Nearly a week of racing and celebrations came to an end Sunday, when the UCI World Championships ended in Salzburg, Austria, with Paolo Bettini's victory in the 265-kilometer prefessional men's road race.As always, photographer Casey Gibson was there to capture the feel of what it's like to spend a day at the world's.
Britain's David Millar said he could have done more to boost a doomed Australian bid for an historic first world crown here at the world road championships on Sunday. Italy's Paolo Bettini kept to his pre-race promise by adding the world crown to his Olympic title on the final day after a tactical finale in which he out-sprinted German veteran Erik Zabel. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of Spain finished third, with Robbie McEwen and Stuart O'Grady finishing fifth and sixth having been outfoxed by the sly Spanish outfit after 265.9 km of racing. Going into the final bend, Spaniard
Dutch teen sensation Marianne Vos surprised her elder rivals to kick to an impressive sprint victory of an elite group of 15 to become the youngest elite women’s world champion. Vos, just 19, relegated German sprinter Trixi Worrack into second with world No. 1 Nicole Cooke settling for bronze in the hard-fought, 132.9km race. “With 150 meters to go, I saw Oenone (Wood) taking the sprint and I just went as hard as I could,” said Vos, winning in 3 hours, 20 minutes, 26 seconds (39.783kph). “I didn’t see anyone around me, so I knew I had won.” Amber Neben led the way for the Americans,
Paolo Bettini has won just about everything in his career – World Cup titles, cycling’s monuments, stages in all three grand tours and the Olympic gold medal – but he still hasn’t been on the top step at the world championships. Fresh off winning a stage at the Vuelta a España, Bettini will headline the always powerful Italian team in Sunday’s elite men’s road race. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood sat down with Bettini at the Vuelta earlier this month to gauge the Cricket’s hopes of bouncing into the rainbow jersey. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews.com: After
Life is good for Gerald Ciolek. A year ago he was working 10 hours a day as an 18-year-old apprentice electrician at the Ford auto factory in Cologne, Germany. Today he is the world under-23 road race champion with a big, two-year contract on T-Mobile in his pocket. He won the title on Saturday afternoon by easily out-sprinting a six-man break that formed halfway through the final 22km lap in the eight-lap, 177.2km race in Salzburg, Austria. When Ciolek was clocking in at 6 a.m. to his Ford Motor Company job last year, he would train for bike racing in the evening. He was on a low-budget
Teams face self-bans in doping casesThe international cycling teams association will adopt new stringent measures that could see entire squad being barred from competition in the event of positive doping tests. The fight against doping was reinforced on Saturday when the International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT) body accepted changes to the UCI Pro Tour rules concerning doping. Teams have agreed that as of January 2007, they will automatically suspend their participation in a race if one or several of their riders tests positive or returns an abnormal blood screenings. A statement
Amber Neben was the top American in Saturday’s elite women’s road race, claiming 12th after sneaking into the day’s winning breakaway of 15 coming home for victory into Salzburg. Neben (Irvine, Calif.) was strong enough to follow accelerations by Nicole Cooke (England) and Nicole Brandli (Switzerland) on the decisive Tiefenbach climb that delivered the winning group. The strong performance capped another successful season for the 32-year-old, who defended her title at the Tour de L’Aude, overall victory at Redlands and second at the Gracia-Orlova Tour. VeloNews caught up with Neben at the
Salzburg, Austria, has been pleased with uncharacteristically beautiful weather for the world's road championships this week. Between his frequent day trips to Alpine villages in the neighborhood, our guy Casey Gibson has been covering some of the world's best cyclists racing to decide which of them should be crowned champion. Gibson was there to cover today's world championship women's road race and to witness a victory by the youngest world champion in the history of women's racing.
When the UCI world road championships were last held in Austria in September 1987, Irishman Stephen Roche shocked a lead group of 13 riders with a lightning acceleration a kilometer from the finish of the 276km pro road race. Roche, who had already won that year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, held on to a narrow lead to take Ireland’s first (and still only) rainbow jersey. As Roche crossed the line, another rider in green also raised his arms in triumph. It was the top race favorite, Sean Kelly, whose presence in the break forced the other fast finishers, none of them left with
Casey Gibson has been checking out the scenery while waiting for the marquee events to take the stage at the UCI road world's in Salzburg, Austria. He sent us a few shots of the countryside in and around Salzburg, along with some snaps of a trip to Halstatt. It kinda makes the riding around here look . . . well . . . oh, never mind.
