News
12th
March 2007
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Millar
takes first blood at the 65th Paris-Nice
 British
rider David Millar gave his Saunier Duval-Prodir team an
early season ProTour win when he won the opening Prologue
time trial of the Paris-Nice stage race.
Millar
outclassed a top field that included Discovery Channel's
Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer who finished 6th
on the stage 3 seconds behind Millar. Second on the stage
was Liquigas rider Roman Kreuziger with Frenchman Sébastien
Joly (Française des Jeux) back in 3rd place.
Other
riders of note who could challenge for the overall title
when the race ends in a weeks time could be Alberto Contador
(Discovery Channel - 5th), Bobby Julich (CSC - 11th), Cadel
Evans (Predictor-Lotto - 17th), Tom Danielson (Discovery
Channel - 43rd), Fränk Schleck (CSC - 75th) and Iban Mayo
(Saunier Duval-Prodir - 140th).
Speaking
on team-csc.com team manager of CSC Bjarne Riis said, "It
was an okay prologue for us. I think Bobby and Luke Roberts
showed good form and I'm sure we'll make our presence felt
later on in the race, where I think, both Bobby and Fränk
Schleck will do really well. This was just the prologue
so it's impossible to say anything at all at this moment
in time."
So
David Millar will roll out on the first road stage of 186
kilometers from Cloyes-sur-le-Loir to Buzançais. The Saunier
Duval-Prodir team themselves will roll out in an ideal position
with their sprinter Francisco José Ventoso in 7th place
overall ready to ride shotgun behind team-leader Millar.
Click
here for the full results from the Prologue of the Paris-Nice...
Di
Luca takes his first win of the season at the Milano-Torino
 Liquigas
rider Danilo Di Luca has won the 92nd edition of the Milano-Torino
race after outsprinting Barloworld's Soler from the Barloworld
team. The Italian leader of the Liquigas team launched his
winning move on the Colle di Superga thanks to the hard
work by his squad. Only Soler could follow the powerful
acceleration with both riders working hard in the closing
stages to stay ahead of the chasing peloton.
The
sprint for third was won by T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen who outpaced
CSC's O'Grady 9 seconds behind fast finishing Di Luca.
For
Di Luca, it was his first win of the season, a season which
has been good for the Liquigas team so far. Even though
Barloworld missed out on the win they were happy with the
way things went and the way their riders performed. Speaking
on the teams website Barloworld's team manager Alberto Volpi
said, "I'm sure about Soler's talent cause such performances
are not so usual for a young climber as Mauricio is. Furthermore,
I'd like to notice the excellent shape our teams once more
showed. After Soler escaped, we had four riders in the chasing
group anyway: Arreitunandia, Cheula, Augustin and also Siutsou,
in spite of his sore throat..."
For
Australian O'Grady fourth place was a disappointment by
CSC sporting director Dan Frost was also pleased with the
way his team raced. Speaking on team-csc.com Frost said,
"We did well and even though Stuart was a bit annoyed about
not making the podium we have every reason to be satisfied.
It would really surprise me if he isn't the one to cross
the finish line first before long."
It
wasn't such a good day for world champion Paolo Bettini
(Quick Step-Innergetic) either. He was involved in a crash
in the closing stages of the race. Luckily though he managed
to avoid any serious injury and came away from the crash
with only cuts and bruises and will fight another day...like
in the Milano-Sanremo classic!
Click
here for the full results from the Milano-Torino...
Barloworld's
Alex Efimkin wins the Giro del Capo ahead of team-mate Felix
Cardenas
The
Giro del Capo was a dominating performance for the South
African sponsored Barloworld team who placed four riders
in the top five overall at the end of the five stage race.
The only non-Barloworld rider was David George in 4th place
riding for CSC Marcello, himself an ex-Barloworld rider.
Alex
Efimkin took the win 0'41" ahead of team-mate Felix
Cardenas with Hugo Sabido at 1'35" in 4th and Ryan
Cox at 1'52" in 5th.
