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20.12.2006/ Final UCI Pro-Tour license to
Astana, Ullrich wants to race another season, T-Mobile: Bob Stapleton's strategy
for the new season, Team training Unibet.com in Benicasim, Basso at the 2008 olympics ?, No Course
de la Paix in 2007, Juan Carlos Domínguez: “Some directors of some teams have mounted
an authentic Mafia”
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Doping-Protest.com: "163,193 kilometres have been ridden as a protest"
New: Milram: "we can be satisfied with the first season"
New: Swiss cyling: No case against Ullrich?
Final UCI Pro-Tour license to Astana
The Astana team of Marc Biver received a UCI Pro-Tour license.
The UCI decided yesterday to grant Astanai it's latest UCI Pro-Tour license. In a press release the UCI stated: "The required
documents having been produced within the given deadline, the UCI Licence Commission has awarded the Astana Team (Zeus Sàrl)
a UCI ProTour Licence for a four years period, from January the 1st 2007 to December the 31st 2010."
Ullrich wants to race another season
More than five months after Jan Ullrich was suspended by his
former team, the German rider gave an interview with French daily sports L'Equipe. Ullrich told L'Equipe: "Since the
Tour, I didn't really feel I was rider anymore," Ullrich said. "I didn't see myself on a bike anymore. But one month ago,
I got my head back up. I told myself that I couldn't just leave it like that, that I had to stand up and fight."
Ullrich does not believe he would find a Pro-Tour team but the
1997 Tour de France winner would also sign for a Pro Continental team: "It's clear to me that there won't be a slot for
me in a ProTour team anymore," Ullrich said. The German rider continued by saying: "But I still want to race at least
another season. I had dreamed of winning the Tour de France this year and then announcing my retirement
that same evening of the finish in Paris. But the events dictated otherwise. So I want to get another chance,
even within a Pro Continental squad, which could allow me to race a Grand Tour, like the Giro for example. I'm not angry,
but I want to show some people that they were wrong about me."
Ullrich says it won't be
a problem to become a professional license: "It's not a problem," Ullrich said. "Several federations have made me offers
already. Everything will be fine." Jan Ullrich told L'Equipe he had a hard time during the last months: "I was really down," Ullrich said.
"That period of time was a terrible humiliation to me, but fortunately Sara and I had to prepare our wedding in September,
so I could think about other things than what was written in the press on my behalf. Sometimes, I even felt I was in the centre
of a huge conspiracy in Germany." Ullrich continued by saying: "All of this time, I was boiling inside.
I wanted to cry out loud that everything that was said about me was pure lies. The German press was relentless, inventing
unbelievable stories about me. While Lance is considered a hero in his country, I was treated like a criminal."
Meanwhile Spanish boulevard
magazine Interviú published a story with some documents which, according to the magazine, were seized by the
Guardia Civil. One of the documents shows a payment allegedly made by Roberto Heras, Heras was suspended in
2005 and was therefore not allowed to race in 2006. The document is about payments for the 2006 season. The And although
the case against Ivan Basso was closed by both the Italian Olympic committee and the Italian Cycling Federation Interviú published
that this years winner of the Giro d'Italia paid money to Spanish Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. magazine also claims that Jan Ullrich
has the codename Nibelungo, which seems to be a bit strange since it would be the fifth codename of Ullrich. Other
riders who were liked with ceratin codenames in earlier press reports suddenly don't have a codename at all, in the Interviú
article they are mentioned with their real names. The Spanish magazine Interviú features several pages of underdressed models and we do not know if the magazine has a good reputation.
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| Jan Ullrich wants to race at least one more season (picture: Citypress) |
T-Mobile: Bob Stapleton's strategy for the new season
Fresh from the T-Mobile training camp on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, T-Mobile General Manager Bob Stapleton
has mapped out the team's plans for the coming season. In addition to T-Mobile's 15 new riders the management team features
three newcomers, as well the appointment of a new head of sport management and a sport manager.
Newly-installed General
Manager Bob Stapleton stressed that he was happy to delegate the responsibilties: "The assignments have been clearly distributed.
I am not a technical or sporting director."
