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Dauphiné Libéré
Photo ©: Sirotti

First Edition Cycling News for February 3, 2006

Edited by Jeff Jones

Gerrans hopeful

Simon Gerrans (AG2R)
Photo ©: Régis Garnier
(Click for larger image)

Australian Simon Gerrans (AG2R) will undergo surgery in a Nice hospital on Friday on both shoulders, but is confident of a speedy recovery in the wake of his crash during Tuesday's final sprint in the GP d'Ouverture la Marseillaise in France.

"Basically my left collar bone is in three pieces so they're going to pin that back together so it heals quickly, and as far as my right shoulder is concerned the AC joint has popped out because of the ligament tear, so they will screw that back into place," said Gerrans. "The specialist is really positive and says I should be back on the home trainer four or five days after the surgery.

"He said if I was a regular person and not an athlete they wouldn't even operate, but because it's both sides and I want to get back on the bike as soon as possible they'll do the surgery."

The medical advice was encouraging for the 25 year old who admits he was feeling 'pretty ordinary' and is happy to now have a clear idea of where he stands as far as his recovery is concerned.

"Now I know what's going on and what's coming up it's a lot better," he said. "If they weren't going to operate I would have been pretty frustrated because at the moment I can't move my left arm and I only have about 20 percent movement in my right."

Gerrans, who hopes to be selected in the Commonwealth Games team named later today, doesn't believe the injuries will affect his chances, but is prepared to sacrifice his place if his recovery doesn't go according to plan.

"I really hope I will be selected and if so, I'll be completely honest with the team about my form," he explained. "If when it's getting close I don't think I'm up to it I'll withdraw. But really I may only miss a week or so on the bike and I'm in great shape so I should be able to come back to race fitness quickly."

The GP d'Ouverture la Marseillaise was Gerrans first race since arriving back in Europe last week to rejoin his AG2R-Prevoyance teammates after winning the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under in Adelaide.

T-Mobile, Gerolsteiner for the Vuelta a Mallorca

T-Mobile Team is sending 11 riders to the Vuelta a Mallorca, including five newcomers to the magenta jersey. Lorenzo Bernucci, Kim Kirchen, Linus Gerdemann, Thomas Ziegler and Scott Davis will all make their team debut. Davis and Bernhard Kohl are "our GC riders," says Directeur Sportif Valerio Piva, who notes that only those riders who participate in all five races are eligible for the GC. Youngster Marcus Burghardt, recovering from a bad cold, "will only race sporadically. The plan is for him to gain momentum again gradually," according to Piva. Andreas Klier, Sergey Ivanov, Daniele Nardello and Steffen Wesemann round out the team's roster. "The various stage profiles offer them the perfect opportunities to put their form for the spring to the test," Piva noted.

T-Mobile Team for the Vuelta a Mallorca: Lorenzo Bernucci, Marcus Burghardt, Scott Davis, Linus eErdemann, Sergey Ivanov, Kim Kirchen, Andreas Klier, Bernhard Kohl, Daniele Nardello, Steffen Wesemann and Thomas Ziegler.

Gerolsteiner announced that it will use the following thirteen riders: David Kopp, Heinrich Haussler, Torsten Hiekmann, Sven Montgomery, Matthias Russ, Ronny Scholz, Stefan Schumacher, Marcel Strauss, Markus Zberg, Beat Zberg, Robert Förster, Thomas Fothen, and Volker Ordowski.

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer

Liquigas looks to Colli in Donoratico

Liquigas will make its European debut on Saturday in Donoratico, racing the GP Costa degli Etruschi. The team consists of a balanced mix of riders, with 23 year-old Daniele Colli the designated man for a bunch sprint.

"Actually, we're likely to aim at second place as Petacchi will also take part in the race," said Colli. "Alessandro is going to react to the series of wins posted by Boonen in Qatar, but if I have the chance to hit my first win as a pro, I'll take it."

The rest of the team includes Andrea Noè, Eros Capecchi, Dario Andriotto, Mauro Da Dalto, Francesco Failli, Marco Righetto and Charles Wegelius. The team will be managed by Mario Chiesa.

Barloworld racing in Donoratico and Langkawi

The revamped Barloworld team will make its debut in the GP Costa degli Etruschi in Donoratico, Italy on Saturday. The squad will be directed by Alberto Volpi, and will put its strength behind sprinters Giosue Bonomi and Enrico Degano, with Mauro Facci, Tiaan Kannemeyer, Tom Southam, Hugo Sabido and neo-pro Alex Efimkin providing support. As well as this, several members of the Barloworld team will be racing in the Tour de Langkawi, which starts today. Defending champion Ryan Cox, Rodney Green and Jeremy Maartens will race as part of the South African national team.

