First Edition Cycling News for October 5, 2004Edited by Jeff Jones Spanish Armada explains its success
Oscar Freire's third World Championship win was the result of a coordinated team effort from the Spanish, which had an incredible six riders in the final selection. Paco Mancebo, Luis Perez, Isidro Nozal, Marcos Serrano and Alejandro Valverde were all there to help out Freire, and they put their numbers to good use. Francisco Mancebo was there at the finish, and he was more than happy to have been able to contribute. "Among other things, it's a luxury to count on a rider like Oscar," he told Todociclismo. "The aim was to control the race and we managed that. My work on the last lap was to set a strong pace on the climb and not to let any rider go away. The battle was with the Italians, but we won in the end. On the climb I didn't talk to Oscar, but I noted that he was strong." Luis Perez took over from Mancebo on the Torricelle and led until Michael Rasmussen and then Michael Boogerd attacked halfway up. But Freire and Valverde were able to react, and made the break over the top. Perez recounted, "On the last lap we stayed with Oscar, who we knew was strong and everyone did their work. First PAco MAncebo, then me, and finally Valverde, who was a luxury...I am satisfied with my work and very pleased with the victory."
Riding his first World Championships, Juan-Antonio Flecha was used in the early part of the race. He also described himself as "very happy" with the victory. "It was a triumph of the whole team and of the capacity of Oscar to lead it, I am sure that he will be able to win more. There was no time that the race was difficult, we controlled it to perfection. Antequera and Freire read the race perfectly." Isidro Nozal also did what he does best - set a punishing tempo to prevent any attacks, drastically thinning down the bunch on the penultimate lap. "I worked as hard as possible, mainly on the flats, then the work was for the climbers. I was able to talk to Oscar in the race and he told me he was very good. We rode almost a dream race, with total control. I was actually a little nervous because it's a completely different race to any other. I'm very pleased with my work and with the win." Zabel and Arndt back to number oneDekker and Kreuziger top U23 and Junior rankingsFollowing the World Road Championships in Verona, Italy last week, the UCI has issued a new set of rider rankings. There were changes at the top of both the men's, women's and junior men's rankings, with Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), Judith Arndt (Nürnberger) and Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) respectively taking over the number one positions. The best U23 rider on the rankings remains Thomas Dekker (Rabobank TT3), who finished the World's with two silver medals to his credit. World's winner Oscar Freire (Rabobank) moved himself up into the top 10 from 11th spot, while Damiano Cunego (now 3rd) and Alejandro Valverde (4th) swapped placed. Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) jumped up a spot to 7th on the rankings. In the women's rankings, Arndt pushed Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites-Hartol) down to second and Oenone Wood (Australia) to third. World's silver medalist Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) rocketed up from 60th to 17th, while bronze medalist Anita Valen (Team S.A.T.S.) went from 11th to 6th. U23 road race winner Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) gained a massive number of places, moving from 207th to 6th, while in the juniors, Simon Spilak (Slovenia) was deposed by Kreuziger. Silver medalist Rafaâ Chtioui (Tunisia) climbed from 111th to 9th place.