The Salzburg circuit serves up a potentially explosive platform for this weekend’s world championship road races. The 22.3km circuit provides two climbs, the second of which is a short, but very steep wall, with grades up to 15 percent, that could blow open the races. Road racing starts on Saturday and wraps up on Sunday:SaturdayUnder-23 men(7:00 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.)- 176.8km (8 laps), 1864m of climbingWomen (12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.)- 132.6km (6 laps), 1398m of climbingSundayMen (8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) - 265.2km (12 laps), 2796m of climbing In order to convey a feel of what riders will be
A delegation of six Iranian riders due to compete at the world road cycling championships have yet to arrive in Austria because of reported visa problems. Officials in the host city of Salzburg received a letter from the Iranian delegation after they failed to show up on Monday saying their travel plans had been upset by visas which could not be processed in time. According to reports in the Austrian media the Iranian federation claimed it did not receive the documents for visa applications until September 10. However the world championships organising committee said it sent the necessary
The UCI announced Friday that it intends to seek ways to oblige riders to submit DNA samples and undergo physiological profiling in a bid to stamp out doping. After a summer of serious doping allegations and affairs which are still ongoing, the International Cycling Union is desperate to stamp cheating out of the sport. After a series of meetings on Friday between the body which distributes team licenses for the Pro Tour and the racing series' legal advisers, the UCI's Pro Tour council announced that DNA profiling and physiological profiling of riders would be one of the measures
There was never any doubt that Fabian Cancellara was going to win the world elite men’s time trial championship on Thursday. From his first pedal strokes along a cobblestone alleyway backing onto the Salzach River in the historic center of Salzburg, past the house where Mozart lived most of his life, and out into the green pastoral Austrian countryside, the 25-year-old Swiss simply flew around the 50.83km course. As he raced down the finishing straight, alongside the 17th-century Mirabell Palace, known as “the Taj Mahal of Salzburg,” Cancellara was still pedaling at more than 100 revs per
The globe-trotting Casey Gibson is in Salzburg, Austria, capturing all the action from the UCI road world's. On tap today: The elite men's individual time trial. Here's what he sent home.
The Discovery Channel team will undergo major changes at the end of the current season, with 11 riders leaving the outfit for which Lance Armstrong won his last Tour de France crown. Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel experienced a painful three weeks without Armstrong on this year's Tour de France, where the team struggled in the absence of the now retired Texan. Imminent recruit, Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner, will lead the American team's 2007 Tour de France campaign, but Discovery have recruited with widening their scope for success elsewhere in mind. Slovenian
Well, it didn’t take long before the 2006 world cycling championships got its first whiff of doping scandal. Three riders – two Argentines and one Brazilian – were ruled “inapt” to compete after pre-race blood screenings ahead of Tuesday’s opening day of competition. Brazilian Magno Nazaret and Argentines Martin Garrido and Matias Medici tested “unfit” after the UCI “vampires” screened 18 athletes early Tuesday morning from Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland, Australia and the United States. Garrido and Medici were due to take part in the men's road race this Sunday, with Medici also due
American women had their best-ever result in a world road championship on Wednesday when Kristin Armstrong was first and teammate Christine Thorburn third in the time trial at the 2006 world’s in Salzburg, Austria. On a welcome day of sunshine, Armstrong set a time of 35:04, averaging 44.638 kph for the difficult 26.12km course, to beat two-time defending champion Karin Thürig of Switzerland by 25 seconds, with Thorburn another four seconds back in third. “The course had a little bit of everything in it,” said Armstrong, 33, who finished third at the 2005 world’s in Madrid. “You had to stay
Belgian Dominique Cornu upset the favorites Tuesday to win the U-23 men’s time trial, giving Belgium its first medal of the 2006 world road cycling championships. Racing under mostly sunny skies with a slight breeze, the 22-year-old Belgian turned a time of 49:28.42 to beat defending champion Mikhail Ignatiev (Russia) by 37 seconds on the challenging 39.5km course. Jerome Coppel hung on to win bronze at 44 seconds slower, claiming France’s first medal in the U23 category since Frederic Finot took silver in 1998. “It was a difficult race, working from start to finish. In the beginning it
Road Race1927 Nürburg, Germany - Alfredo Binda , Italy1928 Budapest, Hungary Georges Ronsse, Belgium1929 Zürich, Switzerland - Georges Ronsse, Belgium1930 Liège, Belgium - Alfredo Binda, Italy1931 Copenhagen, Denmark - Learco Guerra, Italy1932 Rome, Italy - Alfredo Binda, Italy1933 Montlhery, France - Georges Speicher, France1934 Leipzig, Germany - Karel Kaers, Belgium1935 Floreffe, Belgium - Jean Aerts, Belgium1936 Bern, Switzerland - Antonin Magne, France1937 Copenhagen, Denmark - Eloi Meulenberg, Belgium1938 Valkenburg, Netherlands - Marcel Kint, BelgiumSuspended due to World War II1946
Ever since he came back to Europe in the fall of 2004 with Saunier Duval, Chris Horner has been making the most of his second opportunity at the big leagues. It took him a few years longer than he expected to return to Europe after an unhappy three-year run at Française des Jeux in 1997-99, but now that he’s back, the 34-year-old from Hood, Oregon, is taking maximum advantage of the opportunity. That includes racing in this week’s world championships, where he’ll be one of the team leaders for the American team in Sunday’s elite men’s road race. Fresh off finishing 20th in the Vuelta a
In a year that Salzburg is commemorating the 250th anniversary of its favorite son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the small alpine town is about to celebrate Austria’s second world road cycling championships in 20 years. And, extending the musical theme, competitors in the three time trials this week and three road races at the weekend will be racing through the hills made famous by “The Sound of Music.” Maria Van Trapp and her family are no longer Salzburgers, but their hills will be alive to the sound of Europe’s cycling fans with their Swiss cowbells, Dutch brass bands and Italian fan clubs. A
