|
17.07.2007/ Cascade Classic: O'Bee wins final stage - Zajicek overall winner, Toyota-United recap Cascade
Classic, Omloop wins Boekhoute, Gardeyn wins Dentergem, Iban Mayo: "My greatest wish was being
in the spotlight once again in the Tour, and I´ve made it", Tour de France: Sinkewitz out after collision with spectator,
Tour de France: Marcel Sieberg's preview of stage 9 from Val d'Isère to Briancon
Mailbox - win a picture in poster format with Original Autograph of Michael Boogerd
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.
Please note: your letter should not be longer than 350 words. The editor choose every month "The letter of the month".
The writer of the best letter in June 2007 will receive a picture in 20 X 30 CM format with original handwritten
autograph of Michael Boogerd.
|
Kai Reus kept in an artificial coma after crash
Kessler sacked by Astana
New: Confusion about Eddy Mazzoleni's future
Special Coverage Tour de France 2007
Cascade Classic: O'Bee wins final stage - Zajicek overall winner
After winning Stage 5 of the Cascade Classic, Jeff Louder of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by
Maxxis came into the final stage of the race Sunday sitting 4th overall, 1:16 down on Phil Zajicek (Navigators).
"We weren't going to go down without a fight," Louder said.
They didn't. "The team rode aggressively all day," said Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Mike Tamayo.
The race didn't really heat up until the first bonus sprint out on the road, when Toyota-United tried to set up 2nd overall
Chris Baldwin for the sprint to take back time on Zajicek. However, when Zajicek won the sprint, with Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority
Health, 3rd overall) and Louder taking the bonus time, T-U shut down their control of the front of the race, and the attacking
began. Ryder Hesjedal and Roman Kilun of Health Net Presented by Maxxis were early animators, taking off with several other
riders and staying off the front for the next 30-35 miles.
"That took a bit of the pressure off me," Louder said.
But with Navigators keeping the break within a minute the whole time, the catch was inevitable. And on the final trip around
the 17-mile circuit, they reeled in the break. In the closing kilometers, Louder attacked to try and get time on the leaders.
"I got a good gap, then Jacques-Maynes bridged up to me and got my wheel," Louder said. "I accelerated again and got a couple
hundred meters. Next thing I know, Kirk was with me."
This presented a quandary. "I did the math," Louder said. "We could either work together for a bit and probably have gotten
caught, or I could drop back and let Kirk go and try for the stage win."
And so Louder sat up and drifted back to the peloton while O'Bee soldiered on alone. As the finish line drew closer, Scott
Moninger (BMC) tried to bridge, but only closed down half the gap and returned to the pack. On the last little climb it was
Jacques-Maynes again doing the work to close to O'Bee's wheel.
This finally lit a fire under Baldwin, who chased hard to preserve his 2nd overall placing, pulling the rest of the race
leaders with him. But O'Bee held on and dug deep enough to get around Jacques-Maynes and hold off a charging Ricardo Escuela
(Successful Living) to take the win. Louder led in the next group three seconds later to take 5th on the stage and hold his
4th overall.
Finding the right wheel
Louder took out the win in Stage 5 by "doing as little as possible" until the final 3km. "They guys took really good care
of me (Saturday)," Louder said. "Roman was attacking and Ryder was riding tempo. Doug (Ollerenshaw), Kirk and Frank (Pipp)
did a lot of work as well."
Kilun went off the front on the descent of the first climb and stayed away for the next 15 km. Pipp attacked with a Priority
Health rider and bridged to Kilun, holding a one-minute advantage. "They held on as long as they could," Tamayo said.
With 10 km to go, the gap was at :40 and coming down. In the final five kilometers they were absorbed.
That left a select group of about 15 riders heading up the slopes of Mt. Bachelor to the finish at Sunrise Lodge. With
1.5 km to go, Burke Swindlehurst (Toyota-United) had a dig. When he was brought back, Moninger had a go. Louder glued himself
to the veteran's wheel. In the closing meters, Louder jumped around Moninger and sprinted for the stage win, followed closely
by Zajicek and Baldwin. "I was just fortunate enough to follow the right wheel," Louder said.
