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26 August 2005

27 August News ...

Liberty Leads Vuelta with Heras

Liberty Seguros-Würth comes to the 2005 Vuelta a España with Roberto Heras as the defending team. They have the ammunition to pull off another win. Supporting the 3X Vuelta winner, Heras, are a crew of tough Spaniards: Beloki, Nozal and González De Galdeano ... just to name a few.

"The fundamental thing for me is to win," said Heras via Liberty. "But it would also be nice to achieve the record number of victories [4] and to enter into cycling history, but all of that will depend on the road." If the Spaniard was to win this race again it would be the first time the Vuelta has been won 4 times by the same rider.

There are some strong stages for the peloton this year. Stage 10 (Arcalís) and stage 15 (Pajares) will be among the toughest. "The key stages are Ordino-Arcalís and Pajares, also the Lagos de Covadonga stage [stage 14]. These three, together with the finish in Cerler [stage 11] should mark the race ... Of all of them, I like the first three most, though the final climb of Pajares is not so tough, but those before it are."

Here is the entire Liberty Seguros-Würth team taking part in the Vuelta a España: Roberto Heras, Dariusz Baranowski, Joseba Beloki, Igor González De Galdeano, Giampaolo Caruso, Isidro Nozal, Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano and Ángel Vicioso.

Vuelta a España Teams

The official presentation of the 60th Vuelta a España teams will be held today in Granada. The event will be broadcast live on Spanish television and will offer the first glimpse of the riders gathered to race. This year is like none other, there are a slew of top-level teams competing due to the new ProTour. This also means that there is less Spanish flavor, there are only two non-ProTour Spanish teams taking place: Relax Fuenlabrada and Comunidad Valenciana.

There are four Italian teams taking part: Lampre-Caffita, Domina Vacanze, Fassa Bortolo and Liquigas-Bianchi. Fassa will be searching for sprint wins with Alessandro Petacchi. Ale-Jet is building for the World Championships, and will use the three week tour to fine tune his form. Lampre-Caffita will be present to go for the overall with their 2X Giro d'Italia winner, Gilberto Simoni.

Here is the full list of participating teams: Domina Vacanze, Davitamon-Lotto, Quick-Step, Lampre-Caffita, Fassa Bortolo, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Discovery Channel, Liquigas-Bianchi, Liberty Seguros-Würth, T-Mobile, Team CSC, Cofidis, Phonak, Illes Balears, Française Des Jeux, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner, Saunier Duval-Prodir, Crédit Agricole, Bouygues Telecom, Relax Fuenlabrada and Comunidad Valenciana

Oscar Laguna not Relaxed

Oscar Laguna (Relax Fuenlabrada) has been told to go home by his team. He has been considered unfit by the UCI’s Medical Committee, which means that his team will start the Vuelta a España with only eight riders. The UCI inspectors carried out blood tests on all 198 riders yesterday and Laguna is the only one who has not been declared fit start.

The Relax Fuenlabrada team reported that Laguna had passed the health tests prior to the Vuelta a España, on the 23rd of August. Now the Spaniard will be subjected to the necessary analytical studies in order to clarify the discrepancy between these initial results and those which have caused his expulsion.

60th Vuelta a España:
Startlist
Stages and Maps, Key Stages, Overall Map
Photos, Dust Devil's Daily Wrap

Marcus Ljungqvist Joins CSC

Swedish rider Marcus Ljungqvist signed a one-year deal with Team CSC. This year Ljungqvist (30) is riding with Liquigas-Bianchi and has had some solid placings in the spring classics. He previously road for the Danish team Fakta, with Kim Andersen as a DS. In 2006 Ljungqvist will rejoin Andersen, who is now serving at Team CSC.

"Primarily he is a reinforcement to our classics team, but he is a rider, who has the ability to make a difference in almost any kind of race," said Bjarne Riis via Team CSC. The Swede was equally has happy, "I'm really looking forward to joining Team CSC, and working with Bjarne and Kim Andersen. I hope to be able to perform well for the team in races like Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race."

GP Ouest France with Ulle

If you are like the staff at BiciRace.com then you are overwhelmed with Vuelta a España fever. However, there is also another very important one-day race taking place this Sunday, the GP Ouest France. The GP Ouest France takes place in the hot-bed of French cycling, Brittany. This region is one of the most cycling crazed areas in France and the circuit is sure to be crowded with tifosi.

Jan Ullrich and Alexander Vinokourov will be leading the T-Mobile on the French roads. Ulle hopes to use his good form to win the ProTour event, the same form that put him 3rd in the Tour de France and 2nd in the Deutschland tour. The magenta squad will rely on the French teams to set the tempo and then hopefully jump at the right moment for a win.

Here is the full squadra: Jan Ullrich, Alexander Vinokourov, Matthias Kessler, Torsten Hiekmann, Jan Schaffrath and Serguei Yakovlev. (See the complete GP Ouest France Startlist.)

25 August News ...