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2 July 2005

3 July News ...

Il Falco at the Tour de France (For Armstrong)

The 2005 Giro d'Italia winner, Paolo Savoldelli, is in France only for Armstrong. "This is my fourth Tour. I am here, we are all here, for Armstrong. Only for one goal," Il Falco stated. This is his fourth Tour de France, and this time the pressure is on, "I hope not to suffer too much, especially when I am called to work in certain moments of the race in which usually, it is me behind the wheel." Il Falco is accustomed to a team at his disposal and now he will be called on to work for the 6X Winner.

Savoldelli does have his own plans of freedom, if allowed by the Cowboy. "I hope also to be able to go out one for one afternoon of freedom, one hour of dream, a moment of glory," said Il Falco with a grin on his face. The Italian is also here to check out the other famous Italian, Ivan Basso. "And I have one curiosity: to see Basso, to understand if you can still dispute the Giro and Tour, in the same season, trying to win them both," Il Falco noted. Italians will be watching the racers from Lombardia, and hoping for the best.

Ivan Basso: "I'm Not Here To Come Second"

Yesterday at the press conference Bjarne Riis and Ivan Basso (Team CSC) were fielding questions. Basso is tipped as a hot Tour de France favorite after finishing on the podium in 2004. Guided by 1996 champion, Riis, Basso plans to go full-tilt this year.

"I think Ivan is as ready for the Tour, as he was for the Giro," Riis explained. Riis knows first hand the power of the Texan and knows it will be a challenge to beat him. Riis continued: "For the last six years it has just been one man. We have to be strong to beat him. I know Ivan will be strong, and probably Ullrich, but I don't know ... From what I saw of Ullrich at the Tour of Switzerland, I'm not sure he'll be a real danger in the mountains. Vinokourov will be more dangerous ... he'll be the main danger from T-Mobile."

Basso made his intentions clear, "To attack you need good legs, so I hope that I arrive in the mountains with good form. I'm not here to come second, and will be trying to win..." But all critics point to Basso's weak TT abilities and the lack of serious TT kilometers in the Giro. Basso believes he will still lose to Armstrong in the TT, but this year he aims at limiting the damage: "I will lose less time to Armstrong and Ullrich in the time trials this year than before. I will do my best and am sure that I'm faster compared to last year, but I don't know yet by how much."

Today's TT will give the BiciRace.com readers a good idea of what will come over the next three weeks. Basso and Riis play down any chances of a Basso win today, but he has the class to come close. Stay tuned and watch the results.

Nobili Joins Team CSC

Italian company, Nobili, will become a new sponsor for Team CSC. Their sponsorship starts today at the beginning of Tour de France. Nobili, which produces water taps, will be added to the Team CSC jersey, both front and back.

The new sponsorship is good news for Team CSC, who have been rumored to be struggling with financial difficulties. Also, the news is leaking (not from a Nobili tap) that Riis is close to signing a deal with CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) to continue on as a sponsor. If true, this deal would be for an additional three years. Keep it locked into BiciRace.com for more details.

Valverde Talks about Tour de France

In a pre-Tour press conference Spanish cycling prodigy, Alejandro Valverde, like most of his young counterparts, says he'll be going to this year's Tour to learn and perhaps win a stage, if the opportunity presents itself. The Illes Balears rider is no stranger to grand tours having shone in the Vuelta a España for the last couple of years. He is an amazingly versatile rider that can climb and sprint. His biggest Achilles heel is the individual time trial. But as we all know a certain Lance Armstrong was no ace against the clock when he began his career. Valverde reckons he's at "92 or 93 percent of his form," but believes a strong mental aspect can help a rider a lot more than a strong physical aspect.

Valverde has personally reconnoitered all the stages in the Alpes and Pyrenees and believes that the eleventh stage run between Courchevel-Briançon is the one that suits his abilities the best. The mythical giants of the Madeleine, Telegraph and Galibier will all be climbed on that stage. Valverde, however, rates it as being within his reach since the finish comes 40k after the summit of the Galibier, and none of those climbs have exceptionally steep pitches.

