The Tour de France is so last week now. This weekend the ProTour one-day races begin anew in Hamburg and it's time to roll into the latter part of the season. PEZ has all the latest and greatest in edible delicacies: Discovery hires, Astarloa, Ullrich, Landis AWOL, and the positive that bike racing really really did not need at the moment...
Big time breaking news... This EuroTrash is not done yet, but it would be a disservice to not report this news flash immediately, so keep checking back for more...
Oh Lord, Say It Ain't So
Phonak press release: The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by the UCI of an unusual level of Testosterone/Epitestosterone ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France.
The Team Management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result.
The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake in the confirmation.
In application of the Pro Tour Ethical Code, the rider will not race anymore until this problem is totally clear.
If the result of the B sample analysis confirms the result of the A sample the rider will be dismissed and will then pass the corresponding endocrinological examinations.
Please understand that we cannot at this time give you more detailed comments.
That Explains A Few Things
The news that a rider had tested positive for something at this year's Tour de France was made known yesterday, but the important news as to WHO was not known. Speculation was rampant, and clues started seeping out, stuff like "a big name rider."
This news comes out as Floyd Landis stopped showing up to Post-Tour crits. ProCycling quotes John van den Akker, the agent who got Landis for the Chaam Crit: “We paid a lot of money for him and consequently we are awaiting an explanation from him." He concluded ominously that he “suspects that something serious has happened."
Then, today, Landis was supposed to take part in a post-Tour crit in Denmark, but once again no dice: "It’s with great regret that we have to announce that Floyd Landis will not take part in the race at Silkeborg. Our Dutch partners from Cycling Service have told us not to expect him."
Of course, this all makes sense now, because Floyd Landis just had his little world completely rocked, not to mention the fact that he won't be allowed to race again until the matter is cleared up...or isn't.
Factoid
A depressing statistic - each of the last three Grand Tours has seen the winner blighted by doping:
Vuelta 2005: Roberto Heras tests positive for EPO, suspended for two years.
Giro 2006: Ivan Basso wins in dominating fashion and then gets mixed up in serious fashion with the Operacion Puerto affair (still, innocent for the time being until proven otherwise).
Tour 2006: Floyd Landis wins in amazing fashion with one of the greatest comebacks in history...and then fails a doping test for testosterone (still, waiting on B-Test)
Greg Lemond Comments On Landis And Tour
Greg Lemond spoke with AFP post-Tour and had some interesting comments.
"It was an incredible Tour. The best of all time. It was like the 1980s where you had different guys dominating on different days. We haven't seen that sort of competition for years."
"I'm happy that Ullrich and Basso weren't allowed in. Suddenly the guys in the background, guys who were probably doubting their own ability to be competitive, were able to come to the fore. That's very encouraging."
Lemond was exceedingly pleased with Landis: "He was one of my favourites before the race. He's clean and what's more, he's a great guy."
No comment.
Discovery Aiming High
Discovery was probably less than happy with the results of the 2006 Tour de France. The discussions behind closed doors probably bordered on anger. What became of Lance Armstrong's team - seven Tour de France victories, countless stage wins, a juggernaut.
This year? Sure, there was a stage win, after that though, there was very little to rejoice about, surely not Jose Azevedo's team best 19th Place overall in GC.
What do you do when you're Discovery and things don't work out right? You get on the phone and start finding people that can get the job done.
You call Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso.
Say what?!?
Indeed. Jan Ullrich has openly stated that he wants one final go at the Tour de France and an overall win, and since he is now a 'free agent' it's time to find a team. Of course, that is merely rumour, but one can't help but think that it wouldn't be too far from possible.
Then there's Ivan Basso who is apparently more of a certainty, as L'Equipe reports that Basso and Discovery are already in contract negotiations!
Lest we forget, both of these riders are still under investigation concerning the Operacion Puerto Affair. Who knows what the results of that will bring. Of note, both riders vehemently deny any doping practices.
So Discovery has two chances - if one gets nailed in the Puerto fall-out, then they can get the other, if both get nailed, then this was all rumour, and if both come out scot-free then they can pick between the two. Seems pretty good for Disco, too bad it's not so good for Ullrich and Basso. A guilty finding will more than likely end their careers - surely for Ullrich.
