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20.02.2007/ Tour of California: Graeme Brown takes first stage, Oscar Freire won
stage 2 Ruta Del Sol, UCI Press release : ASO’s stance blocks any discussion with the UCI
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Looking back in anger
A Day in the Life of a Soigneur
Ullrich with Klöden and Kessler at Mallorca
Tour of California: Graeme Brown takes first stage
Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California from Sausalito to Santa Rosa ended in a dramatic photo finish win
of two centimeters by Rabobank's Graeme Brown (AUS) following a crash on the second circuit around downtown Santa Rosa.
An
earlier crash about 70 miles into the race resulted in one of the race favorites, Team CSC's Dave Zabriskie, being forced
to abandon the event. He was taken to a local hospital for tests and has been released in good condition with a mild concussion
and no fractures or other injuries.
Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) retained the leader's jersey after a determined
dash over the final 30 miles, which was spearheaded by his teammate, Italy's Ivan Basso, to catch a breakaway group of four
talented climbers.
"Ivan Basso was ripping it up. I am very proud, very honored to have him lead me into my home town…
It feels great (to put on the leader's jersey) here in my home town. I did that last year, and I've been looking forward to
repeating that," said Leipheimer.
Rabobank's Graeme Brown (AUS) won the bunch sprint to claim the stage win from T-Mobile
Team's Greg Henderson (NZL), with Discovery Channel Pro's Allan Hansen (AUS) placing third.
An undulating 97.1-mile
(156.3 km) course with several stiff climbs, including one category four and one category three climb, combined with unrelenting
cross-headwinds of 10-15 mph to present a formidable challenge for the peloton.
King of the Mountain contenders Quick
Step-Innergetic's Juergen Van de Walle (BEL) of Belgium, and Team Slipstream presented by Chipotle Tom Peterson (USA), of
North Bend, Wash., initiated the key attack of the day at 64 miles (103km), taking a group of four away from the peloton on
the second King of the Mountain competition climb – a steep Category 3 ascent that rose 827 feet (252m) in only 1.5
miles (2.4km).
Van de Walle went on to say, "If you look at the field in this race, it is the best field before the
ProTour races start. I hope we can build on this."
The race came back together shortly before entering Santa Rosa
for three laps of a 2.9-mile (4.9km) circuit. After one lap, a rider's hand slipped off the handlebars, which resulted in
a large crash. No one was seriously injured, but the delay resulted in the panel of Commissaires determining that the finishing
circuits would be neutralized.
Thomas Peterson (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle) moved into the lead of the King
of the Mountains classification. Allan Davis (Discovery Channel Pro) took the lead in the Sprint classification. The Discovery
Channel Pro Cycling Team leads the overall team classification. T-Mobile Team's Greg Henderson and Discovery Channel Pro's
Allan Davis took second and third in the stage respectively.
"Today is what cycling is all about. It was war out there,"
said Levi Leipheimer. "The crowd that came out was amazing; it was top-notch. I knew when we came into Santa Rosa that there
would be a lot of people, but I didn't know it would be that many. For the crowd to come out like that in the U.S. is special."
Top-three
general classification leaders after today are Leipheimer, Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle's Jason Donald in second and
Priority Health Cycling Team's Benjamin Jacques-Maynes in third.
Results stage 1 Tour of California, Sausalito - Santa Rosa, 155.7km
1 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
4.17.19
2 Greg Henderson (NZl) T-mobile
3 Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel
4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole
5 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Predictor-Lotto
6 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
7 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner
8 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
9 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole
10 David Vitoria (Swi) BMC
General classification after stage 1
1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel
4.22.08
2 Jason Donald (USA) Team Slipstream powered
by Chipotle 0.01
3
Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team
0.05
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
0.06
5 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel
6 Adam Hansen (Aus) T-mobile
7 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank
0.07
8 Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
0.08
9 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
0.09
10 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-mobile
11 Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel
12 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
0.10
13 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
14 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
15 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel
16 Timothy Johnson (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
0.12
17 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
0.13
18 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
19 Veleriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
20 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
0.14
21 Ivan Basso (Ita) Discovery Channel
22 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota United Pro
23 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-mobile
0.15
24 Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota United Pro
25 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota United Pro
Tour of California stage 1 quotes
Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel)
On the dash into Santa Rosa
“What an honor to have Ivan Basso put the throttle down today…
I know those roads out near Occidental, and he was ripping it up! I’m very honored and very proud to have him lead me
into my hometown… The team rode perfect today, it went the perfect speed, covered all the breakaways. We had a great
day out there, climbing up the Coleman Valley with all the people that came out to see the race, it was spectacular…
Today was another career moment, as last year was. It was every bit as sweet this year. I was happy that I had the experience.
These are the roads I train on all year, and to be here with the world’s best, in the Amgen Tour of California, was
amazing.”
On the route and stage in general
“Today was, man that was what bike racing
is all about. It was war out there. A lot of the time it was a headwind, so everybody was hanging back, but there were moments
when it was a crosswind and everybody got on their toes and there were attacks and the group split up… The group split
and reformed about four or five times and that makes for good racing. I was really looking forward to the climbs.”
On
the crowds
“The crowd that came out was amazing. I knew that when we came into Santa Rosa it would be crowded,
but I didn’t know it would be that big…it was amazing. Today was fantastic. For the crowd to come out like that
in the US is really special. The amount of people I saw in Coleman Valley was phenomenal. I really appreciate it because these
people really had to make a day out of it and all the riders appreciate it.”
On the coming stages
“All
I can do is my best. We have three more stages that are coming up (before the time trial) that are just as phenomenal as today.”