The world time-trial championships are on tap Thursday in Salzburg, Austria, and with that in mind our man Rupert Guinness, the editor and publisher of publisher of PelotonPress.net, had a chat with defending champion Michael Rogers. Here’s what T-Mobile’s Aussie speedster had to say. — Editor VeloNews: You are obviously in good form. How do you feel compared to last year? Michael Rogers: I certainly feel I am on par with last year, just from burning around in time-trial training. I haven't really raced a time trial for quite a while. It's probably not a bad thing – in the past I
Vuelta a España race director Victor Cordero expressed satisfaction Sunday in Madrid, calling the final podium "world-class, worthy" for the season’s final three-week grand tour. "I am happy with the Vuelta that we are enjoying, there are more people than ever and the racing has been spectacular," Cordero told VeloNews.com. "This year has been traumatic for all of us. This success reminds us all of what this sport have inside that we keep attracting people despite all the things we’ve done poorly, because this is a beautiful sport." The Spanish tour has paid perhaps the highest price after
The organisers of cycling's three grand tours have formally asked the UCI to sanction a professional racing series entirely separate from the two-year-old ProTour in an effort to secure more autonomy over their respective events. The three major organizers - ASO in France, RCS in Italy and Unipublic for theVuelta a Espana- have been at loggerheads with the UCI since it introduced thePro Tour for the 2005 season. The three wield a great deal of power in the series as they now run 11 of the 27 Pro Tour events and want more control over those. Insiders say the grand tours are seeking to
Alexandre Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde and Paolo Bettini are just some of the big names who will be hoping to brighten up the cycling world by winning the rainbow jersey next week. The annual world cycling road race championships begin in Salzburg, Austria, on Tuesday in the hope they can overcome a summer of discontent which has placed huge question marks over some of the sport's biggest stars. Worried bosses at the UCI, the sport's world ruling body, will certainly be hoping the six-day event will finish on a more positive note than the season's signature race, the Tour de
Despite rolling in with a three-man roster at the September 15-17 Parker Mainstreet Omnium, the Health Net team showed why it’s been the top domestic dog for three years running at the final National Race Calendar event of the season. Scott Moninger and Karl Menzies went 1-2 in the road race after both placing well in the time trial, then Menzies won the concluding criterium Sunday to take the overall title with Moninger in the second podium spot. Priority Health time-trial specialist Tom Zirbel won the opening 7-mile time trial in conditions so windy many riders rode the final downhill
The 61st Vuelta a España ended with a fiesta in Madrid as huge numbers of fans turned out Sunday to watch the season’s final grand tour come down to an exciting finale. Erik Zabel (Milram) proved that some things get better with age to win for the second time this Vuelta while Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) enjoyed an easy day on the bike to win his first major grand tour. “This Vuelta has been very hard and complicated and I am very happy with the victory,” Vinokourov said after sealing the success over Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with Astana teammate and compatriot Andrey
Starting with the deluge after a night of hard rain combined with a strike by train and subway workers, getting to the 64th Milan Bicycle Show was by no means an easy task. Even more cars than on a normal day packed flooded roads, and the occasional vehicle stalled in water above its wheels brought urban traffic to a complete standstill in places. It is a good bet that many people who had planned to attend to the first day of Italy’s premier icycle industry trade show ultimately gave up in frustration. The sun came out in the afternoon, but the rain returned later to wash out the
In fine form, Vino’ stomped his pedals on the peloton one last time and flew around the time trial course to seal his first victory in a grand tour. It is said that the winner of a grand tour should win a time trial stage; not only did Vinokourov win the time trial today but he also dominated the last ten days of the race, winning three stages, placing second twice and never spending a moment in difficulty. In all, he won a mountain stage, a field sprint and a time trial which is incredible and shows he is truly the most complete rider of the Vuelta. This morning, prior to the time trial,
Alexandre Vinokourov gave himself the best possible birthday present: a victory in Saturday’s time trial to all but seal overall title in the 61st Vuelta a España. The Kazakh celebrated his 33rd birthday scoring his third stage win of this Vuelta and beat Spanish rider Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) by six seconds to put an exclamation point on what will likely give him the first grand tour win of his career. “I am very happy today. I wanted to try to win today because it’s my 33rd birthday,” Vinokourov said. “I did the first 10km pretty quiet and then I knew that I could faster in the
Embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is in Madrid to meet with his Spanish attorneys on Monday, VeloNews has learned. Sources at Phonak confirmed that Landis is in Spain and is expected to be at the start of Sunday’s final stage of the Vuelta a España. Landis was also reportedly enjoying Madrid’s notorious nightlife and was seen at a local nightclub by journalists. Calls to Landis’ Spanish cell phone and his attorney, Jose Maria Buxeda, were unanswered Saturday afternoon. The 31-year-old is battling allegations that he doped to win July’s Tour when post-stage urine tests taken
This evening we left the olive groves and arid countryside for the concrete and bumper to bumper traffic of Madrid… and it actually feels good. Three weeks of hotels, pedaling, pasta, bus transfers and the same routine is now coming to an end and we are in our last hotel and the final finish line is only a flutter of pedal strokes away. The last couple of days have been good for the team but long for the peloton. The stages were never flat but quite hilly to mountainous and it seemed we always had a gusty wind blowing up our noses and across our cheeks. Sadly, we rarely had it on our backs.
