Latest Cycling News for March 21, 2005Edited by Jeff Jones Boonen reflects
After the initial emotions subsided after the finish of Milan-San Remo, eighth placed Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) re-examined his race and where it went wrong. Boonen was one of the few sprinters who used the truncated Paris-Nice as preparation for M-SR. Nevertheless, he appeared to have plenty of strength to get over the climbs on Saturday and not waste too much energy in the lead up to the sprint. He even managed to find the most sought after wheel, that of Alessandro Petacchi's, but just seemed to jump halfheartedly then hesitate when Petacchi put in his own move at 200m to go. That was fatal for the Belgian, because he lost the wheel and was swarmed by other sprinters. Boonen explained the last part of the race to Het Nieuwsblad: "I went through the last hairpin bend well, Bettini swung off the front perfectly to the left, so that Petacchi came into the lead. At that moment, perhaps I should have gone full out. Alessandro waited a bit, Freire as well. That fraction of a second of doubt cost me because at the moment that he [Petacchi] jumped, three or four men came up to my right. Then when the road narrowed I was closed in by Wrolich, who had done his work, and bumped [Philippe] Gilbert, who came from the right and closed the door a couple of times. At that moment I was sprinting for no more than second. I just find it disappointing that I couldn't measure myself against Petacchi. It's frustrating, at best." On the other hand, Boonen rated it as "my best Primavera. There's a day and night difference between the other two times. I finally know Milan-San Remo...But this remains a fat shit race. Suddenly there are the capi, you're at the bottom on Via Roma and then wham, bam a chaotic sprint. That after a super-long and dangerous route with cars left and right, spectators jumping out taking photos, motorbikes in the middle of the riders on the descents, nervous colleagues, rolling garbage bins. All obstacles. Finally, Boonen rated himself "10 percent stronger" than this time last year, and believes that he can win La Primavera one day. Freire surprises
World Champion Oscar Freire was perhaps one of the biggest surprises in Milan-San Remo, in that he didn't finish on the podium despite being in excellent form. Like many of the other sprinters who were there at the end but missed their chance, Freire's race fell apart in the final half a kilometre on Via Roma. "Up until 500 metres to go, everything went according to plan," he told De Telegraaf. I went over the Cipressa and the Poggio easily. In the sprint, it all went wrong. I was closed in and couldn't get out either side." Rabobank team manager Theo de Rooij told Algemeen Dagblad, "Oscar left a lot out there. Because he waited too long to start the sprint, he was closed in by the others. I'm afraid that a second or third place went begging, and that's a shame." Teammate Erik Dekker, who was the only Rabobank rider in the front group at the end, commented that Fassa Bortolo was so strong, Petacchi included. "He was 10th over the Cipressa and according to me he was in the first five on the Poggio. Of the 40 that were with me after the descent of the Poggio, there were at least 42 sprinters. It was unbelievable how quick they came along." Cyclingnews' Milan-San Remo coverageFull results, report &
photos Hoste crash adds to Discovery's woesThe Discovery Channel team has suffered a number of setbacks in the last week, culminating in the crash of Leif Hoste during Milan-San Remo. With 40 km to go, Hoste hit Cristian Moreni as several other riders came down when the road narrowed because of parked cars. Hoste has a swollen right knee and has been advised not to ride for several days. He is very much in doubt for Wednesday's Dwars Door Vlaanderen, and could even miss Saturday's E3 Prijs in Harelbeke. Discovery couldn't field either George Hincapie or Max van Heeswijk in Milan-San Remo, as Hincapie had a cold and Van Heeswijk had sinusitis, a sore throat and toothache. Hincapie will not ride Dwars Door Vlaanderen and is also in doubt for Harelbeke. "He still has two weeks before the Ronde [Tour of Flanders], three before Roubaix. But nothing more can go wrong now," said Discovery's director Dirk Demol. Latest ProTour rankings
Following Milan-San Remo, the third round of the ProTour, the UCI has updated its ProTour rankings. Sprinters continue to hold sway at the top, with seven of the top 10 riders all fast men. After placing second overall in Tirreno-Adriatico and winning Milan-San Remo, Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) is the new ProTour leader with 93 points, ahead of World Champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) on 78 points and Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) on 70 points. All three riders performed well in both T-A and M-SR, again reinforcing the notion that Tirreno-Adriatico is the best preparation for Milan-San Remo. In the teams rankings, Fassa Bortolo is on top with 47 points, ahead of Liberty Seguros on 41 and Rabobank on 39. Spain leads the nations rankings with 174 points, but Italy is catching up on 155, while Germany is another 28 points back.
