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19.10.2006/ Ullrich
didn't have a contract with Krohme, Bruyneel admits he is interested in Ivan Basso and critisizes code of conduct, Ullrich:
satisfaction about dropped charges against Basso, Schleck Aiming For 2007 ProTour, Jimmy Casper to Unibet.com, Matthe Pronk,
Luis Pasamontes and Jeremy Hunt renew their contracts, Koldo Gil stays with
Saunier Duval and is allowed to start in 2007
New: Picture gallery Tour of Lombardy 2006
New: Are the Puerto documents falsified?
Ullrich didn't have a contract with Krohme
Yesterday we reported that according to German daily newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" Jan Ullrich part ways
with Krohme. Although we already published that in fact it was the T-Mobile team under the management of Olaf Ludwig who had
a contract with Krohme and that because of the change in management Krohme would lose her job we want to make it clear that
it was the new T-Mobile management under Bob Stapleton who didn't offer Birgit Krohme a contract extesion. Jan Ullrich published
a statement on his website yesterday that he heard about the news from the media.
Bruyneel admits he is interested in Ivan Basso and critisizes code of conduct
Johan Bruyneel told Belgian daily sports "sportwereld" that he is interested in Ivan Basso but that he didn't
offer the Italian rider a contract. Bruyneel stated: "there is no concrete proposal because Basso had a contract with CSC
untill 2008 untill this morning and there is no decision in his alleged involvement in 'Operacion Puerto'. There is nothing.
But if he will be acquitted than Basso will interest me, but i'm affraid i won't be the only one."
Bruyneel admitted that he talked with Basso at the beinning of the Vuelta Espana: "like i do with other riders
as well. He said to me that he has nothing to do with Fuentes."
Bruyneel continued by saying that he doesn't think he violated the code of conduct of which he was accused
of by FD Jeux manager Marc Madiot: "if it's proven that there is no proof against Basso i am interested, otherwise never.CONI
and the Italian federation will have reasons to stop proceedings".
Bruyneel also critisized the ethical charta or code of conduct of the 20 Pro-Tour teams: "the ethical charta
of the Pro-Tour teams contain a lot of good things, but i also have my own personal bad experiences. In 2004 some top ranking
Tour persons (Bruyneel means the ASO management, ed.) demanded that Pavel Padrnos had to dissapear from the Tour
because he was named with the raids during the 2001 Giro. Later it came out that he was cleared. Six year long there were
accusations to the adress of Lance Armstrong. 'The boss' won all his court cases. If i had suspended Lance the whole time
i would have paid lots of money now".
Ullrich: satisfaction about dropped charges against Basso
Jan Ullrich published a new statement on his website www.janullrich.de yesterday in which he thanks his fans for their support in these difficult times. Ullrich also stated
that he had his difficulties to understand in which situation he is in. Ullrich continued writing that it's hard to read daily
new lies about himself and in order not to get insane he won't comment every new story about his person.
The statement also said that the German rider received the news about charges being dropped
against Ivan Basso and that the two riders had regular contact with each other in the past weeks. Ullrich also stated: "His
acquittal (of Ivan Basso,ed.) can bolster us all.
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| Ivan Basso during this years Giro d' Italia (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Schleck Aiming For 2007 ProTour
With a seventh place in this weekend's Giro di Lombardia, Team CSC's Fränk Schleck secured a third place overall
in the 2006 ProTour Rankings, somewhat surprisingly for the Luxembourg rider himself.
"If anyone at the beginning of
the season had said I would end up as third in the ProTour, I would probably have laughed and called them crazy. But I've
felt good and I've had a lot of confidence in myself throughout the season and I've even surprised myself from time to time.
It's a nice achievement and nice to have on my palmares. It wasn't something we had planned before the season started, but
along the way I started thinking about going for a great overall ProTour result," says Schleck and continues:
"I was
very surprised I could win the Amstel Gold Race and the Alpe d'Huez. Those were beautiful moments for me, my family and my
team."
Next year the ProTour could very well be an ambition for the strong Team CSC rider:
"I've talked to Kim
Andersen and Bjarne Riis about it, and I might try to win the ProTour in 2007, however my most important goal will be the
Tour de France, and then we'll just have to see how things are going after the first part of the season," says Schleck.
ProTour
ambitions or not, Schleck's 2007 race schedule will look more or less the same as this year:
"My first big ambition
is Paris-Nice, Tour of the Basque Country and the spring classics. Then I'll take a break before the Tour, where I hope to
get selected for the line-up. After the Tour I plan to take another break before once again aiming for the Giro di Lombardia.
I've promised myself to win Giro di Lombardia at least once in my career," says Schleck, who wasn't disappointed with Saturday's
seventh place in the Italian classic.
"No, not at all. Apart from Bettini, who was in a league of his own, I believe
Boogerd and I were the strongest. The riders who finished between Bettini and me all got dropped on the Ghisallo climb, but
in the end it all came down to tactics when Bettini escaped. I believed I could have followed Bettini, but then I would have
pulled everyone else with me, and then I wouldn't have won the race anyway," explains Schleck, who finished third last year.
Jimmy Casper to Unibet.com, Matthe Pronk, Luis Pasamontes and Jeremy Hunt renew their contracts
The Frenchman Jimmy Casper has signed an agreement
for two seasons with the Unibet.com cycling team. Casper was racing with the French team Cofidis this year, but choose to
compete with the new ProTour team Unibet.com the following two seasons.
“Casper has it all to become one of our
team’s big men for the following seasons”, said Sports Director Jacques Hanegraaf of Unibet.com. “He’s
not only an excellent sprinter, but he can be perfect for the classics races as well.”
Jimmy Casper won the first
stage of the Tour de France in a bunch sprint this season. The 28 year-old Frenchman also won the GP de Denain and the final general classification of the Tour de Picardie in his homeland.
The Dutchman
Matthe Pronk renewed his contract with Unibet.com and signed an agreement for one additional year. “Pronk is a very
loyal and multifunctional rider who is generally reinforcement for the team”, said Hanegraaf. Luis Pasamontes and Jeremy Hunt also renewed their contract with Unibet.com
Koldo Gil stays with Saunier Duval and is allowed to start in 2007
According to Belian website "wieleruitslagen.be the lawyers of Koldo Gil told Spanish reporters that Gil was wrongfully
linked with the Puerto affair. The 28 year old Spanish rider wasn't allowed to start in this years Vuelta Espana, officially
bevause he wasn't in good form but it was said that he was suspended by the team because of his alleged involvement with the
Puerto affair. Saunier Duval announced today that Gil will start in 2007 again, his main goals for the upcoming season is
the Tour of Basque country, the Tour de France is also in his 2007 race programm.
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