Only one week to go until the calendar turns to 2006 and all self respecting cycling sites do one thing. They have to proclaim a cyclist of the year. Looking at L’Equipe, they point to Danilo DiLuca, obvious choice since he won two classics and followed up with a fourth place in the Giro. He kept his form throughout the summer classics to keep his lead solid. DiLuca’s performance at the very entertaining Giro helped to solidify his standing as one of the top riders of 2005. His gritty fights for the Maglia Rosa against Paolo Bettini in the early stages were fun to watch compared to the predictable Petachi sprint victories. DiLuca never faded as the Giro headed to the high mountains, but kept with the best climbers as his team GC leaders Garzelli and Cioni faded. The stage to Sestrierre where DiLuca matched Jose Rujano and Gilberto Simoni up the Col de la Tenda and Col dela Finestre showed DiLuca’s class as he was hampered by a muscle spasm. Plus, he made the ProTour leader’s jersey actually look stylish by dressing completely in white.
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Five All-Star Italian-based Athletes are getting together to sing a song in tribute to fallen Cycling Star Marco Pantani. F1 driver Jarno Trulli, Race Car Driver Alex Zanardi, Danilo Di Luca, Volleyball champ Alberto Cisolla and Rugby Champ Denis Dallan are hitting the recording studio to remember a fallen collegue.
The profits from the CD they will create will go to charity Caritas that help orphans and other less fortunate children. Most of the songs have been already written one year earlier by Elisabetta Gioia Mondini with a song titled “Apri il cielo che c’è in me!!!” which literally translated mean “open the sky that is in me”…
The group hopes to perform the song at the San Remo music festival this spring.
Tuttobici Web
Damiano Cunego and Danilo DiLuca are working on next season’s bikes. Cunego is working closely with Lampre’s new/old bike supplier Wilier Triestina. They are developing a custom carbon bike that will suit “il Princippe’s” riding style.
The prototype will be a carbon frame based specifically on Cunego’s weight and physical attributes. The frame is expected to weigh 850g, and the complete bike will be around 6.850Kg.
Meanwhile, Danilo DiLuca is looking at overall victory at the Giro, and notices that even though there are lots of back-breaking climbs, there are some Time Trials to deal with too. These TTs can help gain enough time over climbing specialist such as Jose Rujano. So “The Killer” is working on his TT skills and getting a new bike.
I am making every adjustment possible to improve in time trialing, especially changes in the bike setup … Look at [Ivan] Basso, over the last few years he has transformed himself into a time trial beast. … I am looking into an all carbon bike for the time trials. The new frame should soon be ready and we will test it on the track in Padova.
BiciRace.com :: News :: December 2005
