BiciRace.com :: News :: October 2005

News :: October 2005

8 October 2005

Lampre and SonyEricsson Team Movements

Battaglia Italiana: Lampre and SonyEricsson

The old rivalry between Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego will come to an end very soon. They are facing their last races together before next year they split. The Piccolo Principe will be staying in the Lampre house, while Gibo will move over to Giancarlo Ferretti's new squadra (sponsor should be SonyEricsson).

Gibo will be taking some of his buddies with him over to Ferretti's team: Salvatore Commesso and Andrea Tonti. Also departing the Lampre-Caffita is longtime super-domestique, Eddy Mazzoleni, the Bergamasco will be with T-Mobile next year.

For 2006 Beppe Martinelli, Team DS, will bring in reenforcements for the Piccolo Principe. The riders that have already signed with Lampre for 2006 are: Marzio Bruseghin (from Fassa Bortolo), Paolo Tiralongo (from Panaria-Navigare), Tadej Valjavec (from Phonak), Danilo Napolitano (from Team LPR), Mauro Santambrogio (from Team LPR), Morris Possoni (new pro) and Matteo Bono (new pro).

Read:
SonyEricsson And Ferretti Secure For ProTour, 6 October
Transfer Mania, 4 October
Simoni Will Race With Ferretti, 21 September
Kirchen, Mazzoleni and Honchar to T-Mobile, 24 August

88th Giro dell'Emilia To Reveal

Today in Bologna is the 88th Giro dell'Emilia. This Italian race should reveal some strong indicators as to which riders are on form for the upcoming 99th Giro di Lombardia. But forget Lombardia for a moment, the Giro dell'Emilia is a historic race in it's own right. Look at the recent past winners and you start to understand this race's pedigree. Recent winners are: Ivan Basso, Michele Bartoli, Jan Ullrich, Gilberto Simoni, Michael Boogerd and Mirko Celestino.

Simoni, 2000 winner, will be taking the start line as a favorite. "I came off of the Vuelta with a little cough, but it is past and I am doing well," said the 2X Giro d'Italia champion. "I have a lot of motivation and my condition seems good. I would like to win this race again, but did you see Bettini at Zurich? He won with a huge force. Here it is not his course, but with his condition he will be a big favorite.

Paolo Bettini is aiming for next Saturday's Lombardia, but will want to win Emilia given the chance. "Last week I had the condition, but for Emilia I will have to see how the race is played out," said Bettini.

The race will cover 194K before ending at the Santuario di San Luca in Bologna. Starting at kilometer 170 the riders will cover the climb of San Luca four times, the last time being the finish. Ouch! 1900 meters of total climbing is on tap, with sections of 18% gradient and an average of 10%. We should see a true champion emerge under the santuario.

Read: Sabatini Prepares Kid Cunego for Lombardia, 6 October

Giro di Lombardia:
Main Page
Overall Map, Profile
Startlist
Photos
Report and Results

99th Paris-Tours Tomorrow

Dekker Fights For Paris-Tours Win, photo: Rabobank

The 99th Paris-Tours takes place tomorrow in France. It is a race that usually is consider's a "sprinters' classic", but five escape winners in the last six editions suggest otherwise. Any sprinter would kill to win this one day classic, it ranks up their with the Champs-Élysées for the fast-men. Read the race preview and then tune-in to BiciRace.com tomorrow for the race report.

Paris-Tours:
Main Page
Overall Map, Profile
Startlist
Photos
Report and Results

2006 Ag2R Prévoyance Squadra

The 2006 Ag2R Prévoyance Squadra has taken form. The French team recently added Illes Balears rider, José Luis Arrieta. Arrieta makes the third Spaniard to be signed from Illes Balears, the others were Francisco Mancebo and David Navas. Ag2R Prévoyance's other big signing was Christophe Moreau.

The team is trying to fortify its roster for the 2006 season in hopes to get the final open ProTour spot. The spot was left vacant when the Italian sponsor, Fassa Bortolo, left the sport. A special UCI commission will meet on 21 November to decide which team will receive the old ProTour spot. It will be a tight battle between Ag2R Prévoyance, SonyEricsson (the old Fassa Bortolo) and Comunidad Valenciana.

2006 Squadra:
José Luis Arrieta (ESP, from Illes Balears)
Mikel Astarloza (ESP)
Sylvain Calzati (FRA)
Iñigo Chaurreau (ESP)
Philip Deignan (IRL)
Cyril Dessel (FRA)
Samuel Dumoulin (FRA)
John Gadret (FRA, from Jartazi Granville)
Simon Gerrans (AUS)
Stéphane Goubert (FRA)
Yuriy Krivtsov (UKR)
Julien Loubet (FRA)
Francisco Mancebo (ESP, from Illes Balears)
Laurent Mangel (FRA)
Lloyd Mondory (FRA)
Christophe Moreau (FRA, Crédit Agricole)
Carl Naibo (FRA, from Bretagne-Jean Floc'h)
David Navas (ESP, from Illes Balears)
Jean-Patrick Nazon (FRA)
Erki Putsep (EST)
Christophe Riblon (FRA)
Mark Scanlon (IRL)
Ludovic Turpin (FRA)
Alexandre Usov (BIEL)
Tomas Vaitkus (LIT)