Igor Astarloa expects to debut on February 14 in Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy. Astarloa has had to delay the start of his season slightly after experiencing a problem with his right hand at the team's recent training camp in Montecatini in Tuscany. After seeing hand specialists Dr. Carlo Giammattei and Dr. Pierpaolo Lunati at the Lucca hospital, Astarloa was diagnosed with a detached tendon in the upper part of his thumb. The problem was caused by a wrist fracture Astarloa suffered last year in France, and he will have an operation to reconstruct the tendon at the end of this season.

Wiesenhof's sports director crashes out

The winter weather in Germany is dangerous, not just for pro cyclists, but for the directeurs sportif, too. Markus Schleicher of Team Wiesenhof-Akud found this out the hard way - a patch of ice, a misplaced foot - and the result was a broken shinbone. So much for his plans to accompany his team to the Tour de Langkawi. Instead of enjoying the warmth in Malaysia, he will be undergoing surgery in a German hospital.

The team certainly isn't about to let its riders race unaccompanied. They were able to find Andreas Petermann, former director with the German teams Coast and Bianchi, who immediately agreed to step in. "That was a bit of luck for us," said Team Manager Raphael Schweda. "That way we will still have an experienced man on the spot."

Captain Torsten Schmidt will lead the team. "Starting with such a long stage race at the beginning of the season will show you mercilessly what your condition is," he said. "But we have trained so well, that we are going into it with a good feeling." Schweda agreed, saying, "This race will show, how good each has individually trained. The race takes place far away from the big media interest, but it is a good indicator as to what we can expect from our riders in the spring season."

Team Wiesenhof-Akud for the Tour of Langkawi: Thomas Konecny, Steffen Radochla, Robert Retschke, Torsten Schmidt, Corey Sweet and Lars Wackernagel.

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer

Les Pruneaux d'Agen presented

The UCI women's trade team Les Pruneaux d'Agen presented its 2006 lineup this past weekend in the southern french town of Castillones, home of Jean Théodore Joyeux, who inspired the creation of the Tour de France by his solo record in 1895 of 5,500 kilometres around the perimeter of France in 19 days. He rode an average of 290 km per day on a single speed bike weighing around 23 kilos (50 pounds).

Les Pruneaux d'Agen will be lead by Alexandra Le Henaff and Elisabeth Chevanne Brunel of France and Tamara Boyd and Toni Bradshaw of New Zealand. Le Henaff was a very close second to Magali Le Floc'h (now with T-Mobile) in the 2005 French Cup series, and should have been on the podium of the Tour of Flanders except for an error by a commissaire misdirecting her breakaway group only 400 meters from the finish. Chevanne Brunel, a former world junior champion who finished 9th in the Tour of Flanders, is highly motivated for the season's first category stage races.

Boyd won several races in France in 2005 including the Ladies Berry Classic and the Tour de Charante. Recently she won the New Zealand points race championship. Bradshaw also had an excellent 2005 in France with two podiums and recently won a bronze medal in the Oceania Games.

The team is rounded out by a very strong backup crew including Corrine Overney of Switzerland and young french stars Vickie Fournial, Nathalie Mousques, Nadia Theuil, Angélique Saldana, Stephanie Denuit and Céline Nivet. Veterans Sylvie Riedlé, Sylvie Fragnières and Muriel Rideau will provide solid backup in the gruelling first category stage races in Europe.

The race program, led by Nicolas Coudray of Switzerland and Manager/Director Sportif Chris Georgas of Canada, will be focused on the World Cups and first category stage races. Boyd and Bradshaw will be doing the world cups in New Zealand and Australia later in February as part of their national team, while the others will begin with Het Volk in early March, followed by The Tour of Flanders world cup, the Novilon Drenthe Tour, and the Fleche Wallonne world cup.

After participating in the Commonwealth Games Boyd and Bradshaw will join the team in Europe for the Tour of Berne world cup, the Castilla Leon world cup and one of the main objectives of the year - the 10 day Tour de l'Aude, shortly after which the team will fly to Canada for the Montreal world cup.

Rounding out the staff is advisor to Chris Georgas, Rinus Verboom - former national women's coach of the USA and Holland, and manager of several UCI women's trade teams in the recent past. The team's main training camp will be held in February at the European base of the New Zealand national team in the southern french town of Limoux.

