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News :: May 2005

8 May 2005

9 May News ...

Ribeiro Dismissed by Liberty Management

In what has surely been the darkest moment of his short pro career, Nuno Ribeiro has officially been relieved of his duties by Liberty Seguros team management. In an emergency meeting held in Barcelona the administrative board which oversees the Liberty Seguros-Würth team met and collectively decided to nullify the contract of the Portuguese rider. According to a press release by the Liberty team, they have opted "to rescind all the terms of his contract," which was in effect until December of 2006. The release went on to say that Ribeiro "ceases to be a member of this team as of today", however, "he'll still have the support of the team while waiting for the antidoping controls that have been recently carried out to clear up any doubt in the matter."

On arriving in Reggio Calabria for the Giro the rider inexplicably turned in a hematocrit value of 52 percent. This was after the team thoroughly tested their Giro bound riders in Madrid several days before departing for Italy. At that point his values hovered between 47 and 48 percent which he attributed to being at altitude, an excuse which the Liberty team management believed.

The administrative board of Liberty "laments the consequences that this can have for our sport, and in particular, for the participants of the new UCI Pro Tour competition." They go on to emphasize "their firm resolve for the protection of the rider's health and to defend the image of competition."

The team will continue to stand by his side since at this point it is a case not of doping, but rather of a failed health control.
- Paco

Pink for Cipollini and Lancaster

Last night's Prologue in Reggio Calabria, the toe of Italy, it was Brett Lancaster who hammered home fastest, wearing the first Maglia Rosa. Lancaster is an Olympic gold medalist in the team pursuit at Athens and world champion in the same speciality in 2002, and in 2003 setting the world record. The young Australian, 25 years, takes the first leader's jersey.

Read BiciRace.com's pink pages for toe-to-knee coverage of the 88th Giro d'Italia.

Pavel Tonkov Wins in Spain

The first day of this year's Clasica Alcobendas finished at the famed Navecerrada ski station. This climb is rated category 1 and climbs steeply up from Madrid on its south side to the summit of the Sierra Guadarrama moutain range. Tonkov ripped apart the competition, read more here about the 2005 Clásica de Alcobendas Main

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap

The Dust Devil checks in daily with his interpretation of the 2005 Giro d'Italia. Expect humor and insight as the DD enlightens us throughout the Giro d'Italia. "Rather enterprising of the organizers to start the first rider off at 18:45 local time......? And Cunego didn't role out until 20:15 or so....... But that is the beauty of the Giro d'Italia!" Read the Dust Devil's Daily Wrap, You would never see this in the Tour de France.

7 May News ...

Tom Danielson Interview, Before the Giro d'Italia, "We looked at Lance a lot for that stage. And if I was able to do it, then I was going to try to do it. Lance had a lot of faith in me, and kind of stressed me out a little bit..."

Joseba Beloki Interview, "I'm not a real attacking kind of rider, but to attack one needs to have both confidence and physical strength to spare."

He was often criticized by the nay-sayers for not getting over the big mountains. True, he never made it to Paris. But, he knows his talents. He got paid to win races and get publicity for his sponsors., "The End of an Era"

"Every sprint is always different. There are always things going through my mind. The main thing I do is stay concentrated on the job and trying to get in the best position possible!" - Allan Davis

Michael Barry "As I kid I devoured everything I could about cycling."

What is the Ciclamino?