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27.03.2007/ Riis not impressed, Astana for Coppi and Bartali, Karpets won first stage Vuelta a Castilla y Leon,
Zabel and Petacchi at Lotto-Tour, Redlands: Sutherland took second consecutive
stage win, Ryan Cox: "Of course every rider's dream is to ride the Tour de France."
Mailbox - win a nice surprise with Original Autograph of Jan Ullrich
Letterbox: You can send your letters with ideas, comments and other things you would like to let us and
our readers to know to: letters@cyclingheroes.de . Some of the letters will be published on our website. We can only publish letters with your full name, hometown
and country.
The editor choose every month "The letter of the month". The writer of the best letter in March 2007
will receive a nice surprise with original handwritten autograph of Jan Ullrich.
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Cyclingheroes Mailbox March 12
New: Saul Raisin: "Mom if I ever get back on a bike I want help people like me"
Riis not impressed
As reported former Telekom soigneur Jef D'hont accused CSC team manager Bjarne Riis of taking epo during the 1996 Tour De France,
which Riis won. Bjarne Riis told Belgian daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws: "Jef D'hont does not deliver any evidence for
his allegations," Riis said. "There also will be somebody who wants to make money with tales about the past." According to
Riis, D'hont wasn't the first and won't be the last person who comes up with this kind of allegations. "For me the present
and the future is more important. I won't justify myself," Riis said.
Astana for Coppi and Bartali
Nominating riders like Paolo Savoldelli (ITA), Eddy Mazzoleni (ITA) and Andrej Kashechkin (KAZ), Astana will participate at the Italian stage
race with realistic ambitions. It is worth to note that the German rider Matthias Kessler, who demonstrated
his presence at the Poggio during the classic Milan – San Remo, will also be at the start.
Astana for "Settimana Ciclista Internazionale" (or Coppi e Bartali):
Assan Bazayev (KAZ), Maxim Gourov (KAZ), Andrej Kashechkin (KAZ), Matthias
Kessler (GER), Eddy Mazzoleni (ITA), Steve Morabito (SUI), Daniele Navarro (ESP) and Paolo Savoldelli
(ITA).
Karpets won first stage Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne), who won the white jersey in the 2004 Tour de France, was the
fastest man on the opening 10 kilometers long individual time trial of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon.
Inigo Cuesta never made it to start in Vuelta á Castilla y Leon on Monday, because the Spanish
veteran suffered an unlucky crash during the warm-up and was not able to do the 10-kilometer time trial in Zamora.
"It
was extremely unlucky for Inigo, whom I'd had great hopes for in this race. He was almost unable to move his shoulder after
the crash so we were afraid his collarbone was broken, but he's had a scan and luckily there's no fractures. He was our best
bet in this race, so we'll probably have to face the fact that this limits our chances of an overall win somewhat. But we
might get a chance to make a difference in some individual stages so that's what we'll be aiming for now," said CSC sports
director Kim Andersen after the stage, which did mean good news regarding another Team CSC rider.
"Nicki Sřrensen did
quite well in the prologue and was our best rider - 26 seconds behind stage winner Vladimir Karpets [Caisse d'Epargne]. I
think his result today has given Nicki a major confidence boost and I also think he's well on the way to a good form," commented
Kim Andersen, who also has other recently injured riders in his line up for the race.
"This is also Kurt-Asle Arvesen's
first race after his injury at the training camp in California in February and Carlos is here as well even though he's not
a hundred percent yet on top of his crash a couple of weeks ago. So the main objective for these guys is to get some mileage
in their legs really," concluded Kim Andersen.
Results stage 1 (ITT)
1 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne
11.55
2 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.02
3 Florent
Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
0.03
4 Francisco Jose Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
0.05
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.06
6 Magnus Backstedt (Swe)
Liquigas
0.09
7 Ivan Basso (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.10
9 Vladimir Miholjevic
(Cro) Liquigas
0.18
10 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
11
Jason McCartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
12 Remmert Wielinga
(Ned) Saunier Duval-Prodir
0.19
13 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.21
14 Thomas Danielson (USA)
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.22
15 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
0.23
16 Emilien Benoit Berges (Fra) Agritubel
0.24
17 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
18 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Karpin Galicia
19 Eloy Teruel (Spa) Grupo Nicolás Mateos
20 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin Galicia
21 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
0.26
22 Nikki Sörensen (Den) Team CSC
23 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Relax-Gam
0.27
24 Pablo De Pedro (Spa) Grupo Nicolás Mateos
0.28
25 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
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| Karpets won the first stage of Castilla y Leon (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Zabel and Petacchi at Lotto-Tour
Erik Zabel starts at the Lotto-Tour from 25 to 29 April 2007. Lotto is the new title sponsor of the Tour which was known
as Niedersachen Tour. MILRAM’s top-duo is complete. With Zabel, Milram sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, who last year
won all the stages as well as the overall classification, receives active support. It is Erik Zabel’s first participation
at the Niedersachsen-Tour.
