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10.01.2007/ Ullrich: decision
by the end of this month, Special visit for Unibet.com riders, Schumacher wants to become world champion in Stuttgart, Roberto
Laiseka retires, Liquigas'
team meeting, Kolobnev Exited
about New Challenges
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Milram: "we can be satisfied with the first season"
Swiss cyling: No case against Ullrich?
Hall of fame: Henk Lubberding about June 5, 1988
Looking back in anger
Ullrich: decision by the end of this month
Jan Ullrich's
press officer Michael Lang told Cyclingheroes yesterday that the 1997 Tour de France winner is training in Switzerland at
the moment. The weather conditions in Switzerland are perfect and Ullrich is training on the road and in the gym. It is
unknown at the moment were and when Ullrich will start a training camp, it depends on the team the German will race for during
the upcoming season. At the end of January or at the latest at the beginning of February Ullrich will sign for a new
team. According to Lang Ullrich is negotiating with 5 teams at the moment, 2 Pro-Tour teams and 3 Pro Continental teams.
Thomas
Koffler, team manager of the Austrian Volksbank team repeated yesterday that his team talks with Jan Ullrich. Earlier this
week Palmiro Masciarelli, team manager of Aqua and Sapone also admitted that there are talks between Ullrich and his team
about a contract for the 2007 season.
Special visit for Unibet.com riders
The cyclists of the Unibet.com
cycling team got a special visit in Benicasim from former motocross champion Stefan Everts. The Belgian Everts became world
champion motocross for ten times and has a school for motocross in the roundabouts of the hotel in Benicasim where the Unibet.com
cycling team is staying for the team training.
"The weather is fine and the atmosphere within the team is excellent.
The first team training was eagerly completed yesterday," said Director Sports Jacques Hanegraaf of Unibet.com. Both the ProTour
and the Continental team of Unibet.com are at the team training in the Spanish Benicasim.
Schumacher wants to become world
champion in Stuttgart
Stefan Schumacher is wants to become 2007 road world champion.
The 25 year old German rider had a succesful first season for Gerolsteiner and speaking with German based website radsport-aktiv.de
Schumacher asked about his goals for the upcoming season, Schumacher said: "Many things. At the moment I am preparing
for Paris-Nice and for the big spring races like the Tour of Flanders and the Ardenne classics. I want to be at the front.
It's my dream to win a spring classic."
Schumacher wants to start at his first Tour de France this year:
"My goal is a stage win. I also want to gather experience for the general classification for the years to come." Schumacher
continued by saying: "With the world championships in September there is another absolut highlight on my programm. I
want the world title in Stuttgart."
Stefan Schumacher will start his season at the Trofeo Mallorca.
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| Stefan Schumacher wants the world title (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Roberto Laiseka retires
After a professional career of 12 years, Roberto Laiseka retired.
Laiseka announced his retirement at a press conference in Bilbao. Laiseka never completly recovered from a knee injury he
sustained during last years Giro d'Italia. The 37 year old Basque rider won stages at the Vuelta Espana (1999 & 2000)
and the Tour de France (2001). More recently he won the mountain jersey at the 2005 Tour de Suisse.
Liquigas' team meeting
The 2007 ProTeam Liquigas will meet again in the next days. The team will resume the profitable work started in Salsomaggiore
Terme and pursued, by a part of the squad, at the stage in Calpe.
The thirty riders featuring the renewed green-blue
team will meet on Thursday 11 January in Cecina, under general manager Roberto Amadio's direction. "We will spend ten
important days to cement the understanding between riders and technical staff," explains Amadio. "This is the third meeting,
the second one with the whole team, that will let us check the quality of training undertaken by athletes, also by some tests.
We will divide the team into three groups and will dedicate a special care to the group including Pozzato, Paolini and Chicchi,
the riders expected to a good start of the season."
Besides training and technical-sporting aspects, we will turn
our attention to medical matters and rules. An important contribution will come from the responsible of the medical area of
the Union cycliste internationale, Mario Zorzoli.
Sunday 21 January the Liquigas team will move to Milan where the official
presentation will take place, later in the afternoon, on Monday 22. A Few days later Liquigas will debut in the new season:
at the Tour of Qatar.
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| Danilo Di Luca wants to score in the Ardennes (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Kolobnev Exited about New Challenges
One of the new names on Team CSC this season is Russian rider Alexandr
Kolobnev, who joined the team after having been with Rabobank.
This is Kolobnev's sixth season as a pro, he is a young
rider with a humorous approach to life - and more importantly he is extremely fast on a bike.
"I had several offers
to consider so I sat down and thought about what I want from a new team. I came to the conclusion that the most important
thing for me is a team, where everything isn't centered around just one or two guys, and also for me to get a chance to make
results of my own from time to time. It would motivate me to work for my teammates during the season and it is definitely
the case with Team CSC," says Kolobnev.
Even though Kolobnev has mostly worked as a helper in his career so far, he
has still made good results in races like Fleche Wallonne, Giro dell'Emilia, The Olympics, Meisterschaft von Zürich, Tour
de Suisse, Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt, Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana as well as our own Tour of Denmark.
He does not
like to be labeled as a specific type of rider: "I'm probably an all-round rider really, but it depends on the role I'm given
in a specific race. It's important for me to define my role prior to a race, but if I'm given more freedom, than I've had
so far, I see myself with lots of opportunities. I'm ok uphill, but not on the really long climbs though and if I'm in a small
group I'm also pretty decent in a sprint," explains the 25-year-old Russian.
"I'm expecting to make my best results
in the one-day races, but maybe also in the shorter stage races. The plan is for me to do Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espaņa
this year and I'm really hoping to do good work for the team." Kolobnev does not really have any favorites as such, but imagines
that races like Vattenfall Cyclassics, Giro Di Lombardia could be quite good for him, but at the same time he points out:
"Team
CSC has an objective to do well throughout the entire year and this is also my personal philosophy, so ideally I would like
to be fast in all kinds of races."
This is not the first time a contract with team CSC has come up for Kolobnev, who
had an offer from Bjarne Riis to join the Danish team, when he turned pro in 2001.
"We spoke at the time, but I didn't
know what to expect or what to look for. I signed with Acqua & Sapone and was with them for three years [they later changed
their name to Domina Vacanze,] and after that I was with Rabobank for two years. But his year Bjarne was interested in signing
me again and I was ready to try something new. I've been very impressed with Team CSC - both their results and the team itself
so I jumped at the chance," finishes the young Russian.
Source: CSC
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