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14.12.2006/ Zabel in Cape Town , Zabriskie in Record Mood, Presentation Vuelta
2007
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Zabel
in Cape Town
Unlike his habit of spending the time before Christmas
in a training camp in Mallorca, Erik Zabel will be going to Cape Town this year. There, he and his team-mate Enrico Poitschke
will be practising until 23 December, when they will be home again.
Especially Erik Zabel doesn’t have much time
to relax, for on 26 December he has an appointment in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund. There, he is part of a team of Germany’s
best riders, which will ride against an international team. In the past years, the German equipe always won, always with Erik
Zabel.
Meanwhile, a group of Milram riders met in Areal in Mallorca. Now, Marcel Sieberg, Dennis Haueisen and Martin
Müller have been joined by the other German MILRAM riders. There, they will exercise in ideal conditions. For the holidays,
the groupp will be home again.
A part of the Italian riders will remain at home meanwhile. Alssandro Petacchi, Fabio
Sacchi, Marco Velo, Alberto Ongarato, Volodymyr Diudia and Elia Rigotto will be practicing in Petacchi’s home town Lido
di Camaiore from 18 to 22 December.
Zabriskie
in Record Mood
On the 17th of December Dave Zabriskie will be in a
“record mood” as the Team CSC rider will be attempting to set American record ”Eddy Merckx stile”
- meaning on a regular bike.
”A couple of months back some fire fighters perished in a forest fire in the Los
Angeles area. This time record is part of a big event to raise money for their families,” says Zabriskie, who will achieve
the record regardless as there is no preexisting record within this discipline.
”It's not so much a cycling event,
but more an event to raise some money and the audience has been informed of the fact that I've just flown in from South Africa
the day before, so regardless of my efforts they will be cheering, I hope,” explains the American rider, who was recently
voted rider of the year in Utah for the second consecutive year.
Apart from Dave a couple of athletes and some other
celebrities will also be participating.
Zabriskie's season doesn't really start till February, where he will be one
of the big profiles in Tour of California. And he does feel he has something to make up for after a not so successful 2006
season.
”I've been working on a few things in order to improve myself for the oncoming season,” says Zabriskie,
who does not want to point to any specific goals, but instead states:
”My goal is to continuously better myself.”
Source CSC
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| David Zbriskie wants to improve.. (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Presentation Vuelta 2007
The spectacular ascent to the Lagos de Covadonga returns to the itinerary for the 2007 Tour of Spain, providing
the finale to a showpiece stage in a grueling first week of racing. The punishing climb in the northern Spanish region of
Asturias will provide a fitting climax to the 182-km fourth stage of the Vuelta.
"It will be great for the fans to
see the return of the legendary climb to the Lagos," Alejandro Valverde, who was second to Alexander Vinokourov in 2006, said
at the presentation ceremony in Madrid on Wednesday. "The mountain stages start very early, but with the riders still being
fresh I think things won't be decided until the last week."
The three-week grand tour, which starts in the Galician
port of Vigo on Sept. 1, includes three other summit finishes, in Cerler and Ordino-Arcalis in the Pyrenees and the Alto de
Abantos close to Madrid.
Two time trials
Zaragoza is the setting for the first of two individual time trials with
a lengthy 49-km chrono. Riders then face back-to-back summit finishes at the ski stations of Cerler and Ordino-Arcalis to
wrap up the first week.
After a transfer south to south to the Mediterranean coast at Oropesa, the peloton begin a
loop across the sweltering south of Spain towards the historic city of Granada. The highlights of the final week will be a
mountain stage, finishing in Abantos, followed by a 25-km time trial in and around Villalba before the traditional finale
in Madrid.
Spanish cycling fights back
Race director Victor Cordero said 2006 had been a difficult year for Spanish
cycling in the wake of the Operation Puerto doping investigation.
"Cycling needs to modernise itself and to regain
its credibility." he said. "We need to ensure we combine the epic with the ethic. In order to try and do this we have kept
the average stage length to 154 kilometres. "We have tried to light the fuse of the 2007 Vuelta early on in the race and keep
it burning right to the end.
Organisers announced that the 2008 Vuelta, won this year by Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov,
would start in Granada.
Lampre DS Maurizio Piovani’s said: “It will be a Vuelta for climbers”. After having analysed
the route of the Spanish race, 21 stages with departure from Vigo on the 1/9 and arrive in Madrid on the 23/9, Piovani explained:
“There are a lot of mountains to climb: the race starts with tough stages and until the end there are no simple days
that permit to rest. There are few simple stages. The race will be very hard and there will be a great battle for the
success."
List of stages Veulta a Espana 2007
Sources: T-Mobile, Lampre and Vuelta a Espana
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| Alejandro Valverde's biggest goal for 2007 is the Tour de France (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
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