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News :: June 2005

15 June 2005

McJet Returns! Robbie McEwen is Back

McJet Wins, photo: Davitamon-Lotto

In the Swiss mountains the men of speed hardly get their chances. But when there is a slight smell of blood the dogs of war attack. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) stormed into Bad Zurzach, after 205K, crushing his competition in stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse. It was a significant victory for the Aussie, just like the Armstrong-Ullrich battle, there are sprint battles to be waged. Today McJet upped his potential Tour de France competitors, Boonen and Cooke.

McJet was full of complements for his teammate, Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto). Dockx was in the three-man break, slugging it out all day. "My sprint win goes to Dockx," said McEwen. Adding, "This victory is the pay-off for the whole team and especially Dockx ... Because of his work, the rest of the team saved their energies."

It was a tough fight for the Aussie too. The run-in to the finish line was tricky, "... in the last kilometer there were many turns ... I asked [Fred] Rodriguez to take the last two corners first." After a solid May at the Giro d'Italia, McJet showed he is back on form. Now the Aussie has his sights on the Tour de France after the finish of the Suisse race.

Tour de Suisse: Overall Map, Startlist, Main Page

UCI ProTour Eindhoven Team Time Trial

Phonak TTT, photo: Phonak

June 19th marks the beginning of the innovative UCI ProTour Eindhoven Team Time Trial held in Holland. The race is set to cover 51 kilometers, which is 15 kilometers shorter than the team time trial that the riders will do 2 weeks later in the Tour de France. But the idea is the same - go eyeballs out and hone the team's precision. The original idea was to have 8 or 9 riders per team, but after objections from the teams, the UCI conceded and agreed on 6 riders per team.

The last TTT this year was held at the Volta a Catalunya last month, and if history repeats itself, the Swiss Phonak Hearing Systems squad will triumph. They have several TT aces up their sleeve in the form of 2002 world TT champ Santiago Botero and fast Floyd Landis. Of course, Team Discovery will be firing on all pistons, as will Liberty Seguros-Würth. Both teams have historically strong TTT squads and both have won the Tour de France TTT. T-Mobile will be guaranteed to bring a strong squad as well.

The staff at BiciRace.com has been deliberating long and hard on the outcome of this race, but we think that the victor will emerge from one of these four teams. Check out our course map and startlist for more race details. Stay tuned for complete race coverage on June 19th at BiciRace.com.
Read the entire race preview.
- Paco

Erik Dekker Rejects Offer

Rabobank hard-man, Erik Dekker, was recently asked to coach the Dutch team. Dekker is having none of it and instead focusing on his remaining time as a professional. "I am not fearful of sticking my neck out, but the objective is to perform [on the bike] in the coming 16 months," said Dekker in a press release. The Rabo man is sure to be on with the attacks in July, stay tuned.

Water Boys Narrow It Down

The 2005 Tour de France is so close. The tension builds every day, and it is all the BiciRace.com staff can do not to talk about who will win or what will happen in July. The German water team, Gerolsteiner, today put down the names for the pre-selection. These bubbly riders will be the support crew for the blue team based around Levi Leipheimer and Georg Totschnig. Double-L showed he is worthy, when he cranked up the pace on his old teammate, Lance Armstrong, in the recent Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. LL finished third overall to the Texan's fourth.

Here are the pre-selected water boys: Levi Leipheimer (USA), Robert Förster, Sebastian Lang, Michael Rich, Ronny Scholz and Fabian Wegmann (all German), René Haselbacher, Georg Totschnig and Peter Wrolich (all Austrian), Swiss brothers: Beat and Markus Zberg

Cunego Waits, Simoni Races

The beginning of next week Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Caffita) will announce his decision on the 92nd Tour de France participation. The Piccolo Principe, who had been diagnosed with mononucleosis, will undergo new tests Friday in Milano. This all may just be a dance, the Inside Scoop is that Gilberto Simoni will be the Tour-Man. It is most likely Cunego and Simoni will not have their races schedules overlap for the remainder of 2005.

Stage 11, Courchevel - Briançon, The Pain Continues

Stage 11 Map

This could be the stage to decide the 2005 Tour de France. Stage 11 (13 July) comes the day after the mountainous stage to Courchevel (stage 10). The rider's legs will have already been weakened when they start their 173K journey from Courchevel to Briançon.

Stage 11 features three categorized climbs, the Col de la Madeleine (HC), Col du Télégraphe (Cat 1) and the Col du Galibier (HC). Most of the riders will be happy to ride soft on the first pass, Col de la Madeleine. The climb is a beast (25.4K long, ave grade 6.1%) and comes early into the stage. Then the riders have long a descent and some flat riding, before they face the remaining two climbs. The Col du Télégraphe and the Col du Galibier are really the same climb, coming in quick succession. Jan Ullrich will be particularly attentive, the Galibier is where Marco Pantani put in the death blow to his 1998 Tour chances. In the cold and rainy conditions Pantani launched a sudden attack four kilometers from the summit to win the Maillot Jaune.

From the top of the Col du Galibier there are 40K down to Briançon. Every rider will be on the limit and pushing their machines fast to the finish. The men that make it to Briançon first will be the men to keep an serious eye on for the final overall in Paris. Check out all of the key stages and the Tour de France preview.

Tragedy in Asturias

37 year old Italian pro, Alessio Galletti (Naturino Sapore de Mare), died while climbing the Alto de la Manzaneda in the Subida de Naranco. Galletti reportedly couldn't get enough air and collapsed on the side of the road approximately 15 kilometers from the finish. He was taken by ambulance to nearby Hospital Central de Asturias in Oviedo, but medical staff wasn't able to bring him back to life. Belgian VRT reported that he died of a heart attack, though that has yet to be confirmed.

Galletti began his pro career in 1994 with the Lampre outfit. He subsequently rode for Panaria in 1996, Ros Mary in 1997 and Amore e Vita in 1998. The pinnacle of his career came in the years between 1999-2003 when he rode for Saeco and was part of Mario Cipollini's legendary Red Train.
- Paco

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