00

Francisco José "Fran" Ventoso made the most out of his sprinting abilities and triumphed in the opening stage of the three-day 48th Tour of Rioja, that kicked off Friday with an effort of 142.4 kilometres from Autol to Calahorra, the second biggest town in this Spanish region.
Ventoso, obviously clinching the top spot on GC too, races for Andalucía-Cajasur, the team that stole the show since the early miles of the stage, first of all by getting José Luis Carrasco Gamiz into a breakaway attempt, later with Antonio Olmo, and later on with the 23-year-old José Antonio Redondo Ramos, who tried and tried and tried again until he succeeded in going clear after 66 kilometres, as the race hit Grávalos town.

He wasn't the only escapee though: Redondo was immediately joined by Contentpolis-Murcia, and the peloton, driven by Extremadura and Burgos Monumental, started the chase only as the pairing took about six minutes out of them. Redondo and Palomares kept losing time to the chasing machine, even if quite slowly until Redondo dropped his breakaway companion on the last ascent of the day, about 15 km. from the finish.
Without the precious help from Palomares, and with Italian teams like Acqua & Sapone (working for their fastman Gabriele Balducci) and Serramenti Diquigiovanni-Androni now leading the oncoming group, the Andalusian couldn't do much to avoid the unavoidable. Once more in this race, the stage finishing into Calahorra was going to come down to a field sprint. Redondo was reeled in with very few miles remaining, and what was left of the ride was all about the sprinter's teams keeping the race together and "Fast Fran" finishing off Andalucia-Cajasur's job with a superb sprint. Danilo Hondo couldn't place better than third, with Anthony Geslin the Frenchman in between the Teutonic knight and the stage winner. Balducci did even worse as he snatched sixth place only.
Ventoso honestly admitted that Redondo would have been a more deserving stage winner, but we don't think that the sprinting gun from Cantabria, first across the line at the USPRO Championship in Philadelphia back in the days of 2004, is so upset by the way it all ended at Calahorra. Less happy than the guy are supposed to be David Martín (Orbea), Jorge Sánchez (Contentpolis Murcia) and Portugal's Rui Sousa (Liberty Seguros), all of whom hit the tarmac Friday and consequently had to pull out of the race. With a broken collarbone in David Martín's case. Ángel Rodríguez (Extremadura) and Fabien Patanchon (Fra - Caisse D'Epargne) were the other additions to the list of DNFers.

The Vuelta a La Rioja resumes Saturday with a more challenging leg, that is set to cover 154.6 kilometres between Lardero and Santo Domingo de la Calzada, with three categorized altos (La Herrera, Rivas de Tereso and La Pradilla, the last one with some 25k to go) arguably playing a crucial role in determining the stage - and race - outcome.

www.dailypeloton.com / www.e-bici.com

72nd Fleche Wallonne - Report & Photos

2008-04-24T14:59:00.002+01:00

Kim Kirchen of Team High Road added another win to the squads total this afternoon attacking in the pouring rain on the final 300 meters of the final climb up the Mur du Huy out distancing Cadel Evans, Damiano Cunego by a decisive margin to make up the podium for the Spring Classic. Young Guns Robert Gesink and Tom Dekker followed; with veteran war horse and previous winner Davide Rebellin following to take 6th place.

This is the fourth win for this season for the 29 year old Luxemberger who is having a banner year in his 7th season as a pro rider, having won two stages in the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco a few weeks ago and making up for a winless 2007 season. ”I’d been feeling I was on a good day since the third last climb, which seemed to be far easier than usual, and I was determined to go all out at the finale,” said Kirchen.

The race took off under sunny skies with 199 riders 12 km into the race a group of four escaped including Marco Pinotti (High Road) Bouygues Telecom's Mathieu Sprick, Tinkoff's Alexander Serov and Steven Kleynen (Landbouwkrediet) the quartet gained 15 seconds but were chased down by the peloton in the next 5 km... this would turn out to be the pattern for the next 70 kilometers with the peloton denying any of the optimists with a quick beating back to the pack.

Over the Mur de Huy for the first time at 65 km Rabobank's Columbian Mauricio Ardila ground out the 12% (average) climb to take the max climbing points followed by Bouygue's Johan Tshopp and CSC's Andy Schleck. Attacks continued with small groups attempting a flight off the front in the next 10 km and through the feed zone but none could give the slip to a fast moving peloton that was averaging 48 km/h.

Over the top of the Côte d’Ereffe after 85 kilometers Ag2r's Efimkin led Andy Schleck and Red Bird Fernandez de la Puebla of Saunier Duval/Scott. On the descent fifteen riders got a gap following the three leaders Efimkin, Schleck and Puebla - Niki Sorensen joined his Team CSC mate Schleck with Gerolsteiner duo Fothen and Moletta, Johan Tschopp (Bouygues) and High Road's Pinotti back in the attack, Caisse d'Epargne's Garcia Acosta, FdJeux's Mourey, Remy Pauriol (Credite Agricole), Silence lotto pair Van den Broeke and Bileka, Quick Step's Engels, Slipsteam's Hub Duyn.

10 km up the road 4 more riders joined the 15, CSC bolstered by Kolobnev for three riders in the move , Martens of Rabobank, Gilbert (FDJ) and Donald of Slipstream the group moved away increasing the gap to over a minute as 1’15 over the main pack with Lampre's Spilak trying to bridge up. Caisse d'Epargne getting some help from Barloworld led the chase behind.

As the 19 went over the Mur du Huy for the second time near the half way point of the race Johan Tschopp led for the max points with Efimkin and Pinotti following. The peloton followed over the crest at 1:50 as the sky opened up and rain poured down. In the next 12 km the group continued to slowly increase their lead to 2:30 - 108 kilometers in the race. Marco Pinotti claimed the max points over the Cote de Peu d’Eau with Tschopp and Mourey with 54 km to go as the peloton started to heat up the chase as the gap dropped below 2 minutes; 1:20 as Lampre came to the front to take a turn at making the pace.

On the next difficulty - Côte de Thon 50 km from the finish the group of 19 split with CSC's Shleck and Sorensen joined by Silence/Lotto's Jurgen Van Den Brouke gapped the group as riders spit out the back.. Pinotti led the counter with Efimkin and Martens joining the attackers gapping their former break mates with 15 seconds as the peloton led by Cofidis followed at 50 seconds. Gerolsteiner's Molletta rejoins the six at the front.