Rankings as of October 3, 2004 Elite men 1 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 2351.00 pts 2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2192.00 3 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 2005.00 4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 1893.00 5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 1825.00 6 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1726.00 7 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 1725.00 8 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 1708.00 9 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1614.00 10 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1498.00 11 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1454.00 12 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 1326.00 13 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1318.00 14 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 1315.00 15 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 1304.50 16 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1303.00 17 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1281.00 18 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1168.75 19 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 1084.00 20 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 1067.00 Elite Women 1 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 813.10 pts 2 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Team Farm Frites-Hartol 710.50 3 Oenone Wood (Aus) 699.66 4 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 485.50 5 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) S.C. Michela Fanini Record Rox 477.00 6 Anita Valen (Nor) Team S.A.T.S. 389.00 7 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Team Let's Go Finland 375.33 8 Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 332.50 9 Angela Brodtka (Ger) 319.00 10 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spa) Bizkaia-Panda Software-Durango 307.00 11 Karin Thürig (Swi) 281.00 12 Nicole Cooke (GBr) Safi-Pasta Zara Manhattan 279.66 13 Sara Carrigan (Aus) 277.00 14 Priska Doppmann (Swi) 267.33 15 Deirdre Demet-Barry (USA) T-Mobile Professional Cycling Team 265.00 16 Olga Slyusareva (Rus) Nobili Rubinetterie-Guerciotti 242.33 17 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) 218.00 18 Lyne Bessette (Can) 201.00 19 Leontien Zijlaard - Van Moorsel (Ned) Team Farm Frites-Harto 187.00 20 Olivia Gollan (Aus) 178.66 U23 Men 1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 313.00 pts 2 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) 228.00 3 Dominique Cornu (Bel) 162.00 4 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) Rabobank TT3 144.00 5 Tomasz Nose (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 131.00 6 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) 106.00 7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) De Nardi 102.00 8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) 100.00 8 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank TT3 100.00 10 Mads Christensen (Den) Team PH 99.00 Junior Men 1 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) 330.00 pts 2 Simon Spilak (Slo) 299.00 3 Biel Kadri (Fra) 140.00 4 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) 114.00 5 Robert Gesink (Ned) 96.00 6 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) 94.00 7 Eros Capecchi (Ita) 88.00 8 Anders Berendt Hansen (Den) 87.00 9 Rafaâ Chtioui (Tun) 84.00 10 Lukasz Modzelewski (Pol) 84.00 Teams Men's Division I 1 T-Mobile Team 8187.00 pts 2 Team CSC 7952.00 3 Gerolsteiner 7453.75 4 US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 6739.00 5 Saeco 6676.00 6 Quick.Step-Davitamon 6659.00 7 Phonak Hearing Systems 6336.00 8 Rabobank 6224.80 9 Fassa Bortolo 6060.00 10 Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 5268.00 Women 1 Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung 1717.10 pts 2 Team Farm Frites-Hartol 1139.00 3 S.C. Michela Fanini Record Rox 843.00 4 Safi-Pasta Zara Manhattan 757.32 5 Team S.A.T.S. 627.00 6 Team Let's Go Finland 583.66 7 Nobili Rubinetterie-Guerciotti 553.66 8 T-Mobile Professional Cycling Team 547.00 9 Bizkaia-Panda Software-Durango 333.00 10 Lietzsport Cycling 324.00 Rankings: Elite Men, Elite Women, U23 Men, Junior Men, Teams, Nations Liberty adds twoPortuguese riders Sérgio Paulinho and Nuno Ribeiro (L.A. Pecol) will move to Liberty Seguros next year. Paulinho won the silver medal in the Olympic road race this year. Cioni graduatesDario Cioni (Fassa Bortolo) has graduated in Sports Management at the European School of Economics with his thesis, "The management of a professional cycling team". Cioni obtained the highest mark of the whole course. It hasn't all been good news for Cioni in the last week, as he was prevented by the Italian cycling federation from starting the World Championships due to having a high hematocrit. In the next 10 days, he will go to Lausanne, Switzerland to undergo further tests to determine whether he has a naturally high level. TIAA-CREF announces cyclo-cross teamThe U.S. financial services company TIAA-CREF has announced its sponsorship of the TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar Cyclo-Cross Team. The team is an extension of the TIAA-CREF road squad, a successful development team that is comprised of U23 riders. The 'cross team numbers six riders, including manager/riders Ben Turner and Brandon Dwight, U23 rider Zak Grabowski and juniors Alex Howes, Brady Kappius and Peter Stetina. They will compete in the Grand Prix of the Cyclo-Cross Series, the New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series, and the U.S. Cyclo-Cross National Championships. "We have a stellar team lined up and we're grateful that TIAA-CREF and our other sponsors, including Clif Bar, Crank Brothers, and Cyclocrossworld.com, continue to recognize the importance of developing young riders and helping them fulfil their cycling dreams," said rider/manager Ben Turner. "Additionally, with the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series, the sport of Cyclo-Cross now has a national series again - and this national series will directly impact the World Championship Team selection. The timing is perfect for giving the riders of Team TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar a good shot at achieving their goals of racing at Worlds," said Turner. Team Sponsors TIAA-CREF
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