After such a long, eager wait for the biggest race on the planet, she's finally here: Le Tour. After a brief visit to England, the racing heads over to the homeland of France, but we won't dwell too hard on the goings on in the Tour, as there's plenty of that to be had here on PEZ - we'll try and catch you up on a few other tidbits and samples as well this summery July Monday.
Savoldelli Keeps It Baby Blue
Reuters reports that two-time Giro winner, Paolo Savoldelli, has extended his deal with the Astana team for another year, until the end of the 2008 season.
Savoldelli's bid for a third Giro did not go too terribly well in the GC department, but a stage win was a pleasant present for sure. Savoldelli is racing the Tour right now as a right-hand man for co-captains Kloeden and Vinokourov.
Cav Not Ready To Give Up Hope
Also straight off the Reuters wire is the voice of a determined Mark Cavendish, who is doing his best to get over a rotten Stage 1, which saw him hit a spectator and the ground with just over 20k to go. Cav then needed not one, but two bike changes, and that put paid to any chances he might have at a home win.
"I was really furious. But I now am all the more motivated to win a stage, which I think I can do."
And when you think about it, why wouldn't Cavendish have been furious? None of his teammates were directed to help the crashed sprinter who has six wins to his credit in 2007. Instead, the T-Mobile squad immediately switched plans to give two Bernhards free rein: Eisel and Kohl.
It's a good thing the Predictor-Lotto squad didn't give up on McEwen with 23k to go...
McEwen Cleared And Ready To Go
After Robbie McEwen's stage win yesterday, he wasn't too sure about the condition of his wrist, and there was some uncertainty as to just how severe the injury might be.
Some of the doubts were at least settled when McEwen started the day, but some concern still remains, as McEwen didn't even sound too cheery about his chances on the day: "Everywhere is sore...First, I've just got to make sure I get [to Ghent]. I can just hold the bars a little bit softer, ... but the whole day you've got to pedal, and the knees are a huge part of that," referencing the gash in his right knee that he received in his pavement massage.
David Millar's Feat
Over at PodiumCafe.com, an interesting accomplishment is noted by the inimitable Cosmo:
After taking the maillot pois today, David Millar accomplished a fairly rare Tour de France feat - he has now worn each of the race's four leaders' jerseys. He wore yellow after his prologue win in 2000, spent several days in white in 2002, got green as a consolation prize after his chain fell off in 2003, and then picked up the spots today.
While he never led the points competition (he was baby-sitting the maillot vert while McGee wore yellow), when he takes to the road tomorrow, Millar will be the only rider I can think of to have actually raced at least one day in each jersey. Did Jalabert ever wear white? Or did Eddy Merckx slip into the KOM lead sometime after the spotted jersey's introduction in 1975 (yes, the mountains competition has been in effect since the 30's, but no jersey until '75).
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3
Although Ivan Basso is serving a two year suspension at the moment, he can still be assured that he'll get a few drug tests during this 'off-time,' and sure enough on the 4th of July, he was visited for a doping control at his house.
Basso was out training at the time, but eventually was found for blood and urine samples.
Basso's extended vacation will continue until the 24th of October, 2008, when he will be allowed to return to bike racing. Basso has made it known that he plans on continuing his career once his suspension has been completed.
Simoni And Ricco To Part Ways?
The amazing trifecta of climbers: Simoni, Ricco, and Piepoli appear to all be going in different directions right now. First there's, Piepoli, who could possibly become the second salbutamol victim of the Giro after Petacchi's depressing recommendation for a one year suspension by CONI. It's not known just yet what will become of the best climber of this year's Giro.
As for the other two - the aging veteran and the upstart prodigy, according to CyclingNews it looks possible that Gilberto Simoni will be heading to the second division team of Gianni Savio: Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia. Title sponsor, Diquigiovanni, recently confirmed that they will continue with the team, thus making it conceivable that the squad could cover the two-time Giro winner's price tag of 800,000 Euros.
We'll drop 13 years to talk about Saunier Duval's future hope: Riccardo Ricco. Ricco got a small pay boost: from 40,000 to...600,000 Euros! Ricco signed with Saunier Duval until 2010 and can count on some very nice performance bonuses if he can pull off a Giro or even Tour victory.
Dismal Luck
The Tour de France already lost a rider on the first stage. Poor Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez was forced to abandon yesterday's stage after breaking his collarbone. The rider was in the caravan when suddenly the Caisse D'Epargne car in front of him came to a stop and he rammed into the back - shattering the rear window and his hopes of even getting to the finish of the first stage...let alone Paris.
New Ullrich Evidence?
According to a report from the magazine Focus, there is some new evidence coming out concerning the-since-February-24th-retired Jan Ullrich. It appears that some documents found in a search of Rudy Pevenage's house have the pair in Madrid over a certain three day span - the same three days that Ullrich claims to have been in Switzerland. Unfortunately for Ullrich, the dates also appear to correspond perfectly with Fuentes' calendar - as well as the startling sum of money that is supposed to have been exchanged: 25,000 Euros.