Tired legs again split the chase in the lead group as Slipstream's Hub Duyn slips off the back six others chase the attack on the 1.1 kilometer climb of the Côte de Bonneville. Andy Schleck leads again taking the max points with Van den Broeck and Efimkin hanging on; the group rejoins on the downhill but with 40 km to go the chase is hot on the heels of the 12 survivors. Behind the escapees Caisse d'Epargne and Cofidis lead the chase with the gap at 30 seconds playing cat and mouse with the group ahead.

Vladimir Efimkin attacks and Niky Sorensen joins him with 35 km to go Van Den Broeck and Engels counter the move and follow at 12 seconds as the Caisse led peloton starts picking off the remnants of the break only 25 seconds behind the four leaders in their brave gambit. The two rejoin the leaders as the four go over the Côte de Bohissau the gap is 25 seconds as the peloton goes over the summit chasing the determined quartet in the rain and wind.

Maxime Montfort of Cofidis counter-attacked and joined the four with 30 km to go; Milram's Girvko brides with Rabobanks Ten Dam, De Waele (Landbouwkrediet) Aussie champ Matthew Lloyd (Silence/Lotto) and we had 9 leaders driving it through the rain as Caisse leads the peloton at 30 seconds. Lampre's Righi makes a giant effort off the front and bridged to the escape as Grivko attacked. Behind the pace in the peloton and the rain have decimated the peloton with about 60 riders left.

Andriy Grivko makes a brave effort and is in the lead at the bottom of the penultimate climb of the Côte d’Ahin behind the Lampre and Cofidis led peloton sweep up the break. The break was absorbed at 16 km to go as Larsson leads, Grivko passed by Efimkin and Weggmann on the attack and then caught by the peloton. The fates strike Larsson as he crashes with 6 km to go as German champion Fabian Weggman went it alone as Efimkin falters behind Larsson losing ten seconds.

A strong ride by Weggman kept the pack at bay with a 15 second gap in the final 2 km as he started the final climb up the Mur du Huy as a group of the favorites followed on his heels. 1km to go Weggman struggled on the climb with 20 seconds. Evans, Rebellin and Kirchen lead the favorites as Weggmann is caught. Evans led at 300 meters Kim Kirchen caught Evans in the final meters to take the win with Damiano Cunego in for third with Rabobanks' Gesink and Dekker in for fourth and fifth.
High Road’s Kim Kirchen outclassed his rivals for a strong win in the Fleche Wallone Classic on Wednesday - despite fears that he had been using the wrong gear at the finish!

“I thought it was too big a gear, I went up the last 300 metres in 53x21.” Kirchen said afterwards. “but I was stronger than three years ago - when I also waited until almost the last possible moment to attack. That time, in 2005, I finished second, but on this occasion I’ve taken the most beautiful victory of my career. Often I’ve left it too late to win, and after attacking I kept on thinking I would get caught, but it didn’t happen.”

Kirchen said blasting off in the middle of the final climb, the daunting Mur De Huy, came after “following Davide Rebellin [2007 winner of the same race] for as long as possible. He’s always good at calculating how to win a race like Fleche.”

“On a wet day like today knowing the final climb, where to position yourself on it and where to attack was crucial. It’s important when it’s dry, but on a wet day like Wednesday, past experience of a race like Fleche was vital.”

Morale has been good in High Road since January, Kirchen reported, when Andre Greipel began the year with victory and four stage wins in the Tour Down Under.

“It was a great way to kick off the season, just what we needed to get started well. Then at the Tour of the Basque Country, winning two stages meant I was even keener to do well in the Ardennes Classics.”

Kirchen is the first rider from Luxemburg to win Fleche Wallone, a race which has been running since 1936.

“I didn’t know that, I’m not somebody who looks at the record books a lot, but being the first rider from Luxemburg to win Fleche does make me feel proud.”

www.dailypeloton.com

43rd Amstel Gold

2008-04-22T15:19:00.001+01:00

Lampre's Damiano Cunego took a brilliant victory on the Cauberg today coming around a spent Frank Schleck of CSC in the final 25 meters for a decisive win of several bike lengths. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) came off Davide Rebellin's wheel to take the final podium step with the Italian veteran taking fourth with Rabobank's Thomas Dekker fifth.

The first five finishers were part of an group who made the final selection of nine riders who made the split from a group of about 30 riders by an attack by Astana's Sergey Ivanov with about 16 km to go.

22 year old Albert Timmer (Skil/Shimano), Yuriy Krivtsov (AG2R La Mondiale) and Kristof Vandewalle of Topsport/Vlaanderen were the early breakmates leaving the peloton after 33 kilometers into the 257.4 km race the trio worked well together to gain near 13 minutes on an unconcerned peloton that started to put the heat on with 100 km to go.

Did I say heat? Well it was more of a slow boil as the Rabobank, Lampre, and Gerolsteiner, worked together sending riders to the front to pick up the pace. Michael Barry of High Road took some long pulls on the front stretching his legs and stretching out the peloton as well, and inadvertently getting a gap on a peloton pretty much unwilling to put out too much effort, too early.

As the trio passed through Valkenberg with 76 km to go the gap was down to 6:20 with the three continuing to work well together and looking no worse for the wear for the some 170 km they had been on the attack. Lampre, Caiss d'Epargne and Liquigas threw a riders to the front to stamp out the quickening pace.

With 59 km to the finish the CSC's Gustav Larsson drove the pace with Gerolsteiner in attendance as the gap closed down to 3:30... Larsson must have heard the whip as he stretched out the peloton behind him as he snapped the speed up another notch closing the gap to 2:10 Next to test his legs was Milram's Niki Terpstra who made the jump in Norbeek and joined the three castaways at the front on the Wolfsberg with 43 km to go. This brought the bunch into action as Gerolsteiner and Rabo joined the chase.

Terpstra whipped Vandewalle, Krivstov and Timmer on the climb; but the chase was on and the gap fell to 17 seconds as the quartet fell into view of the chase. The four lasted a few more km, but by 35 km to go the break was absorbed.