Due to the toughness of its course, its long climbs and riders that train specifically for this race, Valverde rates the Tour as the toughest race on the calendar. He's an incredibly gifted rider, but doesn't feel that his 25 years of age are enough to take victory. Two more years, he reckons, are what he needs to mature physically as well as mentally.
- Paco

Stage 1 Weather: Wind and Sun

Weather today at the stage 1 start is windy. Temperature is supposed to reach 23°C.

Ullrich has a Collision with the T-Mobile Car

T-Mobile captain, Jan Ullrich, was involved in a training accident while motor-pacing behind Mario Kummer's team car on Friday afternoon. We checked in with the team, Jan had this to add, "Seems like we already had our minds on tomorrow [stage 1] when we went motor-pacing this afternoon. It led to a really scary moment. As I followed the team car, I didn't notice the brake lights and collided full-speed into the back windscreen!"

T-Mobile and Ullrich have confirmed that all is fine, just cuts and bruises. The back window of the team car came out worse than Ulle. Nevertheless, Ullrich was given even more attention due to the big bandage on his neck at yesterday's presentation.

Tifosi should forgive the magenta-man for being a little distracted. Yesterday was also the 2nd birthday of his daughter "I'll be giving it everything, so that tomorrow I can sort out a little present for her...." (Team Rides)

Oscar Pereiro Took a Tumble

Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) took a tumble yesterday while out training. The injuries are mostly bruises on the hips, left knee and elbow. "Of course the bruises hurt, but for the start of the Tour nothing stands in our way, " said team doctor Thomas Klimaschka. The crew at BiciRace.com hopes that Pereiro shares the same thoughts as his doctor. Good luck to Pereiro.

Liberty Seguros-Würth On New BH Bikes

Liberty Seguros-Würth will be on top of new BH bicycles for the 92nd Tour de France. Today, in the first TT, the boys will ride with new Oval Concepts handlebars mounted to their TT rigs. Manolo Saiz also wanted to take advantage of the latest TT frame advances to improve the rigidity of the machines. The TT frames have been made a bit shorter, "to make them faster coming out of the bends." Expect the Spanish boys to be a force in the TT and the team TT. (Photo of Handlebars)

Starting on Sunday, Liberty Seguros-Würth will use the new 'Global BH Concept Tour 2005'. This is a new frame by BH, who plan to produce 50 more of these for the public. The frame-fork combo is a reported 6.8Kg, that is just on the limit of UCI regulations. The carbon fiber rigs get some special Tour de France decorations, along with tweaked components.

Lance Armstrong Has Random Control

Friday Afternoon in France Lance Armstrong was summoned to a out of competition anti-doping test. The test was conducted by the French Ministry of Youth and Sport, along with UCI officials. This was only a day after the entire team was tested. This is just part of the course for the most tested cyclist in the sport. Armstrong's blood samples were checked on the spot, and other samples were retained for further testing.

Stage 2: Bouygues Telecom Will Fire Their Guns Towards Les Essarts

Stage 2 departs Challans and will take the riders on a flat run to Les Essarts, for 181.5K. The stage should be an all out sprinter's affair, it is flat with no categorized climbs (Stage Profile). Look for Bouygues Telecom to attack like mad all day, and especially on the run in to Les Essarts. This is their sponsor's hometown and they will spill blood to make something happen on this stage. Unfortunately it probably won't work out for the French boys. The team with the Maillot Jaune, and all the sprinter's teams, will keep any attacks in check. We should see the peloton hammering home to a sprint royale. The only possible danger on this stage is the wind. We are very near the Atlantic and there could be a possibility of echelons forming and time losses.

92nd Tour de France:
Startlist, Classifications, Tour Challengers, Discovery Channel Profile
Key Stages, Key Stage Descriptions, Stages and Maps, Overall Map

1 July News ...