The Ullrich camp doesn't seem too concerned by the new revelations - they claim that this is all old news.
As for Ullrich, he should be in his Switzerland home on Lake Constance watching the Tour on TV with his late-term pregnant wife, Sara.
Tour Of Austria
The Tour de France isn't the only race to be enjoyed right now...the Tour of Austria always runs concurrently with the Tour, so at least the riders that don't get selection to LE Tour can do A Tour.
The first stage in Mayrhofen, Austria ended in a bunch sprint after a very quick stage (46kph avg). Oldie but goldie Fabio Baldato of Lampre took the win over T-Mobile's OTHER youngster sprint prodigy, Gerald Ciolek. Baldato commented after his win: "This was a perfect beginning for me and my team. I hope that this will motivate my teammates Bennati and Napolitano at the Tour de France!" What he meant to say was: see, I told you I was going good, I should be at LE Tour.
The riders will enjoy a 200k march across Austria to the famed town of Salzburg for today's finish.
Iron Hill Twilight
Of course, there's racing in America as well. The latest stop on the USA Crits series took the riders just outside of Philadelphia to West Chester, Pennsylvania for the Iron Hill Twilight. The win went to an aggressive Emile Abraham from Priority Health. Abraham has been looking for that big win so far this year, and took it in fine style this weekend out of a two-up break that was away for most of the race.
Behind the duo of Abraham and the relatively unknown Evan Fader (Battley-Harley Davidson), the field shattered over the course of the race on what appeared to be a fairly innocuous four-corner affair, but clearly that was not the case.
Late in the game, AEG-Toshiba set up a strong chase for the leading duo, but could not manage to bring it back - leaving the field to sprint for 3rd. It was in this sprint for 3rd that the real story went down. USA Crits leader and recent Tour of Ohio overall winner, Mark Hekman of A+F, was relegated after the race for what VeloNews reports was a "dangerous move that could have caused a huge collision."
Of particular note in this depressing bump in the fairy tale season of Mark Hekman, was that no riders complained after the finish of Hekman's supposed 'dangerous move.' Now, of course, anyone that has ever raced a bike knows that the first people to whine and complain if they feel any way slighted are the racers, so maybe it's just me, but that should say a lot about the situation.
Fortunately for Hekman, he kept his overall lead in the USA Crits series, but a high finish in West Chester could have nearly solidified his overall status. Instead, he lost valuable points under questionable circumstances.
Somewhat Old News
All 189 starters of this year's Tour de France signed the UCI's anti-doping charter...just in time for the Prologue opener in London. Some waited until the very last moment to express their displeasure with the measure, but all ended up signing, and even though a vocal part of the peloton as well as the management aren't too terribly pleased with the charter, Pat McQuaid was effusive about the charter's success: "Every rider has signed the pledge. I'm very happy with that. It shows a commitment from the riders and the teams for a clean future. With each rider it's a personal commitment. It gives a message to the world that cycling is not completely driven with drugs."
Of course, now all of the doping problems in the sport are gone! Did anyone really have a choice after Prudhomme declared that anyone who did not sign the charter would not be allowed to start the Tour? What a fantastic step in the right direction for anti-doping: force the riders to sign a piece of paper.
Navigators Lay Claim To Irish Road And Crit Champs
The Navigators have yet again claimed another national title with Ciaran Power winning the Irish National Criterium Championship on Thursday, July 5. Power was a favorite to show himself in his native Waterford for the road race championship which was claimed by his teammate, David O'Loughlin.
Power, naturally, slightly disappointed in not claiming the road race title, was overjoyed with the victory. "In the USA, there are quiet a number of criterium events. It will be a plus for my team Navigators that I’ll be wearing the distinctive jersey in these events which are very popular in America. The spectators particularly like them and there is many Irish over there. It is just a bonus for the team."
The course for the championship was a fast 650m circuit with tight corners. Several crashes occurred at the three corners on the circuit which was dampened by overcast skies and rain. A lead group launched themselves up the road away from a hard charging peloton, but it was Power who propelled himself ahead of the pack to claim the title.
There was a great turnout and the spectators despite the weather were treated to a fast race on the 650 meter circuit. The crashes happened at the three corners on the circuit, and this contributed to third man home Aidan Crowley of MyHome.ie/BDCB losing his place at the head of the ‘crit.’ He was in the lead group, but crashed out, but he still got up to be third behind his team mate Brian Kenneally who could not match Power in the sprint for the championship victory.
Results of the National Criterium Championships at Killarney:
1 Ciaran Power (Navigators Insurance USA)
2 B. Kenneally (MyHome.ie/BDFCB)
3 A. Crowley (MyHome.ie/BDCB)
4 M. Nestor (Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group)
5 P. Marrey (Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group)
6 E. Moriarty (MyHome.ie/BDCB)
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