Second Edition News for May 3 1997

Olano follows Indurain's lead

Madrid - When at the beginning of 1991 Miguel Indurain started the assault on his first Tour, the management of Banesto -Echevarri, Unzue, Sabino Padilla- attempted different things, until they hit a formula that worked. During that time they knew about how form peak, but how to maintain that form had them thinking overtime: it was the search for the solution of a complex problem: how could a heavy cyclist perform well in the mountain, without losing his capacity to time trial. Six years and five Tours later, Banesto has such knowledge and will use it on any cyclist that wants to win the Tour. They have created a school of thought, many follow them, but only they hold the last secrets, first of the preparation for the French race and then the development during the race. And they also have a rider ready to benefit from all of it.

Abraham Olano would have liked to have been like Bernard Hinault or Laurent Jalabert or Claudio Chiappucci, like the type of cyclists that he likes the most. Exuberant, attackers, spectacular, lovers of breaking a race wide open whenever the terrain or their strengths allowed. But his physical characteristics -more than 1.80 meters tall and more than 70 kilos-, are characteristics of an exceptional rolleur, but a diesel in the mountains. "I would like to have from Jalabert the way that he can change the rhythm in a climb, that capacity to launch two or three attacks in one kilometer", says Olano. "One day I will achieve that. Anyway I'm capable of attacks, but I can't waste my strength foolishly".

But Abraham Olano also wants to win the Tour. He doesn't have Indurain's 'super-class', that talent that allowed the Navarran to create differences in the time trials and to win some races, even when he wasn't at 100%. Olano is in the same boat as everyone of the favorites for the Tour 97 in that respect. But he has, maybe more than anybody, enormous ambition, great capacity to work, to train, to suffer and a extraordinary faith in himself. He has all of that which has lead him to be an important rider, when so many though that he would just be one of many. And he has a problem: he can only win the Tour, Indurain style and his not Indurain. That's why he is at Banesto.

Indurain made it fashionable for the experts and fans to ask him every so often, how many training kilometers he had, how was his weight, in what race are you going to test yourself, which one are you going to try to win. That was the most visible part of his preparation, the part inherited by Olano. If you compare the pre Tour program of Indurain in '96 and Olano in '97 you could observe that there is a singular coincidence: both have practically raced the same races -if we switch Andalucia 96 of Indurain for Pais Vasco 97 for Olano, the Navarran only rode as extra Milan-San Remo, Amorebieta and Alentejo, eight more days to compensate the fact that he's six years younger than Olano -the older the rider the more kilometers are necessary to reach form- and they have almost the same results: with the last peloton in February and March; a little more ahead in April -with the first group but always with somebody in front- and ahead in May and June.

If Indurain was criticized for not winning a lot of the preparation races, with Olano we have found someone who's not interested in winning them at all. Indurain, at least and thanks to his great class, would win many races in May and June and we're not talking about small races -two Giros, two Dauphines...- where he would attend to reach his best form. Don't ask that from Olano. "I'm not interested in winning anything before the Tour", he says. "I will run my tests (another fetish word: strength tests during actual racing) at the times when my preparation plans require them and I will not look at the others or the results of the races". He will not be like the Riis of last Saturday, which made his test of form coincide with the Amstel Gold Race with an exhibition that looked to leave his rivals dumbfounded and more than anybody, Ullrich his teammate.

Olano is not looking at anybody. He looks at everything: his heart rate monitor and the training plans sent to him from Italy by his doctor, Michele Ferrari; on the scale -"I'm better in weight than last year, but I want to reach the Tour thinner, close to the 71 kilos". And will reach the Tour having memorized all the key places. Last week he was at the Pirenees riding the stage of Soulor and Val Louron; after the Dauphine he will cover the climbs of the Alps that he doesn't know, amongst them the Alpe d Huez. And then he will concentrate on the Pirenees for the last quality training. Rest and then to Rouen, the city where the Tour will start.

Coincidences for those that want to believe them: Indurain was 27 years old when he won his first Tour. He did it in an escape with an Italian, Chiappucci, in a stage on the way to Val Louron. Six years later, another Spaniard wants to win the Tour. Six years later Val Louron is again in the French Menu. Six years later, another Italian, Zaina, claims Chiappucci's inheritance.

Pantani Interview

Pantani said that, that's why now "the rest of the riders are sowing the fruit of their labors", while he's tired, "also mentally, but there is nothing else I could do". The riders seems to be staisfied with his first three months, although he hasn't had any wins. "I have achieved some good placings, although I haven't had any wins" he said, "but the moment when I saw that I was still a cyclist was when I dropped everyone on the climb aarrived second in a stage at la Vuelta a Murcia". "Although also the second place at the ITT, behind Alex Zulle, at la Vuelta al Pais Vasco, fifth at Fleche Wallone, eight at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, almost three hundred points conquered, they are small victories", added. Before the Giro d'Italia and as preparation, Pantani will dispute the Tour of Romandie. About his possible rivals, Pantani assured that at the Giro del Trentino he had seen "Berzin, Tonkov and Leblanc going very well and Zaina has imporved a lot in relation to two years ago".

Bartoli not riding the Giro