Valverde wrapped up the Vuelta yesterday but can he keep the title? Worlds preperations are in full swing but the US and Spanish teams have had to make some late changes. Vino to manage Astana? And does Columbia ever stop winning? All this and more in your Monday morning fill of EuroTrash!
Valverde's Vuelta!
Alejandro Valverde rode a solid, consistent Vuelta to wrap up his first ever three week stage race yesterday in Madrid after a relatively easy final week for the Spaniard. With his rivals suffering from misfortune with Robert Gesink falling off and being sick and Cadel Evan's terribly unlucky puncture, the last week was not too difficult for Valverde.
With some BIG question marks still hanging over Valverde's future - namely his two year CONI ban meaning that he can't compete on Italian soil for the next two years and the UCI's appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport to extend this ban worldwide......will Valverde's victory hold after the CAS decision (expected in November) or will it be retroactively applied? Well, no one really knows. Valverde himself has said that he has just been concentrating on the Vuelta and what happens in November happens. No one wants to say it, but could Samuel Sanchez be an Oscar Pereiro winner of a grand tour months or even years after the race is won?
All that said and done though, the Vuelta was a great race this year with for me the 3 wins from Garmin a real highlight. Also worth mentioning are the two Cervelo victories with Phillip Deignan's breakthrough win and Simon Gerran's smart victory making the two Cervelo riders two good dark horse bets for the Worlds.
Another great performance by David Moncoutie in Spain is also worth a mention. After failing at the Tour de France this year, Moncoutie was ready to retire after the Vuelta. Obviously his stage win and mountains classification win seems to have changed his mind though as he signed this weekend with Cofidis for one more year.
Final General Classification:
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi + 55”
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto + 1’ 32”
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas + 2’ 12”
5 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia + 4’ 27”
6 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank + 6’ 40”
7 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne + 9’ 08”
8 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre NGC + 9’ 11”
9 Philip Deignan (Ire) Cervelo + 11’ 08”
10 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto + 11’ 27”
Points Classification Winner:
André Greipel (Ger) Columbia-HTC
Mountains Classification Winner:
David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis
Astana To Get ProTour License?
The big question on everybody's lips is still the same question that has been around for months now - will Alberto Contador be riding with Astana next year? Bert has stated that his preferred option is to leave but with no buy-out clause in his contract he is stuck until the end of 2010.......UNLESS Astana lose their ProTour licence. Then he would have grounds to break his contract and leave to pursue his career elsewhere. The same three teams are reportedly still in the running, Caisse d'Epargne, Quickstep and Garmin.
The latter team according to a British newspaper report has allegedly unloaded Brit, Bradley Wiggins for a sizeable sum to team SKY to free up the money to buy out Bert's Astana contract - a fact vehmently denied by team boss Jonathon Vaughters.
Now all this talk about Bert going elsewhere could lead to nothing if Astana retain their licence, but will they? UCI president Pat McQuaid has been reported in the media worldwide this weekend of not being at all happy with the latest rumors around team Astana - namely the fact that Alexander Vinokourov will retire after the World Championships this year and take over the running of Astana. If that occurs, McQuaid has stated that he will oppose their ProTour license. The decision is not McQuaid's though, it is the decision of the License Commission of the UCI to make and they will study all aspects of the team, financial, anti-doping, management etc before making their decision - a decision which can not come soon enough for Contador but it is expected to be at least a few weeks away yet.
Ag2r and Sky In The ProTour
Now onto two teams who definitely WILL be in the ProTour next year, Team SKY and French team Ag2r. Ag2r has had its ProTour license extended until the end of the 2012 season by the License Commission of the UCI after they provided all the necessary documentation and financial guarantees.
On the other hand SKY is of course the cashed up new team from British cycling run by ex pro and ex CSC director, Scott Sunderland. The team's message of developing young talent in Britain, its strict anti-doping policy and its vast cash reserves made it an easy decision for the commission to make granting the team a four-year ProTour licence.
Meanwhile Dutch team Skil Shimano withdrew their bid to join the ProTour leaving 6 teams in the running for the 6 licences remaining; Astana, Team RadioShack, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Cofidis, Lampre-NGC and Milram. The UCI has stated that 20 teams is the maximum for the ProTour but by no means do 20 licences have to be granted if the teams do not meet all the requirements.
