News

27th March 2007

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

CSC boss Bjarne Riis responds to doping allegations

Responding to allegations from Jef D'hondt, a former soigneur at Team Telekom, team CSC boss Bjarne Riis has made made a statement.

Jef D'hondt made a number of allegations on Belgian television program 'Panorama' saying that Riis had used EPO and other doping substances at the 1996 Tour de France, an event he ran out as overall winner of.

Riis says in his statement, "I have never had a particularly close relation with Jef D’hont and he has no validation for the allegations he is making. There will always be some one out there trying to make money by talking about the past and in my opinion that is probably, what he is trying to do here. This is probably not the first nor the last time these kinds of stories surface. To me, it’s all in the past and I do not wish to be held accountable every time some one finds it interesting to bring up some ten-year-old story. I truly believe the future is much more important than the past. I want to be judged on the work I’m doing with my team today, and the results we achieve – that is what’s important to me."

Caisse d'Epargne rider Vladimir Karpets wins in Spain

Russia's Vladimir Karpets has won the opening 10 kilometers time trial stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León around the streets of the Spanish city of Zamora. Discovery Channel's Egoi Martinez finished in 2nd place 0'02" behind the Caisse d'Epargne winner with Frenchman Florient Brard in 3rd a further 0'01" back.

The Russian chrono specialist will therefore roll out on the first road stage in the leaders jersey at the five day stage race.

Further down the results were some of the biggest names in professional cycling. Discovery Channel rider and winner of the 2006 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso placed 7th on the stage 0'09" behind with Carlos Sastre, who was making his return to competition, placing a disappointing 80th at the end of the stage.

Classics rider Magnus Backstedt, a previous winner of the Paris-Roubaix classic has also made his return to competition, his first competitive outing of the season where he placed a solid 6th at 0'09" showing that he is already on route for a solid season and a possible good showing in the classic's and in particular the Paris-Roubaix.

Time Trial results :
1 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 11'55"
2 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel +0'02"
3 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne +0'03"
4 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir +0'05"
5 Alberto Contador (Spa Discovery Channel +0'06"
6 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas +0'09"
7 Ivan Basso (Ita) Discovery Channel
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel +0'10"
9 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas +0'18"
10 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel
General classification :
1 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 11'55"
2 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel +0'02"
3 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne +0'03"
4 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir +0'05"
5 Alberto Contador (Spa Discovery Channel +0'06"
6 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas +0'09"
7 Ivan Basso (Ita) Discovery Channel
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel +0'10"
9 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas +0'18"
10 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel

Petrov, Serano and Marzoli lead Tinkoff Credit Systems at the Coppi e Bartali

American rider Tyler Hamilton, Russian's Ilya Chernetsky, Anton Mindlin, Pavel Brutt and Evgueni Petrov, Ricardo Serrano from Spain and Italian's Elia Aggiano and Ruggero Marzoli will all lineup in Italy at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi-Bartali.

The team will be led by Petrov, Serano and Mazoli as they look for a major result, exploring all possibilities as the race unfolds on the road.

Sporting director for the event will be Orlando Maini who will be assisted by Dmitri Konychev and Claudio Cozzi.

Speaking on tinkoff.it Maini said, "It’s time to leave Milan-Sanremo behind and look ahead. The guys feel well, Petrov and Serrano have enough both in their legs and in the heads to contest the general classification. If a stage finishes in a mass sprint, we have Marzoli to hope for. Hamilton is gradually coming back to the best of his form; as to Brutt, after his great adventure in Milan-Sanremo he’s still ready to invent something interesting."

'All Or Nothing' Approach Nets Toyota-United Fourth Place Finish At Redlands Bicycle Classic by Press Release via Brian C. Grenier

Redlands, Calif. – An “all or nothing” decision by the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team changed the overall complexion of the Redlands Bicycle Classic on Sunday’s final stage.
Unfortunately, the aggressive approach to the 91.0-mile (146.5 km) Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race resulted in Toyota-United losing its grip on second place overall and the lead in the team general classification it had held since Thursday’s prologue time trial.
“The guys rode their hearts out,” Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen said. “It was all or nothing. This time was it was nothing.”
Toyota-United can take some satisfaction in having earned its second podium finish of the National Race Calendar (2.2) event with Chris Wherry’s third place in the final stage. That result moved the 2005 Redlands champion from 11th to fourth overall, while teammate Justin England – who was second on Stage 1 – dropped from second overall to 11th.
Only 69 of the original 190 starters finished the four-day, four-stage race. Toyota-United’s other placers were: Ivan Stevic, 29th, 10:29 behind; Burke Swindlehurst, 29th, 16:58 behind and Sean Sullivan, 57th, 23:12 behind.
Andres Bajadali (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) won the race overall as Australian Rory Sutherland (Health Net presented by Maxxis) took the final stage, his second straight. Ben Brooks (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) was second on the day. All three were part of a 13-rider breakaway that finished three minutes and 55 seconds ahead of a small, shattered peloton. The furious action on the final day dashed the hopes Scott Moninger (BMC Racing Team) had of winning Redlands for the third time in three different decades.
Jansen said he knew it would be a tall order to get England the eight seconds he needed going into the stage to overtake Moninger for the overall win.
“I’ve never had such a long team meeting with the guys,” Jansen said. “We could never really put our finger on what was going to get our win. But it’s not in my nature – or the guys’ nature – to settle for second. So we went for it. So for as small a chance as it was to win, the guys gave it their all. We ended up with nothing. But that’s how I like to race and that’s how they like to race.”
The strategy Jansen laid out was an aggressive one - Part I would be to put a rider or two in a break in an attempt to soften up the BMC Racing Team, which would be riding to protect Moninger’s lead. Part II was for England to bridge up to the break and put enough distance between himself and Moninger to overcome his deficit.
The strategy worked early on, with Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin and Wherry going up the road. But even with Moninger’s BMC squad in shambles behind, getting England in touch with the break proved to be too difficult.
“I had Henk Vogels with me and we were attacking to bridge up, but I was just too well marked and couldn’t get away,” England said. “We wanted to try and win the GC. We weren’t happy with second place. And in the end it ended up not working out for us.”
Wherry said he and Baldwin found themselves part of a motivated bunch that had no interest in waiting for anyone behind. “The guys in the front with us just hit the gas and blew the race apart,” Wherry said. “That put us in a position to try and go for the stage win. It was an all or nothing shot. It just didn’t matter on the GC if it wasn’t first. We raced our hearts out and it didn’t come together.”
Jansen said he will remember this year’s race as the one where Toyota-United faced its share of adversity. “From Justin just barely getting second on the climb to Oak Glen, to Ivan (Dominguez) being eliminated, to having Henk’s best friend (Damian McDonald) die in a car accident in Australia (story below), it was a tough race,” Jansen said.

