News

18th February 2007

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Neo-Pro Mirco Lorenzetto takes the final stage of the Tour Méditerranéen for Milram

Milram's Mirco Lorenzetto saw his dreams come true earlier today when he took the first victory in his short career that has only just started. Lorenzetto outsprinted Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati for the stage into Sanremo, an Italian coastal resort, with Aussie rider Mark Renshaw back in third for Crédit Agricole.

Iván Gutiérrez finished safely in the peloton taking twelfth on the stage to take the overall title ahead of Ricardo Serrano (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne.

American Tyler Hamilton (Tinkoff Credit Systems), Brett Lancaster (Milram) from Australia, Italian Andrea Noè (Liquigas) and Jan Valach (Elk Haus-Simplon) didn't start the stage while a further 26 riders failed to make it to the finish of the final stage meaning that there was only 97 classified finishers.

Click here to read the full results from stage six....

Discovery Channel's Steve Cummings talks to ProCycleNews by Brian C. Grenier

Johan Bruyneel, manager of the Discovery Channel Professional Cycling Team can often be referred to as brilliant and cunning. So, why would he want to sign a relatively unknown rider who goes by the name of Steve Cummings? Do you even know who he is? Probably not, unless of course you are a faithful follower of the track riders of Europe or the Olympics! However, in the search for talent the Discovery Channel team leave no stone unturned, searching high and low for the best riders obtainable!

So, why would Steve Cummings be needed by Discovery Channel? That is the question that has the cycling world a-buzz! Conversely, with deeper analysis one can glean the brilliance of the young rider’s talent and subsequent place on the cycling behemoth.

Hailing from the Wirral, Merseyside in the United Kingdom, Steve is a medalled Olympian having garnered the silver in Athens. Cummings is built for speed! Known more as a 'trackie' Steve has a good turn of speed and will no doubt become as asset to the ever powerful Discovery Channel team throughout the coming season.

While putting together their roster for 2007 one can only surmise that the decision makers at Team Discovery Channel saw a gap in their plan as far as sprinting is concerned. It is no secret in the cycling universe that over the years the Discovery Channel squad have lacked the true ability to launch a sprinter. While some success was garnered in the past it wasn't a perpetual tool in the war chest of the Discovery Channel tacticians. However, with the addition of Steve, the American squad will see an evolution in their strategic planning and we may witness the team take on a whole new dimension!

While at the team's American pre-season training camp in Solvang, California, I had the chance to talk to Steve and get his views on being on one of the world's premier ProTour cycling teams!

Read the complete interview with Steve Cummings by clicking here now....

T-Mobile announce their roster for the Tour of Algarve

From the 21st to the 25th of February the T-Mobile team will be represented by a strong team, at the 33rd Tour of Algarve, led by Andreas Klier and Ex-Paris-Roubaix winner Servais Knaven from Holland.

The race will give the German team the chance to polish the form of their Classic's riders before they head North to Belgium for the Spring Classics Het Volk and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of March.

Klier and Knaven will be joined by Patrik Sinkewitz, Lorenzo Bernucci, Thomas Ziegler, Bernhard Eisel, André Korff and Scott Davis from Australia.

"The Algarve Tour fits perfectly into our preparations. The riders can test their form but are not forced beyond their limits," said T-Mobile team sporting director Tristian Hoffman. "The undulating terrain with it's flat stretches and steep climbs in the hilly Algarve countryside offer enough opportunities to test one's cycling fitness."

Sinkewitz will hope to test himself in the mountains while Eisel and Korff will look for results in the sprints. Last year Austrian Eisel, a newcomer to the magenta squad, won the second stage when he was riding with the French Francaise des Jeux team.

The T-Mobile roster for the Tour of Algarve will be: Lorenzo Bernucci (27-Italy), Scott Davis (27-Australia), Bernahrd Eisel (26-Austria), Andreas Klier (31-Germany), Servais Knaven (35-Holland), André Korff (33-Germany), Patrik Sinkewitz (26-Germany) and Thomas Ziegler (26-Germany) - Sporting Director will be Tristian Hoffman (37-Holland).

Magnus Backstedt goes under the knife again

Battling Swede Magnus Backstedt will go under the knife for the fourth time in four months this Tuesday when he undergoes a procedure to remove the metal work from his shoulder.

As reported on ProCycleNews, the Liquigas rider was involved in a high speed crash while training on the track last October with fellow countryman Freddy Johansson. The resulting fall sent Backstedt crashing to the bottom of the banking and snapping his shoulder.

A type five shoulder separation  was the result with an operation required to attach a titanium plate to his collarbone and insert a hook into the shoulder joint to allow scar tissue to replace the torn tendons.
Unfortunately though recovery was slow and after a second visit to the specialist he was diagnosed with a frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, a painful condition that reduces the range of movement of the arm that is worsened if you try and force the arm to increase its range.

"For me the shoulder is an aggravation because my legs are great. I spent such a long time off the bike, but my power figures are on par if not higher than last year, I just can't pull on the bars.

I managed to complete two stages of the Tour of Majorca without being able to hold the bars properly. My team decided that it was too much of a risk for me to continue, so I returned to the UK to see my surgeon again."

Following his latest checkup it has been decided that the shoulder has healed well enough to perform the operation to remove both the hook and plate. At the same time when the ex-Paris-Roubaix is under general anesthetic his shoulder will be manipulated to hopefully clear up the frozen shoulder.

Backstedt, who's career has been blighted by injury since winning the 2004 Paris-Roubaix continued, "My surgeon was confident that removing the plate and manipulating the shoulder should be fairly straightforward. I should only be off the bike for a maximum of a week and this will give me a fighting chance of being on the start line in shape for Roubaix."