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04.11.2006/ Saul Raisin fights to make it back
into the peloton, Botero: decision next week, Vasseur: "without DNA tests, I would not longer be a rider.", Cofidis
Trial starts Monday, Tinkoff knows how to hit the headlines, Roger Hammond and Yaroslav Popovych join the Revolution
New: Picture gallery Tour of Lombardy 2006
New: Hasslacher: "first rate pre-judgement"
New: Ullrich press officer: "Jan is in good spirits"
Saul Raisin fights to make it back into the peloton
Seven months after his crash Saul Raisin is training 6 hours a day in the
hills around Monaco in the hope it will lead him back into the peloton.
Raisin told US newsagency Associated Press: "Doctors don't understand how
I do it," said Raisin, who slipped into a coma in early April after crashing during the Circuit de la Sarthe stage
race in France. "It's still blows my mind to think how far I've come."
Although there is no guarantee that the 23 year old rider will ever reach his top level again, the Credit
Agricole team supports Raisin. The young US rider who won a mountain stage in the 2006 Tour de Langkawi called his team: "Une
equipe de classe," a classy team.
Saul Raisin had a checkup at the Sheperd Center in Atlanta (USA) and heard some good news for him and the
team:
"Everything was good. It was really encouraging," he said. "My biggest goal is to be back racing by the end
of next year. My doctor says that if I continue to stay focused that can happen."
Credit Agricole manager Roger Legeay can't predict whether Raisin will be succesful again on the bike. Before
the crash he selected Raisin for the Giro d'Italia in May, it would have been Raisin's first grand tour after the American
rider grabbed a promising ninth spot in the overall of the 2005 edition of the Tour of Germany. Legeay told Associated Press:
"He came close to death.If he races again, it will mean a total recovery. It could take a long time, or maybe never."
Raisin still suffers from memory loss and can't spend more than two hours alone. His fahter and mother join
him when he is training on his bike. His mother drives the car and his fahter tries to keep up with Raisin on the bike, as
long as he can. Yvonne Raisin told associated Press: "It's like having a young child again," his mother said. "We're afraid
to leave him. We know how close we came to losing him," Yvonne Raisin said. "It is beautiful to see him on the bike.It
makes us feel good inside."
Saul Raisin wants to ride with his team mate Thor Hushovd again. Hushovd phoned him after he had won the final
stage of this years Tour de France and told him: "I'm drinking a beer in your name!"
Raisin, who trained in the hills around Monaco with Axel Merckx and Lance Armstrong (who didn't knew who Raisin
was at that time) before the start of the 2005 Tour de France remembers the trainingsession: "We raced up the last climb,
and I attacked Lance," Raisin said. "He came around me again at the top, but at least I tried to beat him." Armstrong shouted
at him: "I can't believe you attacked me like that!" Armstrong, often critisized for being cold, called Raisins mother to
offer help and than joked: "Your son's a punk. ... He attacked me on my last training ride."
Saul Raisin ended his conversation with Associated Press by saying: "I am doing everything the doctor said
I never would, when you are in a hospital bed and can't move from the neck down you wander." Raisin concluded with: "I tried
to lift up my hand over and over every day. If I want to get back to racing, then that's what I will do."
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| Saul Raisin during the 2005 Tour de Suisse (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Botero: decision next week
The Columbian Cycling Federation will take a decision on Wednesday or Thursday whether or not it will open
a case for disciplinary action against santiago Botero. Observers expect that the federation will close the case. In the Columbian
press it's speculated that Botero will race for the Columbian pro continental team EPM Orbitel. According to Spanish website
todociclismo.com the 34 year old wants to race untill the Olympic games in Beijing.
Vasseur: "without DNA tests, I would not longer be a rider."
After Cyclingheroes reported yesterday that Paolo Bettini, Alejandro Valverde and Filippo Pozzato are against
DNA testing, French rider Cedric Vasseur (Quickstep) told Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure yesterday: "without DNA
tests, I would not longer be a rider." Vasseur was referred to the Cofidis affair in 2004, where French police allegedly found
traces of cocaine through hair tests. However, a DNA test performed on the hair sample proved that it wasn't Vasseur's, and the
French rider was cleared. "So yes, these tests are important to prove someone's innocence," said Vasseur,
"and if they permit cycling to be saved from the scourge of doping, then I'm all for it. But I don't think it's necessary
to rush into things, and it's also necessary to properly analyse the decision with competent people, such as lawyers, for
example."
