In the 2006 Giro that is rumored to be rich with climbs, Damiano Cunego will return to win
So says Giuseppe Martinelli who coached Cunego to a 2004 Giro win. 2005 has not been a good year for Cunego due to a bout with Epstein-Barr syndrome.
The Tour is on Damiano’s program for 2005 after having missed his first chance this year. We will use the numerous climbs in the Tour to gain experience in a race that will be up for grabs between Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich.
Martinelli is not bitter over the recent departure of Gilberto Simoni after two very difficult years of co-existence with Cunego.
Gilberto was very close to winning his third Giro this past May. He performed well during difficult moments that were brought on by various marking tactics by several teams. He will be back as one of our competitors next year. Our team will now focus on younger riders like Napolitano and Corioni who will help Damiano and not go after personal goals.
Tuttobici Web
Wladmir Belli joined the 16 man roster of Columbia Selle Italia. CSI’s main goal for 2006 is the Giro D’Italia where they will help Jose Rujano to go for the win. Rujano will join Quick-Step after the Giro where he may get a shot at riding the Tour de France where he will help terrorize the main challengers in some of the tough mountain stages. His small physique and poor time trialing performance is made up for some amazing climbing ability. Belli will help Rujano in the Giro with his experience. Belli will be joined by other Italian veterans Gabriele Missaglia, Sergio Barbero (former Pantani domestique) and sprinter Alberto Loddo.
Colombia Selle Italia: arriva Wladimir Belli
Have you ever wanted to search just a few websites to get the information you want? Rollyo is a new search feature provided by Yahoo that allows you to set searches that look at specific sites. The Rollyo feature on the right is set to search cycling news sites. So if you ever wanted to get that old article from Cyclingnews or Velonews, now you can.
Alehandro/Alessandro Valverde got a taste of victory this year in the Tour de France on the way to Courchevel. Unfortunately, he had to drop out shortly after that win due to knee problems. Valverde now wants to win the Tour overall.
I want to win the Tour. If not next year, then in 2007. I do not see why I cannot set this very important goal for myself. I have the good fortune of having many seasons in front of me. I won’t beat Armstrong’s record of Tour wins, but one or two victories are possible. My biggest rivals in the 2006 Tour, in order: Basso, Ullrich, Popovych, Mancebo, Kashechkin e Vinokourov.
Valverde has the sprinting and climbing abilities to mount a formidable challenge for the Tour. The only weak part is his Time Trialing. That may be the only weakness that holds Valverde back for now.
Tuttobici Web
Ivan Basso and CSC team boss Bjarne Riis kept talking about Basso not riding the Giro in 2006. They even went so far as to try and sign Gilberto Simoni to be the main GC contender for the Giro.
There was even a press release from CSC last week stating who would be the leader for each major Grand Tour in 2006. Basso was not included for the Giro, so now it is absolutley, 100%, you bet on it, no turning back now super, super certain that Ivan Basso will not be riding the Giro. Hey, BTW, did you know that in May, there will be nobody riding from CSC with the name Ivan or Basso riding in the Giro….just want to make that clear 
Eurosport – Cycling – Live and Results. Men and Women. – Tour De France
Cyclingnews has an interview with the newest sprinting sensation Muril Fischer.
For those unfamiliar with the Fischer, he placed 5th in the World Championships Road Race and
was the first Brazilian to win the Giro de Piemonte. That win was amoung several late season wins.
www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis
Cyclingnews has a few paragraphs about Floyd Landis. They caught up with Floyd at the Tour de France presentation where they got a run down of Floyd’s globe-trekking schedule. One very interesting note is that Floyd mentions he received an offer to join the Discovery Channel team. Floyd, Lance and Johan are on good terms again, and everything that happen before was a misunderstanding. Some may remember some smack being thrown this year at the Tour de Georgia. On the stage to Brasstown Bald Armstrong made two gestures, first he pointed at the clock and then pointed back to Landis who was just arriving. That “point” caused a minor stir in cycling circles as the details of a rift between Landis and Armstrong started to surface. In another stage, Landis was heard yelling “Discover This!” over to the Discovery team. These are just a few small gestures that pointed to a deep rift between two former friends and teammates. Others say, the rift may be blown out of proportion, but it makes for good gossip.
Now that Armstrong is retired and is part owner of the Disco team, the healing of the rift between Landis and Armstrong may be about as much as business as it is about friendship. Disco is in need of a GC leader for the Tour, and Landis is now ready to step into a serious GC rider spot. Next year, Phonak may not be back to sponsor the team, in which case the team may fold, leaving Landis available to rejoin his pals at Discovery.
For more on Floyd Landis, check out the story of a group of vacationing cyclist who happen to stop by Floyd Landis’ Mom’s house in Lancaster, PA (Floyd, call your Mom!) and Floyd’s recently updated website
www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis
Armstrong hits back at LeBlanc for reading only L’Equipe. LeBlanc is just PO’d because there aren’t many French contenders for the 2006 Tour even though it is the most wide open in years.
Armstrong hits back at latest LeBlanc remarks – Cycling – Yahoo! Sports