Another Astana Man Shackbound
Yet another Astana man, this time in the form of young Slovenian, Janez Brajkovic has confirmed that he will ride with Lance Armstrong at RadioShack in 2010. The 25-year-old turned down offers from Katusha, Rabobank and Team Sky, preferring instead to follow his manager Johan Bruyneel to the new American squad.
Despite being offered more money by Katusha, Brajkovic felt the best move for his career would be to follow Lance and Johan to the new American team where he is expecting a similar setup and atmosphere to the Discovery team where he had his best results.
Worlds Start This Week!
The Worlds are starting this week of course in Mendrisio, Switzerland with the U/23 and women's TTs on Wednesday followed by the pro men's on Thursday. Hot favourite for the pro men TT is of course Fabian Cancellara who will be keen to pull on the rainbow striped skinsuit again next year after having to do without this year.
Defending champ Bert Grabsch is looking strong also but can anyone really stop Cancellara in a time trial and especially in his own country? Saturday's Vuelta TT winner David Millar would have been one to try and would have been surely a good chance for the podium but he has decided to do only the road race. Keep it tuned to Pez on Thursday to find out who fills out the podium!
Moving onto the road races, we have the women on Saturday morning followed by the U/23 men in the afternoon with the big one, the pro men's race starting at 10:30 on Sunday for 262.2km of action! Spain are sending an extremely strong team but it is Italy who are the bookie's favourites at the moment with recent two time stage winner at the Vuelta, Damiano Cunego the number one favourite.
US Sends A Strong Team But No Zabriskie
The US team for the World Championships was dealt a blow this week when newly crowned US TT champ, David Zabriskie pulled out of the team citing a combination of fatigue after a long season and an irritated Achilles tendon as his reasons for the withdrawal.
With his recent overall victory and TT win at the Tour of Missouri - not to mention his national title - Zabriskie would have been amongst the favorites for the 2nd position on the podium in the TT in Mendrisio. Instead Zabriskie's teammate Tom Danielson will line up in the TT and the road race at the championships along with the other 'Z-man' of American time trialling, Tom Zirbel who will ride just the time trial.
U.S. men’s team
Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies) – Road Race
Brent Bookwalter (BMC) – Road Race
Tim Duggan (Garmin-Slipstream) – Road Race
Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) – Road Race
Craig Lewis (Columbia-High Road) – Road Race
Jeff Louder (BMC) – Road Race
Jason McCartney (Saxo Bank) – Road Race
Tom Peterson (Garmin-Slipstream) – Road Race
Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream) – Road Race and Time Trial
Tom Zirbel (Bissell) – Time Trial
Spanish Team Make Forced Changes
It's not just the US team who have had to make some late changes, but also the Spanish squad with recent Vuelta stage winner and 10th on G.C, Juan Jose Cobo to race the men's elite time trial for Spain instead of Hector Guerra. Guerra's trip to Switzerland was cancelled effective immediately last Friday when it was announced that he had tested positive for EPO.......
Spain's road race team:
Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Joaquim Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne), Dani Moreno (Caisse d'Epargne), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel), Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), Juan Jose Cobo (Fuji Servetto), Ruben Plaza (Liberty)
Spain's TT team:
Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne), Juan Jose Cobo (Fuji Servetto)
Three Liberty Seguros Riders Positive
It wasn't just Guerra who tested positive for EPO (CERA version) but also two of his Liberty Seguros teammates in ex ONCE rider Isidro Nozal and recent Tour of Portugal winner Nuno Ribeiro. All three tested postive for EPO-CERA after being tested two days prior to the Tour of Portugal on August 4. In bad news for the rest of their non-positive teammates, Liberty Seguros has announced that they will stop sponsorship of the team and all other sponsorship of cycling in general. After already being burned by the EPO affairs of Roberto Heras and the Manolo Saiz affairs Liberty Seguros had continued to sponsor the Portugese team for many years - but no more.
These revelations follow on from the LA MSS team scandal last year in Portugal where there was alleged organised team doping with nine riders from that affair still facing legal action and sporting sanctions in relation to their involvement.
Xacobeo Fires Their Doctor
In related news Spanish team Xacobeo-Galicia have fired their new team doctor, Alberto Beltran after hearing of the news of the positive findings at Liberty Seguros. Why fire Beltran? Well he was the Liberty Seguros doctor just until September when Xacobeo hired him to help out at the Vuelta...