Results
stage 5
1 Robert Hunter (Rsa) Team Barloworld 2.42.36 (42.857 km/h)
2 Steffen Radochia (Rsa) Wiesenhof-Felt
3 Malaya Van Ruitenbeek (Ned) Regiostrom Senges
4 Malcolm Lange (Rsa) MTN Microsoft
5 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Davitamon-Win for Life-Jong Vlaanders
6
Artur Gajek (Rsa) Wiesenhof-Felt
7
Daryl Impey (Rsa) MTN Microsoft
8
Roy Hegreberg (Nor) Sparenbanken Vest
9
Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Davitamon-Win for Life-Jong Vlaanders
10
Maarten Neyens (Bel) Davitamon-Win for Life-Jong Vlaanders
General Classification after
stage 5
1 Alex Efimkin (Rus) Team Barloworld 9.20.02
2 Felix Cardenas (Col) Team Barloworld 0'41"
3 David George (Rsa) CSC Marcello 1'01"
4 Hugo Sabido (Por) Team Barloworld 1'35"
5 Ryan Cox (Rsa) Team Barloworld 1'52"
6 Chris Froome (Rsa) Konica Minolta 2'39"
7 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Belgian National Team 2'47"
8 Nicholas White (Rsa) MTN Microsoft 3'38"
9 Peter Velits (Svk) Wiesenhof - Felt 3'50"
10 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo 3'54"
Valverde
takes the Vuelta a Murcia as Lampre-Fondital's Napolitano
takes the final stage
 Spanish
rider Alejandro Valverde has won his second stage race in
the past eight days after he won his 'home race', the Vuelta
a Murcia.
The
final stage of the race was won by Lampre-Fondital's Danilo
Napolitano who finished ahead of Rabobank's Australian Graeme
Brown and Valverde's own team-mate, Jose Joaquin Rojas.
Delighted
with his form Valverde has shown great form early in the
season, a season he is basing around the spring classics
and the Tour de France, a race he was due to challenge in
last year before crashing out.
Overall
Valverde beat Angel Vicioso from the Relax-GAM team by 0'35"
and Manuel Lloret (Fuerteventura-Canarias) by 0'52"
to take the deserved win.
Results
- Stage 5 - 151 km
1
Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3.29.06
2
Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
3
Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
4
Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua e Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
5
Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-GAM
6
Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
7
Joaquin Sobrino (Spa) Relax-GAM
8
Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com
9
José Adrian Bonilla (Crc) Fuerteventura-Canarias
10
Manuel Vazquez (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur
Final
General Classification
1
Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 11.45.41
2
Angel Vicioso (Spa) Relax-GAM 0.35
3
Manuel Lloret (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 0.52
4
Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.07
5
Michele Scarponi (Ita) Acqua e Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.09
6
Jens Voigt (Ger) CSC 1.10
7
Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua e Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.17
8
Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.23
9
Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
10
Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 1.37
Toyota-United's
Henk Vogels wins the final stage of the Central Valley Classic
while Chris Baldwin takes third overall by
Press Release via Brian C. Grenier
 Fresno,
CA. (March 11, 2007) – Toyota-United
Pro Cycling Teams Henk Vogels won his first race in nearly
four years Sunday when he captured the third and final stage
of the Bentley’s Central Valley Classic Stage Race in Fresno,
CA.
Vogels
easily won the field sprint at the end of the 80-minute
Tower District Criterium to give Toyota-United its fifth
victory of the season and its second in two weeks in a National
Race Calendar event. Last year, Toyota-United won 24 NRC
races and scored 55 victories overall.
"It
was a big relief to be able to throw my hands in the air
and finally get that monkey off my back," Vogels said.
"I've been pretty much working for other sprinters
the past couple years so it was nice to get back in the
winner's circle."
 Vogels
had not tasted victory since winning the Stage 1, 136-mile
road race from Augusta to Macon in the inaugural Tour de
Georgia on April 23, 2003. Later that year, he nearly died
following a high speed crash in the third stage of the Fitchburg
Longsjo Classic. Descending at more than 60 mph, Vogels
made contact with a rider in front of him and crashed horrifically.
He suffered severe head, spine, and ankle injuries and was
unable to walk for more than two months.
"This
is a huge win for Henk," Toyota-United Team Director
Kirk Willett said. "He's had other top 10 finishes
since his major accident, but to get to the top step of
the podium after what he's gone through is just a great
day for him."
Vogels'
win slightly overshadowed an outstanding performance by
team-mate Chris Baldwin, who finished 3rd overall. Baldwin
placed 6th in Friday's opening 102-mile road race and fifth
in Saturday's 16.5 mile individual time trial. His time
trial moved him into 3rd place behind Ben Jacques-Maynes
(Priority Health) and Rory Sutherland (Health Net) heading
into Sunday's final stage, which had no effect on the final
three places overall.
"I
think justice was served," Baldwin  said.
"The two strongest guys in the race got 1st and 2nd."
"The
guys are riding really well," Willett said. "We're
off to a great start. It's a long season, but we need to
chip away every week at our season-long goals."
"I
had mentioned to him (Stevic) that I had not won in three
years and that I was very motivated for today’s race,"
Vogels said. "The idea was to have him come around
me in the last corner. But Ivan told me after the race that
he sacrificed for me so I could win."