Solid Week
Despite coming to Cascade with only a six-man squad, Health Nett Presented by Maxxis was aggressive throughout the week,
challenging every day for a stage win.
Louder opened the six-stage race with a 5th place behind stage winner Escuela. The next day he went one better, finishing
4th as Jacques-Maynes took out the uphill sprint. The Stage 3 individual time trial saw both Louder and Hesjedal in the top
10.
O'Bee nearly pulled off a win in the Stage 4 criterium Friday evening, benefiting from great work by teammate Ollerenshaw,
who took off with Ryan Trebon (Kodakgallery-Sierra Nevada) on lap one and proceeded to stay off the front for the next 80
minutes of the 90-minute race.
The duo achieved a maximum lead of :35, with Navigators riding tempo for Zajicek, who had taken over the race lead early
that day after riding one of the best time trials of his career.
The peloton finally overtook Ollerenshaw and Trebon with 10 laps to go. From there, Toyota-United took over the front of
the race, setting up the train for Ivan Dominguez. "Kirk and Frank got on the back of their train," Tomayo noted. Coming out
of the final turn with 350 meters to go, O'Bee got the jump on the T-U train with a surprise attack. But Dominguez put in
a late charge and narrowly beat O'Bee on the line in a photo finish, much to the surprise of both riders. Pipp finished the
stage in 5th.
Results
Stage 6
1 Kirk O'Bee (Health Net presented by Maxxis)
3.05.55 (42.069 km/h)
2 Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living.com P/B Park)
3 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health Bissell)
4 Darren Lill (Navigators Insurance)
5 Jeff Louder (Health Net presented by Maxxis)
0.03
6 Michael Grabinger (Successful Living.com P/B Park)
7 Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance)
8 Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United)
9 Chris Wherry (Toyota-United)
10 Scott Moninger (BMC Pro Cycling Team)
Final General Classification
1 Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance)
15.33.08
2 Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United)
0.28
3 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health Bissell) 0.51
4
Jeff Louder (Health Net presented by Maxxis)
1.26
5 Chris Wherry (Toyota-United)
1.42
6 Scott Moninger (BMC Pro Cycling Team)
2.10
7 Jonathan Garcia (BMC Pro Cycling Team)
2.50
8 Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net presented by Maxxis)
2.55
9 David Vitoria (BMC Pro Cycling Team)
10 Burke Swindlehurst (Toyota-United)
3.07
|
| The final podium: Baldwin(2) Zajicek(1) & Jacques-Maynes(3) (picture: Cascade Events Photography ) |
Toyota-United recap Cascade Classic
Chris Baldwin of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team saw his quest to overtake Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance
Cycling Team) on the final day of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic end with a sprint for a time bonus that
looked like more like a frenzied dash to the line in a European classic.
“We thought it would be us against
Phil – which is good for a guy like me,” Baldwin said. “It’s simpler and safer and cleaner. Instead,
it seemed like everyone in the race wanted a piece of that first time bonus sprint. Health Net was lining it up, along with
every other team. We got swarmed and I was never in front of anyone.”
Baldwin needed to win at least one of
the four 15-second time bonus sprints in Sunday’s 80-mile Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race to overcome a
13-second deficit heading into the final stage. Instead, Zajicek powered his way through to take the sprint himself and increase
his lead from 13 to 28 seconds on the way to capturing the overall title. Meanwhile, Baldwin logged his third runner-up finish
in a stage race this season.
With the way the first sprint played out, Baldwin knew it would be hard to be successful
on any of the other three remaining. Said his teammate, Chris Wherry, who won the race overall last year on the exact type
of time bonus sprint:
“We had a shot and we took it and it didn’t work out, but that’s kind of how life
is sometimes,” Wherry said.
Despite coming up short for the overall title, Toyota-United did have a lot to celebrate
after the five-day, six-stage race. The squad won the team classification, Baldwin finished in the top three on four stages,
Ivan Dominguez won the downtown criterium Friday night and, in unofficial figuring, Toyota-United is back atop the National
Race Calendar team standings (see sidebar).