Bertolini joins Selle Italia

Alessandro Bertolini has become the 22nd rider to join the Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni team of Gianni Savio. The 35 year-old, who has been a pro since 1994, has won races such as the Giro del Piemonte, Giro della Provincia di Lucca and Coppa Sabatini. He will make his debut with Selle Italia in Milano-Torino on March 5.

USAC names World's and Pan-Am pool

USA Cycling has announced the riders eligible for the teams that will compete in the Track World Championships in Bordeaux, France (April 13-16), and Pan American Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil (April 28-May 7).

"Of the 25 riders on this team, 21 have either set a time standard of automatically qualified via a National Championship," said USA Cycling director of track cycling Pat McDonough. "This is a marked difference from last year. The time standards, road rider camps, pro track trade teams and most important, the positive attitude that our coaching staff is pushing...it is beginning to make a difference."

The U.S. sprint squads are training in Australia to compete in the Australian National Championships, as well as the UCI Track World Cup Classic March 3-5 in Sydney, Australia. The women's endurance squad will also compete in the World Cup. Many of the men's endurance riders are in California to compete in early season road events, including the Tour of California.

Women's Endurance Squad

Sarah Hammer (BT Bicycles/Temecula, Calif.)
Erin Mirabella (Bicycle Johns/La Habra, Calif.)
Kristin Armstrong (Lipton/Boise, Idaho)
Christine Thorburn (Webcor-Platinum/Sunnyvale, Calif.)
Lauren Franges (Victory Brewing/Barton, Pa.)
Tina Pic (Lipton/Dahlonega, Ga.)
Sarah Uhl (Home Depot/Philadelphia, Pa.)
Sima Trapp (Colavita - Cooking Light/Boise, Idaho)
Becky Quinn (SPIKE/Quakertown, Pa.)
Kori Seehafer (Lipton/Louisville, Colo.)

Men's Endurance Squad

Brad Huff (TIAA-CREF/Boulder, Colo.)
Mike Friedman (TIAA-CREF/Boulder, Colo.)
Curtis Gunn (Successful Living/Tucson, Ariz.)
Bobby Lea (United Pro Cycling Team/Mertztown, Pa.)
Chad Hartley (TIAA-CREF/Boulder, Colo.)
Josh Kerkhof (Northwestern Mortgage/Fort Worth, Texas)
Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF/Boulder, Colo.)
Michael Creed (TIAA-CREF/Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Taylor Tolleson (TIAA-CREF/Boulder, Colo.)

Women's Sprint Squad

Jennie Reed (SPIKE/Kirkland, Wash.)

Men's Sprint Squad

Michael Blatchford (SPIKE/Cypress, Calif.)
Stephen Alfred (SPIKE/Capitola, Calif.)
Christian Stahl (CKR Racing/Bethany, Conn.)
Ben Barczewski (SPIKE/Breinigsville, Pa.)
Giddeon Massie (SPIKE/Lansdale, Pa.)

NZ Women's World Cup teams named

BikeNZ has announced the teams selected to race the first two UCI Women's Road World Cup events in Geelong, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. These teams will also ride in the road tour leading up to the respective world cup events.

Tour of Geelong and Geelong World Cup

BikeNZ National Team

Tamara Boyd (Christchurch)
Toni Bradshaw (Auckland)
Michelle Hyland (Hamilton)
Dale Tye (Nelson)
Sarah Ulmer (Cambridge)
Susie Wood (Nelson)

Team New Zealand

Catherine Sell (Wanganui)
Melissa Holt (Cambridge)
Kara Northcott New Plymouth
Brei Gudsell (Wanganui)
Rosara Joseph (Wellington)
Michelle Kiesanowski (Christchurch)

Tour of New Zealand and Wellington World Cup

BikeNZ National Team

Tamara Boyd (Christchurch)
Toni Bradshaw (Auckland)
Michelle Hyland (Hamilton)
Sarah Ulmer (Cambridge)
Susie Wood (Nelson)
Melissa Holt (Cambridge)

Team New Zealand

Dale Tye (Nelson)
Brei Gudsell (Wanganui)
Michelle Kiesanowski (Christchurch)
Marina Duvnyak (Auckland)
Kara Northcott (New Plymouth)
Joanne Buick (Christchurch)

Bike Ferns

Amy Mosen (Hamilton)
Karen Fulton (Nelson)
Lisa Haynes Auckland
Lauren Koedyk (Tauranga)
Gina Waibl (Wellington)
Frith Brown (Nelson)

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