BiciRace.com :: News :: April 2005

News :: April 2005

9 April 2005

Tafi's Last Roubaix

Andrea Tafi at Tour of Flanders, photo: Graham Watson

Tomorrow in Paris-Roubaix, Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval-Prodir) will be competing in his last big European race of the year and career. Tafi will only race one more time after Paris-Roubaix, that will be with the team at the Tour of Georgia. For Tafi, winner in 1999, a win in tomorrow's Paris-Roubaix would be the icing on a beautiful career.

Andrea Tafi and Maximize, photo: Graham Watson

Tafi's best classic win has to be Tour of Flanders of 2002, but his 1999 Paris-Roubaix win with Mapei was special in the Italian champion jersey. When reached for comment, Matteo Algeri (director sportivo) said to BiciRace.com "he will be strong at Paris Roubaix ... it's his last race in Europe." We hope the best for Tafi who will be on a special Scott USA bike and powered on by Maximize Energy Bars.

Boonen, Future ProTour Leader?

Although not even in attendance at the Paris-Roubaix, Italian Alessandro Petacchi will be under attack by Tom Boonen in the seventh race in the ProTour. The young Boonen, winner of the Tour of Flanders, could take the white Pro-Tour leader's jersey from Petacchi if he manages to finish in the top three in Roubaix. Petacchi will not race the Paris-Roubaix because it's just too crazy of a race for the non-specialist. Most likely we will see Boonen wearing the white ProTour jersey to the Amstel Gold Race. Here are the rankings after yesterday's Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco.

ProTour Rankings as of 08.04.2005
1 Petacchi Alessandro (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 93
2 Freire Gomez Oscar (Esp) Rabobank 78
3 Julich Bobby (USA) Team CSC 75
4 Hondo Danilo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 70
5 Boonen Tom (Bel) Quick Step 62
6 Di Luca Danilo (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 51
7 Hushovd Thor (Nor) Credit Agricole 50
8 Valverde Belmonte Alejandro (Esp) Illes Balears 43
9 Rebellin Davide (Ita) Gerolsteiner 41
10 Klier Andreas (Ger) T-mobile Team 41

Victory To Danilo Di Luca

Italy's Danilo Di Luca produced a top notch performance in the final 9.3km time trial to take overall victory in the 45th Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco. The Liquigas-Bianchi rider won the first stage and finished fourth in the final TT behind Spain's Alberto Contador. Di Luca was so happy after the stage and went on to thank how well his Liquigas-Bianchi team preformed. It was a strong team that helped Di Luca, who five years ago lost the victory in the final day. Now Danilo Di Luca shifts his focus to the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Power Win By Voigt

Jens Voigt took an amazing win in the first of Friday's two stages of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Voigt put in the move early on and it paid off with a win at the top of Arantzazu. Kim Andersen had this to say after the 93-kilometer stage, "Jens was so strong, he kept his advantage on the pursuers and the peloton all the way, even though several teams tried to set a high pace to reel him in. He's almost impossible to control in such a short distance as this. On a couple of occasions, a few riders bridged up to him, but he just dropped them one by one."

Jens Voigt was intent on finishing solo, even when there was a hard-charging Danilo Di Luca on his back. Voigt was exhausted after the stage but explained ... "On the last climb I almost felt like I should die, and now I'm in a lot of pain, but of course I'm enjoying my victory to the full extent."
Quotes from CSC's website, www.team-csc.com

8 April News ...