“We tried to get the overall lead, but coming out with second, fifth
and 10th on the GC and the team win was great,” Willett said. “The guys delivered.”
Another stage
win for Dominguez was almost in the cards on the final stage, too. The Cuban sprint specialist – racing for only the
eighth time since a crash in mid-May – nearly made it over the final climb with the leaders.
“If we get
him over that climb, he probably wins the race,” Wherry said. “It’s a big sign of him coming back from his
injury that he is coming onto form.”
In addition to Baldwin’s second place, Toyota-United placed four
riders in the top 15 to win the team classification: Wherry was fifth (1:42 behind Zajicek); Burke Swindlehurst was 10th (3:07
behind) and Justin England was 13th (4:09 behind).
Swindlehurst jumped across a gap that opened after the first time
bonus sprint to infiltrate a five-man breakaway that never gained more than a minutes’ lead. However, Swindlehurst made
the most of his time on the front by going for bonus sprints himself.
“I was just doing it (sprinting for the
bonuses) to protect Wherry’s position because one of the riders in the group was fairly close to him. It was more to
take the time sprints away from that guy than move myself up the standings.”
Swindlehurst picked up a total
of 25 seconds in bonus time but it did not move him up on the general classification because he conceded time to the leaders
at the finish.
Toyota-United’s other finishers were Heath Blackgrove (26th, 10:51 behind), Stefano Barberi (31st,
12:47 behind) and Dominguez (42nd, 28:04 behind). Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia felt the effects of working hard
on Stages 4 and 5 and did not finish the race.
Kirk O’Bee (Health Net presented by Maxxis) won the final stage
over Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living.com presented by Parkpre) and Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health presented by
Bissell.)
Toyota-United Regains Lead In NRC Standings
With its performance
in the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic, the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team unofficially regained the lead in
the National Race Calendar team standings.
Toyota-United had been the season-long leader through May until being displaced
by three-time defending NRC champion Health Net presented by Maxxis.
“The biggest goal for the entire week was
to come in and get the NRC team lead back,” Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett said. “The guys delivered.
No doubt about it.
We tried to get the overall lead, but coming out with second place, fifth and 10th on the GC and
the team win was great.”
Fewer than 10 events remain on the NRC calendar. Toyota-United’s next NRC race
is the International Tour de Toona in Pennsylvania, July 23-29.
Omloop wins Boekhoute
Geert Omloop (Jartazi-Promo Fashion) has won the regional race in the Belgian Boekhoute on
Sunday. Omloop was the fastest of a five-headed lead group and beat Hamish Haynes (DFL) and Bart Vanheule (Chocolade Jacques).
Jimmy
Casper (Unibet.com) rode 120 kilometres in his comeback race. "Jimmy was feeling quite good yesterday. He hopes to finish
the regional race in Dentergem today", said Hilaire Van Der Schueren, Unibet.com team leader.
Gardeyn wins Dentergem
Gorik Gardeyn (Unibet.com) has won the regional race in the Belgian Dentergem yesterday. Gardeyn
beat his breakaway companion Frederic Amorison in the sprint and took his second season's win.
Iban Mayo: "My greatest wish was being in the spotlight once again in the Tour, and I´ve
made it"
On the day after his great performance in Tignes, where he ended 2nd for the stage
and climbed to 3rd in the GC, Iban Mayo appeared before the press at Saunier Duval - Prodir´s headquarters in this Alpine
town. Before the press conference, the team had a two-hour moderate training session. The capatain of the yellow squad
made the following remarks:
What have been the differences between this edition of the Tour and the previous
ones?
"With regard to training, there haven´t been many. I just tried
to do things right so that I was in good shape when I came here. Perhaps I didn´t feel the pressure this time. Taking into
account how things had turned out to be in the past few years, I had nothing to lose. My victory at the Giro d´Italia boosted
my morale, and some days before this Tour I noticed that I was OK. But you´re never sure until you hit the road and face a
race like yesterday´s. Since the early stages, I´ve feeling all right. However, it´s only when you measure yourself up against
the big guns that you can tell whether you´re really in good shape or not."
