News

15th March 2007

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

Kolobnev solo's for the final kilometers to claim stage three of the Paris-Nice but with no change to the overall

After being on the attack for most of the third stage, Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev, riding for Team CSC, has won the stage holding off a hot chase by the peloton who were looking to set up the stage for their teams sprinters. Ex-world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) crossed the line in second place 0'12" behind the Russian but was clearly unaware the CSC rider was ahead as he punched the air in a victory salute.

Kolobnev spent the stage in the leading break in the company of Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner), Fabio Baldato (Lampre-Fondital) and former French champion Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel). Together they worked building a lead of close the 9 minutes but with the teams of the sprinters and in particular that of the Quick Step-Innergetic team of Boonen that advantage started dropping as the kilometers ticked on getting closer and closer to the stage finish.

On the final climb Kolobnev decided to continue the remainder of the stage alone, dropping his companions and descending strongly towards the finish holding a 0'20" gap getting closer and closer to the finish.

Kolobnev was simply too strong for anyone to catch him. The Russian flew to the finish where he crossed the line alone for the biggest win of his career to date.

Overall though there was no change with the leaders yellow jersey remaining on the shoulders of Italian Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti ahead of fellow countryman Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) and British rider David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir), the rider who won the opening prologue and led the race during the opening couple of stages.

The delighted stage winner said after the stage on his teams website, team-csc.com, "I actually didn't think I'd make it all the way home, but I had to give it a go because I still felt strong even though it was late in the stage. Luckily there was a descent, which was just steep enough so the main peloton couldn't catch me. I'm so proud of this. It's a great feeling and it means a lot to me to prove to myself that I have what it takes, but it means just as much to be able to give something back to the team, because they believed in me right from the start."

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

Robbie McEwen returns from illness to claim stage one and the overall lead at the Tirreno-Adriatico

Predictor-Lotto's Aussie sprinter Robbie McEwen has claimed the first stage of the 42nd edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in Italy, beating other sprinters of the caliber of Oscar Freire, Thor Hushovd and Alessandro Petacchi.

Soon after the start Matteo Priamo (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) went on the attack soon to be joined by Basque rider Beñat Albizuri (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and later by Giuseppe Muraglia (Acqua e Sapone-Caffè Mokambo) and Italian Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff Credit Systems). Together the quartet worked well together building their lead over the main peloton.

The teams of the sprinters weren't going to let the stage away from them. Together the teams from Predictor-Lotto, Rabobank, Milram, Crédit Agricole and CSC worked together looking to set the stage up for their sprint stars.

Once onto the finishing circuits the speed in the peloton rocketed ensuring the race would come back together for a sprint royale finale. And so it was, the break was reeled back in just over four kilometers from the line with the teams of the sprinters keeping the pace high and the race completely under control.

McEwen kicked into the final corner keeping the lead over the final 300 meters of the course to claim the stage, the first leaders jersey of the race and signal his return to form after illness that had sidelined him over the previous weeks.

Second over the line behind the Predictor-Lotto rider was Spanish ex-world champion Oscar Freire with Tour de France stage winner Thor Hushovd from Crédit Agricole claiming third.

Speaking after the stage on team-milram.com Italian Milram sprinter Alessandro Petacchi said, "We organized the sprint when one kilometer was to go. Then two of us were skidding and we lost contact. Zabel tried to catch McEwen, but it was too late."

Click here for the full results from stage one of the Tirreno-Adriatico...

Crédit Agricole's Nicolas Roche crashes out of the Tirreno-Adriatico by Gerard Cromwell

Ireland's Nicolas Roche's first ProTour race of 2007 came to an abrupt halt when he crashed out of Tirreno Adriatico on yesterday's opening stage.

With 50kms remaining and a group of four up the road, there was a sudden stall in the bunch which resulted in a huge pile- up in the main peloton. The young Irishman was sandwiched between two riders and surrounded by at least a dozen others including last year's winner Thomas Dekker (Rabobank).

"There was just a big smash and I ended up sandwiched between two riders, with one underneath me and another guy on top of me and bits of bikes in between," said Roche afterwards. "I banged my knee pretty badly and also had to get stitches in my shin, so that was the end of the road for me, unfortunately. I'm pretty disappointed, I was very motivated to do well and excited to be riding with some of the big names, but at least I'm okay, it's not too bad."

Irish Continental team Murphy & Gunn-Newlyn-M. Donnelly in Wanzele by Press Release