Discovery Channel isn’t going to win the Vuelta a España, but it looks likely the team GC is theirs. The American unit started Friday’s road stage holding a 15:21 lead to Astana. Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel said the team classification reflects just what the squad is all about in the post-Lance Armstrong era. "It’s a prestigious classification and I think it’s a reflection of the image we’re giving in this Tour of Spain that we’re a very diverse team, we can win different things, we don’t have a clear leader, that’s something we want to fight for to Madrid," he said. They have
Friday’s long and slow 19th stage across the flats Castilla y La Mancha seemed tedious after three gripping days in the mountains of southern Spain. The 205.3km trudge from Jaén to Ciudad Real – the third longest of this year’s Vuelta a España – produced a seven-man breakaway and a winner in José Luis Arrieta (Ag2r) to give the Spanish journalists something to write about. Otherwise, the Vuelta was on a holding pattern. "I have been waiting for this moment for 14 years," said the 35-year-old after scoring just his second professional victory. "I knew there was a headwind at the finish, I
Irish rider Nicolas Roche, the son of former world, Giro d'Italia and Tour de France champion Stephen Roche, will be one of Crédit Agricole's new recruits for next season, the team said Friday. The French outfit will also wave goodbye to aging veteran Jaan Kirsipuu, one of four riders who will be replaced by Roche, French duo Christophe Kern and Christophe Laurent and Italian Angelo Furlan. Kirsipuu, 37, is one of the elder statesman of the peloton having notched up an impressive career tally of more than 120 victories including stages in the Tour de France. Also leaving the Pro
Americans have often used the Vuelta a España to bounce to bigger things and Tom Danielson is certainly hoping that’s the case after winning Wednesday’s dramatic 17th stage. Dave Zabriskie, Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong all enjoyed Vuelta success before advancing toward more important triumphs in their respective careers. Armstrong finished fourth overall in the 1998 Vuelta in what was a glimpse of his potential to eventually win a record seven consecutive Tours de France. It was during that 1998 Vuelta performance that Johan Bruyneel would help convince Armstrong that he could win
Cycling’s three major grand tours looked poised to rock the ProTour boat yet again. The heads of cycling’s most important races are meeting this weekend in Madrid ahead of important meetings next week that coincide with the world championships. Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme arrived at the Vuelta on Thursday while Giro d’Italia director Angelo Zomegnan is expected to fly to Madrid on Saturday. “We are here to bring together the ideas of the Vuelta, Giro and Tour ahead of the meetings in Salzburg,” Vuelta race director Victor Cordero told VeloNews. “We have to clarify the
The Kazakh one-two punch took the fight out of the Spanish mountain goats in Thursday’s grueling summit finish at La Pandera during the Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov delivered the knockout blow in the 18th stage to take firm control of the leader’s jersey with only three days left as Astana teammate Andrey Kashechkin won the stage and slipped into third overall. Vino’ did what he does best, attacking archrival Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with about 6.5km to go in the brutally steep La Pandera climb to widen his lead to 53 seconds. "I would have preferred to win the Tour
Tom Danielson won’t win this Vuelta a España, but his dramatic stage victory in Wednesday’s 159.2km 17th stage from Adra to Granada bolstered his belief that someday he might. The 28-year-old finally delivered the big victory that everyone has been expecting from him since he came to Europe to race in 2004 with Fassa Bortolo. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with Danielson at the finish line in Granada (portions of this interview are from the post-race press conference). Here are excerpts of what he had to say: VN.com: This is the win you’ve been looking for since
Tom Danielson came into the Vuelta with big ambitions, but he struggled a little in the first week, unable to find his potent pedal stroke in the mountains, and losing time to his rivals on terrain where he usually excels. He persisted, kept his head together, and today he achieved a big objective with an impressive stage victory on one of the Vuelta's toughest days. Two days ago, on the rest day, we rode the first climb of today's stage: a 17-kilometer ascent from the coast to an altitude of 1300 meters (4265 feet). As we climbed the mountains in training one thought persisted-if
