News

14th March 2007

Have your voice heard on ProCycleNews... Click here to E-mail us with your comments on the stories below!

Franco Pellizotti surges to take stage two and the overall lead at the Paris-Nice

Stage two of the Paris-Nice ProTour race from Vatan to Limoges, a stage of 177 kilometers, produced a change in the general classification with Franco Pellizotti winning the stage and claiming the race lead. The Liquigas rider launched a strong attack in the closing meters of the stage catching everyone else by surprise with no one else able to follow the flying Italian.

Soon after the riders rolled out of Vatan a large group of 17 riders went on the attack, staying out at the head of race to kilometer 41 when they got reeled back in under the combined efforts of T-Mobile and CSC.

Immediately a counter attack was launched by Cofidis rider Stéphane Augé, a member of the original 17 man breakaway group. Augé was quickly joined by ex-French champion Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) and Murilo Fisher (Liquigas). Together the quartet worked well together building a maximum lead of over 6'30".

Again the peloton worked to close the gap to set the stage up for their sprint leaders. Sensing the break was doomed Voeckler launched himself off the front, managing to drop everyone with the exception of the Liquigas rider Fisher.

Together the Frenchman and Italian drove towards the finish together, each taking it in turn to keep the pace high at the head of the race. Behind the lead was being led by Quick Step-Innergetic for Tom Boonen and Lampre-Fondital for their man Daniele Bennati.

Suddenly Voeckler launched himself again in a last minute ditch attempt to stay ahead of the peloton by himself. This time he managed to drop his tiring Italian breakaway companion.

Into the final kilometer the Bouygues Telecom rider continued counting down the meters to the line. The combined efforts of Quick Step-Innergetic and Lampre-Fondital were not willing to let the stage slip away though and under the pressure of the chase the peloton started to split. Together they reeled Voeckler back in but then came a powerful attack 400 meters from the line by Pellizotti who surged clear.

Heads went down and no-one was able to follow the strong acceleration with Pellizotti continuing over the final meters to take the stage and with it, the overall lead. Behind Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati crossed the line in second with Pellizotti's team-mate Luca Paolini claiming third.

Overall now Pellizotti now leads British rider David Millar by 0'06" after the Saunier Duval-Prodir rider crossed the line in 23rd place, 0'02" behind the stage winner and ready to fight another day.

The race continues tomorrow with stage three from Limoges to Maurs, a stage of 215.5 kilometers that will bring the riders into more lumpy terrain including the 2nd category Cote du Fangas, a climb of 8.7 kilometers with an average gradient of 4.5%. Coming close to the finish this climb could be used as a springboard for a group to break clear on route to the finish.

Click here for the full results from stage two of the Paris-Nice...

Euskaltel-Euskadi, Barloworld and Agritubel lineup for the Volta a Santarém

The Volta a Santarém starts in Portugal tomorrow, the 15th of March, with a 206 kilometer road stage between Fàtima and Torres Novas.

Euskaltel-Euskadi, Barloworld and Agritubel are just three teams who have named their formations for the four day four stage event which ends on Sunday, the 18th of March after 576.8 kilometer's of racing.

Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi will be sending: Joseba Zubeldia, Aitor Galdos, Lander Aperribay, Iban Iriondo, Andoni Lafuente, Unai Uribarri, Amets Txurruka and Dionisio Galparsoro who will be making his season debut after being sidelined following a knee operation in January.

Barloworld will field: Giosuè Bonomi, Giampaolo Cheula, Enrico Degano, Félix Rafael Cárdenas, Robert Hunter, Paolo Longo Borghini, Hugo Sabido, and Kanstantsin Siutsou.

As for French Pro-Continental team Agritubel, they will be represented by: Emilien-Benoit Bergès, Manuel Calvente, Cédric Coutouly, Hans Dekkers, Moises Duenas, José-Alberto Martinez, Anthony Ravard and Benoit Sinner.

Toyota-United's Bobby Lea undergoes surgery by Press Release

Los Angeles, CA. (March 12, 2007) Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team’s Bobby Lea will be out of competitive cycling for at least six weeks after undergoing surgery Thursday, March 8, to repair arteries in his leg.

The Easton, M.D., native had been experiencing problems with blood flow to his legs while pedaling with maximum effort during competition and training. An examination revealed constriction of the external iliac artery in both legs. Surgeons at the University of Virginia Medical Center placed a patch inside each artery to act as a wedge and open the artery back up to its proper size.

“Basically, imagine that the artery is supposed to be the size of the fat part of a soda bottle,” Lea said. “At its damaged parts, though, the artery was only as wide as the top part of the bottle.”

Lea is restricted from any physical activity for two weeks, but can start swimming and walking stairs after that. Four weeks after the surgery (mid-April), he can start riding and training again. For now, he is recovering at his home in Mertztown, Penn.

“One of the hurdles of my recovery is the four-inch incision in my lower abdomen,” the 23-year-old, second-year pro said.

Lea is a seven-time elite national champion, a five-time junior national champion and a three-time collegiate All-American who won the 2005 NCCA road race in Lawrence, Kan.

Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said he was pleased to hear that Lea’s surgery was a success. “Bobby was already showing some good form at our training camp in February and I hope to see him come back swinging hard in the beginning of May,” Jansen said.

'Operación Puerto' dismissed for insufficient evidence

On Monday Spanish magistrate Antonio Serrano formally dismissed the Spanish drug investigation 'Operacion Puerto'. The case was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Operacion Puerto meant that talented riders like Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich were not permitted to ride last years Tour de France, putting their careers on hold with riders allegedly linked to the investigation being either suspended by their teams or sacked. Many of the riders are now thankfully getting their careers back on track but without sufficient evidence should these riders have been condemned?

More than 50 riders were implicated in the investigation with many others effected. Lets not forget about the sponsors who pulled out of the sport including Liberty Seguros and Communidad Valenciana.

Even though the investigation has been dismissed it has affected a lot of people connected to cycling and has affected many of the world's top professional riders careers. Let's hope that in 2007 and for many years to come cycling can get on looking to the future, looking towards the positive and not the negative.

Disappointment after stage two of Paris-Nice

Milram and T-Mobile were just two of the teams who were unhappy at the end of stage two of the Paris-Nice race in France, a stage that was won by a powerful kick by Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti. Pellizotti's stage win also brought him the leaders jersey which he will wear on the road during stage three of the race [see separate article above].

For Milram they had their leader, ex-world champion Igor Astarloa, in the front group as the race exploded in the closing stages. Speaking on team-milram.com he said, "I was in the head group when 300 meters were to go. On the rising home stretch we had headwind and my legs weren't good either "

T-Mobile sporting director said, "It wasn't our day today. We didn’t have any rider in the first break of 17 riders. So from very early on we had to chase hard with Rabobank and CSC. Maybe that sapped too much power out of the riders, so that they didn’t have the legs to mix it at the front in the finale."

Maybe stage three of the race will be better for both teams as they search for success on the road to Maurs.

With Unibet.com teams confirmed for the Milan-Sanremo

As reported yesterday on ProCycleNews, RCS Sport have now decided to invite the Unibet.com team to ride the Milan-Sanremo classic at the end of the month in Italy. Originally left off the invitation list for the classic the invitation is great news for the Unibet.com team who will no doubt hope that they will also be invited to ride the Giro d'Italia, the first Grand Tour of the season.

The confirmed revised teams that will ride the Milan-Sanremo classic on the 24th of March is: Acqua & Sapone (Ita), AG2R Prévoyance (Fra), Astana (Swi), Barloworld (GBr), Bouygues Telecom (Fra), Caisse d'Epargne (Spa), Ceramiche Panaria (Ita), Cofidis (Fra), Crédit Agricole (Fra), CSC (Den), Discovery Channel (USA), Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spa), Française des Jeux (Fra), Gerolsteiner (Ger), Lampre-Fondital (Ita), Liquigas (Ita), Milram (Ita), Predictor-Lotto (Bel), Quick Step-Innergetic (Bel), Rabobank (Ned), Saunier Duval-Prodir (Spa), Team LPR (Ita), Tinkoff Credit Systems (Ita), T-Mobile (Ger) and Unibet.com (Swe).

Di Luca and Bertagnolli out of the Liquigas team for the Tirreno-Adriatico

Italian riders Danilo Di Luca and Leonardo Bertagnolli had both been expected to lineup for their Liquigas team at Tirreno-Adriatico which kicks off today. Di Luca was seen in fine form last weekend when he took the win at the 92nd edition of the Milano-Torino. Unfortunately though both riders have both came down with the flu, meaning that rather than riding their bikes they will instead be recovering at their homes.

Both Di Luca and Bertagnolli had been expected to play an important part in the teams plans at the Tirreno-Adriatico. That responsibility will now fall on the shoulders of Francesco Failli and Finn Kjell Carlstrom who will both ride for their team leader Filippo Pozzato, winner of the recent Omloop Het Volk semi-classic in Belgium.

Vuelta a Castilla y Leon announces teams

The Vuelta a Castilla y Leon will kick off on Monday the 26th of March with a 10 kilometer time trial starting and finishing in Zamora. The race finishes on the final day, Friday the 30th of March after 631 kilometers of racing.

16 teams will contest the 22nd edition of the race ranked by the UCI as a 2.1 event. They break down as 7 ProTour squads, 6 Pro-Continental teams and 3 from the Continental ranks.

The teams that will contest the event will be: Agritubel (Fra), Andalucía-Cajasur (Spa), Benfica (Por), Caisse d'Epargne (Spa), CSC (Den), Discovery Channel (USA), Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spa), Fuerteventura-Canarias (Spa), Grupo Nicolás Mateos (Spa), Karpin-Galicia (Spa), Liquigas (Ita), Orbea-Oreka-SDA (Spa), Rabobank (Ned), Relax-GAM (Spa), Saunier Duval-Prodir (Spa) and Viña Magna-Cropu (Spa).