Top German Teams Vying For 19 Year Old And More
Gerald Ciolek won the 2005 German National Championship in sensational fashion in a bunch sprint - as an 18-year-old. This year, the young rider remained with his team of 2005, Akud, but for 2007 it's to the top ranks and German powerhouses Gerolsteiner and T-Mobile are looking to pick up the very, very fast sprinter. The only question is: who?
Don't look at me, because I don't know.
In other German transfer news, THIS year's sensational winner of the German National Championship just signed for Continental Pro Team, Sparkasse.
AMATEUR, Dirk Mueller, stuck it to all comers at this year's super tough road race, making him the first amateur to win the RR Championship in Germany in the modern era.
It is to be noted though that Mueller brings a questionable history with him. One would think that if a rider stomps all over the pro's in arguably the most important race of the season for a German, he'd probably get picked up quick-snap by one of the German ProTour squads...instead, he signs for a DIII team.
Why? Well, there is that nasty little historical note of a doping suspension and the fact that more than a few questioned this year's victory, but other than that, who knows.
Astarloa Back In The Big Time
New German ProTour team in 2006, Milram, has had a reasonable beginning this season, but has hopes for much more in 2007 obviously banking on a healthy Alessandro Petacchi, some hard-man wins from Erik Zabel, and with one signing in particular - the hilly classics.
Radsport-Aktiv reports that Milram has signed former World Champion Igor Astarloa for the 2007 season. Astarloa has had a rough go of it over the past few years, but has returned to his form of old with some quality rides this season, notably with a win at Milano-Torino early on.
Milram also signed German Marcel Sieberg for 2007, as well as Aussie Brett Lancaster and Dutchman Niki Trebstar.
Steegmans Jumps Ship
Robbie McEwen's main lead-out man at the 2006 Tour de France (after Freddie Rodriguez' wreck), Gert Steegmans, will move on to Belgian rival squad Quick.Step next season. Steegmans has had a break-out season with numerous top placings in the Spring Classics, a few wins, and some superb lead-outs at the Tour de France. The rider is in high demand and it's obvious that there is much more to come.
Steegmans will both bolster Quick.Step for the Classics as well as Tom Boonen's lead-out train, which was lacking at the Tour this year.
Discovery Readying For 2007
Less than 48 hours after the completion of the 2006 Tour de France, Discovery Channel Team management announced the signing of three new riders to the 2007 roster. Levi Leipheimer, Sergio Paulinho and Thomas Vaitkus will all be wearing Discovery Channel Team racing kits next season. The signing comes on the heels of a Tour de France in which the Team did not claim overall victory but did wear the yellow jersey and claim a stage win.
Levi Leipheimer will join fellow North Americans George Hincapie, Tom Danielson, Michael Barry and Jason McCartney as he returns to the Discovery Channel Team. Leipheimer stated, “I’m very excited about returning to the Discovery Channel Team, its family of sponsors and working with Johan Bruyneel once again. This team has a long history of success and I plan to work hard to continue their winning ways in 2007.”
On hearing the news, Billy Campbell, President, Discovery Networks, U.S. said, “I’m very happy with these new additions to the Discovery Channel Team and I am confident that Johan Bruyneel will lead this team back to the top step at the Tour de France. As the team continues to race in the post-Lance era and grow cycling in America, we are very excited to see riders like Levi Leipheimer coming back to our program.”
Discovery’s other additions; Portugal's Sergio Paulinho and Lithuania’s Tomas Vaitkus arrive from the former Wurth and AG2R teams respectively. Team Sports Director Johan Bruyneel has high expectations for his new riders stating, “All three of these riders have proven themselves in the Pro Tour ranks and I expect them to fit well into our team. Each of them brings different strengths and I am excited about having them ride for Discovery Channel in 2007.”
All three additions come to the team with impressive results. Leipheimer has had a successful 2006 campaign claiming overall victory at the Dauphine Libere stage race, winning the king of the mountains jersey at the Tour of California, finishing 2nd on the difficult Tour de France mountain top finish to Pla-de-Beret and riding into Paris 13th overall. Sergio Paulinho won the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics while Tomas Vaitkus won a stage in the 2006 Giro d’Italia.
BMC Celebrates With Yellow
There will be produced a “limited edition” of the yellow “Leader” Pro Machine With his performance at the Tour de France Floyd Landis has ridden into the hearts of cycling fans and pushed his BMC road bike into the spotlight of the world. BMC owner Andy Rihs is sure that bike sales will continue to surge upwards as a result. There will be produced a “limited edition” of the yellow “Leader” Pro Machine.
