A Happy Thanksgiving Day to all! Before you sit down to a massive feed of turkey, why not start with an appetiser of EuroTrash. For your enjoyment today, we offer licence news, shoes, Shacks, tracks books and a stack of team news. Let’s get this holiday off and running.
WIN Cadel's World Champ Shoes From Gaerne
- Press Release -
Gaerne and Cadel Evans won the 2009 Cycling World Championship, donning the rainbow colors.
To celebrate this amazing victory, Gaerne gives you the possibility to win the new limited edition "Carbon G.Myst Plus World Champion" shoes. There are only 20 pairs of these shoes being made – most of which are being used for media purposes – 3 are being offered in this lottery. The selected winners will each receive 1 pair of "Carbon G.Myst Plus World Champion" shoes.
Participation is simple; enroll at www.Gaerne.com by clicking on the special promotional banner and completing the form with the required information by December 29 2009.
This new shoe contains iconic images of Cadel and his stunning solo World Championships win. A special graphic shows kangaroos running along a rainbow ribbon, symbolizing the path to victory and the sacrifice of the athlete to reach the most important finish line of his career,– becoming World Road Champion.
Astana Confirm Licence And Contador (Almost)
As of yesterday, Astana have their ProTour aspirations back on track, so the only remaining question that needs to be asked is: “Is Alberto Contador’s smile real?”
Yes, he is set to rake in between 5 and 8 million Euro per season (the “8” previously offered by Astana was if he confirmed for the next four years – which he hasn’t), but he is also still tied to the team that previously caused him to miss defending his first Tour de France title. One can only wonder how much ‘wishing’ was going on in Camp Contador in the hope that the licence would be denied and he could have made his move to any of three other teams that were vying for his signature.
While Astana’s name was on the list of 17 teams racing the ProTour, next year and beyond (more on the missing 18th in a moment), they are not officially out of the woods just yet.
Earlier this year the UCI Licence Commission withdrew the team’s licence following the situation where the sponsors were unable to pay riders salaries (you might recall the ‘faded out’ jerseys that were worn at the Giro in protest), and the UCI have asked for additional bank guarantees from the Kazakh squad to ensure the same does not happen next year.
Looking forward to the 2010 season, the UCI requested the Kazakh team to provide an additional bank guarantee so that the regrettable situation in 2009 would not be repeated and so that the request for the withdrawal of the Astana licence would not have to be reactivated.
This request is not connected in any way to the registration procedure for UCI ProTeams mentioned above but to the request for the withdrawal of the Astana licence that would have to be reactivated if the bank guarantee is not provided.
The UCI awaits this bank guarantee and is confident it will be provided soon, read the UCI statement. So, yes, you can ride, but first, “Show us the money.”
As for the missing 18th Team, Giuseppe Saronni’s Lampre Farnese Vini was left off the list and the Italian squad will need to provide additional information to the Licence Commission, who will make a decision on whether or not to withdraw the UCI ProTour licence held by that team.
Saronni told tuttobiciweb.it, that “The decision of the UPTC was a surprise and at present we are waiting to hear from the UCI, which points of our application need clarification. At present, I would prefer to be thinking about the sporting aspects of our 2010 season.” Saronni went on to say that they were ready to work to resolve whatever issues there were, to ensure Lampre was able to take up their “rightful position among cycling’s elite,” next year.
Teams Confirmed For ProTour (with year of licence expiry).
Astana (KAZ) 2010
Caisse d’Epargne (ESP) 2010
Euskaltel-Euskadi (ESP) 2010
Footon-Servetto (ESP) 2010
Française des Jeux (FRA) 2010
Liquigas-Doimo (ITA) 2010
Team Columbia-HTC (USA) 2010
Team Milram (GER) 2010
Omega Pharma-Lotto (BEL) 2011
Quick Step (BEL) 2011
Saxo Bank (DEN) 2011
Team Katusha (RUS) 2011
AG2R La Mondiale (FRA) 2012
Garmin-Slipstream (USA) 2012
Rabobank (NED) 2012
Team RadioShack (USA) 2013
Team Sky (GBR) 2013
Gent Six Under Way
It’s 12 months since “local lad” Iljo Keisse won the 2008 edition of the Gent race and since then he has been branded a doping cheat, fired by his pro team, fought a protracted legal battle against a supplement supplier and finally, been cleared of any wrong doing and allowed to return to defend the title he was eventually allowed to keep.
