News

23rd March 2007

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A broken rib for Bettini...but will he still ride the Milan-Sanremo?

World champion Paolo Bettini was forced to stop training during the week because of pain. The Italian who rides for the Quick Step-Innergetic team crashed last week during the fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. Because of the sustained pain Bettini decided to visit a clinic where he was x-rayed and an ultrasound that found the cause, a broken rib, his fourth left rib to be exact and a lesion of his left pectoral muscle.

Bad news for the Italian who was looking forward to showing his world champions jersey in front of his home crowd tomorrow at the Milan-Sanremo classic.

Indeed Bettini has said that he still intends to ride the race on his home country of Italy. Speaking on his teams website, qsi-cycling.com, he said, "I’d like to underline that it is my intention to take part in the Milano Sanremo race." The world champion continued, "this will be my 10th participation in a row and I really want to be there to honor the race that sees the 100th edition this year, my fans and my jersey."

Bettini won the world championships last year in Verona and went on to win the Giro di Lombardia in dominant fashion. So even if he rides will he be in the condition required to compete for a possible win? Or will he play a role in helping his Belgian ex-world champion teammate Tom Boonen ride for victory?

Saunier Duval-Prodir announce teams

Tomorrow will see the Saunier Duval-Prodir team lineup at the start line of the Milan-Sanremo classic the centenary of the longest race on the calendar.

Spaniard Riccardo Riccò who was in fine form winning two stages on the trot last week at the Tirreno-Adriatico will lead the squad and will be joined by Francisco Ventoso (Spa), Manuele Mori (Ita), Jesús del Nero (Spa), David Millar (GBr), José Alberto Benítez (Spa), Peter Mazur (Pol), and Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat). Sporting directors for the event will be Joxean "Matxin" Fernández (Spa) and Pietro Algeri (Ita).

Then next week the Spanish registered team will be in action at both the Vuelta a Castilla y León in Spain from Monday the 26th of March to Friday the 30th of March and the Settimana Coppi & Bartali in Italy from Tuesday the 27th of March to Saturday the 31st of March.

At the Vuelta a Castilla y León, where the squad will be guided by sporting director's Joxean "Matxin" Fernández (Spa) and Sabino Angoitia (Spa), the team will be: Koldo Gil (Spa), Fran Ventoso (Spa), Alberto Fernández de la Puebla (Spa), José Alberto Benítez (Spa), Arkaitz Durán (Spa), Rubén Lobato (Spa), Jaunjo Cobo (Spa), and Remmert Wielinga (Ned).

In Italy the teams sporting director's Pietro Algeri (Ita) and Matteo Algeri (Ita) will bring a strong team of: Riccardo Riccò (Spa), Gilberto Simoni (Ita), Manuele Mori (Ita), Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), David Cañada (Spa), Rubens Bertogliati (Swi), Christophe Rinero (Fra) and Guido Trentin (Ita).

Tinkoff include Mikhail Ignatiev for the Milan-Sanremo

Tomorrow, new Pro-Continental team Tinkoff Credit Systems will lineup in Italy for the Milan-Sanremo classic. The team were one of the team issued with a wildcard invitation and they are ready for maximum exposure by attacking throughout the event. Speaking on tinkoff.it, the teams sporting director Orlando Maini said, "To excel at the great classic is too luring an objective to quietly and anonymously sit in the pack. We are just back from Tirreno-Adriatico where you could see our riders among the protagonists of practically every stage."

One rider that has been included in the team for the race known in Italy as 'La Classicissima' is Mikhail Ignatiev, a young Russian who has burst onto the scene this year winning the Trofeo Laigueglia and stage 3 of the Tour Méditerranéen. Initially the 21 year-old had said that he would not compete but after changing his mind he has now appears on the team. Indeed his fine early season form means that he is the current leader of the UCI's European tour and also means that he will be a one man the other favorites will be watching closely.

Ignatiev will be joined by: Vasil Kiryenka (Belarus), Pavel Brutt and Anton Mindlin (Russia), Ricardo Gonzales Serrano (Spain), Elia Aggiano and Daniele Contrini (Italy) and Salvatore Commesso (also from Italy) who won the mountains classification at the Tirreno-Adriatico which finished earlier this week.

The team, that will be guided by sporting directors Orlando Maini, Dmitri Konychev and Claudio Cozzi, will therefore clearly be looking for breakaway opportunities and for this they will be looking mainly towards Ignatiev, Commesso and Serrano. Either way, expect to see the Tinkoff Credit Systems in the thick of the action, not just at the finish, but through the 294 kilometers that will be covered during the race.

Cofidis for the GP Waregem

French team Cofidis have named their lineup for the 200 kilometer GP Waregem in Belgium next Wednesday, the 28th of March.

