Danilo Napolitano the Sicilian sprinter for Lampre Fondital won the first semi-stage at the Settimana Coppi and Bartali. Napolitano improved on his fifth place showing in Milano San Remo. Although most of the top sprinters that beat him were not present today.
In the second half stage- a team time trial, CSC got a rare 2006 early season win. The unlucky squad finally got through with no injuries and actually grabbed the leaders jersey which now sits on David Zabriske’s shoulders. The CSC winning riders included: Gustov, Lombardi, Zabriskie, Klostegaard, Piil, Luttenberger, Blaudzun and Sorensen. They beat Gerolsteiner by 5 seconds and T-Mobile by 8 seconds.
Gazzetta Dello Sport
The officially official announcement came out this week that Jan Ullrich will indeed ride the Giro, but strictly for training miles. Jan is already riding in Tuscany for training, he will just have around 200 other training buddies, some of whom may go offon a flyer here and there to get a pink colored jersey when the feeling strikes.
“I’ll be testing my legs on a few stages. I will not be concentrating on the GC however.”
Jan will also get to take an up close look at his main competitor for Tour de France glory, Ivan Basso as he races in anger while Jan enjoys an espresso or two before gingerly heading to the start. Riding a Grand Tour for training isn’t new, but it seems to be the stlye this year as Floyd Landis will be taking it easy in the Corsa Rosa.
Ullrich’s racing debut is April 4th at the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe in France.
http://www.tuttobiciweb.com/home.htm
T-Mobile News
Eurosport
Alessandro Petacchi will now head up north to Belgium and the Northern Classics. First up is the Dwars door Vlaanderen-Waregem next Wednesday. The race will be used to get a feeling for racing in Begium with a view to the Tour of Flanders (Hidely ho neighboreenie!) and Gent Wevelgem. Joining Petacchi will be Maarten Den Bakker, Simone Cadamuro, Alessandro Cortinovis, Fabio Sacchi, Marco Velo, Ralf Grabsch and Martin Muller. Not sure when Erik Zabel will make his way north as he would be a good help in the Northern Classics as well.
http://www.tuttobiciweb.com/home.htm
Quick Step played their cards perfectly in an exciting finish to Milano San Remo. I wanted to actually see the finish before commenting on it. So far, I have watched the OLN coverage which was not bad. Next I will be watching taped coverage of the from RAI Sport. The finish was as described in most major website reports and was still exciting to watch despite knowing the outcome. Being an American cycling fan, you get used to watching events from which you know the outcome.
The most impressive aspect of Pippo Pozzato’s win, was the cold calculation (as described by Bob Roll) with which he waited before launching his attack. This may be a case where radio contact helps play out the finish. My guess is that Pozzato may have gotten the all clear from Boonen when the sprint did not look to unfold to the World Champ’s favor.
Pozzato was watching the breakaway deflate just in time for the sprinters to take the final charge to the line. Milram still had their team working, but Quick Step had riders everywhere expect in front of Boonen. Boonen’s tactic seemed to be just to stay on Petacchi’s wheel and go around if possible.
Pozzato stayed out long enough and was in a great position to launch a final sprint just ahead of the charging peloton. Pozzato did not look back to the charging sprint when he lauched his attack leading me to believe that he was instructed by either Boonen or Lefevre to go for the win. Petacchi came in just a few bike lengths behind in frustration at not being able to catch the young Italian at the line.
Quick Step’s tactics for the race were a risk, but played out perfectly. Everyone expected Quick Step to have their Treno Blue working side by side with Milram and Rabobank to help deliver the race to the Via Roma in a bunch finish. Quick Stp put pressure on Rabobank and Milram by constantly putting riders out to cover breaks and make Boonen shadow Petacchi until the finale. The end result was a brilliantly orchestrated team win. Pozzato is definately a deserving champion, but he certainly should thank his super teammates Bettini and Boonen.
Paolo Bettini put in a great performance to guide the peloton through the Cipressa and bring things together enough for the next break. Although he probably did not have the snap to launch an effective attack on the Poggio he showed that he is well on hs way to a full recovery and should be ready for the Tour of Flanders.
Luca Paolini is coming out of Bettini’s shadow with a scrappy third place. I say scrappy because he threw his bike to beat a celebrating Boonen. Paolini will be ready for more at the Tour of Flanders and the rest of the Spring Classics.
You have to feel for Ballan and Astarloa. They put themselves in the decisive break on the Poggio and had a good gap heading into the Via Roma finish. The only problem is that Pozzato’s effective covering of the break and the cat-and-muse tactics of the entire break doomed them to pack fodder. Too bad they could not organize anything more effective or at leats get rid of Pozzato somehow. Pozzato was too strong after not having to take a pull and feeling no pressure since his thought was more on working for Boonen than chasing personal glory. In the end Pozzato was in the right position and probably got the signal from the radio telling him to go for it.
The feast of San Giuseppe is traditional day that San Remo used to be raced on. That day to Americans is known as the day after St. Patrick’s Day. Usually San Remo was raced on the Saturday around St. Giuseppe. This year, San Remo is raced on that day, which would probably mean an Italian victory. Petacchi? Bettini? Astarloa (he is a wannabe Italian)?
Anyway, the anticipation is heating up as websites everywhere have to have some sort of word on the race. The anticipation this year is more intense due to the rivalry that is shaping up between Alessandro Petacchi and Tom Boonen. Since the World Championships in Madrid ended with a dejected Petacchi and a somewhat surpising winner in Boonen, the rivalry was on. There may have been times when the two competed against each other in the past, but this year the competition between the two sprinters seems to take on a new level. They are both looking to win Milano San Remo and there was a bit of trash talking from Boonen who said that Petacchi was not very impressive in Tirreno Adriatico. Oh, snap! Not too intense, but that is as much trash as we are going to get outside of Robbie McEwen and Gilberto Simoni.