Rabobanks Robert Gesink led the first attack, with first Mario Aerts (Silence/Lotto) catching on as Astarloa (Milram) followed suit as the three put a hundred meters into the pack. Phillipe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux) and High Roads Kim Kirchen followed and bridged to the group. This group got the peloton's attention a hard chase had the four back as Andy Schleck went to the front and hammered the pace hard discouraging attacks as CSC organized for the final 31 kilometers. A mid pack crash as the riders started the Gulperberg took out Bouygues Telecom leader Xavier Florencio who rose to his feet rubbing his lower back in pain.

Five climbs and 28 km to go. Lampre, Rabo, led the climb up the Gulperberg as CSC's Arveson jumped to the front and then Gesink whipped the lads at the front stretching the riders in a long line behind him. Barloworld's Carlo Scognamiglio attacked on the Kruisberg getting a gap of 100 meters as Quickstep and Lampre responded reeling in the Italian. Next to fly off the front was Liquigas rider Dario Cataldo who lasted a little less time than his compatriot in the wind.

23 km to the finish and Rabobank's Flecha was feeling the pain and pedaling off the back, he wasn't the only one at this point as the natural attrition of over 200km raced and higher speeds made spit riders off the back.

High Roads Kim Kirchen now dragged the peloton gapping the leaders as Dekker and Schleck wasted no time joining him with 21 km left, the three had no luck. But Kirchen attacked again with 18 km to go and Vansummeren fought to get his wheel as he rode away up the Eyersbog. The two went over the summit as David Rebellin led the chase immediately gapping the peloton who doubled there efforts, the result was the peloton split on the climb with a lead group of about 30 chasing Vansummeren and Kirchen; where they were caught on the descent with 16 km to go.

The aqua and gold jersey of Astana's Serguei Ivanov was the next to go off the front... and go he did like he was being chased by timber wolves... Christian Pfannberger (Barloworld) fought to gain Ivanov's wheel pm the Fromberg he looked to be struggling as he came alongside the Russian but then attacked gapping him near the summit. Behind the chase was led by Zabel, Ballan with the other favorites on their heels. 30 went over the top with another group of 25 on their heels determined to catch back on during the descent.

Ivanov and Pfannberger 16 second gap was closed with 13 km to go by the lead group on the descent as Caisse d'Epargne duo Joachim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde, Thomas Dekker (Rabobank), CSC duo Karsten Kroon and Fränk Schleck, Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) joined Ivanov and Pfannberger in a lead group of nine the two groups come within a 100 meters of joining on the descent. The 40 or so riders were stretched and single file and flat out.

12 km to go, they start the penultimate climb of the Keutenberg as the riders struggle with the 22% grade near the top. The gap grows as riders legs refuse to obey... Ballan crosses the top 42 seconds down looking tortured and wasted. It is a minute from the break to the end of the chase group.

10 km to go, Schleck attacks, Rebellin joins as Valverde, Kroon, and Dekker follow. Rebellin gaps the others as Ivanov struggles to rejoin. The nine race on as Robert Gesink with Freire on his wheel drives the chase working to bring his captain to the front. Dekker sits on.

Behind the chase is led Rabolad's Gesink and Freire, High Road's Kirchen, Silence/Lottos Vansummeren, Gerolsteinger duo Fabian Wegmann and last years winner - Stefan Schumacher,kRinaldo Nocentini (AG2R), Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues), Simon Gerrans (Crédit Agricole), Benoît Vaugrenard of Francaise des Jeux, and Kjell Carlström (Liquigas).

6 km to go, the nine had a gap of 15 seconds on the chase as Spanish Champion Rodriguez continued to hammer the pace on Valverde's behalf. On the climb of the Cauberg the group splits again with Rodriguez, Schleck, Cunego, Rebellin and Dekker gapping their rivals.

Under the flamme rouge of 1 km to go Rodriguez pulls off having given everything he could for Valverde. Rebellin takes the point, with Schleck, Ivanov, Valverde and Cunego on his wheel. Dekker falters and fights back as does Pfannberger and Ivanov. Schleck takes the lead and has a bike length on Cunego, Rebellin next with Valverde on his wheel. The four riders almost take the official car chute and correct at the last minute Valverde slows as Rebellin comes back on the course. 30 meters to go and Cunego accelerates around Schleck to the right. Valverde comes around Rebellin but his legs have nothing as he slow motion pedals around the Gerolsteiner rider.

Cunego side by side with Frank Schleck gains ground and picks up speed as Schleck tries to command his legs to catch him... the orders are issued and only silence returns! Cunego takes the win by two bike lengths as he distances himself from the CSC rider. Franke doesn't make a secret of his disappointment as he finishes... Valverde finishes third two seconds down with Rebellin doing his final Amstel Gold in tow for 4th place. What a Finish!! Thomas Dekker in for 5th.

www.dailypeloton.com

69th Paris-Camembert

2008-04-16T23:45:00.001+01:00

Caisse d'Epargne leader Alejandro Valverde has won the 203-kilometer semi-classic Paris-Camembert. Finishing in a town famous for its cheeses, the Spaniard crossed the line ahead of French domestic stars Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) and Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux) after an uphill group sprint: the rolling Normandy hills had not done quite enough to whittle down the field significantly. It is his third win of the year, and will come as a welcome tonic after being beaten to Klasika Primavera triumph by Damiano Cunego at the weekend.
Thanks to this finish, Jérôme Pineau jumps into the lead of the Coupe de France, holding a fourteen point advantage over closest challenger Casper.

Speaking on www.cyclisme-caisse-epargne.fr, the victor said: "It is a victory for the whole Caisse d'Epargne team, and it proves again that we are really becoming an exceptional team. We were capable of controlling the numerous escape efforts that were unleashed all day long, until the last, Sandy Casar's effort. The Frenchman broke away 11 kilometres from the finish and we only caught him a kilometre from the line, without a problem. I was feeling very good and I started the sprint powerfully 500 metres from the finish, which allowed me to win comfortably enough from Pineau and Vaugrenard."

