First Edition Cycling News for September 2, 2006
Cyclingnews will cover the 60th edition of
the Dauphiné Libéré live
as of stage 4 on Wednesday, June 10, at approximately 15:00 local Europe
time (CEST)/ 23:00 Australian time (CDT)/ 9:00 (USA East). Fuentes continued blood-doping in Germany after arrestEufemiano Fuentes didn't let his arrest in May stop his blood-doping practice, he simply transferred his operations to Hamburg, Germany, according to the German TV station ARD. Spanish investigators confirmed that pro cyclists went to a hotel and an apartment in Hamburg from late May to late June to have blood taken by two as-yet-unnamed persons who were sent there by Fuentes. The blood that was taken was planned to be transfused back to the cyclists before or during the Tour de France. The Spanish investigators have a document with handwritten text, "in an obvious relationship to the doping ring," with the remark, "Rooms Germany and France." According to ARD, the Spanish investigators assume that the riders who were "treated" in Hamburg were among the top riders who planned to ride the 2006 Tour de France. The identity of the riders involved is so far not clear. On a calendar page which is part of the evidence has on June 20, among others, the number 1 with the codewords for blood extraction and transfusion. Jan Ullrich is generally considered to be the number "1" in other documents seized from Fuentes' office, investigators say. The two persons who handled the blood extractions are a man and a woman, perhaps a married couple, "whom investigators believe to have a Polish background." More information on them was not available. Hamilton's World's aspirations dashedBy Mark Zalewski, North American Editor in Greenville, SC
After winning the Mt. Washington Hillclimb last month, Tyler Hamilton said he should be selected for the U.S. World's team based upon his fitness level. Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling, was observing the USPRO time trial in Greenville on Friday, and spoke to Cyclingnews about Hamilton's comments in light of UCI president Pat McQuaid's revelation that new information about Hamilton's involvement in Operacíon Puerto. "We hear a lot of the same things, [Hamilton] making comments to people who then ask us," said Johnson. "But the reality is we have more automatics than spots, so we are waiting to hear from them to see if they have interest. Any discretionary [selections] would go to our selection committee for rider selection." Johnson said that beyond the automatic bids, riders that wish to be considered for the team must submit a petition, which Hamilton has failed to do. "We have a very structured process for qualifying for a world championship team. Part of that involves submitting a petition if you are not an automatic, and he is not an automatic. He needed to submit a petition and we didn't receive one by our deadline of August 11." Johnson said he has no official position on the matter, but that he would like to see the current generation of riders given a chance to compete. "It is up to the committee and not up to me or the coaching staff. I have no position. It is conceivable and [Hamilton] is eligible by virtue of the fact that his suspension ends before the event, but again we have a lot of young American riders who have been racing the past two years and have earned the opportunity to be considered. That is definitely the way we would approach it. If they are qualified I think they should get the opportunity." While all of this is moot for Hamilton who has no petition submitted to USA Cycling, Johnson did allude to Hamilton's chances if he had filed the appropriate paperwork. "Since we haven't even received a petition at this point we wouldn't even consider him. If we did, he would be last in line." As previously reported, USA Cycling has not received any information regarding Hamilton, new or otherwise. "I actually asked the UCI to tell me when we could expect it and they had an indeterminate answer saying, 'We are working on it, we will get to it when we get there,'" said Johnson. "As Pat McQuaid expressed they are working on the guys who are currently riding and not as concerned about the guys currently serving a suspension."
Cyclingnews' recent coverage of 'Operación Puerto' May 18, 2009 - Valverde to start Catalunya Cyclingnews' complete coverage of Operación Puerto USPRO riders ready to hit the road in GreenvilleBy Jon Devich in Greenville
Six riders lined up for Thursday's press conference in Greenville, SC today to begin the USPRO weekend of racing. Headlining the kickoff was George Hincapie, fresh off his near win in the Eneco Tour which ended in a disastrous crash within site of the finish line. Hincapie was still sounding positive about his chances here, "Last week I was in great shape…I had a crash in Belgium, I didn't get injured too bad and just got some road rash and should be one of the top riders on Sunday." Having a chance to race in front of his home town crowds and on the scenic roads around Greenville should also be a boost for George. "It's great training here, great weather and the people are really nice. I came here to ride my bike and I'll stay here long beyond when I finish my career," added George.