Former T-Mobile rider Rolf Aldag has been appointed the team's new Sport
Manager and has the duty of supervising the five sporting directors.
"The team is the core. We want a team with character,
to form a community in which every rider is there for the others and is willing to take over responsibility," Aldag said.
Bob Stapleton emphasized Aldag's pivotal role for T-Mobile's future strategy, a factor that was crucial to his own
decision to join Team T-Mobile.
Two of the DS's are returning to the team. Valerio Piva, 48, of Italy, has been with
the T-Mobile team since 2005, while Dane Brian Holm, 44, has been with the team for two years. Three newcomers will help them
cover the full racing schedule over the year: Tristan Hoffman rode until 2005 and served as a DS at Team CSC before joining
T-Mobile for the 2007 season, Alan Peiper worked for Davitamon, and Jan Schaffrath is new to the team only in his new capacity.
All of the newcomers sat down together on Lanzarote to produce plans for the coming season. Schaffrath praised the
harmonious decision-making process on Lanzarote.
"We got together with the management and the sports director. We
put the racing program together and then assigned who would be DS for which race," Schaffrath said. "Everybody got what they
wanted. It is a great experience to sit down together so early and to be able to have such constructive conversations."
Schaffrath,
the former sporting director at Milram, has also been given the responsibility of talent scout, mainly for German youth and
U23 riders that can provide fresh blood to the team. He'll be assisted by Brian Holm for Scandanavia, Valerio Piva for Italy,
Australian Allan Peiper will share his knowledge of the English-speaking countries and Tristan Hoffman will keep his eye on
a new generation of potential young stars from the Benelux countries and France.
Each DS will be also be responsible
for the personal coaching of five to six riders.
"Whenever a question crops up about training or the day-to-day business
of professional cycling, all of T-Mobile's 29 riders will have a contact person to support them", explained Schaffrath. This
was introduced to strengthen the concept, team spirit, cohesion and trust within "die Mannschaft".
And they'll be
able to demonstrate this new strategy when the Magenta team meets again on Mallorca at the beginning of January, to fine tune
their preparations for the 2007 season.
Source: T-Mobile team
Team training Unibet.com in Benicasim
The Unibet.com cycling team is going on a team training from January 5th
till January 16th 2007. Both the ProTour team and the Continental team will attend that team training in the Spanish Benicasim.
Basso at the 2008 olympics ?
The Italian cycling federation has nominated Ivan Basso for the Olympic time trial in Beijing in 2008. The
federation's director, Sylvio Martinello, said: "The project to have Ivan Basso wear the national jersey in the 2008 Olympic
time trial in Beijing is taking shape. The tests that technical director Sandro Callari have carried out confirm that it's
possible to achieve a good result with Basso in this specialty."
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| Will Ivan Basso start at the 2008 Olympic time trail ? (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
No Course de la Paix in 2007
The 2007 Course de la paix, or peace-race, was cancelled today. After main sponsor Skoda retreated from
the race, the organisation was not able to find a new sponsor. In 2005 the peace-race was cancelled as well. The German stages
of the 2007 peace-race might take place but under another name. The organisation is working on a solid solution for the 2008
peace-race.
Juan Carlos Domínguez: "Some directors of some teams have mounted an authentic Mafia"
Spanish rider Juan Carlos Dominguez decided to retire after having difficulties to find a new team for
reasonable wages. Dominguez told Spanish newsagency EFE: "Some directors of some teams have mounted an authentic Mafia."
The winner of the prologue of the 2002 Giro d'Italia said: "There are always exceptions, but the truth is that some
directors move within hipocresía." Dominguez continued by saying: "It is what causes that cycling now is at its
worse moment and it hurts."
The 35 year old rider could not find a team for the upcoming season which was willing to pay reasonable
wages and decided to retire from professional cycling, Dominguez said: "the moment had arrived to leave professional cycling."
Dominguez wants to work with young people now: "Now I would like to contribute my long cycling experience to young people,
to make better people rather than good sportsmen." Dominguez name was mentioned in the Puerto affair but his case was closed
by the Spanish Cycling Federation.
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| Juan Carlos Domínguez retired (Picture: Cyclingheroes) |
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