Although Valverde previously declared that he would not be tackling the Ardennes Classics as strongly as in previous years, this seems rather up-in-arms given his recent results. Valverde struck a determined if slightly cautious note: "Only four days and it will already be the Amstel Gold Race. My condition continues to improve little by little as before and I hope to be good for the Classics, although I know the level of my rivals is already very high and that it will not be easy for me. I am nonetheless very motivated to do well in the next races and I hope to be able to be at the top because the Classics are very important events and ones which suit me well."

www.dailypeloton.com / /www.elmundodeportivo.es

Boonen picks up much needed victory in Roubaix

2008-04-14T22:54:00.003+01:00

When Tom Boonen crossed the finish line in the Roubaix velodrome for the second time in his career as a winner, a lot of things must have gone through his mind. Until today, the Belgian had struggled to find the winning legs that brought him the legendary treble of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix and the world championships in 2005. A good 2006 also followed with wins in the Tour de France, another Ronde triumph, not to mention a bunch of semi-classics. But 2007 was a much leaner year for the Quick Step star, as even the Tour de France green jersey and two stage victories did little to hide the fact that he couldn't win one of the sport's big Monuments.

For a rider's entire season to be judged on two races during the most important week of the Spring Classics may seem a little unfair, and Boonen's reaction at the finish line was clearly one of relief. "Phew!" he said, "I can go on again for a little while." The 27 year-old had been made to endure weeks of doubting in the media, but answered his critics in style today.

"It's fantastic to win a race under a lot of pressure," he said, "but the only person who didn't need to have doubts was me. Doubts aren't good and today I wasn't in doubt, otherwise you can't win here. Criticism? If I win there is criticism, but also if I don't win, so in the end I shouldn't care about that. I didn't announce [that I would win], I only said that I would be good, but then the question is if that will be good enough to win."

He then explained that he was fed up with the mind games that have been played out in the Belgian press. "By saying that I want to be good in this week I'm not picking up extra pressure, because that pressure would be there anyway. The problem is that if I say that I want to be good, it turns out to be 'Boonen wants to put on a show' in the paper. My words are easily taken as the truth, or more easily changed to make them true," he stated.

"I shouldn't be saying that I will not try to win the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. And if I try - I repeat - try to win them, then that turns into 'Boonen puts all his money on two races', or 'Boonen is a pompous twit'. Going for those two races is just the normal run of affairs, but now everything is considered good again," he said with a sardonic smile on his face. "I won, so ... good.

"These are the two races that I really like," he continued, "and I've never been hiding that. It takes a lot of energy as you have to live and train for it for so long. I've been thinking about these races for almost three months now. I went through all possible scenarios and that's what you think about during the race."

Back in 2005, Boonen powered past George Hincapie and Juan Antonio Flecha in a virtually identical three-man sprint in the Roubaix velodrome. But asked to compare his victory of three years ago with that of today, Boonen rated this latest triumph as more satisfying. "There were two other riders today and I think these guys are a level higher than Flecha and Hincapie. We rode with an average of 43.5 km/h, and I believe this edition was a tougher race than back then."

After the finish line Boonen crashed into the arms of his brother and was clearly ecstatic about his win. "This time the explosion of emotions after the finish line was bigger. It was a long time since I won a race of this calibre," he said.

"Today I think I rode the perfect race. We made few mistakes and in the finale we ended up riding in the front with the strongest men of the race. When I attacked I didn't feel like being the strongest man of the three. But as we were getting closer to the finish that feeling tilted towards confidence, and in the end I wasn't at all scared to show up on the velodrome with these guys.
"From the Carrefour de l'Arbre onwards, I did all I could to get them under control," he explained about his tactics. With Alessandro Ballan and Fabian Cancellara he had two very strong riders accompanying him, but Boonen played down that they were still as strong as many were thinking.

"They were dead tired. Cancellara had cramps up to his ears, and Ballan was happy that he wasn't dropped on the Carrefour de l'Arbre. If you know that, you need to be a realist and not the smart-ass that attacks them. Imagine going all out and Cancellara manages to stay on your wheel, then you end up risking losing it anyway. Once we were on the track it was easy because we were with the three of us; everybody was on the podium, which makes them keen to keep riding.

"In the end I'm very happy that I won, because of the victory. Not because some people were starting to fear for my career. Now I will cherish this victory and I hope that everybody in Belgium is as happy with it as I am."

www.cyclingnews.com

54th Klasika Primavera Amorebieta

2008-04-13T15:51:00.001+01:00

The "Basque-Navarran Trilogy", including also GP Miguel Indurain and of course the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, came to an end Sunday with the 54th Gran Premio Primavera, a single-day event (ranked 1.1 and part of the UCI Europe Tour calendar) held over a local circuit, with the start and finishing line situated at Amorebieta town - even if it was moved from its "traditional" place, Gudari Street, to Calle Nafarroa. First across the line at the end of the 171.6-kilometre bikefight was Damiano Cunego (Lampre), who notched up his second victory in the space of a couple days only.
The man from Verona and another well-known guy such as Alejandro Valverde attacked in the third passage over the Muniketa ascent and made the gap after previous breakaway groups weren reeled in. Chasers to the front duo spared no efforts, but there was perfect cooperation between the two world-class riders, on the last passage over the third category Autazagane, that they crested with about 4k to go, as much as in the very final rush to the line.

They made it to the final straight together, but were joined by Mikel Astarloza (Spa - Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Kjell Carlström (Fin - Liquigas) in the last hundred metres. Still, Damiano had legs quick enough to launch the sprint at the right time and hold off Valverde to win by about half-a-wheel length. Carlström, paying the price of his chasing efforts, couldn't match Damiano's speed in the sprint and took third, giving the race podium some Nordic flavour at least, whilst Astarloza had to settle for 4th place only, to the dismay of fans of the "orange warriors", that finished their home campaign with quite a poor balance. The next group, consisting of about a dozen guys, came in 12 seconds behind. Igor Romero of the Orbea-Oreka squad was crowned King of the Mountains.

www.dailypeloton.com / es.eurosport.yahoo.com

48th Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage Six

2008-04-13T00:00:00.000+01:00

The sun finally made its way back over the 48th Tour of the Basque Country Saturday. And especially over the yellow jersey of mighty Alberto Contador, that claimed the overall title also in this race at the end of the sixth and closing leg, a demanding challenge to the clock held over 20 kilometres, with the start/finish line situated at Orio town.