Together, the two Milram captains want to face this year’s strong competitors. The
other German teams have also announced to start with their top sprinters. It’s going to be exciting. The profile of
the tour through Lower Saxony is especially agreeable to the sprinters. „The Lotto-Tour is very important for our sponsor
Milram. It leads through Lower Saxony and one stage even ends in Bremen. So I’m happy to start here with my team,“
Erik Zabel explains. „I hope I can win the one or other stage. But the competitors are strong and I’m sure Alessandro
will try to repeat last year’s success.“
Who of the two sprint stars finally wins the stages doesn’t
matter to the team. „The main thing is that the team wins,“ Gerry van Gerwen, Commercial Manager of Team Milram,
says. „For the team it is important to tie up to last year’s success. With both captains starting our chances
to repeat the fantastic results of 2006 are higher.“
For Martin Mischel, Marketing and Sales Director of Nordmilch,
the team’s decision is particularly pleasant. „The Lotto-Tour leads directly through the Milram country. Here,
our farmers and employees have the chance to experience the team close by again. This is why we’re especially happy
that Erik Zabel agreed on his start so that both stars are in the selection.“
Redlands: Sutherland took second consecutive stage win
Rory Sutherland of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis didn't have to go far for his first
two NRC wins of the 2007 season, but he certainly earned them.
The 25-year-old Australian has been living in Redlands, California since the end of the team's training camp
in January, and after this weekend, he just might be able to get elected Mayor of the town.
Sutherland followed his victory in the Redlands Downtown Criterium on Saturday with a strong victory in the
Sunset Road Race on Sunday. It was a hard-fought win, and definitely a team win.
"This was definitely a hard day," Sutherland said.
Just two laps into the 12-lap circuit race covering 146 km, Sutherland and teammate Jeff Louder were part
of a move that escaped off the front.
"There were a couple of GC guys in there, and then all of the sudden, I see TJ (Tim Johnson) with us," Sutherland
said. In all nearly 20 riders joined the move that would serve to blow the race apart, and serve up the overall win for Andrew
Bajadali (Jelly Belly).
In the closing laps, "Louder buried himself and got a gap that forced everyone else in the break to chase,"
Sutherland said. "That allowed TJ and me to just sit in and get a free ride into town on the last lap." It also served to
ramp up the pace up front, as well as shed a few riders from the break, and open the gap to the chasing group of race leader
Scott Moninger (BMC) out beyond three minutes after it had closed to about 20 seconds with three laps to go.
Once the lead group got into the five downtown finishing circuits - the same course on which Sutherland won
the criterium - Johnson played the role of consummate teammate. "TJ put me in perfect position for the sprint," Sutherland
said. "You could have put a blindfold on me and put me on his wheel and he'd have dropped me off in the right spot."
That spot was sitting second wheel on Chris Wherry (Toyota-United), who won the 2005 Redlands title while
riding for Health Net Presented by Maxxis. And just as he did on Saturday, Sutherland punched it coming out of the final corner
and bolted around Wherry, holding off charging Aussie Ben Brooks (Navigators) at the line for the victory.
"TJ and Jeff were just amazing today," Sutherland said. "Louder absolutely put it on the line."
An “all or nothing” decision by the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team was another reason why the
overall complexion of the Redlands Bicycle Classic changed on Sunday’s final stage.
The aggressive approach
resulted in Toyota-United losing its grip on second place overall and the lead in the team general classification it had held
since Thursday’s prologue time trial.
"The guys rode their hearts out," Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen
said. "It was all or nothing. This time was it was nothing."