Ullrich
decides not to attend Volksbank presentation
Now
retired, Germany's ex-Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich
has decided not to attend the presentation of Pro-Continental
team Volksbank, a team he will be an advisor to.
The
Austrian team had announced that Ullrich would attend the
presentation due to be held tomorrow, Tuesday the 13th of
March.
Ullrich
has taken the decision not to attend the presentation because
he believes it is important to have only one person as the
figure-head of the squad but he believes that this would
not be the case.
The
German will still advise the team, he just won't attend
the launch. Indeed the presentation will still to go ahead
tomorrow without the ex-Tour de France star.
Linus
Gerdemann to lead T-Mobile at the Tirreno-Adriatico
German
rider Linus Gerdemann will lead the T-Mobile squad at the
Tirreno-Adriatico when the race kicks off on Wednesday the
14th of March in Civitavecchia, close to Rome.
Gerdemann
will be supported by Kim Kirchen, Lorenzo Bernucci, Marco
Pinotti, Gerald Ciolek, Bernhard Eisel, Andreas Klier and
Servais Knaven.
The
teams sporting director for the event Valerio Piva said,
"Linus is in good shape and he has the potential to
make his mark on the GC over the course of the week."
A good stage race rider Gerdemann was in impressive form
at the Italian semi-classic the Milano-Torino over the weekend,
placing ninth at the end after spending much of the race
in the leading break.
As
for Eisel, Piva said, "Bernhard suffered health problems
directly after the Tour of Algarve, but he's fit again now.
Let's see if he has recovered enough to challenge for top
places in the sprints."
Piva
continued, "The race route will suit the all-rounder's
in the team like Linus and Kim."
Unibet.com
take another win with Casper at the Driedaagse Van West-Vlaanderen
 Jimmy
Casper won the final general classification of the Driedaagse
Van West-Vlaanderen in Belgium after defending his lead
throughout the final stage, a stage that was won by Quick
Step-Innergetic's Wouter Weylandt.
Throughout
the final stage Unibet.com defended the lead of their race
leader riding tempo at the front of the peloton ensuring
no dangerous riders escaped.
Unibet.com
sporting director Hilaire Van der Schueren said on unibetcycling.com,
"The riders did an excellent job and perfectly kept
Casper in front."
Casper
finished safely in the peloton taking 8th on the final stage
to secure his overall win ahead of Belgium's final stage
winner Wouter Weylandt and Dutch rider Stefan Van Dijk (Wiesenhof-Felt).
Results
- Stage 3 - 182.5 km
1
Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 4.19.20
2
Jochen Summer (Aut) Elk Haus-Simplon
3
Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Wiesenhof-Felt
4
Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
5
Antonio Cruz (USA) Discovery Channel
6
Olaf Pollack (Ger) Wiesenhof-Felt
7 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
8
Jimmy Casper (Fra) Unibet.com
9
Benoît Sinner (Fra) Agritubel
10
Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
Final
General Classification
1
Jimmy Casper (Fra) Unibet.com 12.58.36
2
Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.05
3
Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Wiesenhof-Felt 0.11
4
Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
0.13
5
Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel 0.25
6
William Frishkorn (USA) Team Slipstream
7
Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream
8
Gianni Meersman (Bel) Discovery Channel 0.28
9
Jens Mouris (Ned) DFL 0.31
10
Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 0.32
Quick Step-Innergetic and Caisse d'Epargne
announce for Tirreno-Adriatico while Cofidis announce for
Milan-Sanremo
 The
Quick Step-Innergetic team will field a strong team at the
Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in Italy between the 14th and
the 20th.
World
Champion Paolo Bettini will lead the team that will also
field Serge Baguet, Carlos Barredo, Kevin Hulsmans, Bram
Tankink, Peter Van Petegem, Giovanni Visconti and Maarten
Wynants - sporting director for the event will be Serge
Parsani.
Caisse
d'Epargne will be without their Tour of Valencia and Tour
of Murcia winner Alejandro Valverde. Instead the leadership
of the team is expected to fall on the shoulders of Iván
Gutiérrez who will be joined by: David Arroyo, Eric Berthou,
Vladimir Efimkin, Imanol Erviti, Marco Fertonani, Pablo
Lastras and Alexei Markov.
On
the 24th of March the French Cofidis team will be represented
by Kevin De Weert, Michiel Elijzen, Mathieu Heijboer, Geoffroy
Lequatre, Sébastien Minard, Cristian Moreni, Nick
Nuyens and Staf Scheirlinckx.
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