The stage turned out to be a clash of two giants between Contador and Cadel Evans. But not much of a close fight, we have to say: the Spaniard rocked the clock since the first time check, and was leading the Australian by over 20 seconds after four kilometres. He kept his winning pace all the way to the line and set the best finishing time (29'10"52) of course, beating the Silence-Lotto's world-class rider (29'32"27) by 22 seconds. "Best of the rest" was Thomas Dekker, third place finisher in the GC too, and kicking Damiano Cunego - that snatched 4th both in the stage and overall standings - out of the podium spots.

Paris-Nice revelation Robert Gesink (5th at 01'16"), Maxime Monfort of Belgium (6th), Stefan Schumacher (7th), Chris Horner (8th), Sandy Casar of Paris (9th) and Marco Pinotti of Bergamo-land (10th) filled in the other top ten spots of thee day. Monfort, Mikel Astarloza, Kim Kirchen, Casar, Ezequiel Mosquera and Franck Schleck followed Contador, Evans, Dekker and Cunego in the final overall standings instead.

Alberto Contador obviously won also the prize reserved for the top Spanish finisher while Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel turned into the best-placed local competitor after the consequences of yesterday's last-minute fall forced David Herrero not to start in the final day.

www.dailypeloton.com / www.as.com

48th Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage Five Updated

2008-04-12T13:11:00.000+01:00

The 48th Tour of the Basque Country, supposedly one of the toughest and most hard-fought bike races in the international calendar, seems to be almost "freezed", and not (just) because of bad weather and low temperatures, but due to the superiority of Alberto Contador and the Astana team. None of the other possible contenders took advantage of the opportunity to try and topple the "race monarch" the first five stages provided them with, and today's 162-kilometre leg from Vitoria-Gasteiz into Orio town, featuring three second category climbs and one third category ascent, but notably the uphill finish at Orio, basically was no exception to the rule.

Yes, somehow they tried today, but it happened only in the very last portion of the stage, and with little or no success at all: too little, too late. Plus, Contador is in great form, and if it had not been for another world-class cyclist such as Damiano Cunego, first across the line today and getting more and more on-form as the Giro d'Italia kickoff gets closer, as usual, (too bad that he's NOT going to race the Corsa Rosa this year, eheh ...), he would have sealed his domination of the race with yet another stage success.

Keeping up a recent race tradition, also Friday's stage was marred by cloudy skies, rain and wind, taking toll on the bunch. The early portion of the ride was peppered with breakaway attempts: Ivan Santaromita (Ita - Liquigas) and Igor Astarloa (Spa - Team Milram) gave it a try first, later it was Matej Mugerli (Slo - Liquigas), Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr - Team High Road) and Andriy Grivko (Ukr - Team Milram). But the gap was made for real only when Mugerlj and Grivko attacked again at kilometre 69, this time alongside the Basque Egoi Martínez, doing his best to strengthen his position atop the KOM classification but also make up for Euskaltel's poor tally so far in the contest, and the climber Bernhard Kohl (Aut - Gerolsteiner).

The Ukrainian unfortunately punctured soon later, and Mugerlj was rapidly dropped too, so that just two guys remained on the front 77 km. into the stage. Still, the former Discovery man and the former T-Mobile rider were not allowed to build a significant lead. Sandy Casar of Paris and FdJ attacked the field, that split in two halves on the alto de Alkiza descent, and started his solo attempt to close down on the Lasterketa Burua. He was not going to succeed though.

The gap increased to two minutes at the Andoain meta volante with about 50 km. left, but stopped growing as a few guys from Lampre and Saunier Duval-Scott joined Astana at the front of the peloton, and quickly kept coming down, slowly but steadily, since. There was room enough for Martínez to pick up more and more King of the Mountain points at the summit of Santa Ageda, Alto de Alkiza and Alto de Aia, and for the Austrian to have his slice of glory at the aforementioned Andoain sprint, but despite perfect cooperation between them their hopes to get the biggest prize of the day vanished with about 20 kilometres to go. Efforts from the "Red Bird" squad, driving the 40-strong peloton that brought them back, proved crucial in this sense.

With (what was left of) the main peloton together again, a new, key part of the stage (and race) began on the short - 1,800 metres - but daaaaaaaamn demanding - 11.5 percent as average gradient, 18% as maxium gradient - Alto de Aia. Caisse d'Epargne lifted the pace in order to make things harder for Contador, but the Astana leader was always up to the challenge. The battle started as Joaquín Rodríguez finally made a move, but the yellow jersey himself looked after covering it. Still, this mountain monster and the skirmishes it generated succeeded in breaking the field apart; some riders even had to walk their way to the summit, others stayed in the saddle only thanks to the unrequested help from some "fans" who pushed them. Cadel Evans and Franck Schleck didn't have such kind of problems however: they joined Contador and Rodríguez to set up a 4-man lead group with the finish line about 10 km. away.

Thimgs stayed fluid on the descent into Orio, made dangerous by the slippery road. Thomas Dekker and Damiano Cunego (re)joined the front group; David Herrero, Mikel Astarloza, Davide Rebellin and a few others also did next. Euskaltel's Astarloza even gave it a shot at going away solo with 4k remaining. In vain. A dozen riders were in the front group as it went under the flamme rouge, but Contador had enough of their company and attacked in the last hundred metres.

Someone was strong good enough to follow his move this time. Someone going under the name of Damiano Cunego, who proved faster than the Spaniard in the two-man battle over stage victory, and took line honours clocking 04h02'48". Dekker, Kirchen, Rebellin and Joaquín Rodriguez filled in the other top six spots at 05 seconds. Still, they were credited with the same finishing time as the top two finishers. Ezequiel Mosquera, supposed to be Contador's most dangerous overall challenger until today's stage, came in seventh at 16". Maxime Monfort, Mikel Astarloza and Igor Anton made the top ten of the day complete, and Chris Horner rode to a solid 11th place finish, 22 seconds behind the stage winner. Cadel Evans snatched 14th.