"I’ve never had such a long team meeting with the guys," Jansen said. "We could never really put our
finger on what was going to get our win. But it’s not in my nature – or the guys’ nature – to settle
for second. So we went for it. So for as small a chance as it was to win, the guys gave it their all. We ended up with nothing.
But that’s how I like to race and that’s how they like to race."
The strategy Jansen laid out was an aggressive
one.
Part I would be to put a rider or two in a break in an attempt to soften up the BMC Racing Team, which would
be riding to protect Moninger’s lead. Part II was for England to bridge up to the break and put enough distance between
himself and Moninger to overcome his deficit.
The strategy worked early on, with Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin
and Wherry going up the road. But even with Moninger’s BMC squad in shambles behind, getting England in touch with the
break proved to be too difficult.
"I had Henk Vogels with me and we were attacking to bridge up, but I was just too
well marked and couldn’t get away," England said. "We wanted to try and win the GC. We weren’t happy with second
place. And in the end it ended up not working out for us."
Wherry said he and Baldwin found themselves part of a motivated
bunch that had no interest in waiting for anyone behind.
"The guys in the front with us just hit the gas and blew
the race apart," Wherry said. "That put us in a position to try and go for the stage win. It was an all or nothing shot. It
just didn’t matter on the GC if it wasn’t first. We raced our hearts out and it didn’t come together."
Jansen
said he will remember this year’s race as the one where Toyota-United faced its share of adversity.
"From Justin
just barely getting second on the climb to Oak Glen, to Ivan (Dominguez) being eliminated, to having Henk’s best friend
(Damian McDonald) die in a car accident in Australia (story below), it was a tough race," Jansen said.
Results stage 3 Redlands
1 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Healthnet presented by Maxxis
3.25.34
2 Ben Brooks (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
3 Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
4 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell
5 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
6 Jason Donald (USA) Team Slipstream/Chipolte
7 Peter Hatton (Aus) Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
8 Dan Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast
9 Tim Johnson (USA) Team Healthnet presented by Maxxis
10 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
Final General Classification
1 Andrew Bajadali (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
9.12.55
2 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
0.10
3 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell 0.30
4 Chris
Wherry (USA) Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
0.58
5 Tom Peterson (USA) Team Slipstream/Chipolte
1.00
6 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Healthnet presented by Maxxis
1.23
7 Dan Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast
1.31
8 Peter Hatton (Aus) Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
1.36
9 Scott Moninger (USA) BMC Racing Team
3.26
10 Jason Donald (USA) Team Slipstream/Chipolte
3.27
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| Ben Brooks (Navigators), Sutherland (Health Net), Wherry (Toyota-United) (picture: Veronika Lenz) |
Ryan Cox: "Of course every rider's dream is to ride the Tour de France."
Speaking with the team website of Barloworld, www.teambarloworld.com, South African rider Ryan Cox was asked
about his thoughts on the 2007 season. Cox said: "I don't want to make any predictions because I'm scared of bad luck but
I think I'm back to my best after and in good form. Last year my back problems really affected my racing. Now I feel stronger
and more confident of my ability." About how things went so far this season Cox continued by saying: "Pretty well and right
from the first training camp where I worked hard with my team mates. There is a good atmosphere in the team because we're
stronger than last year and know we can get some good results. So far we've proved it."
About the difference between racing in South Africa and Europe Cox said: "I've always dreamed about racing
in Europe ever since I decided cycling would be my life, but it's definitely different in Europe compared to South Africa.
As well as the weather the distance and the cycling culture, the biggest difference in Europe is that there are at least 20
riders who can win the race, while in South Africa it's four or five..."
About Robert Hunter joining the team, Cox said: "Definitely even if motivation is not a problem at the moment
because I'm working and training hard. The presence of Robbie Hunter in the team is very motivating, especially for us South
Africans. He's got more European experience and so is a big help in preparing for the races and knowing how to have the
right build up for a race."
About not riding for a Pro-Tour team: "In fact it's not easy to plan your objectives because we don't know
which races we will ride in. I've done a programme with the team management and I hope that race after race, we'll get some
good news about some big races in the next few months. Personally I'd like to ride some of the big spring classics and then
a major stage race. Of course every rider's dream is to ride the Tour de France."
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| Ryan Coc on the wall of Huy durmg last years Fleche Wallonne (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
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