The Tour of Germany ventured into Austria today for a mostly flat stage that ended in a sprint. Daniele Bennati (24) of Lampre-Caffita beat Filippo Pozzato to the line to take the win.
Yahoo! Sports – Cycling – Italian Bennati wins bunch sprint in Austria
Another blow for Phonak as Fabrizio Guidi was caught doping. No details yet, but Guidi is now suspended from the team. Guidi is the fourth cyclist from Phonak to be caught for a doping offense in the last year. Others caught were former world champion Oscar Camenzind, Santiago Perez and Tyler Hamilton. Ciclismo: Italiano Guidi Positivo Al Test Del Doping
Canadian based cycling news site PEZ Cycling News has a great interview with George Hincapie. PEZ does great interviews as they have a relaxed attitude and ask some great questions. PezCycling News – What’s Cool In Pro Cycling
If you want to see Lance Armstrong up close and live in Colorado, then you are in luck. Armstrong will be at the grand opening of a “Lance Armstrong 24 Hour Fitness Center” in Lowry Colorado.
So what is so special about a “Lance Armstrong 24 Hour Fitness Center”? It has
large indoor Lance Armstrong cycling rooms
Train like Lance, except inside and not in France.
Quick-Step got their second stage win today in the Tour of Germany as Filippo Pozzato reeled in Jorge Jaksche to win. Pozzato nipped Jaksche at the line from a last minute sprint when it looked like Jaksche had the win. Pozzato has been on great form lately taking several wins including the HEW Cyclassics two weeks ago. Pippo hopes to keep this form going into the World Championships. Hopefully he will impress Franco Ballerini enough to get on the Italian worlds team. This is no easy task as the selection process for the Italian team is extremely competative evey year. This is due to the extensive depth of talent in Italian cycling and the heavy emphasis on the world championships.
Yahoo! Sports – Cycling – Pozzato beats Jaksche to win second stage
Lance will not be running for Governor of Texas next year as was hinted in an interview with Outside Magazine. That doesn’t mean that he won’t in a few years though. Meanwhile, Lance will go to Crawford Texas and ride Mountain Bikes with George Bush on his ranch.
Patrick Lefevre must be saying who needed Patrick Sinckewitz and Michael Rogers anyway? There are plenty of good signings available on the market, most notably Jose Rujano. The little and I men little climber will join Quick-Step next year. However, there is a little twist, Rujano will stay with Selle Italia until May of 2006 to allow Selle Italia to ride the Giro. From then on Rujano will ride in a Quick-Step jersey and have an exploratory crack at the Tour de France.
Chris Horner is leaving Saunier Duval and possibly joining fellow American “Fast” Freddy Rodriguez at Davitamon -Lotto for 2006. Horner seemed to finally find the right combination this year when he made a second bid to race in Europe. He found success at Saunier Duval this year by winning a tough mountain stage in the Tour de Suisse and animating several stages in the Tour de France. Horner will be racing in San Francisco September 5th before heading back to Europe to finish out the season with Saunier Duval in the fall classics.
Constantino Zaballa of Saunier Duval took the win today at San Sebastion. It was a show of force by the Saunier Duval squad as Chris Horner instigated the eventual winning move. Second place was taken by Saunier’s Joaquin Rodriguez.
Yahoo! Sports – Cycling – Zaballa surprise winner in San Sebastian
Probably not a surprise, but this could be a sign that Patacchi has a bit more pull inside his new team than originally thought. Patacchi was only allowed to bring in two other teammates at first. Now, with the signing of Sacchi it seems that Petacchi is able to bring over more of the men from his “Blue Train”.