After two nights of racing, Keisse and his German partner Roger Kluge are in second place, on the same number of laps as leaders (and current world madison champions) Alex Rasmussen and Michael Mørkøv. The Belgian/German pairing have a buffer of 23points over the Swiss team of Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli.
Marvulli, a 27-times Six Day winner, has never won in Gent (his best placing was 2nd) and after a great lead in to the event, told PEZ’s Ed Hood that he was feeling a little tired, just two days into this race.
“I'm happy [with my form] but it could always be better; I've won four out of my last five sixes - Tilburg, Fiorenzola, Grenoble and Munich. And in the fifth one, at Rotterdam, I was second. But now I'm maybe beginning to feel a little tired.”
While playing down his own chances, Marvulli took a look at the other teams for PEZ and has a firm view on who are the most dangerous opposition for the Belgian event.
“The Danes, they are the most complete, they are good everything and very good in the time trials. I don't think they've showed all of their cards, yet. Remember that this is a six day, there are some teams who can go well for two nights - but can blow as the race gets into the fifth and sixth nights. Keisse has great home support; but I think that Bruno and me are the most experienced and that counts for a lot on a small, fast and technical track, like this.”
Keep it tuned to PEZ for more interviews and inside-trackside action from Ed as he tries not to get dizzy watching the boys go around and around and around...
Gilmore Back At The Boards
Former Six day champion Matthew Gilmore is back in Gent this week and was welcomed onto the track before the start of proceedings on Wednesday. Gilmore, whose career was cut short following an accident in a professional Kermis race in Ninove in 2006, is back in Europe at the side of young Australian duo, Glenn O’Shea and Leigh Howard.
The five times winner of the Gent Six, who was last week named Cycling Australia’s Coach of The Year, is in charge of Australia’s madison riders in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and told Het Nieuwsblad that this week the riders would be focussing on their technique. “On a 250m track [as used in the Olympic Games and world championships] there is plenty of time for the riders to think and talk. Here, [on the shorter track] they are constantly under pressure and need to learn from their mistakes.”
When asked about his current role of developing young Australian talent, Gilmore said that it was a role he had previously assisted with in Belgium while still an active cyclist. Gilmore took on the job of helping younger riders in the quest to train-up a suitable partner to replace Etienne DeWilde. Gilmore and DeWilde had teamed up to win the madison world championship in 1998, but following De Wilde’s retirement, Gilmore found himself at the 2002 world championships in Copenhagen as the only Belgian competitor.
The Olympic silver medallist, who finished his career racing with Iljo Keisse, didn’t rule out the possibility of one day taking a leading role in helping the development of track talent in Belgium, saying “Never say never, but at the moment I have really found my dream job.”
Glenn O’Shea and Leigh Howard are currently sitting in 7th place, five laps behind the leaders Rasmussen and Mørkøv.
The Shack On Track
Lance Armstrong’s new Team Radio Shack squad has confirmed their line-up for 2010 with 16 different countries represented on the 26 rider roster, to be overseen by Johan Bruyneel.
“We have experienced riders - with some of them I worked already many years in my former teams – but we also have young talents who can develop in the perfect environment. I am happy that our sponsors want to invest in the future of cycling. Our main goal will be the Tour de France and other stage races but I am confident that, with these riders, we can perform very well in the one-day races as well. I look forward to the new season with Team RadioShack and our first training camp,” Bruyneel said in a team press release.
One rider who was on the original list, but has had a line drawn through his name since the team issued their press release this week, is Japanese pro Fumi Beppu. It seems Beppu had told Bruyneel that he was available for the squad before he finalised his escape from the final year of his contract at Skil-Shimano. When the RadioShack team was announced, the Dutch squad called foul and have issued a statement saying that the Japanese rider would indeed be in the red white and blue of Skil Shimano in 2010.
