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14 November 2005

15 November News ...

Zomegnan Designs Spectacular Giro d'Italia

The route of the 89th Giro d'Italia has been revealed (last Saturday) and is now the subject of deserved attention. The mastermind behind the 2006 Giro is Angelo Zomegnan, director of cycling at RCS Sport and head of the Giro. Zomegnan has designed a Giro with many unique features: The start in Belgium, the team TT and the TT up Madonna del Ghisallo.

The final day (28 May) will be a split stage, with the Ghisallo TT in the morning and then a final fast stage in the afternoon (to Milano). A split stage has not been in the Giro since 1995, but up to that year there were 29 occurrences of this type of stage. And if you look at the history books there were nine occurrences of four semi-stages in one Giro! "The second semi-stage from Lecco to Milano will be a carousel, while the mountain TT to Ghisallo is reserved for only a small amount of general classification riders," said Zomegnan from Milano.

Another unique item of the 89th edition is the team time trial. The event, which occurs right after the race returns from Belgium, has not been in the Giro for 17 years. "But there is a difference in our team TT from the one of the Tour de France, where the teams were limited to certain times," continued Zomegnan. "We will count the actual time for the race, which will serve as a reward to the strong riders."

Read: 2006 Giro d'Italia Route Unfolded, 12 November

Petacchi Might Skip Giro

One big critic of the 2006 Giro d'Italia is Alessandro Petacchi (31). "I don't like this Giro," said Ale-Jet. "I don't understand why the organizers want to always make the race harder."

In the sprinter's history at the Giro he has won 19 stages, four of which came in the 2005 edition. Petacchi can make it over some small passes, but won't be able to handle many of the tough stages that the organizers are dishing out in the 2006 edition. "There are only a maximum of five stages that could arrive in a sprint and there is not even a day of true rest," continued an upset Petacchi. "And the final day, with the Ghisallo TT, will be very annoying. I feel that I might just skip the Giro and race the Tour."

Next year Petacchi will race for Milram, which is partly a formation of Domina Vacanze and Team Wiesenhof. The future teammate to the Italian sprinter will be Erik Zabel, who has his sights on a Tour de France stage win. The German sprinter, and the Italian tifosi, would very much like to see Ale-Jet at the Giro.

A Very Satisfied Simoni

"I have confronted other Giros as hard as this one," said Gilberto Simoni from Mazda Palace. The 2X Giro d'Italia winner was on hand to witness the unveiling of the 2006 Giro in Milano. The small climber was grinning ear to ear after seeing the amount of passes the organizers have included.

"The five mountain top finishes compensate for the team time trial and the time trial of 50K," continued Gibo. "The gravel finish of Plan de Corones [stage 17, see profile] will not be a problem. While the time trial up Ghisallo [stage 21a, see profile] is a merited tribute and will not change the final outcome of the race."

Next year the riders from near Trento will race for the Spanish-Swiss squadra of Saunier Duval-Prodir. It will be a needed departure for Simoni, who did not have the full team support he needed at Lampre-Caffita. For 2006, Team DS, Pietro Algeri, will make sure there is an armada of yellow soldiers at Simoni's command.

Read:
The Details of Simoni's Saunier Decision, 22 October
Gilberto Simoni Has Definitely Signed, 21 October
Saunier Duval-Prodir Welcomes Gilberto Simoni, 19 October

Ulle Tuned-In for Giro Presentation

One of the many Germans who were glued to the television on Saturday night was Jan Ullrich. Ulle is considering riding the 2006 Giro d'Italia, and must have tuned-in to the presentation on TV. He should be pleased with the amount of time trials and tough stages in next year's route.

Tomorrow (through 21 November) Ulle will be in Monaco di Baviera for the first T-Mobile gathering. It will be a time of photo-shoots, strength tests, medical checks and a small survival camp. T-Mobile is borrowing the idea of a survival camp from Team Manager of Team CSC, Bjarne Riis. After all the tests the riders will travel to Vienna to meet with the sponsors and announce the 2006 schedules.

In Vienna the 1997 Tour de France winner is expected to announce if he will or won't participate in the 2006 Giro. There are two ways for Ulle to build for the Tour, his main goal of 2006, one is the Giro and the other would be the Tour de Suisse (combined with other races). After Vienna, at the end of the month, the German will probably travel to South Africa for training.

Read: 2006 Giro d'Italia Welcomes Jan Ullrich, 13 October

Kanstantsin Siutsou to Acqua & Sapone

Kanstantsin Siutsou, U23 World Champion in 2004, has signed with Acqua & Sapone for 2006. The 23 year-old rider from Bielorussia was part of Fassa Bortolo in 2005 but was forced to look elsewhere when the sponsor did not continue for 2006.

Siutsou is part of a mass exodus of staff and riders that are moving from Fassa Bortolo to Acqua & Sapone. Mastermind behind the exodus is Giancarlo Ferretti, team manager of Fassa Bortolo. Ferretti failed to find a new sponsor for 2006 and now will focus his skills and energies to help Acqua & Sapone.

Read: Acqua & Sapone Builds with Fassa Bortolo Help, 3 November

The End for Angel Casero

Angel Casero has put an end to his racing career. Yesterday Casero (33) had one last outing in the Criterium Internacional de la Comunidad Valenciana. He won the race that included such cycling stars as Oscar Freire and Igor Astarloa.

Casero won the Vuelta a España in 2001 and was twice Spanish Champion (1998 and 1999). Since 2001 the Spaniard has struggled to find the same form that won him the Vuelta. Over the years the Spaniard was part of some strong teams: Banesto (1994-1997), Vitalicio Seguros (1998-1999), Festina (2000-2001), Team Coast (2002-2003), Team Bianchi (2003), Kelme (2004) and finally Comunidad Valenciana (2005).

12 November News ...