On
recovering from the crash
“One of the riders lost his hand and went over the bars and brought half the peloton
down, and I was in there. But that’s bike racing… I was trying to motivate them (other riders) to get off the
ground. I tried to get on my bike right away, but I could see that wasn’t possible. I finally got my bike going, but
it felt like forever. George (Hincapie) and Ivan (Basso) really started to ride hard to bring me back. I’m honored to
have (Ivan) Basso and (George) Hincapie sacrificing everything they have for me today. (Although I knew) it would be impossible
to come back to the leaders when they’re riding that hard.”
Graeme Brown (Rabobank)
On the photo finish
“It was pretty much like a track finish I guess. Circuit racing always
is nerves. (The photo finish) was great. I had my teammates looking after me, and I steered clear of problems. My team did
a great job. Matt Hayman did exactly what I asked of him, but not only at the finish, they looked after me all day and made
sure I didn’t have to ride in the wind, so hats off to the guys, they did a good job.”
How does
this result compare with your other wins? (twice World champion, twice Olympic champion, stage wins Tour of Germany, Tour
of Langkawi)
“This is definitely one of the bigger ones. It’s great to start off the year with a win,
and there are lots of great teams here, so it’s a really good win.”
Did you see anything of the
crash?
“I was just a few riders across. One of the riders, his hand slipped off the bars – he hit
a small bump – but he was near the front and it was a chain reaction... It’s always a bit hectic when you’re
on a circuit... I really enjoy racing on circuits, the crowd gives quite a boost.”
What do you think
of this race?
“It’s good, we get to stay in really nice hotels, I don’t have any problems with
it at all, it’s a really good race. The crowds are great. There are a lot of spectators here and it makes a difference
when the crowd is yelling at you, so it’s a good boost. It’s really good.”
Greg Henderson (T-Mobile)
On the crash
“There was 400m to go, I had Mick Rogers (leading me out) in front of me, then
Rabobank came around the outside of us and I managed to jump on Brownie’s wheel. Then he stepped off (sprinted for the
line) with about 250m to go and I got clipped on the left side so lost a bit of momentum, and I took a run at his wheel and
I was coming and coming and coming. I don’t know which way the wind was going, but I had a lot of it in my face! And
I was coming and then just, I don’t know if I got it or not, it was a bike throw on the line, but we’ll see. It
was close.”
On the route
“It was very tough. I’m surprised it all came back together.
They stepped on it up the climbs and it just blew to bits, then it all came back together. It was hard. Good stage."
Tom Peterson (Team Slipstream)
“The hill kind of rolls over the top and there were definitely various types of winds. I think that
disc was pulling pretty hard in the back and we were probably going to be caught anyway. I think the hardest part of the climb
is when it rolls after the KOM. I went a little hard and a couple of guys came with me and that’s how the break started.”
Jim Birrell (Tour of California Race Director)
“Due to the crash and the large number of riders that went down, the commissaries’ panel made the decision
to neutralize the finishing circuits and award all the riders the same time as the winner. Because of the size of the crash,
I think they made the right decision and a justifiable decision. Five jurors make the decision.”
Ramin Modabber (Chief medical officer for the Tour of California)
“70 miles into the race (Dave Zabriskie) had a moderate speed accident and hit his head. He was a little bit foggy
and decided it was best not to continue on, and he’s out of the race. This is one of the more difficult things about
working in a race like this. In this situation if he has an intact neurological exam, you can continue to let him ride. It’s
almost like a “stress” test when you get back on your bike. The decision was fairly straightforward when he got
back on his bike. He had a mild concussion.”
*Dave Zabriskie was taken to a local hospital for tests and has
been released in good condition with a mild concussion and no fractures or other injuries.
“(Nick Gates)
was the most severely injured of the riders involved in the crash. (After finishing the race) he was tender in his abdomen
and his neck. It was felt best by our team that he be evaluated. Tests are going on as we speak.”
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| David Zbriskie crashed yesterday (picture:Cyclingheroes) |
Oscar Freire won stage 2 Ruta Del Sol
Stage 2 of Ruta del Sol, between Vegas del Genil and Cazorla, over 156,6 km was won by Rabobank's Oscar
Freire ahead of Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval)..
The whole stage was over hilly country, with two cat. 3 ascents
in the first part; the last 2,5 kilometres were also uphill.
Dario Cioni finished in the same time as the winner, and
remains thus leader of Ruta del Sol.
Results stage 2 Ruta Del Sol
1. Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
2. Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval
3. Tadej Valjavec
(Slo) Lampre-Fondital
4. Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at 2"
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto op 4"
General classification after stage 2
1. Dario Cioni (Ita) Predictor-Lotto
2. Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank at 1"
3. Francisco Ventoso
(Spa) Saunier Duval
4. Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
5. Anton Luengo (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
UCI Press release : ASO’s stance blocks any discussion with the UCI
The UCI President, Pat McQuaid and the UCI ProTour Manager, Alain Rumpf met today in Lyon with ASO President,
Patrice Clerc, accompanied by Gilbert Ysern.
During this meeting, requested by the UCI President, ASO maintained its position rejecting the UCI’s
function and legitimacy as an international federation, which it seems to want to take control of through its strategy to
destabilize. ASO is in fact refusing the UCI the right to set participation rules for races entered on the UCI ProTour calendar.
On this basis, which is totally unacceptable to the UCI, no agreement or compromise could be reached.
Talks between the parties were therefore unsuccessful.
The UCI will soon decide what action to take due to the deadlock created by ASO’s attitude, which has
decided to put itself in an illegal position vis-à-vis the sports movement as a whole, and can only regret the irresponsible
behaviour of its partners, which will seriously harm the general interests of all those involved in cycling.
Cyclingheroes will ask ASO to comment the UCI press release and publish their answer tomorrow.
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