Rankings as of March 20, 2005Individuals 1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 93 pts 2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 78 3 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 70 4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 50 5 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Illes Balears 41 6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 35 7 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 35 8 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 35 9 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 31 10 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 30 Teams 1 Fassa Bortolo 47 pts 2 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 41 3 Rabobank 39 4 T-Mobile Team 38 5 Saunier Duval-Prodir 38 6 Davitamon-Lotto 38 7 Gerolsteiner 37 8 Team CSC 37 9 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 36 10 Credit Agricole 29 Nations 1 Spain 174 pts 2 Italy 155 3 Germany 127 4 United States Of America 70 5 Australia 40 6 Norway 35 7 Belgium 32 8 France 30 9 Luxembourg 15 10 Switzerland 11 Full rankings: Individuals, Teams, Nations Setmana Catalana beginsThe 42nd edition of Setmana Catalana starts today (Monday) with a 165 km stage around Lloret De Mar, and finishes on Friday, March 25 with a 16 km time trial at the Würth factory in Anoia. The 2.HC ranked stage race will feature triple Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras (Liberty), dual Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni (Lampre), last year's winner Joaquín Rodríguez (Saunier Duval), 2003 winner Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo), 2002 Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), 2003 World Champion Igor Astarloa (Barloworld) and Iban Mayo (Euskaltel). Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel), who was initially down to ride, will not participate after getting sick during Paris-Nice. Neither will Liberty's Joseba Beloki and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, for the same reason. There will be a total of five stages with the third stage between Castelló d'Empúries and Coll De Pal (Bagà) over 157 km being the toughest. Preceded by a Cat. 2 and Cat. 1 climb, the final climb to the Coll de Bal measures 19.5 km and ascends 1310 metres, and will almost certainly determine the general classification. The fifth stage may also have some bearing on GC, as it is a 16 km individual time trial with some small undulations. The stages Stage 1 - March 21: Lloret De Mar - Lloret De Mar, 165 km German team for Track World'sThe German Cycling Federation (BDR) has sent a strong team to Los Angeles to contest the 2005 Track Cycling World Championships, between March 24-27. Totaling 18 riders, the team is equally balanced between sprint and endurance riders. Men - Sprint Carsten Bergemann (Chemnitzer PSV): 1000 m, Team Sprint Women - Sprint Christin Muche (RSC Cottbus): 500 m, Sprint, Keirin Men - Endurance Robert Bartko (RSV "Werner Otto" Berlin): 4000m Individual Pursuit,
4000m Team Pursuit, Madison Women - Endurance Charlotte Becker (RSV Unna): Points, Scratch Event Schedule (local time)Thursday, March 24 19:00-21:50 Team Sprint (Qual to Final) Friday, March 25 10:00-13:55 W Sprint (Qual through to quarter finals) 19:00-22:15 W Points Race (Final) Saturday, March 26 1000-1455 W Individual Pursuit (Qual) 19:00-22:10 W Sprint (Semis and Finals) Sunday, March 27 14:00-18:00 W Keirin (Qual through to Finals) New Zealand Junior Track World's teamCycling New has announced the New Zealand Junior Track Team to compete at the 2005 Junior Track World Championships in Vienna, Austria between August 7-10. Sam Bewley (Rotorua) Coach: Tim Carswell (Christchurch) Scharping elected German federation presidentThe former German Minister of Defence, Rudolf Scharping, has been elected as the new president of the German Cycling Federation (BDR). Scharping, 57, will succeed Sylvia Schenk, who announced in September 2004 that she wouldn't be standing for re-election. Merckx gets a museumThe world's best ever cyclist, Eddy Merckx, will have part of the new Velocity cycling theme park in Eisden, Belgium, dedicated to him. The museum will feature mainly photos and video footage from the Merckx's enormously successful career. Merckx was one of the driving forces behind the Velocity theme park, which is set to open this summer. Source: ANP
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