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25.02.2007/ Tour of California: Haedo's second stage win
, Volta ao Algarve:
Petacchi again, Vinokourov starts at Vuelta Valenciana, Klöden believes Ullrich, Juan Manuel Garate injured
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A Day in the Life of a Soigneur
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New: Jörg Jaksche: no team and without investigation
Tour of California: Haedo's second stage win
Team CSC's Juan José Haedo took his second stage in this year's Tour of California by being fastest in the
bunch sprint, which decided Friday's 170-kilometer sixth stage from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita. This makes Haedo the rider
with most stage wins in the race, as he also won two stages last year.
Earlier in the stage it was teammate Stuart
O'Grady, who attacked in an attempt to take the leader's jersey from Discovery Channel's Levi Leipheimer. O'Grady joined a
nine man break away, which was caught with just three kilometers to go.
"We focused 100% on keeping Stuart in the decisive
break, but when it turned out we couldn't I tried to prepare for a sprint finish. I was lucky to catch the right wheel with
about 500 meters to go. Obviously I had hoped for another stage win, but it's one thing to hope for it and another to actually
pull it off, so it's really big for me to take this victory," said the Argentinean sprinter after the stage.
"We went
on the attack right from the start. We'd agreed to do everything to try and take the overall victory and not just sit back
and watch. It's a shame Stuart wasn't able to make it all the way, cause he's been on really good form and has also worked
really hard for his team mates in this race. He did a fantastic stage and tried to get away about 10 times before making the
big, nine man break. And of course it's great that we have a guy like Haedo, who retaliated by winning the stage in the end,"
said CSC sports director Kim Andersen.
Results stage 6
1 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
3.56.04
2 Greg Henderson (NZl) T-mobile
3 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step
4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole
5 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Predictor-Lotto
6 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
7 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
8 Alexander Candelario (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
9 Alejandro Acton (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home
10 Russell Downing (GBr) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
11 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
12 David Vitoria (Swi) BMC
13 Bart Dockx (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
14 Shawn Milne (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
15 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank
16 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
17 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
18 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
19 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team
20 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
21 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
22 Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC
23 Veleriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
24 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole
25 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel
General Classification after stage 6
1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel 22.17.56
2
Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
0.21
3 Jason McCartney (USA) Discovery Channel
0.54
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
1.06
5 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
1.16
6 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC
1.24
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-mobile
1.32
8 Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
1.38
9 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
1.41
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
1.57
11 Christopher Horner (USA) Predictor-Lotto
2.09
12 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-mobile
2.16
13 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
14 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
15 Jakob Piil (Den) T-mobile
2.19
16 Dimitri Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole
2.21
17 Danny Pate (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
2.31
18 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota United Pro
19 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick Step
2.37
20 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
2.44
21 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
2.50
22 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole
2.54
23 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas
3.10
24 Anthony Colby (USA) Colavita Sutter Home
25 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Predictor-Lotto
3.11
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| Thor Hushovd came in fourth (picture : Cyclingheroes) |
Volta ao Algarve: Petacchi again
To yesterday's win Alessandro Petacchi now added another one. On Saturday the Italian won the fourth stage
of the Volta ao Algarve and took over the overall lead. Behind the Miram pro Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) finished second,
René Haselbacher (Astana) third.
The stage from Vila Real de Santo Antonio to Loulé over 187.2 kilometers led the riders
over several climbs. A group of ten used this for an early break. On one of the climbs, 40 kilometers before the finish, Stephen
Cummings (Discovery Channel) broke away from the escapees, whose lead towards the main group diminished. For about 25 kilometers
he remained in the lead by himself, but was caught by the main group later.
My condition is back...
At the end
it was worth the patience for Team Milram once again. When the main group split up on the last climb, nine kilometers before
the finish, Alessandro Petacchi, Fabio Sacchi and Marco Velo were in the group of 25 riders in which the race was finally
decided. In the finale Alessandro Petacchi had the most reserves again and relegated Davide Rebellin and René Haselbacher
to the next ranks. “The stage was hardened by a climb when ten kilometres were still to go and a nervous finale,”
Petacchi said after his third victory this season. “After the last climb I was in the main group with Fabio Sacchi and
Marco Velo. Both did an extraordinary work on the last three kilometers, taking me to the 200 meters mark,” Petacchi
thanked his team mates. “Now I think my condition has returned to a high level.”
Bernhard Eisel, who had
taken over the overall lead the day before, finished in the second group 1:05 minutes behind and therefore had to hand over
the leader’s jersey to Petacchi. Before the last stage from Vila do Bispo to Portimao over 185.6 kilometers the Italian
is leading with a gap of ten seconds, followed by René Haselbacher and Tomas Vaitkus (Discovery Channel), who is twelve seconds
behind.
Vinokourov starts at Vuelta Valenciana
Alexander Vinokourov will start his season at the Vuelta Valenciana. The Tour will kick off at Tuesday February
27 and the final stage will be on Saturday March 3. Vino likes the race very much and won it in 1999. Vinokourov will be supported
by Swiss rider Thomas Frei, Spanish rider José Antonio Redondo and five other rider from Kazachstan: Assan Bazayev, Maxim
Gourov, Maxim Iglinskiy, Andre Mizurov and Serguei Yakovlev.
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| Alexander Vinokourov will start his season at Valenciana (picture: Cyclingheroes |
Klöden believes Ullrich
As tension in Germany continues to rise before tomorrows press confrence of Jan Ullrich (live on the internet
at http://www.phoenix.de/livestream/ at 11.00 Central EuropeanTime, Berlin) Andreas Klöden told reporters he believes Ullrich. In an
interview in the March edition of German magazine Tour, the number three of last years Tour de France said: "What did
they all accuse him of during the Fuentes affair? I only read and heard what I could see and hear in the media about it. Than
I asked him: Do they have a point there? He confirmed to me: The don't have a point. As a friend I believe him."
Klöden also said: "What do we know about it? In Italy Basso, who is accused of the same thing, is being
send from one tribute to the next one and he found a team. And we Germans try to destroy the life - and cycling is his life
- of a human being, like Jan, who was accepted by the public life. I think that's unfair."
Juan Manuel Garate injured
Juan Manuel Garate was involved in a crash Thursday at a downhill section of the 2nd stage
of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal. The Spanish rider and 2006 Giro D’Italia mountain jersey winner
fractured the head of his radius of his right arm.
Garate will be undergoing further checks over the next few days after
which it will be possible to ascertain his recovery period.
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