So the stage is set, everyone is looking to the two sprinters to duke it out on the Via Roma. This is assuming they make it past the Cipressa in a bunch. It almost seems like a forgone conclusion that the result should contain a man named Boonen and another named Petacchi, either one of which will occupy the top spot. Why even race the race, just have a match sprint in the last 200 meters of the Via Roma and be done with it, save everybodies time while we are at it.
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Thomas Dekker wrapped up Tirreno Adriatico today. The young Dutchman known as the “other Dekker” or “Younger Dekker” is quickly making a name for himself at age 21. The latest young sensation can climb a bit and time trial well which is how he won Tirreno Adriatico. Next up is playing support man for Oscar Friere who will try and steal away another win on the Via Roma Saturday.
Suddenly, Rabobank looks like a formidable team. With a win under Dekker’s belt and two riders holding the GC lead, the Dutch team can be proud of their recent performance. Now, they have possibly three or more riders that can contend for victory in Milan San Remo Saturday.
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(pic from qsicycling.com)
Usually it is the Southern Italians who have the hard heads. The Northern Italians are a little more reserved and precise. Paolo Bettini is from California which is considered Northern Italy, but he is digging out some Southern influences by showing how hard of a head he has by training for Milan San Remo after a brutal crash in Tirreno Adriatico.
Yesterday, Bettini took to the roads from his house to go training. After 1/2 hour he had to call his wife to pick him up because the pain was too much for Il Grillo to continue training. Bettini’s back, knee and hip are giving him trouble from the crash he suffered in Tirreno Adriatico. No broken bones or major injury, just some soreness from the crash and a few scrapes. But the pain is enough to make training very difficult.
Today, Bettini is showing that he is on his way to a quick recovery after spending two hours on the road which was followed up with a visit to the physiotherapist. The pain in his back and hips are still bothering Il Grillo, but he refuses to give up on the effort to get to the MSR start line.
“The crash still leaves me in pain, but my biggest concern is that I will be in the saddle for seven hours at Milan San Remo. I still believe I can be ready, tomorrow, I will rde for at least four hours. One thing is certain, on Friday I wlill be in Milan and on Saturday I will be at the start line of the race. Then, I will figure out how I will get to San Remo” — Bettini via TuttoBici
http://www.tuttobiciweb.com/home.htm
Leonardo Bertagnolli pulled away in the final kilometer of today’s adjusted stage of Tirreno Adriatico. Originally, the stage was to finish at the mountaintop of San Giacomo instead the stage concluded with five hilly loops around Torricella Sicura. The Rabobank team controlled the stage with Flecha, Friere and Boogerd doing most of the pacing until the final kilo when Bertagnolli attacked with 800 meters to go to get the win. All that was left was to sprint for second place which surprisingly went to Alessandro Petacchi who is showing good form when the road slopes up. Riccardo Ricco took third place.
Bertagnolli is in great form at the moment after winning several races including the Tour of Haut Var.
Eurosport: Bertagnolli does the biz
Gazzetta dello Sport
Floyd Landis held off Patxi Vila and took his second stage race victory of the year and we aren’t even half way through March. Landis showed some great climbing form that was carried over from his victory in the Tour of California that allowed him to make the key move to St. Etienne. His Phonak squad was able to defend his leader’s jersey with some help from Quick-Step who reeled in breakaways for Torpedo Tom. Then when TT went home because the stage was too hilly, a bunch of attacking Spaniards who were low on GC helped to relieve the pressure.
With performances like this, Landis is getting just enough of a taste being a stage race leader. As a results, he now has to endure the pressure of being called Lance Armstrong’s successor in the Tour de France. Sure, he has a very strong possibility of winning the Tour de France this year with one year as team leader already under his belt. Landis has climbing and time trialing skills and has shown tremendous form in the Tour de France when he paced Armstrong up several climbs. Sure, Landis has the tools and the team, I just wish folks would not slap the “next Armstrong” label. Floyd is Floyd and he is much different from Lance Armstrong.
If Landis does win or perform well in July it will be interesting to see if he gets as much attention as Armstrong has in the last few years. Armstrong trancended the sport because his story was so compelling. Landis doesn’t have as dramatic a story, but he is probably a more universally likeable guy. There aren’t too many Landis-haters out there compared to Lance-haters, but give it time.
Anyway, I just ask for a detante on the “Next Armstrong” label. Please, avoid using the phrase at any cost. Just because a cyclist is from the USA and does well in stage races does not mean he is the “Next Armstrong” Shhesh.
Cyclingnews Paris Nice summary
Rabobank traded GC leaders today as Oscar Friere gave up the yellow and red jersey to the young all rounder Tomas Dekker. Cyclingnews has a bit of info on the young Dutchman.
Trained by Luigi Cecchini and considered one of the biggest future stars in world cycling, Dekker the younger had improved his climbing considerably over the winter, going as far to break Basso’s winter record time on the 936m high Monte Serra, so it would have been an interesting test regardless.
Fabian Cancellara won the stage which was a 20km Time Trial. Bad weather hampered the later riders who weren’t quite able to overhaul the TT specialist.
Bad weather is affecting Monday’s stage as the finish was changed to a flatter route with the finish in Torricella Sicura instead of the hilltop village of San Giacomo.
On Saturday, Alessandro Petacchi botched the sprint and was beaten by THOR Hushovd in a photo finish.
CSC News
Velonews Stage 5