Riccardo Riccó and David Herrero were the next victims of the weather as they fell in the last kilometre; the latter even badly hit his collarbone. Damiano Cunego wore the txapela (the typical Basque hat) on the podium today, and Contador put the yellow jersey on his shoulders once more. The man from Madrid now leads Cunego, Kirchen, Rebellin, Dekker, Herrero - still atop the points classification - and a few more, amongst whom skilled TTist Cadel Evans, by eight seconds, with only tomorrow's race decider - an individual challenge against the clock of some 20 kilometres running around Orio - between himself and the final podium. At their turn Rabobank lead Saunier by 58 seconds in the team standings, by the way.

After-race Comments

"I want to dedicate this success to my compañeros, that have worked a lot" said Damiano Cunego to a Basque TV journalist. "To win a stage here is a special thing. In my five times at this race I was able to get some good placings and come close to stage victory, but never got any until today. Today was an unusual (day in the saddle) though, because of the cold and the rain. And regarding the impressive (Alto de Aia) climb, I didn't know that ascent, but managed to stay with Schleck, Contador and all the best ones, and in the end I gave it a go at winning and everything went fine. It was a pity that Patxi (Vila) couldn't stay with me, but in conditions like today's even a 30-second deficit is something hard to make up for".

Asked about his overall chances in the contest, The Little Prince said that he might try something in tomorrow's stage, but "all I want to do now is celebrate today's victory". Last but not least, the man from Verona admitted that, as an Italian, he regrets not taking part in the forthcoming Giro, and hopes he'll be back to his country's Grand Tour (which he won in the year 2004, btw) soon. But his big target in the current season is Le Tour, and now he just wants to focus himself on that.

Next in front of the Euskal Telebista cameras was Alberto Contador. The GC leader agreed with Cunego on the toughness of today's race, because of both the weather conditions and the Alto de Aia slopes, commenting further, that the last climb was a bit too short and far from the line for his (and Joaquín Rodriguez's) move to make a solid gap and bear fruit.

Questioned about his own overall chances and tomorrow's ITT, he said that first of all his Vuelta balance is positive anyway, with one stage win and five days as race leader already in the bag. Sure a victory in the GC would be truly welcomed, also as a way to pay his teammates back for the extraordinary job they've done all through the event; plus, he likes TTs like tomorrow's. But much would depend on his condition come Saturday afternoon. Contador picked Cadel Evans and David Herrero as most dangerous rivals tomorrow, but knows well that they're not the only guys he should watch out for.

www.dailypeloton.com / www.marca.com

48th Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage Four

2008-04-11T00:16:00.000+01:00

Not even the five difficulties, four of which situated in the second half of the stage, the parcours had in store for the 146 riders who showed up at start town Viana stopped Thursday's fourth leg of the Euskal Herriko txirrindulari itzulia, that finished into Vitoria (Gasteiz in the local language, the political capital of three Spanish provinces comprising the Basque region) after a journey of 162 km, from coming down to the traditional field sprint. But they came daaaamn close this time. The Luxembourgian sprinter Kim Kirchen (Team High Road) notched up his second victory in the 2008 edition of the contest, and Alberto Contador wore the overall leader's yellow jersey also on the podium after the stage. But the race was absolutely unusual, and had a really bizarre outcome.

But let's start at the very beginning. One more time the stage got off to a flying start. Jorge Azanza and Ivan Velasco tried to make the headlines for Euskaltel-Euskadi, so far quite disappointing in their home race. But the Spanish pair and fellow early attacker Alexander Botcharov (Rus - Crédit Agricole) were allowed to stay clear for a very short time only. The same happened to another "orange warrior", Egoi Martínez, on the move alongside Jérémy Roy (Fra - Française Des Jeux), Xabier Zandio (Spa - Caisse D'Epargne) and Daniele Righi (Ita - Lampre). Despite the addition of helpers Tom Stubbe (Bel - Française Des Jeux) and Koos Moerenhout (Hol - Rabobank) the front group couldn't go too far either.

Well, not all of them were reeled in: Tom Stubbe managed to ride away from the others, and his chances to make the "breakaway of the day" got bigger as he was joined by four more escapees: the Australian national champion jersey holder Matthew Lloyd (Silence-Lotto), the Italian Morris Possoni (High Road), on the attack for the second day running, his compatriot Dario Cataldo (Liquigas) and - of course - one Basque knight, Amets Txurruka.

One more time, once the gap was made, it didn't take long for the frontrunners to build up a significant margin: Stubbe, Lloyd, Possoni, Cataldo and Txurruka, working perfectly with each other, were leading the bunch by three minutes at the km. 35 check. After that, and still following in the footsteps of what happened in previous stages, their advantage basically kept yo-yoing for some time as the peloton got a little more serious about the chase, but not too much. With the "Red Bird" team Saunier Duval taking matters into their hands, but Astana not cooperating, the gap was down to two minutes on the toughest - and coming too early - climb of the day, the first category Alto de La Herrera (Possoni won the points there) but kept growing again later.

The rain falling over much of Europe these days made a brief comeback to the race. Brief, but long enough to have a devastating impact on Paolo Bettini: the World Champion fell - for the umpteenth time in the last two years - while coming down the Alto de Herrera and was forced out of the race. Amets Txurruka took revenge on Possoni at the top of the next climb (Zaldiaran) and was first across the line also at the Vitoria hot spot sprint. His victory at Vitoria was followed by a victory at Alto de Vitoria, as the Basque took the KOM prime from Possoni and Stubbe, with the gap still hovering around two and a half minutes.

Then Astana took up the chase at last, and the advantage started its decline for real. It was two minutes in the flat portion that came with 50 kilometres left, 01'30" around the 35-km-to-go banner, and a mere, little sixty seconds a dozen miles from the finish, with the sun trying to elbow its way through the clouds and some more rain rapidly kicking it out of the race. In the meantime, the front group had been downgraded to quartet as Dario Cataldo had lost contact, Morris Possoni had won the meta volante at Treviño and Lloyd the Aussie stamped his authority on the third category Alto de San Martin Zar.

The bunch was on their heels, but not that much, and the finish line was getting closer; so, as predictable, cooperation amongst the escapees ended in the last ten kilometres, while taking on the last ascent of the day (Alto de Zaldiaran. again): Lloyd started the fireworks, and only Txurruka countered his move. But when the Aussie picked up the pace again, the Basque had to give up. For a while at least, for Possoni came to his (and his own) rescue and both guys regained Lloyd's wheel in the last descent, 6.7 km.from the finish.