Toyota-United look ahead to the Garrett Lemire Memorial Criterium - Vogels Loses Good Friend In Fiery Crash In Australian Tunnel continued from Press Release via Brian C. Grenier
Given his history at the Garrett Lemire Memorial Criterium, you can’t help but ask Toyota-United Team Director Harm Jansen if he’s going to suit up and compete on Sunday.
“No, no, I won’t be racing,” Jansen said, chuckling - Jansen knows the fourth year event as well as anybody, having won the first two editions of the National Race Calendar event in 2004 and 2005.
More like a circuit race than a criterium, the one-mile course features a 53-foot climb over the span of two-tenths of a mile on each of the 55 laps of the race. “That hill makes it kind of a mini road race,” Jansen said.
Toyota-United will put five riders on the line in the hopes of continuing its success at NRC events this season. “The guys who are racing for us all have a shot at winning it,” Jansen said.
Elsewhere Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team’s Henk Vogels was shocked over the weekend when he received word of the death of longtime friend and fellow Australian cyclist Damian McDonald.
McDonald, 34, was killed in a fiery crash Friday in Melbourne’s Burnley Tunnel. His car was one of eight vehicles involved in the accident that left two others dead.
At the 1994 Commonwealth Games, McDonald partnered with Vogels, former Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Phil Anderson and Brett Dennis to win the 60.2-mile (97 km) road team time trial by more than three minutes.
McDonald was also a groomsman at Vogels’ wedding and is survived by his wife, Bree, and their 17-month-old son, Lachlan. Vogels planned to fly to Melbourne to attend funeral services.
McDonald.

CSC name riders for upcoming races

Team CSC have named their riders for their upcoming races, namely the GP Waregem, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and the Critérium International in France.

The UCI category 1.2 GP Waregem in Belgium will see: Matti Breschel (Den), Allan Johansen (Den), Kasper Klostergaard (Den), Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe), Lars Michaelsen (Den), Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Luke Roberts (Aus) and world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Swi) lineup for the Danish team.

Breschel, Johansen, Ljungqvist, Michaelsen, O'Grady, Roberts and Cancellara will be joined by Danish rider Martin Pedersen at the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen race in Belgium on the 31st of March.

Then at the Critérium International in France on the 31st of March and the 1st of April the team will be: Lars Bak (Den), Juan José Haedo (Arg), Bobby Julich (USA), Anders Lund (Den), Andy Schleck (Lux), Fränk Schleck (Lux), Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) and German strongman Jens Voigt.

T-Mobile's Andreas Klier tests form ahead of the Tour of Flanders in Belgium at the Dwars door Vlaanderen

T-Mobile will lineup at tomorrow's Dwars door Vlaanderen with a strong classics roster that will include classics specialist Marcus Burghardt, a rider who has already placed 4th and 7th in the Belgian semi-classic.

Andreas Klier, Servais Knaven and Roger Hammond will also feature in the teams lineup in a race that should suit them well. Sporting director Tristian Hoffman said, "Burghardt, Hammond and Knaven are in great form at the moment. The course, with it's many cobbled sections, will suit them. Marcus has performed especially well here in recent years. I am hoping that he can again be up at the front for the business-end of the race."

Classics specialist Klier was unable to ride the Milan-Sanremo classic but is ready to warm up towards the Tour of Flanders . Hoffman said, "Now we will get the chance to see what his form is like."

The complete T-Mobile lineup for the 200 kilometer race through Western and Eastern Flanders that finishes in Waregem will be: Eric Baumann (Ger), Marcus Burghardt (Ger), Mark Cavendish (GBr), Roger Hammond (GBr), Adam Hansen (Aus), Andreas Klier (Ger), Servais Knaven (Ned) and Frantisek Rabon (CZE).

Astana announce their team for the Settimana Ciclista Internazionale

The Astana team will lineup at the Settimana Ciclista Internazionale which starts today with a strong team that includes ex-Giro d'Italia winner Paolo Savoldelli and Vuelta a España podium finisher Andrej Kashechkin.

Italy's Savoldelli and Kazakh rider Kashechkin will be joined by Italian former T-Mobile rider Eddy Mazzoleni, himself a highly talented stage race rider.

The remainder of the team for the race will be: Assan Bazayev (Kaz), Maxim Gourov (Kaz), Matthias Kessler (Ger), Steve Morabito (Swi) and Daniele Navarro (Spa).