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20 June 2005

21 June News ...

Tour de Suisse: Aitor Gonzalez Wins Final Stage and GC

Aitor Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) ripped apart stage 9 of the Tour de Suisse, winning the stage and taking the final overall in Ulrichen. The Euskaltel-Euskadi rider made his attack on the Furka Pass, and then held his time gains on a furious downhill finish. Michael Rogers was blown out of his mind and the GC lead, a final stage upset for him and his Quick-Step team. Aitor Gonzalez post-race said, "I am happy to return at the highest level. After two difficult years, during which I had some health problems, this [win] gives pleasure."

Along with Euskaltel-Euskadi, Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) can go into the Tour de France with confidence. The mighty German finished third overall in the Tour de Suisse and looks like he will be a serious competitor for Lance Armstrong. Checking in with T-Mobile, Jan had this to say, "I won in Switzerland last year, but that wasn't my main objective this time round, so I can easily live with third place overall. I want to wear yellow in Paris in July and I reckon I am on the right track!"

The ever-cool, Jan Ullrich, was happy for Gonzalez but felt for Rogers ... "I wasn't surprised when Gonzalez attacked on the Furka pass. He was just 36 seconds back on GC. As a good climber he was always going to go for it. Of course it is hard for Rogers. It was defeat snatched from the jaws of victory." (Go to the entire race report.)

Here are the final top five finishers for the Tour de Suisse:
1 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 33.08.51
2 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step 0.22
3 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.36
4 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 1.41
5 Chris Horner (USA) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.02

Review the Tour de Suisse: Overall Map, Startlist, Main Page

UCI ProTour Eindhoven Team Time Trial: Gerolsteiner Gets First

Gerolsteiner celebrated its first ProTour victory at the end of the 51K UCI ProTour Eindhoven Team Time Trial. On a piping hot day in Holland the water-boys cooled off the mighty Phonak TTT squad by 3 seconds, and early race favorites, Team CSC, by 24.

Under the direction of Christian Henn, the Gerolsteiner boys edged out Phonak, but just barely. The team was pushed on that extra bit by super TT man, Michael Rich. Rich added, "... we drove fast from the start. On such a short distance there was no other choice that remained for us."

Team CSC with Tour favorite Basso, was hard pressed to beat the German formation. But CSC clocked a solid third place, aided on the whole time by the Basso-Zabriskie duo. Checking in with Team CSC, Bjarne Riis had this to say, "We didn't have the strongest line-up down here, so first off the expectations only reached as high as a top-5 spot." Team CSC did what most teams did, put this TTT on the back burner for their year's ambitions. But the Danish squad is solid when it comes to TT'ing, Riis added, "... we are really good in this discipline. All the riders did well, and it looks promising ahead of the Tour de France."

Complete race coverage of the Eindhoven Team Time Trial. Plus the course map and startlist.

Eight of Nice CSC Riders Announced for the Tour de France

Team CSC head, Bjarne Riis, has released the names of eight riders that will form the 9-man 2005 Tour de France squad. The riders selected are:
Ivan Basso, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Bobby Julich, Giovanni Lombardi, Carlos Sastre, Nicki Sørensen, Jens Voigt, David Zabriskie

Team CSC is going to be a squad to reckon with. They pack a strong punch for their team leader, Ivan Basso. Voigt and Lombardi can always be counted on for their solid structure when under the gun. Cue in the two Americani, Julich and Zabriskie, and you start to see why Lance Armstrong is training so hard. This team is going to kick some tail all the way around France. According to Riis, the last spot will go to Jakob Piil or Luke Roberts.

Read the 92nd Tour de France preview or look at all of the stages.

Gilberto Simoni to Italian National Championships

Lampre-Caffita mountain-man, Gilberto Simoni, is heading south to Abruzzo for the Italian National Championships. The championships take place next week, and Simoni will be without his Lampre-Caffita crony, Damiano Cunego. The Piccolo Principe is still undergoing medical exams in Milano, and he should soon have those results for BiciRace.com. The road race is this coming Sunday in Montesilvano. Montesilvano is south of Ancona on the east coast of Italy.

The Killer Tops ProTour Standings after Suisse

Those of you keeping track of the ProTour standings will want to know that Danilo Di Luca still heads the competition. After the conclusion of the Tour de Suisse, The Killer still holds top spot over Boonen.

Names and UCI ProTour points:
1. Di Luca 184, 2. Boonen 112, 3. Petacchi 111, 4. Freire 94, 5. Botero 93, 6. Savoldelli 89, 7. Rebellin 86, 8. Rogers 80, 9. Boogerd 80, 10. Hincapie 77

Stage 14, Agde - Ax-3 Domaines, Today and Tomorrow

Stages 14 and 15 will be hard, very hard. Stage 14 will put all sorts of pain into the riders legs, making the following stage 15 even crazier. Stage 15 is out of this world, and we will preview that stage in the coming days. But now the focus is on stage 14 (16 July), from Agde to Ax-3 Domaines.

The stage is a whopping 220.5K long, covering the Port de Pailhères (2001m, 15.2K, 8% ave) and the Ax-3 Domaines (1372 m, 9.1K, 7.3% ave). Port de Pailhères is a hors category brute that will lift the riders up to 2000 meters. Towards the summit the gradient kicks up to 10%, with a max of 12.5%. Lance Armstrong will remember this climb painfully so as he was ripped to shreds here by Team Bianchi in 2003.

Dropping down around 20K to the base of the final climb, the cat 1 Ax-3 Domaines. Armstrong suffered here too in 2003, but also had good fortune in 2001. It is only a cat 1 climb, but coming directly after the Port de Pailhères it will put the polish on the riders.

What does BiciRace.com think? The big GC guns are going to wait this one out, preferring to save their energy for stage 15. An ambitious break will move clear, with one of our Euskaltel-Euskadi friends. Remember that this stage finishes in the close to the Basque team's headquarters and they will want to impress. Take a look at all of the key stages and the Tour de France preview.

19 June News ...