Vasseur shared the view of his his Quickstep teammates Bettini and Pozzato that "cycling has been a testing
ground for the fight against doping. To that end, during a year, you could also follow the riders with a webcam in their room
or remove a muscle to see whether it was changed during the course of the season! I say that while laughing, but it illustrates
our position, with a sport that has a problem but is hyper-controlled. I discussed this with a president of a high level basketball
club that has never had an anti-doping test in the European Cup in two years."
Cofidis Trial starts Monday
Seven former riders of the Cofodis squad have to stand trial on Monday for what is called the Cofidis affair.
Massimiliano Lelli, David Millar, Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Médéric Clain, Marek Rutkiewicz and Daniel Majewski have
to appear before the court of Nanterre, France because of their alleged involvement in the doping ring.
Tinkoff knows how to hit the headlines
Tinkoff hit the headlines again yesterday, according to Belgian based website wielernieuws.be there are
rumours that the new pro continental team wants to sign Ivan Basso. After Tinkoff confirmed that they were interested in signing
Tyler Hamilton a few weeks ago, Hamilton's name didn't appear on their 2007 rooster although it has to be said that with the
release of the rooster team manager Omar Piscina stated that Tinkoff wants to sign 3 more riders. One of that riders is Evgeny
Petrov who comes from Lampre, his signing was confirmed on Thursday. Talking about the possible signing of Jan Ullrich in
German daily newspaper Die Welt, Piscina stated that he and team owner Oleg Tinkov are great fans of the 1997 Tour de
France winner and they would even wait untill the 2008 season if Jan Ullrich won't be cleared soon enough to race
in 2007. Speaking with Jan Ullrich's press officer Michael lang yesterday, Ullrich's press officer wouldn't comment the interest of
Tinkoff, saying that there several teams are interested in signing the German rider.
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| Team owner Oleg Tinkov (picture: Tinkoff Cycling Team) |
Roger Hammond and Yaroslav Popovych join the Revolution
Incoming T-Mobile rider Roger Hammond is set to team up with Yaroslav Popovych and join the Revolution.
Hammond and Popovych complete the Discovery Channel pairing at the Manchester Revolution track event on November 18th.
The Revolution concept involves teaming up a track specialist and a road star for the night,
though Hammond is unsure to what extent Popovych fits into the former category: “I think they
tried to get Ekimov, but he has retired, and they tried Van Heeswijk, but he is on holidays," quips the 32-year-old Briton.
“They got 'Popo'; but I'm not sure how much experience he has on the track, though it's sure to have played some
part in his cycling schooling in Ukraine. And more than mine in any case!”
Exciting field in Manchester
Hammond’s own track links are extremely tenuous: “I haven't
raced on the track since I was about 18. And I have never raced in an indoor velodrome. But I have heard a lot about the
Manchester concept and I'm looking forward to the night, though it’s going to be a challenge reacquainting
myself with bikes without brakes!”
Bradley Wiggins, Jimmy Caspar (both Cofidis),
David Millar and Gilberto Simoni (both Saunier Duval) are other ProTour names who have been signed up for the Revolution;
an innovative concept in evening track entertainment that has made a big splash in England since its introduction in 2003.
These riders will have plenty to keep them busy with an action packed race programme including
a Devil Elimination, Points and Scratch Race as well as a couple of additional events to really put their track skills to
the test.
Winter in Belgium
Hammond, while a track novice, is a hardy veteran
of winter cross-racing and a two-time Great Britain champion on his cross bike; “My cross season starts in mid December.
Right now I am just back in training after a break off the bike, so I am just working on basic fitness. However, my cross
season is really about preparing for the road classics, so of course I don’t want to overdo it in December, as this
can catch up on you when you really want to peak for a few weeks in April.”
A
week after the Revolution event Hammond travels to a T-Mobile Team training camp in Lanzarote: “It
will be a nice week of sunshine and a break from Belgium where I will do my winter training. By
then I will have trained enough on my own, so it will nice to meet up again with my new team mates and have company on the
longer rides.”
Like every true classics specialists, Hammond knows its only
in places like Flanders that he can really train in the right conditions for a classics season, so it will be back to the
harsh realities of Belgium after the week in Lanzarote: “When I was younger I used to do winter in Australia, but then
I suffered terribly when I came back to Europe; I needed too much time to settle in again and acclimatise. Realistically you
have to live and breath the harsher northern conditions in the winter if you want to be ready for the big races in April.”
Source: T-Mobile team
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| Yaroslav Popovych during this years Tour de France (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
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