Team management at Xacobeo-Galicia said they took the step as a 'preventative measure' and are in no way implying that Beltran was the reason for the positive tests - they simply don't want any link of any kind to doping with their team.
Vacansoleil Increases Their Budget
New team on the scene this year at the Vuelta has been the Dutch Continental Pro squad, Vacansoleil who have impressed all with their attacking attitude and their real willingness to get involved in the racing. Borut Bozic's early sprint win was an obvious highlight for the squad but also Johnny Hoogerland's great 12th place overall along with his almost daily breakaway efforts have brought big smiles to the public and Vaconsoleil's bosses alike. In fact directly following on from the team's great performances at the Vuelta the management have decided to increase their budget next year from 4.5 million euros to 5.5million euros.
The team is desperately hoping now for an invite to the Tour de France next year and their Vuelta performances certainly have not harmed their chances. Also a major factor that will help their cause is their recruitment of the French Feillu brothers for next season. The Feillu brothers are highly media friendly in France and very, very popular figures in the French cycling scene. Roman's yellow jersey efforts of 2008 and Brice's breakthrough stage win and attacking style in the Tour this year have further increased their popularity and I'm sure this popularity in France was a big factor when Vaconsoleil contracted them.
Boasson Hagen Dominates In Britain
With an amazing 4 stage victories from a possible 8, Columbia's (not for much longer) Edvald Boasson Hagen wrapped up the overall classification at the 2009 Tour of Britain on Saturday on the streets of London. Columbia continued to control the race perfectly each stage with victory never looking like slipping away from the young Norwegian's hands despite an impressive effort from CJ Sutton (Garmin) who finally finished 2nd on GC @ 23s.
The win by Boasson Hagen makes it an amazing 83 victories for Team Columbia-HTC this year (after Greipel yesterday) - and the season's not over yet! Speaking on the win Boasson Hagen had the following to say,
"It's really good to win this race after all the hard work by the team. I'm really happy for me and for them. This is my second stage race win this year. I didn't expect to win four stages and so it's been a fantastic week. It was amazing to win in the centre of London because there were huge crowds."
Boasson Hagen's strong team of workers who sacrificed their chances for him in Britain were Thomas Lovkvist, Tony Martin, Kim Kirchen, Gert Dockx and Maxime Monfort and directed by Valerio Piva who also heaped praise on the squad,
"It's been a great race for us with the stage victories and overall success. All the guys worked hard to defend the lead and they are tired, but we deserved to win the race. I think it's fair to say we were the strongest team in the race."
The race itself though was not just dominated by Columbia, but also by sprint finishes with seven of the eight stages being treated to a bunch kick of some sort.
Stage 1: CJ Sutton took his first win of the season in a bunch sprint.
Stage 2: Kai Reus (Rabobank) soloed in to win 15s ahead of the bunch.
Stage 3: Boasson Hagen took his 1st win with an impressive sprint.
Stage 4: Boasson Hagen took his second win from a crash depleted peloton.
Stage 5: Boasson Hagen took his third with a strong uphill sprint and with it the yellow jersey.
Stage 6: Boasson Hagen made it an unbelievable four in a row in yet another bunch sprint.
Stage 7: Ben Swift (Katusha) took a popular home win after being the fastest in the bunch sprint.
Stage 8: Neo-pro Michele Merlo (Barloworld) took his first ever pro win in London in yet another bunch sprint!
Final General Classification:
1) Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia)
2) CJ Sutton (Garmin) @ 23s
3) Martin Reimer (Cervelo) @25s
4) Kai Reus (Rabobank) @ 26s
5) Russel Downing (Candi-TV Pinarello) @ 39s
Columbia-HTC Just Keeps On Winning
Now speaking of some impressive victory numbers at Columbia-HTC, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg is having an amazing season once again for the women's Columbia team winning for her 24th time this season on Saturday at the Giro della Toscana. Is there anything that Columbia can't do this year?
Bellis In Hospital
Manx cyclist, Jonathon Bellis (Saxo Bank) was involved in a serious accident on Saturday morning whilst driving his scooter in the Italian city of Quarratta.
The following is the press statement released by British cycling,
21 year old cyclist Johnny Bellis from the Isle of Man was involved in a crash on his motor scooter on 19th September near his training base in Quarratta Italy. Johnny is in a critical condition in the CTO hospital in Florence. Max Sciandri of the British Cycling Academy is at the hospital.