Tuesday’s thrilling 17th stage of the Vuelta a España was a lesson in conviction. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) stormed into the race leader’s gold jersey on the strong belief that he could simply will his way to overall victory while stage winner Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) buried two weeks of frustration with the joy of his biggest pro win. "I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was perhaps even more special because the beginning of the race was such a disaster," said Danielson, who’s jumped from 12th to sixth overall in two days. "So many people lost faith in me and
Gerolsteiner rider David Kopp has been forced to pull out of the German national squad for the world road race championships after crashing heavily in training on Monday. The 27-year-old had been named in a nine-man team for the September 24 road race in Salzburg, Austria alongside veterans Erik Zabel and Andreas Klöden on Monday. However he has now been ruled out for at least three weeks with a fractured wrist, according to Gerolsteiner. Kopp will now be replaced by one of four substitute riders: Christian Knees (Milram), Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner), Stephan Schreck (T-Mobile) and Marcel
San Juan, Puerto Rico – This year’s Tour of Puerto Rico (UCI 2.2) promised to be a longer, harder and – its promoters said – a much more organized race. Unfortunately, the more than 100 riders and 17 teams who were scheduled to start the four-day, five-stage event on Thursday will never know. At noon Tuesday, the Puerto Rican Cycling Federation held a press conference to announce the race had been cancelled. Alexis Cruz, federation president, said the race organization failed to gather the $30,000 needed to cover expenses and prizes. “The Tour cannot occur,” Cruz said. “It’s a financial
With the futures of Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia uncertain for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Tuesday’s victory by youngster Igor Anton in the wet and mountainous stage 16 couldn’t have come at a better time. The 23-year-old counter-attacked an elite group of six leading riders through pounding rain with 4km to go in the 145km stage to win his first professional race. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) sprinted to second place, picking up a valuable time bonus to further tighten his grip on the overall lead with just five days left of the 2006 Vuelta. "Today was a lot more than we could
Discovery Channel scored an important milestone last week when Egoi Martinez won the 11th stage into Burgos. With Janez Brajkovic’s run in the Vuelta’s gold jersey, the team has won a stage and held the leader’s jersey in all three of this year’s grand tours. That’s motivating stuff for a team that long grew accustomed to wearing the leader’s jerseys at the end of the season’s grand tours. Times have certainly changed for Discovery Channel following the retirement of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel is far from nostalgic, however.
There are six days to go in the Vuelta – five if you don't count the last stage into Madrid, which is essentially a parade. Nonetheless, on today's rest day we are still resting, napping and lounging around with our legs up, as the three days ahead of us are some of the hardest of the twenty one we will have raced. Yesterday, the stage was controlled, the peloton lethargic in the strong headwind, and the final outcome one we could have all predicted: a sprint finish. The day was, however, a long one as the race started early so that we could fit in an afternoon plane and bus transfer
Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi has pulled out of the Vuelta a Espana with a broken finger after punching the Lampre team bus following a row with Danilo Napolitano, organizers said late Sunday. Petacchi believed Napolitano, who finished third in Sunday's 15th stage, had blocked him on the final run-in. After fruitless complaints to race officials, Petacchi continued the dispute with the Lampre team, ultimately punching the side of the rival team's bus and breaking his finger in the process. Sunday marked the first time Petacchi seriously contested a stage finish since he left
Sunday’s mostly downhill 182km run from Spain’s central plateau to the sunny Mediterranean coast went according to script, with a brave breakaway falling short and German ace Robert Forster winning a frenetic mass sprint. The Gerolsteiner rider outkicked Stuart O’Grady (CSC) to take the first mass gallop in a week while Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) retained his 48-second grip on the overall leader’s jersey. “It was very dangerous,” said Forster, who won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia this year. “I thought that Petacchi would make the sprint and that is why we tried to get
Navigators second-year pro Shawne Milne closed out the North American UCI season in style, taking a close victory in Souderton, Pennsylvania’s Univest Grand Prix. Milne came around breakaway companion Fausto Munoz (Tecos-Alderfer Auction) in the steep uphill sprint to the line following an arrow-straight, screaming downhill.