Astana apparently weren't too hungry to ride their legs off in the pursuit, neither any other teams were, and the gap was still a decent 35 seconds as the stage entered the five closing kilometres. This boosted the morale of the three frontrunners, back to helping each other and flying on the flat roads into Vitoria/Gasteiz at 65 kph, but despite all efforts they put in their chances got slimmer as the gap was down to 12" under the red pennant.

The last thousand metres were truly epic and dramatic: Possoni, Lloyd and Txurruka perhaps turned back a bit too many times, and Possoni maybe launched his sprint a bit too late. But they never gave up, and at some point it looked like the Italian was going to make it ... but, but ... but paradoxically and cruelly enough, after staying clear almost all-day long, Morris and the two others were captured in the veeeeery last few metres. Well, in fact, only one rider caught Possoni and denied him the joy of victory. And it was a teammate of his!!!!!!!!!! Yep, Kim Kirchen won the stage ahead of Possoni, with David Herrero ... back to the place he belongs to (he scored his third-place finish in four days!!!). Lloyd took fourth and Txurruka snatched a solid seventh place result.

In his first after-race statements Kirchen, talking in fluent Italian, "apologised" to his team-mate: "He deserved to win, but I'm a young rider, and you just can't ask me to give up my chances of victory when I'm given some, you know. Had I realized it was Possoni that was going to win, I would have stopped myself". Will Possoni believe and "forgive" him? hmmm ...

We don't know about that, but there's one thing we can tell you for sure: any would-be "peacekeeper" inside Team High Road is not going to have a easy time tonight ...

www.dailypeloton.com and www.publico.es

Oscar Freire takes revenge

2008-04-09T23:33:00.000+01:00

Gent-Wevelgem reunites the best classic cyclists since the very beginning.

Every year the cycle race is an exceptional event. Surely everybody remembers how Marcus Burghardt started under a red flag last year. The fierce reaction of the triple champion Oscar Freire came too late. This way we have a second German champion, after Andreas Klier.

There are only few or no other classic cyclist tours which can be proud of such an international champions list.

The biggest champions have won once or several times Gent-Wevelgem : Briek Schotte, Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, Walter Godefroot, Francesco Moser, Sean Kelly, Mario Cipollini, Tom Boonen…

We only mention some names … the others can be found in the complete honour list.

Specific tour cyclists, such as Jacques Anquetil an Bernard Hinault, have won this tour as well.

The development of this classic tour Gent-Wevelgem would not have been possible without the numerous efforts of the founders Gerard Margodt and especially Georges Matthys.

Both have passed away at an advantaged age. They have organised Gent-Wevelgem for the first time in 1934 …

Their task was taken over by the 10 members of the organising committee ‘Het Vliegend Wiel’. In 1982 Luc Gheysens took over the presidency of Georges Matthys.

Till 1994 the organising newspaper was the unique sponsor. From 1995 onwards, Bernard Langedock, secretary, together wit the complete committee of ‘Het Vliegend Wiel’ have put all their efforts in the course. Without their continuous support Gent-Wevelgem would not be the same today.

 At last I would like to thank our faithful sponsors and especially the municipality of Wevelgem, which through the years has contributed (and not only financially) to the success of this course. Our previous mayor, Gilbert Seynhaeve, was a fierce supporter. Our current mayor, Jan Seynhaeve, has taken over this passion and continues this mission together with the municipal council. They deserve our greatest esteem.

When the world cup was replaced by the ProTour in 2005, Gent-Wevelgem was nominated immediately.

As a ProTour competition Gent-Wevelgem belongs to the worlds cycling top.

The participation in the ProTour accelerated the renewal and the professionalism of the organisation of Gent-Wevelgem.

This innovation can be found in a new logo and a new style of Gent-Wevelgem in 2008.

Next to this the organisation also took a big interest in the security of the cyclists.

In order to limit the risk of falls when descending the Mount Kemmel, this year a special alternative asphalted road has been chosen, especially rearranged by the municipality of Heuvelland. There has been a more selective choice of track as well.

We hope to meet you at one of our hospitality events; at the start in Deinze, on the Mount Kemmel, at the arrival or somewhere along the track.

www.gent-wevelgem.be

Cancellara faces Belgian cycling test in muddy Flanders

2008-04-05T23:54:00.000+01:00

Fabian Cancellara's scintillating early season form will be tested to the full when he lines up as one of the favourites for what could be a rain-lashed Tour of Flanders this Sunday.
As the early spring classics move up a gear ahead of next week's 'Hell of the North' at Paris-Roubaix, the Swiss all-rounder has every right to believe he can win the 264 km one-day classic from Bruges to Meerbeke.
Yet more than a few obstacles stand in his way, not Belgium's two-time winner Tom Boonen, or Alessandro Ballan, the man who romped home in unusual Flanders sunshine last year to end Italy's five-year wait for a win.
The 17 steep hills, variously known as 'bergs', on the race course make life tough enough for the peloton.
The fact they are sometimes cobbled, often narrow and usually lined 10-deep with hundreds of beer-swilling, screaming cycling fans makes the job that little bit harder.
And umbrellas are likely to be a big feature on the bergs this Sunday, with the weather men predicting wind, rain and even hail.
Cancellara, a two-time world time trial champion, comes into the race on the back of victory at Milan San Remo and the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.
But even his team manager, Australian Scott Sunderland, knows he will have to excel on several fronts if he is to conquer the race known as the 'Ronde'.
"Fabian's definitely capable of winning Flanders. He's proved at the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan San Remo that he's strong," Sunderland told AFP Friday.
"But Flanders is a different kettle of fish."
The threat of inclement weather has automatically reduced Ballan's victory chances as the Italian is said to dwell in dry conditions.
And that could boost the chances of the weather-hardened Belgians such as Quick Step's Boonen, Leif Hoste of Silence-Lotto, on-form Philippe Gilbert of Francaise des Jeux or Cofidis hard man Nick Nuyens, who finished metres behind Ballan in 2007.
Hoste, a three-time runner-up, will be looking for new Belgian sensation Greg Van Avermaet to earn his spurs and help him shake off his rivals as he bids to shake the 'Ronde' monkey off his back again.
"I don't feel like I'm the eternal runner-up. I'm looking forward, not backwards," said Hoste, third in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
A Belgian victory in what has been a fairly barren season so far for Boonen and his compatriots would go down well in Flanders.
Sunderland said they've done everything possible to be ready, but that anything is possible.
"Material-wise we're ready for all kinds of weather though it looks like wind, rain and even hail - a real spring day in Flanders!" he added.
"But you just don't know how the riders will go in the race. We've got a strong team and ideally we'll hope to have the numbers up there, but keeping the guys together until the end is going to be a difficult task."
The main issue for any Flanders contenders will be the climbs, over three-quarters of which feature in the final 80km.
It's on the 'bergs' that the heart rates of Cancellara, Boonen and Ballan will rise a few notches as they aim to keep pace without falling victim to the treacherous cobblestones.
This year the legendary Koppenberg, the maximum gradient of which rises to a whopping 22 percent, has returned to the delight of fans at least.
It took only one rider to fall on the Koppenberg in 2005, and while Boonen escaped the mayhem in his wake the victory hopes of many of his rivals virtually ended there.