Also here to experience the Greenville southern hospitality and bolster the Discovery Team roster was recent Race to Replace winner A.J. Smith. Smith won a spot on the Discovery team for the USPRO Championships by winning an open selection race in Indianapolis a couple weeks ago. A.J. described his hopes for tomorrow. "I have no specific ambitions for tomorrow. More than anything it's just an unbelievable experience to be riding on the same course as these guys." Lining up next to Hincapie and Smith was young hopeful Craig Lewis of the TIAA-CREFF team, also a South Carolina resident from nearby Spartanville. TIAA-CREFF brought the weekend's largest team at 14 riders and Lewis believes it will be a tough race on Sunday.
Lewis had this to say about Sunday, "The course Sunday is pretty tough; we do 5 times up Paris Mountain. Other than that, the weather's been hot the past week so that's going to be the type of factor, if it's like it was a couple days ago, their won't be many guys left." The media friendly David Zabriskie did not think today's time trial course would be too tough though. "It's got some little hills, some turns and stuff. No big deal." Zabriskie clearly didn't find it a big deal today, as he won by 31 seconds. PhotosFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
Kirchen to defend in Pologne
By the Cyclingnews Team
2005 winner Kim Kirchen will be back to defend his title in the 63rd edition of the Tour de Pologne, beginning Monday, September 4 in the town of Pultusk. However, the champion of Luxembourg is hoping for a slightly less nerve-racking victory this time round.
"That was a very tight outcome," recalled Kirchen, who won last year's event by just five seconds from Dutchman Pieter Weening, having only taken the race lead in the morning on the double-stage final day, which concluded with a 19 kilometre time trial. Two young Thomases, Dekker (Rabobank) and Lövkvist (Française Des Jeux), weren't far away from winning, either - just 11 and 18 seconds off Kirchen's final overall time.
However, Kirchen can count on strong support from his T-Mobile team, including 1998 winner Sergey Ivanov, who, along with Kirchen, is one of 10 foreigners to win the Tour de Pologne and knows the race like the back of his hand. "The quality of the race was already very high before the fall of the [Berlin] Wall. The ProTour status now attracts even more top riders," said Ivanov.
Lining up alongside 28 year-old Kirchen for the 1.225,5km stage race will be the Tour de France participants Serguei Gonchar and Eddy Mazzoleni, young Linus Gerdemann and Frantisek Rabon, as well as sprinter Eric Baumann. Steffen Wesemann rounds out the eight-man T-Mobile roster, and the 2004 Tour of Flanders winner is no stranger to Poland, having raced several times on Polish soil during his five visits to the Peace Race.
The seven-day stage-race kicks off on Monday in Pultusk near Wroclaw. From there, the course takes the riders from 23 teams to the Baltic Sea, with the longest stage held on day 3 in the Baltic port city of Gdansk.
The first few stages roll over flat terrain in northern and central Poland, then the parcours gets tougher when the peloton hit the big mountains for the final three days. The race traditionally ends in the ski resort of Karpacy at 800m altitude on Sunday. The stagesStage 1 - September 4: Pultusk - Olsztyn, 214 km Total: 1.225,5 km Gerolsteiner looking for more in PologneLast year Gerolsteiner was satisfied with one stage win by Fabian Wegmann in the Tour de Pologne. This year it wants a stage win plus a good result in the overall GC. "That's why we're bringing a strong team," says directeur sportif Christian Henn. The team will be looking to Stefan Schumacher, Matthias Russ and Fabian Wegmann for the best results. "Matthias showed at the Regio Tour that he is in good form. Fabian did well here last year. And after his victory in the Eneco Tour, Schumi can also take aim here at the overall win," according to Henn. Gerolsteiner for the Tour de Pologne: Sven Krauss, Volker Ordowski, Matthias Russ, Ronny Scholz, Stefan Schumacher, Fabian Wegmann, Peter Wrolich, and Beat Zberg. Stamsnijder to GerolsteinerDutch rider Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank Continental) will ride for Gerolsteiner next season. The 21 year-old has signed a two year contract. "Gerolsteiner is one of the top pro teams in international cycling," commented Stamsnijder. What can you say if you land here? I'm a little bit speechless." (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2006) |
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