There was plenty of celebrating going in Cuenca, with Saunier Duval-Prodir toasting David Millar’s remarkable comeback victory in Saturday’s time trial and Caisse d’Epargne quietly putting the champagne on ice after Alejandro Valverde widened his overall lead with just a week to go in the Vuelta a España. Millar exorcized two years worth of doping demons with each pedal stroke Saturday to win for the first time since his the end of racing ban while Valverde tightened his grip on the gold jersey on a day when many expected the Spaniard to cede terrain. Millar beat CSC’s Fabian Cancellara by
Unlike past Vuelta time trials, which tend to be run on courses that don’t attract spectators and are mainly on highways, the 33 kilometer Time trial today was somewhat technical, varied in terrain and scenic for both the television spectators and those at the side of the road. The course was technical as we had to climb two kilometers on a cobbled road, and then descend to the finish on a road that was fast with a few tight corners. This morning my roommate, Jani Brajkovic, got up at nine to preview the course with Tom, Gusev and Stijn. The rest of us had the morning to sleep in and have a
It’s been a season of close calls and falls for Fred Rodriguez. The three-time U.S. champion has piled up a armload of seconds and thirds as well as gotten caught up in his fair share of pile ups this season, including one that sent him tumbling out of the Tour de France. Rodriguez, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday, is back in action at the Vuelta a España where he’s looking for a stage victory to save what he’s called a “sour season.” The Californian came into the Vuelta to help teammate Robbie McEwen to hunt for a stage victory in the first week. The Aussie sprinter missed the
Frenchman Stephane Auge of Cofidis claimed the 192km fifth stage of the ProTour's Tour of Poland from Legnica to Jelenia Gora on Friday.Auge edged out fellow escapee American AaronOlson (Saunier Duval) with Max van Heeswijk (Discovery) leadinghome the peloton 21 seconds back.Italian Daniele Bennati held on to the leader's yellow jersey after finishing sixth.Auge broke away from the peloton after just 12km and was soon joined by Olson. The pair gradually increased their advantage to over 14 minutes before the peloton put on a serious chase, but the pair just held off the pursuit
Move over, Paolo Savoldelli. Euskaltel’s Samuel Sánchez is ready to give the Italian – nicknamed “the Falcon” for his fearless runs down Europe’s steepest mountain roads - a run for his money as road racing’s king of the downhill. Sánchez put down a kamikaze attack with 5km to go on a harrowing descent off the Cat. 3 Alto de Castillo to claim victory in Friday’s hilly 180km 13th stage thanks to fearless descending skills. “If you don’t take risks, you won’t win,” Sánchez said after just holding off a lead group of 30 riders from the busted up peloton. “I’ve always been good in the
The stage to Cuenca is a Vuelta classic as the finish is challenging, picturesque and always provides and exciting finale with a cobbled climb, a fast descent and a slightly uphill sprint to the line. The last two stages have been fast, uncomfortably fast, and the peloton has spent much of the races lined out in single file. The attacks in the first hour are relentless as everybody still wants to get into the breakaway that makes it to the finish. Yesterday’s break made it, so why not again today? In my last diary I think I mentioned that the 12th stage to Guadalajara would be flat and a
Luca Paolini left his role as Paolo Bettini’s sidekick at Quick Step-Innergetic last season to sign a big-money contract with Liquigas to become a team leader. Save for a win at the GP Citta di Camaiori, the glory has been sparse. But on Thursday the 29-year-old Italian attacked early out of a 11-man breakaway featuring none other than Bettini to claim a victory in a major stage race for the first time in his career. "It’s great to finally win in a big tour," Paolini said after holding off an attack with 4km to go in Thursday’s hilly 12th stage. "I’ve been trying to win with many attacks in
Frayed nerves and frustration poured out of Carlos Sastre at the finish line of Tuesday’s hilly 10th stage, opening up raw wounds between Team CSC and Caisse d’Epargne dating back to the 2006 Tour de France. An exasperated Sastre – third overall at 44 seconds back – couldn’t believe that it was left up to his Team CSC troops to lead the chase to trim the nine-minute difference a 15-man breakaway held midway through Tuesday’s stage. "Caisse d’Epargne wants to win the Vuelta without working," Sastre told reporters. "We were the ones who had to prevent Karpets and Paulinho from getting back
Italian Fabrizio Guidi handed Phonak what could be one of its final victories after winning the third stage of the Tour of Poland and seizing the overall lead on Wednesday. After 225.5 km of racing from Gdansk to Torun in the north of the country the Italian took possession of the leader's jersey after holding off compatriot Daniele Bennati and Spaniard Koldo Fernandez. Swiss outfit Phonak announced it would pull out of the sport shortly after American Floyd Landis tested positive for a skewed testosterone-epitestosterone ratio after winning the Tour de France in July. Meanwhile, New
Discovery Channel doesn’t have the Lance Armstrong guarantee anymore, so the squad has to find satisfaction in more modest goals. The team no longer rules the Tour de France like it did seven Julys in a row, but a gutsy solo victory by Egoi Martinez in Wednesday’s 11th stage of the Vuelta a España delivered the team a unique accomplishment in the first year of the post-Armstrong era - stage victories and stints in leader’s jerseys in all three grand tours. “This victory was important for the team,” said Martinez, who shot away from a pair of riders with 12km to go. “Even without Armstrong,
Transitional stages are ideal for the opportunist as there is a good chance a breakaway will get away and make it to the line as the sprinters’ teams are not interested in chasing as the course is too hard for their sprinter, and it is interest of the overall leader’s team to let the break go as it makes it easier on them to control the race. Today, we had another transitional day, like yesterday’s stage, and we all knew the break would succeed and make it to Burgos ahead of the peloton. Egoi Martinez, our fervent Basque teammate, was the opportunist today, and took advantage of his