Fuente : uk.eurosport.yahoo.com Foto : www.abc.net.au

Gran Premio Miguel Induráin

2008-04-05T23:12:00.000+01:00

The German mountain goat Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), winner of Gran Premio Miguel Induráin two years ago, got back to Big Mig's land Navarra and rocked the field again in the 2008 edition of the event named after the five-time Tour de France winner, which ran Saturday over 199 kilometres around Estella town. The race result was determined in the short but steep (average gradient: 8 %. Max. gradient: up to 15 %) third category final ascent to the line, situated at Basílica de El Puy. Michael Albasini (Swi - Liquigas) and Joaquín Rodríguez (Spa - Caisse d'Epargne) secured the other top spots, respectively in the same time (4 hours, 57 minutes, 23 seconds) and two seconds behind the winner. Bobby Julich was the best English-speaker at the finish line as he took 11th.

Sunny skies and springish weather conditions welcomed the bunch, that was still together at the foot of the last climb despite multiple breakaway attempts. Spain's Rafa Serrano (Contentpolis-Murcia) and Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel Euskadi), as well as Eduard Vorganov of Russia and the Karpin Galicia team had made the brekaway of the day and built up a six-minute lead over the field. Azanza was later dropped, and the two others stayed clear over the Guirguillano climb just to see their hopes for glory vanish later.

More moves followed on the way to the last ascent, but the likes of Vladimir Efimkin (Rus - AG2R-La Mondiale), Chris Sorensen (Den - Team CSC), Manuel Vázquez (Spa - Contentpolis-Murcia) and Amael Moinard (Fra - Cofidis) couldn't prove themselves stronger than the Gerolsteiner and Caisse d'Epargne chase machines. Such that the final battle broke out on the challenging Puy, with "home side" Euskaltel-Euskadi driving the peloton charge first, but Wegmann, that definitely had a good knowledge of the parcours, stealing the show at the right time to finish off the job done by his teammates all through the day.

Most of the GP Miguel Indurain peloton now moves a little northward to the Basque Country, "crime scene" of the upcoming Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the third round of the UCI Pro Tour, which is set to run Monday thru Saturday next week.

Fuente: www.dailypeloton.com (05.04.2008)

43rd Cinturón a Mallorca (2.2) - Stage Three

2008-04-05T15:08:00.001+01:00

Russell Downing scored again, but as solo winner this time. The Pinarello Racing Team star rider from the UK crossed the line eight seconds clear of his six nearest pursuers in Friday's "halfway" stage, held around Inca town. The 134.4 kilometre leg featured two passages over the second category hill of Sa Batalla. No selection was made there, but still the climb had some significant impact on both the legs of several contenders and the stage outcome: after struggling on its slopes many riders weren't left with enough gasoline to counter the seven-man move that went away with a dozen miles remaining.
Downing was obviously one of the Seven Wonders and successfully attacked his breakaway mates in the final mile. But so was Germany's Cristopher Meschenmoser (Team Ista), who snatched seventh in the day's ranking and took the yellow jersey from teammate Joerg Lehmann. The race opener winner lost 31 seconds to the new GC leader as he finished with the next bunch of 29. The most dangerous GC threat is now another Briton, Daniel Lloyd of the Sean Kelly team, who was on the move both early and late in the stage and is currently down on GC by just a mere second. The Irish squad also got Paidi O'Brien as tenth-place getter and sits in spot number of the Teams ranking, led by Germany's Ista. At his turn Russ Downing powered his way up to the top ten places overall and - needless to say - to the very summit of the points classification.

"The stage was fast and tough, but I worked hard to win it" Downing said, adding that he had a hard time after the first passage over Sa Batalla, but held on and later found the power to take his second victory in a row. When the race hit the ascent again, he was surprised that nobody went on the attack, and that he wasn't dropped again, so he decided to give it a try in the last kilometres of the stage. He must be glad he did. Still, he doesn't think he can be a serious overall contender; his goals in this race were (are) some stage win and to finish atop the regularidad classification. He's not doing bad in this sense, is he?

Cristoph Meschenmoser, who experienced the UCI Pro Tour scene when wearing the Gerolsteiner and Skill-Shimano jerseys in the past, is confident that he can win this race instead, even if he admitted that it's gonna be tough for him in both stages to come. He didn't have a easy time on the Sa Batalla either, but his morale is high, so everything can happen. Even that Daniel Lloyd would stole the yellow jersey ...

www.dailypeloton.com

Etapa y liderato para Di Luca en la Semana Lombarda

2008-04-04T22:21:00.001+01:00

El italiano Danilo Di Luca, del conjunto LPR, es el nuevo líder de la Semana Lombarda, al imponerse un sprint reducido en la cuarta etapa que tuvo como punto de salida y llegada la localidad de Vertova, provincia de Bergamo.

Danilo di Luca, que logra su primera victoria en la presente temporada, se impuso al suizo Roger Beuchat (Diquigiovanni) y al polaco Krystzof Szczawinsky (Miche).

La quinta jornada tendrá como escenario la ciudad de Flero, ya que será punto de salida y llegada y por sus calles y alrededores se completarán los 163,5 kilómetros previstos para la etapa.

Fuente : www.marca.com Foto: www.elmundo.es