After the bad outcome of recent
years in the Tour, did yesterday´s second taste like victory?
"Well, I´m satisfied with the way in which the stage unfolded.
After Rasmussen, who had opened a large gap, I was the first to cross the finish line, and I really enjoyed that moment. Being
in the spotlight during the Tour, as I had been in the past, was one of my greatest ambitions, and my dream has now come true.
The original goal was scoring a win, but once I realised it wouldn´t be possible, I chose to reach the highest spot I could.
Will I go for the GC? Well, I´m not obsessed with it, and I´m not saying this to shake the pressure off my shoulders, because
I don´t really feel like that this year. Quite the contrary: I´m having a great time. This Tour is different because there
is no clear leader so far. which means that any rider feeling well and confident can make it. So yes, in this sense, I am
ambitious. The only thing I need is not having any physical problems, because if I´m fine, then I feel fully confident. But
experience has taught me what the Tour is like. Anybody can have a bad day in France."
How did you find the
favourites yesterday? Could tomorrow be the right day to rule Vinokourov out?
"Yesterday´s final pass was tough but not useful to make a selection. Besides, we were running
into the wind, and this helped balance forces. Perhaps I expected Sastre or Menchov to be part of the leading bunch, but the
rest were all there -Moreau, Valverde, Contador. These are the big names. As for Vinokourov, it´s quite obvious that he has
to be left behind tomorrow, because then there´s the time-trial for him to make up for losses. He has shown what a great rider
he is, so you can never think his chances are over. We could have ruled him out yesterday, but then each rider minded his
own business."
Source: Saunier Duval - Prodir
|
| Iban Mayo came in second on Sunday (picture: Saunier Duval - Prodir) |
Tour de France: Sinkewitz out after collision with spectator
T-Mobile’s horror-day at the Tour de France continued post-race Sunday when Patrick Sinkewitz was
involved in a freak collision with a spectator. Sinkewitz suffered an open fracture of the nose, head trauma, and a shoulder
injury in the high-speed collision - and will definitely not be able to continue at the Tour de France. That was confirmed
Monday by team doctor Helge Riepenhof.
The accident occurred as Sinkewitz and team mates were making their way by
bike from the finish line on the Montee de Tignes to the team hotel in Val d´Isere. The spectator, from Luxembourg, was airlifted
to hospital in Chambery where he is reported to be in a critical condition.
Sinkewitz, who was airlifted to hospital
in Albertville, is expected to return to Germany on Monday for further hospital treatment. "Patrik is doing well under the
circumstances. He is conscious and lucid," said team technical director Luuc Eisenga, who together with team manager Bob Stapleton
visited Sinkewitz in hospital on Sunday night.
Tour de France: Marcel Sieberg's preview of stage 9 from Val d'Isère
to Briancon
Milram's Marcel Sieberg said about todays stage: "I don’t have
to look at the stage’s profile anymore, it’s in my head completely. And I gave away the map, as a precaution...
It’s going to be a really tough stage tomorrow. Right after the start there’s a climb of 15 kilometers. And it’s
the first stage after the rest day, which is always very tough as well. It’s one of the shortest stages of this Tour,
but on the other hand it’s broadcast completely, that mean’s everybody’s motivated even more. My focus is
on the first mountain – which is the highest point of this Tour. After that it’s downhill until kilometer 86.
I just have to try to stay in the main group until the start of the Telegrapph, that is to get over the first mountain somehow,
then it’s gonna be ok. For our team it’s more about surviving than winning the stage tomorrow. I hope the first
climb won’t be too fast, that the field lets a group of five or six go, who don’t matter in the overall classification.
There probably won’t be one of us in a group – except Kneesi has really good legs. The real race is probably going
to start at the Telegraph. Five or six riders will fight out the win among themselves – among them the usual suspects.
For us, on the other hand, it’s about getting to the finish on time."
|