Don’t expect to see Paolo Bettini in Madrid. The Quick Step-Innergetic rider told VeloNews in a rest-day interview Monday he’s planning an early Vuelta exit to put the finishing touches on his preparations for the Salzburg world championships later this month. “I will probably leave around the stage near Granada,” Bettini said, referring to stage 17. “The (Italian) team is arriving in Salzburg on Sunday and I need to go home at least one day to see my wife, or she’ll kill me!” Such is the life of one of cycling’s superstars as he prepares for what’s the last major race that the 32-year-old
Astana – kept out of the 2006 Tour de France for alleged links to Operación Puerto - is making up for lost time with a vengeance in the 2006 Vuelta a España. Sergio Paulinho, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, attacked a 15-man group with just under 1km to go in Tuesday’s 199.3km 10th stage, leaping away over a small finishing climb to give the troubled Astana team its third consecutive stage victory of this year's Vuelta. "Things are going well for the team," said Paulinho, hailed as Portugal’s best prospect since José Azevedo. "We’ve won two stages with Alexandre (Vinokourov) and now
A rest day is the calm before the storm. As always in a grand tour, today’s stage after yesterday’s rest day was fast as it seems every rider had found renewed motivation and ‘fresh’ legs. In our team meeting Johan reminded us of what we already were envisioning: that the start would be fast. He also told us that we had to be in the breakaway as we are leading the team classification and also, having a rider in the breakaway would also give us a shot at a stage victory. We knew the stage was going to be up and down on sinuous roads along the coast but the race profile in the “Libro
Germany's publicly funded television network ARD will terminate its contract with 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich at year's end. Ullrich had been paid up to $152,000 for exclusive interviews, diaries and appearances in ARD entertainment shows. ARD gave no reason for ending the contract, which had run since 1999 -- except for a one-year break in 2002, when Ullrich was banned for testing positive for amphetamines. Meanwhile, Germany's top sports official asked Ullrich to come clean about doping allegations. "Get things sorted out, take a DNA test, come out clean," urged
Reversing his fortunes of 2005, Jittery Joe’s sprinter Jeff Hopkins took his first NRC win in the US 10K Classic on Labor Day in Marietta, Georgia. Edging out last year’s winner Emile Abraham (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) and 26 other riders who got away from the remaining 140 finishers, Hopkins began his sprint not completely aware what was at stake. "I thought that there were still two dudes away from the (previous) break, so I thought we were sprinting for third. I didn’t get a chance to do a victory salute or anything." Hopkins said minutes after he came across the line. With three other
Sunday’s stage offered up a mix of emotions for the team as we had several guys in the front, or near the front, on the last ascent to the finish, yet Janez was unable to hold on to the jersey as Valverde, and Vinokourov rode away. The stage was likely the hardest day of the Vuelta with over 5,000 meters of climbing, stifling temperatures, and little recovery between the long ascents. Today, we are fortunate to have a rest day and can have an easy day on the bike, keep our legs up and spend some time with our families. In some ways it seems the race just started as the last week has
It’s just 10 short months until the 2007 Tour de France kicks off in London, but if this year's Tour of Britain is anything to go by, there is much to be worried about. Professional cycling is not big business in Britain and the Tour of Britain barely registers a blip on the scale next to the earth-shuddering event that is the Tour de France. In fact, it is such a small event, that roads used for the tour are only closed progressively by a largely ineffective rolling roadblock. This season's event, which finished on Sunday, was wrought with troubles, not least a protest by the
The real battle for the Vuelta a España unfolded seven kilometers from the summit of La Cobertoria in Sunday’s ninth stage when the Kazakh tandem of Alexandre Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin darted out of the main bunch in a daring heist. Only an explosive counter-attack by Alejandro Valverde with two kilometers saved the day for the Spanish armada. Valverde grabbed the race leader’s gold jersey and Vinokourov hung on to win the stage, setting up what’s likely going to be the dominant battle for the remainder of the Vuelta. “The Kazakhs are going to be the most dangerous rivals,” Valverde
Day three of the Eurobike Exhibition in Friedrichschafen, Germany, marks final day that the show is closed to the public, it also marks our final day of web coverage for the 2006 edition. When the doors open on Sunday morning and the hordes pay their 19 euros each to bump elbows among the exhibitors things get crazy. Most product managers duck out to avoid the chaos, something that can be described as a shark-like feeding frenzy. At least here, the chum is merely comprised of stickers and catalogs. The Eurobike Exhibition had over 820 registered exhibitors from 69 countries, spread out over
A pair of Alexanders conquered Sunday’s epic, six-climb “queen stage” across the abrupt mountains of northern Spain to seize control of the 61st Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov – the attacking Kazakh from Astana – jumped with teammate Andrey Kashechkin with 7km to go on the final 8km La Cobertoria climb to win for the second day in a row and confirm his candidacy for overall victory despite a slow start. Alejandro Valverde – the dashing Spanish star hunting the first grand-tour victory of his career – counter-attacked with 2km to go to drop archrivals Carlos Sastre (CSC), Danilo Di
To the delight of a partisan hometown crowd, Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie won the first-ever all-American national road championship in Greenville, South Carolina, Sunday, crossing the finish line alone in front of a decimated field that produced only 31 finishers. Fellow ProTour rider Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner finished second, 16 seconds behind Hincapie, with TIAA-CREF’s Danny Pate rounding out the podium, 1:20 off the winning pace. It was Hincapie’s second national road championship, following a win in Philadelphia in 1998.