British Cycling’s Performance Director Dave Brailsford said “All our focus and attention right now is on Johnny and his family and ensuring that they are looked after and given the best possible care at this time”
Everyone here at Pez sends their best to Johnny and his family at this time and we wish him a speedy recovery.
TOMS Shoes Goes One For One
Team TOMS Shoes presented by KindHuman Sports is a competitive cycling team with riders spread across the United States. Their goal is to spread the TOMS Shoes message... For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One. TOMS Shoes has donated 140,000 pairs of shoes in the last three years and hopes to give 300,000 in 2009.
Team TOMS has diverse aspirations within the sport, but mainly: they want to promote cycling as a fun and healthy lifestyle with the hopes of welcoming and developing riders through support, exposure and community.
Team TOMS Shoes p/b KindHuman Sports is actively recruiting riders that are looking to do something different, or do something positive while they race. If you're interested in supporting or joining their nationwide team and helping in their goal of fielding a professional team to race the United States National Race Calender then head on over to www.KindHumanSports.com for more information.
Phil Liggett On The Innertube At Cycling TV
Phil Liggett took a seat on the Cycling TV couch this week ahead of the UCI World Championships to talk about the season so far and the past, present and future of cycling.
Find out what he thinks of Lance Armstrong's black socks, bamboo bikes and his pick when it comes to the greatest cyclist of all-time.
This legendary broadcaster has bought us expert commentary from the biggest races in the world over the years and we find out how it all started for him and why he turned down a pro-contract.
Cycling TVs magazine show brings you topical chat and analysis, fun features and top insight from a range of industry insiders. Catch each episode to see the studio guests put through their paces in the Tacx Challenge, see what Pro Riders think of their team mates and much more!
The Road World Championships on Cycling TV
This season has really thrown us some superb viewing, most recently with the Vuelta offering plenty of dramatic stages. Now, the 2009 Road World Championships are upon us and we're delighted to be bringing you the race coverage on Cycling TV.
Last year Nicole Cooke and Alessandro Ballan were the big winners in their respective road races, but -- perhaps demonstrating the curse of the rainbow jersey -- both have had terrible seasons this year and neither looks likely to be the favourite in this year's Worlds. Another defending champion who won't be the favourite for his discipline is Bert Grabsch, winner of the time-trial last year in the absence of Fabian Cancellara who was resting following his Beijing gold and bronze medals.
With 4,655m elevation over the 262.2km men's road race route, and comparible figures in the other events, this isn't going to be a race for the pure sprinters. But punchy, attacking riders will be anticipating making their move on a course that should be well matched to their abilities. Mendrisio, Switzerland is almost guaranteed to host an exciting, tactical race for die-hard cycling fans.
Watch it on Cycling TV (Worldwide exc. US)
Cycling TV will bring you LIVE, as-live and highlights from the Elite Men's Road Race and Time-Trial events, and highlights from both Elite Women's events and the U23 events. All this live and on demand in our brand new, cross-platform Video Portal.
The 2009 Road World Championships is available with the UCI and Gold Packages
23 September - U23 ITT
23 September - Women's ITT
24 September - Men's ITT
26 September - U23 Road Race
26 September - Women's Road Race
27 September - Men's Road Race
Please note that Cycling TV's coverage of the Road World Championships will not be available in the US.
Specialized Rides For The Cure
In an effort to gain awareness in the fight against breast cancer and Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, Specialized President - Mike Sinyard, staff, dealers, Phil Keoghan - host of The Amazing Race and journalists will ride 660 miles from Morgan Hill, CA to the Las Vegas Interbike show. Starting September 17 at 7 a.m., Sinyard and company will ride between 100 and 150 miles a day on a challenging course that winds over Mt. Hamilton and Tioga Pass and through Death Valley before reaching Vegas on Sept. 22.
Specialized has partnered with Komen for the Cure since 2007 and has donated more than $450,000 to aid in the fight against breast cancer. As part of a continuing commitment to Komen, Specialized will be contributing $400,000 to the organization in 2010 through the sale of limited edition Susan G. Komen for the Cure products. “Living a healthy lifestyle and staying active is important because it may lower your risk for breast cancer. Specialized encourages women to do just that, and we’re grateful for their continued support of our promise to end breast cancer forever.” said Katrina McGhee, vice president of global partnerships.