Sporting director Alain Deloeuil will guide the team of: Kevin De Weert, Michiel Elijzen, Mathieu Heijboer, Hervé Duclos-Lassalle, Sébastien Minard, Tyler Farrar, Nick Nuyens and Staf Scheirlinckx.

Koldo Fernández confident with Euskaltel-Euskadi for the Milan-Sanremo

Euskaltel-Euskadi and confident going into Milan-Sanremo following the win by their rider, Koldo Fernández, on the final stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. On that occassion the Basque rider easily won the sprint ahead of most of the riders that will be expected to be fighting it out for the win tomorrow when the race reaches it's finale on the Via Roma.

Directed by Jon Odriozola Fernández will be joined by: Unai Etxebarria, Beñat Albizuri, Aitor Hernández, Aketza Peña, Jon Bru, Antton Luengo and Iban Mayoz making it an unchanged team to the one that competed at the Tirreno-Adriatico which finished only a few days ago.

And the secret to success in the longest race on the calendar? Get over the Cipressa and Poggio with the least amount of effort possible according to Odriozola.

"After the triumph of Tuesday, Koldo has demonstrated that he is very well and that he is one of the candidates for the win," said the Euskaltel-Euskadi sporting director. Indeed on that occassion Fernández beat riders like CSC's Stuart O'Grady and Crédit Agricole's Thor Hushovd, both riders who he could be battling against tomorrow for the Classic win.

CSC name O'Grady as captain at the 'Primavera'

Australia's Stuart O'Grady will lead the Danish CSC team at tomorrow's classic in Italy, the third round of the UCI's ProTour. Already this season the Aussie hard-man has been in the thick of the action fighting it out in several races since the start of the season and no doubt tomorrow will prove no different.

CSC sporting director Scott Sunderland said on team-csc.com, "Stuart is the leader in Milano-San Remo. He's the one we'll be fighting for. He's been incredibly strong so far this season and he did well on all the climbs in Tirreno-Adriatico, so I think he'll be a tough act to follow on Cipressa and Poggio - these two climbs, which lie towards the end of the race traditionally cause a major separation in the peloton."

O'Grady, who will be one of the pre-race favorites for tomorrow's Milan-Sanremo race, will be joined by: Matti Breschel (Den), Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Juan José Haedo (Arg), Karsten Kroon (Ned), Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe), Luke Roberts (Aus) and Luxembourg's Fränk Schleck, winner of the 2006 Amstel Gold Race and stage 15 of the Tour de France to L'Alpe d'Huez.

Clearly another rider to watch in the CSC team during tomorrow's race is Schleck, a rider who has been showing decent form so far this season. Sunderland added, "Fränk has done well so far and he's in great shape at the moment. If the climbers manage to split the peloton during those last two climbs at the end, he'll be a good card up our sleeve for sure. Actually he so strong right now that he's dangerous in all types of races."

Certainly the CSC team will be one of the strongest squads for the Milan-Sanremo, one of the teams who should be fighting out the finish looking for the win!

Barloworld confirm new sponsor

Prior to their start in tomorrow's Milan-Sanremo classic, the Barloworld team have confirmed an additional sponsor, Caffitaly. The sponsorship of Caffitaly marks the return of Italian businessman Sergio Zappella to the world of professional cycling sponsorship.

Previously Zappella was involved in the sponsorship of the Saeco team which was at the time managed by Claudio Corti, now the manager of the Barloworld team.

Caffitaly is a revolutionary system, protected by an international patent, that seals coffee in a capsule so that it can be used in machines and produce the flavor and aroma of real Italian coffee.

Tomorrow, at the Milan-Sanremo, will see the start of the partnership between Caffitaly and Barloworld when the team will be looking for a strong showing, led by in-form Robert Hunter, the winner of the recent Volta ao Santarem in Portugal.

Team Slipstream confirm their lineup for France's Critérium International

As announced on ProCycleNews, American Pro-Continental team Slipstream have been invited by the ASO to ride this years Critérium International in France, from the 31st of March to the 1st of April.

Team Director Jonathan Vaughters said, "Critérium is certainly the most prestigious race we've done in Europe to date, so we're very keen on proving our worth. I think we'll see Danny Pate somewhere in the top 15 on the GC - and I'm hoping for a breakthrough performance, worthy of his multiple French Championships, from Kilian Patour."

The Slipstream roster for the Critérium International will be: Danny Pate (USA), Kilian Patour (Fra), Will Frischkorn (USA), Steven Cozza (USA), Huub Duyn (Ned), Ben Johnson (Aus), Taylor Tolleson (USA) and Ian MacGregor (USA).