Martin Pedersen (CSC) won the Tour of Britain on Sunday, while Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) won an 82km finale marred by a collision involving two motorcycles accompanying the riders. Boonen won the final stage in 2 hours, 41 seconds. Pedersen finished in the main pack with the same time to claim the overall victory ahead of Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) and Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step-Innergetic). Authorities said five people -- including the motorcyclists -- were hurt in the crash on The Mall in central London. Injuries included head wounds and fractured ankles. No further details
In the first week of racing there were few attacks, controlled racing and many field sprints, but today the tide changed and we became the lucky ones responsible for controlling the peloton on its most energetic and aggressive day. After more than 70km of relentless attacks and an average speed of more than 50kph, the field finally lost some steam and relented. It was as much a relief to us as almost everybody else as virtually the whole peloton stopped for a pee once there was one rider clear and off the front, the race was in control and we had slowed down. Our goal going into the stage
QuickStep's Francesco Chicchi won a farcical fifth stage of the Tour of Britain from Rochester to Canterbury on Saturday. Italian rider Chicchi edged T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish into second place, while Aart Vierhouten of Skil-Shimano finished third. But it was the chaotic start to the Kent stage that dominated the day as the entire peloton was accidentally sent in the wrong direction during the neutral zone. It is thought the police escort leading the riders had taken the wrong route and the stage was halted for 20 minutes while riders and race officials tried to determine the
Alexandre Vinokourov has been waiting a long time for a win like this one. It almost came Friday on the barren slopes of El Morredero, but the attacking Kazakh was reeled in with just 200 meters from the line by a surging Alejandro Valverde. Vinorokourov returned the favor in Saturday’s hilly 181.6km eighth stage across Spain’s Galicia region, shooting past a hapless Luca Paolini (Liquigas) late on a rising finish straight into Lugo to win for the first time in an Astana jersey. "After the disappointment of yesterday, I really wanted to win today," Vinokourov said after holding off the
After a week of racing things are starting to sort themselves out and, thankfully, our team is looking very good for the moment. Janez the Wonder Boy has continued where he left off two days ago, when we were in the mountains, and has come away from today's mountaintop finish with the leader's gold jersey. Triki, Stijn and Tom also did a great climb and were there right there leading into the final kilometers. Three of them crossed the line among the first 10 riders. Janez is leading every jersey competition other than the points for the moment, and we are also leading the team
Team CSC’s Bjarne Riis said all he can do is wait concerning the fate of star rider Ivan Basso, who went before members of the Italian Olympic disciplinary commission earlier this week to face down allegations that he works with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Riis reiterated statements he made last week to a Danish newspaper, reaffirming that Basso must prove his innocence to the team before he is allowed to return to racing. Basso was among nine riders from four teams kicked out of the 2006 Tour de France for alleged links to Fuentes, who is at the center of a wide-ranging investigation
Discovery Channel put a rider atop the overall Vuelta a España standings in Friday’s 154.2km seventh stage up the grinding Alto de el Morredero climb, but it wasn’t the rider they expected to see in the gold jersey. Tom Danielson’s bid to become the first American to win the Vuelta took a serious blow after struggling halfway up the 18km climb to lose more than three minutes while teammate Janez Brajkovic continued to show savvy beyond his 22 years and calmly rode his way into the overall lead. “This is my first grand tour and I came here to help Tom and to gain experience,” said Brajkovic,
When 2005 national time-trial champion Chris Baldwin thinks back on his attempt to defend his title Friday in Greenville, South Carolina, he’s going to have to either laugh or cry.