Even in these times when charity donations are down, Specialized donated over $1M to cycling-related causes and charities over the past twelve months. For the coming years Specialized Bicycles has pledged $1.4M in global contributions to in the following areas:
1- Promoting access to and sustainability of trails for mountain bikes
2- Increasing the amount of cycling pathways and safety of shared-use roads for pavement riders
3- Putting more kids on bikes as a way towards better health
4- Supporting general health and wellness through the promotion of cycling for everyone
According to Sinyard, "We are lucky to be able to use the bike - a great vehicle for change - to improve the world we all live in. Susan G. Komen for the Cure is one of our key partners in our advocacy efforts, along with the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), Bikes Belong, and the Northern California High School Mountain Bike League. Through these and other related efforts around the world, Specialized aims to give back to the cycling community in meaningful ways that have a lasting impact, both to cycling and to the planet overall."
Mayor Of London's Skyride
London, Sunday 20 September: Over sixty-five thousand people today joined Boris Johnson and stars from the worlds of cycling and television at the Mayor of London’s Skyride. They enjoyed a day of cycling and entertainment with friends and family in the traffic-free streets of the Capital.
The Mayor of London’s Skyride was organised by Mayor of London Boris Johnson in partnership with Sky. The day marked the fifth and final event in Sky’s series of mass participation cycling Skyrides that have taken place throughout the UK this summer.
Cyclists of all ages and abilities took to the streets of London in the biggest mass participation cycling event ever held in the Capital. They were joined by Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, actress and model Kelly Brook, TV personality and Skyride ambassador Gethin Jones, 2008 UCI Elite World BMX Champion Shanaze Reade and Olympic medallists Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny and Ross Edgar.
The route took in iconic landmarks including Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral and The Tower of London and also incorporated St James’s Park and the river views of The Embankment. As well as having the opportunity to see the capital in a whole new light, participants were able to take part in a number of activities organised by Sky.
Riders could join a fancy dress cycling parade after having their bikes customised by artists in the Skyride Style Zone, watch Professional BMX riders performing tricks in the Skyride Street Zone, and pick up tips on health and wellbeing from British Cycling in the Skyride Active Zone.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: “With over 65,000 Londoners of all ages, sizes, shapes, and cycling ability taking part, today has been what we think is the largest bike ride of its kind ever to be held in London. It is a fitting conclusion to a fantastic summer of cycling, in which more and more people have discovered that ours is a fantastic city in which to go by two wheels.
"This is of course just part of our work to boost cycling. We are investing record amounts, and over the coming months Londoners will be hearing more about our plans to make London one of the most cycle friendly cities in the world."
Sir Chris Hoy commented: "This was my second year at the London event and it's clear that we have topped last year's fantastic celebration of cycling. It was great to see so many people out on their bikes enjoying the opportunity to be on traffic free roads. Cycling is such an easy way to stay fit and healthy, because your bike can be taken with you wherever you go. The best part of these events is that it doesn't matter if you're a novice or a more experienced rider, they have something for all ages and abilities. I'm hoping that everyone that took part today will continue to stay on their bikes and enjoy all the fun and benefits it can bring."
Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive of Sky, said: “It’s only fitting that the culmination of what has been a great Skyride summer is held in our capital city. Working in partnership with British Cycling and local councils, the Skyride team has got people back on their bikes and cycling. This is a fantastic achievement and a big step towards our aim of getting one million more Britons cycling regularly by the end of 2013. It’s great to see that so many people have been reminded of how much fun can be had from cycling and with further local rides across the Autumn there’s still more to look forward to.”
Mayor of London Skyride is the fifth and final city event taking place across the country, which have sought to encourage people to get back on their bikes and enjoy the benefits of a fitter, healthier lifestyle. Events have taken place in Manchester, Hounslow, Glasgow and Leicester throughout the summer. A series of over 400 smaller local and guided rides, have run alongside Skyride events, led by fully trained coaches from British Cycling and continue across the Autumn.
For more information on today’s event simply visit www.goskyride.com.
Chris Selden is an Aussie living in France who has lived the life of a bike rider racing around the world but now prefers to enjoy his bike racing, watching from the side of the road sipping a cold drink or from the press room with a café!
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