Swiss riders Bruno Risi & Franco Marvulli won six days of Maastricht

Swiss riders Bruno Risi & Franco Marvulli have won the six days of Maastricht (Netherlands). Marvulli replaced Risi's former six days partner Kurt Betschart who retired.

Quickstep not at Coppa Sabatini

The Quickstep team decided not to start at the "Coppa Sabatini" on Thursday after the fatal car accident of Paolo Bettini's brother, 42 year old Sauro Bettini. The funeral took place today, in California-Bibbona.

Lampre for Paris - Tours

Daniele Bennati aims at winning the Paris-Tours, race in which the last year he was preceded for few centimetres by the winner Zabel.
In order to try to conquer the penultimate Pro Tour race, Bennati will be supported by a very stong team: Alessandro Ballan, Claudio Corioni, Paolo Fornaciari, Enrico Franzoi, David Loosli, Danilo Napolitano and Mauro Santambrogio.
“Bennati will fight for the victory, but the other riders of the team will be able to be active in every moment of the race” explained Maurizio Piovani, sport director who will lead Lampre-Fondital in France.

Liquigas for Paris - Tours

Stefano Zanatta will manage the squad captained by Luca Paolini, Magnus Backstedt and Enrico Gasparotto. The former Italian champion, who has recently won the Memorial Cimurri, doesn't hide his ambitions: "The victory of the Memorial Cimurri has made me more confident in myself. I finished tenth in Paris - Tours last year, but I feel stronger this year. Paolini and I will do our best to avoid the final bunch sprint..." Both Gasparotto and Paolini will go to Paris after taking part in the Coppa Sabatini on Thursday.

The Liquigas squad for Paris - Tours: Luca Paolini, Magnus Backstedt, Enrico Gasparotto, Dario Andriotto, Mauro Da Dalto, Manuel Quinziato, Marco Righetto and Stefano Zanini.

Cycling tour with Christian Knees along the river Rhine

Last Saturday 80 cycling fans were joining a cycling tour with Christian Knees along the river Rhine, initiated by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.

The tour lead the riders over 33 kilometers from Brühl to Wesseling to Bornheim. After the tour Christian Knees admitted that it was no serious training for him but he enjoyed the tour very much: “It was a lot of fun to talk to the people and we had really interesting chats. Everybody who joined the tour was very well informed about professional cycling.”

Also for the organisers of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, who wanted to present their region in a new way, the premiere of the tour was very successful. Next year they want to do this tour again, maybe with a longer route. “It was interesting to see how the reactions on the tour were”, said Alexandra Klaus from the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. She also enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere during the tour and told already that they have got a few more nice ideas they want to realise the next time.

Joost Posthuma extends contract with Rabobank

Theo de Rooij, general director of the Rabobank Cycling Teams, has renewed the contract of Joost Posthuma (picture). Joost Posthuma will now be a member of the Rabobank ProTeam till the end of the 2008 season. His current contract was due to end at the end of the 2007 season.

Joost Posthuma joined the Rabobank Cycling Teams in 2001. During the 2004 season, he made the switch from the youth team to the professional team of Rabobank. In his first full season, Posthuma won a stage in the stage race Paris – Nice plus the GP Jef Scherens in Leuven, Belgium.

This season, he made quite an impression in the individual time trials of the Tour de France. Joost Posthuma was the first to wear the white jersey for best young rider in the 2006 Tour de France. He was also the first Rabobank rider ever to wear the white jersey.