The first get together for the team will be held in Tucson, Arizona in the second week of December and as well as giving the riders a chance to get to know each other and check out their new equipment, the team is opening the doors to the press. With seven times Tour winner Armstrong in attendance to showcase his new squad, you can bet the December 8 press conference will be a packed affair.
Team RadioShack, 2010
Riders: Lance Armstrong (USA), Fumiyuki Beppu (JAP), Sam Bewley (NZL), Jani Brajkovic (SLO), Matthew Busche (USA), Ben Hermans (BEL), Chris Horner (USA), Daryl Impey (SAF), Markel Irizar (SPA), Andreas Klöden (GER), Levi Leipheimer (USA), Geoffroy Lequatre (FRA), Fuyu Li (CHI), Tiago Machado (POR), Jason McCartney (USA), Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ), Sérgio Paulinho (POR), Yaroslav Popovych (UKR), Gregory Rast (SUI), Sébastien Rosseler (BEL), Ivan Rovny (RUS), José Luis Rubiera (SPA), Bjorn Selander (USA), Gert Steegmans (BEL), Tomas Vaitkus (LIT) & Haimar Zubeldia (SPA)
AG2R Ready For 2010
French squad, AG2R LA MONDIALE have also announced their 2010 line-up and will be heading south to Spain for the first of their pre-season training camps in December.
Italian Rinaldo Nocentini is back in 2010, after delivering a season highlight in 2009 with his extended stint in the Tour’s yellow jersey and with Nicolas Roche on board too, PEZ readers can look forward to some more revealing insights into life at AG2R whenever Al can catch up with him. (First question we all want answered: “Are the brown shorts gone for 2010?”).
The team has made seven new signings for next year, including Maxime Bouet, David Le Lay and Anthony Ravard, who are all ex-Agritubel and Kristof Goddaert from Topsport Vlaanderen.
The squad will be gathering in Salou, Spain, from December 9 to 18.
José Luis ARRIETA (Spain), Guillaume BONNAFOND (France), Cyril DESSEL (France), Hubert DUPONT (France), Alexander EFIMKIN (Russia), Vladimir EFIMKIN (Russia), Martin ELMIGER (Switzerland), John GADRET (France), Sébastien HINAULT (France), Blel KADRI (France), Yuriy KRIVTSOV (Ukraine), Julien LOUBET (France), René MANDRI (Estonia), Lloyd MONDORY (France), Rinaldo NOCENTINI (Italy), Christophe RIBLON (France), Nicolas ROCHE (Ireland), Nicolas ROUSSEAU (France), Gatis SMUKULIS (Latvia), Ludovic TURPIN (France), Tadej VALJAVEC (Slovenia), Julien BERARD (France) , Maxime BOUET (France), Dimitri CHAMPION (France), Ben GASTAUER (Luxembourg), Kristof GODDAERT (Belgium), David LE LAY (France), Anthony RAVARD (France).
Home-Soil Comeback Confirmed For McEwen
After writing off the better part of his 2009 season due to a serious injury after a fall in the Tour of Belgium, Robbie McEwen has been confirmed in his Katusha team’s line up for January’s Santos Tour Down Under.
Having previously won 12 stages of his country’s biggest cycling race, McEwen (along with World Champion Cadel Evans and seven times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong) will be a big drawcard in Adelaide next year.
“Robbie is one of the fastest sprinters in the world and he’ll be a contender for the Jayco Sprint Jersey as well as overall honours in January,” Tour Down Under Race Director, Mike Turtur, said.
The Katusha team will be bringing a competitive team to Adelaide for their second appearance at the race, with Alexander Pliuschin, the 2008 National Road Champion for Moldova, making his debut with Katusha after transferring to the Russian team from Ag2r La Mondiale.
“It is good to have Pliuschin back at our race. He is a rider to watch and has made good progress in the two years since he’s been professional,” says Mike Turtur.
Russia’s Pavel Brutt will join Pliuschin after a strong 2009 season, winning the 2009 Tour de Vendee.
