Paolo Bettini: Flandrien 2006
Paolo Bettini has won the prestigious "Flandrien" award. The award is organized
by Belgian daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws and awards the best rider of the year. The jury selected five riders last week:
Paolo Bettini, Tom Boonen, Alexander Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde and Fabian Cancellara. Than the Belgian public voted for
the final round and decided that Bettini, Boonen and Vinokourov would be among the last three. On Saturdaynight the jury (Herman
Vanspringel, Lucien Van Impe, Mart Smeets, Rik Van Looy, Francesco Moser, Jean-Marie Leblanc, Luc Van Langenhove, Michel Wuyts and
Paul de Keyser) decided that Paolo Bettini won this years Flandrien award.
Paolo Bettini wasn't present at the gala award, the current road world champion
is racing at the Munich sixdays. Tom Boonen, who won the award in the past two years commented: "I expected that
Bettini would make it. The end of the season is always more present in people's memory. Furthermore there was that emotional
moment at the Tour of Lombardy, won by Bettini after his brother died. To absorb that loss in the way he did, I couldn't do
it." Speaking about the close finish between him and Paolo Bettini, Boonen concluded: "I also expected that it would
be so close between me and Bettini. It is a Flemish referendum and people don't forget the Tour of Flanders here. But 'bravo'
for Bettini!"
Results Flandrien award:
1. Paolo Bettini - 5722 points
2. Tom Boonen - 5118
3. Alexandre Vinokourov
- 553
4. Alejandro Valverde - 481
5. Fabian Cancellara - 322
Will Jörg Jaksche soon be cleared?
Michael Lehner, attorney of German rider Jörg Jaksche told the German sports newsagency sid, "I have received
signals from the Austrian federation that they won't open proceedings." Jörg Jaksche lives in Austria and has an Austrian
professional license. Jaksche was riding for Manolo Saiz his Liberty Seguros squad but didn't compete since June
2006.
DNA controversy: no solution after friday's meeting
Michael Barry, who will move to the German T-Mobile squad said in an interview with German based website radsport-aktiv.de
about DNA samples yesterday: "I don't have anything against these tests. I even believe that our sport needs these tests in
order to improve our image." Barry is one of many riders of the German Pro-Tour squads who have signed a clause in their contract
that the team is allowed to take DNA samples if the riders are under suspicion in doping cases. Stefan Schumacher was the
first rider of Gerolsteiner with a similar clause in his contract.
On Friday, the protour teams, the UCI and the riders organisation CPA held a meeting about new contracts for professional riders with a DNA clausel. UCI spokesperson Enrico Carpani told reporters
after the meeting: "There is nothing to say. All parties agreed not to comment." CSC team manager Bjarne Riis said: "I don't
want to comment on the meeting in Switzerland." It seems like the involved parties didn't find a solution. Earlier several
riders like Paolo Bettini and Alejandro Valverde spoke out against DNA testing for professional riders. Italian
website tuttobiciweb.com reported that there will be a next meeting in a couple of weeks but the parties involved didn't set
a date yet.
Munich sixdays: Zabel and Risi extend their lead
After the third night of the Munich sixdays Erik Zabel and his partner Bruno
Risi are still on rank one. The German-Swiss duo were able to defend their leading position which they took
over on Friday night.
Zabel and Risi counterattacked all attacks of their competitors and were able to extend
their lead. The winners of this years Dortmund sixdays build up a head start of two laps and increased their amounts
of points. The Swiss-Belgian duo Franco Marvulli and Iljo Keisse are on rank two before the Dutch duo Danny
Stam and Peter Schep (+ 2 laps).