“The satisfaction is perfect“, said Andy Rihs, owner of the Phonak Cycling Team and the bike manufacturer BMC. When a sponsor invests so much in a team for seven years, out of passion and courage, and then is rewarded in the end with victory in the Tour de France is simply the height of excellence.
Floyd Landis, Captain of the Phonak Cycling Team, is not just the Tour de France winner. Not someone who just took the yellow jersey and rode to Paris with it firmly set in stone, while everybody tried to steal it from him. He fell victim to something that can happen to every mortal, he had a bad day, and it appeared, had lost the tour. But despite his worst day Floyd Landis didn’t disappear from the radar, instead, like a Phoenix, he rose from the ashes. With an unbelievable ride the next day he showed his enormous mental and physical strength, he gave the world goose bumps as he rode into the hearts of cycling fans and experts the world over.
One journalist even felt tempted to speak of the three miracles: of Mecca, of Lourdes and of Morzine. We wouldn’t go quite so far, but it is worth noting that even those that dropped Landis on his darkest day like he was standing still, were full of respect for the American with roots in the Swiss Glarnerland. Floyd Landis would have been a giant of the Tour even had he not won it.
But Floyd Landis did win the Tour de France 06, and in doing so brought the BMC road bikes into the spotlight. The Time Machine TT01 and the Pro Machine SLC01 which was made in yellow as a surprise for Floyd and as acknowledgement for his first stage in the yellow leader’s jersey, in Landis’ own words “it gave me wings.”
Floyd Landis’ win will now give BMC, the young Swiss bicycle company, wings too. “The sales of our bikes, particularly road bikes, will continue to surge,” BMC owner Andy Rihs is confident of that. “In four to five years we will float BMC on the stockmarket.” The satisfaction, it seems, really is perfect.
These are the bikes Floyd Landis rode to victory in the Tour de France 2006:
Pro Machine SLC01: The first race bike in the world with a frame made completely from the new CNT material is available in black or red.
Pro Machine SLC01 yellow: The yellow “leader“ bike that BMC surprised Floyd Landis with when he wore the yellow jersey for the first time, will be produced as a ”limited edition“. More info at: www.bmc-racing.com
Oh, and not to forget Floyd's time trialling steed: the Time Machine TT01
Off Road To Athens Screening
Lance Armstrong Foundation fundraising member Rusty Wells in conjunction with Rainbow Cycles of Southern Pines will host a premiere showing of the documentary “Off Road to Athens” in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The event will take place on August 3, 2006 at the beautiful Sunrise Theater in downtown Southern Pines, North Carolina and will feature a LIVE auction and reception after the show.
Off Road to Athens is a documentary covering the tumultuous path taken by 8 athletes hoping to make the US Mountain Biking Team headed to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The film is fueled by the high-energy, high-stress world of Professional Mountain Biking but also covers the personal struggles and sacrifices of 4 men and 4 women who are vying for only 3 available spots on Team USA. The viewer is taken on a ride from the jungles of Ecuador to the Highlands of Scotland, from historic Belgium to scenic Canada and many places in between. The movie culminates with a dramatic finish that no one could have predicted.
Off Road to Athens has a professional soundtrack made by DC composer, Haik Naltchyan. The music reflects the cultural diversity and excitement of each location visited and is unlike any high-energy sports documentary made.
Viewers will get a very personal glimpse of each athlete and hear how the US Cycling Federation made a mistake in their selection process causing a dramatic end to the story. The film will appeal to a broad audience that finds excitement not only in the race, but the traveling, stress of performance, stress on relationships, exhilaration of making the team and gut-wrenching defeat!
Admission is $10 advance purchase and $12 at the door. Please purchase tickets in advance at Rainbow Cycles in Downtown Southern Pines or online at www.ticketleap.com (keyword “athens”) Cash and check donations will be welcome after the show with all proceeds benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) inspires and empowers people affected by cancer. The LAF helps people with cancer focus on living. Unity is Strength, Knowledge is Power and Attitude is Everything. From the moment of diagnosis the LAF provides the practical information and tools people with cancer need to live life on their own. The LAF has dedicated millions of dollars to cancer research, programs and initiatives across the United States.
For more information about the LAF, visit www.livestrong.org
Local event contact: Mr. Rusty Wells rcwwells@aol.com 910-695-1674
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