Katusha’s line line-up for the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager, Dimitri Konychev (RUS) and include riders:
Alexander Pliuschin (MDA) Pavel Brutt (RUS) Denis Galimzyanov (RUS) Joan Horrach (SPA) Sergey Klimov (RUS) Robbie McEwen (AUS) and Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL).
Another Spanish Doping Ring
PEZ’s Man in Spain, Al Hamilton, has been keeping an eye on the latest shenanigans in the land of the Vuelta:
The Spanish Guardia Civil have uncovered another “Operacion Puerto” and conducted raids on various “Medical Centres for Sport and Diet” in Valencia, Murcia, Granada and Barcelona. Among the twelve people arrested were Peruvian doctor, Walter S. Virú Rodriguez (ex doctor to the Kelme team and implicated in the case of Jesús Manzano in 2004), Vincente Natividad (coach to several cyclists), two pharmacists and Virú’s son. Products including EPO, hormones and anabolic steroids were seized in the raids.
As yet, no cyclists are implicated, but Spain’s Olympic silver medallist in the 20 kilometre walking event was trained by Virú. The French Gendarmerie collaborated in the investigation as the French athlete; Julie Coulaud had been working with Virú.
Under Spanish law, supplying doping products to sportsmen carries a prison sentence of between 6 months and 2 years.
Al will be keeping us posted on the developments in this latest investigation, but if it goes the way of Operacion Puerto, expect there to be nothing much more happening two years from now.
Ljungqvist Turns A Page
Between finishing his career as a cyclist with SaxoBank and starting his new career as a sports director at Team Sky, Sweden’s Marcus Ljungqvist has released a book, detailing the sacrifices and training that were necessary for him to ride the Tour de France.
Before you start pencilling in Tour de France är ett jobb - ett år ur mitt liv som professionell cyclist (or “Tour de France is a job – One year in my life as a professional rider”), at the top of your Christmas list, we should probably point out that at present, it is only available in Swedish.
Despite the recent successes of Ljungqvist, Thomas Löfkvist, Gustav Larsson and Emma Johansson, the profile of cycling in Sweden is such that the book will not be sold in ‘regular’ bookshops, instead being only available in bike shops, webs stores and promoted through word of mouth.
The book sold around one quarter of its initial print run of 2000 copies on the day that it was launched at the Swedish bike fair in Jönköping.
After he is finished with Team Sky’s first big gathering in Manchester, Marcus is doing a book signing in the bike shop where he actually worked during school holidays in his youth: Cykel och Fjällspecialisten in his Swedish home town Falun.
“A great result at the worlds or Paris-Tours would have been the perfect finale to my twelve years as a pro. But I can already say that my new position at Team Sky is just as stimulating and challenging. The book is out and initial sales are beyond expectations. The rest is up to the market and, we hope, Santa Claus, or “Jultomten” as we call him in Sweden,” Ljungqvist said.
Danielson Lends A Hand
Team Garmin/Slipstream pro, Tom Danielson will be leading the 2009 Kids in Distress (KID) Inlet Challenge, in Fort Lauderdale next month, with more than 1,200 riders expected to take part in the eighth running of the event.
The Inlet challenge has raised over $650,000 for KID, a nationally accredited non-profit organisation that has provided assistance to abused children and their families for 30 years. With a primary focus on preventive programs aimed toward keeping families together, KID has opened its doors to many families in need of guidance and has served more than 6,200 children and families in Broward and Palm Beach County.
This year, the ride will also be partnering with Team zMotion. In the five years since it started, zMotion has participated in countless charitable rides and is now involved with philanthropic organizations throughout South Florida, including KID, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Hospice for Life and Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Year-to-date, zMotion has raised more than $1.2 million for these and other worthwhile causes.
zMotion has an entire weekend of activities planned leading up to the December 6 feature ride. The weekend will kick off with a ride on Saturday, December 5 that will leave from The Cove Restaurant in Deerfield Beach at 7:00 a.m. All active members of zMotion are invited to join Danielson for this ride along A1A and for breakfast afterwards at The Cove. Danielson will also lead Sunday's Inlet Challenge, along with presenting sponsor zMotion.
To register to participate in the KIDS Inlet Challenge, visit www.zMotion.org
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