BiciRace.com :: News :: November 2005

News :: November 2005

15 November 2005

89th Giro Presentation Draws Viewers

Route Presented, photo: BiciRace.com

The 2006 Giro d'Italia is already off to a good start, the presentation had more viewers than the 2005 version. Last Saturday (12 November) the teams all gathered in Milano's Mazda Palace for news of the route, but there was a record number of tifosi watching on television.

Italian television media giant, Rai, presented the event live. Rai estimated that the median average share was from 8 to 9.85%, which translated into 986,000 to 1,154,000 viewers. During the presentation there was a peak of 11.77%, or 1,619,000 viewers.

Read:
Ulle Tuned-In for Giro Presentation, 14 November
2006 Giro d'Italia Route Unfolded, 12 November

Renato Di Rocco Likes 2006 Route

2006 Il Giro d'Italia, photo: RCS Sport

Renato Di Rocco, president of the FCI (Italian Cycling Federation or "Federazione Ciclistica Italiana"), digs the 2006 Giro d'Italia route. Di Rocco was on-hand last Saturday in Milano for the presentation of his country's Grand Tour. He was full of praise for the Giro organizers in their planning of the 2006 event.

"It is a Giro that has all grand tradition of the past," said Di Rocca. "The biggest example is the return of the team time trial. The organizers have also presented mountain stages that are all wonderful."

Overall Di Rocca was pleased with the route, but he did express a little disappoint: "Of course the start from Belgium honors a part of Italian history, but this makes a long transfer. In the process of such a long transfer the organizers missed out on a large part of Italy in the 2006 race."

Giuseppe Martinelli Eyes Pontedera TT

Giuseppe Martinelli will guide the 2006 Lampre-Fondital team in next year's Giro d'Italia. The aim of 'Beppe' will be to deliver his star rider, Damiano Cunego, to a second Giro victory. He and the Piccolo Principe were in Milano last Saturday for the unveiling of the 2006 route.

"This will be a Giro where you have to pay attention to the climbs if you want to do well," said Beppe. "I believe that Simoni will be our biggest rival, but also the time trial in Pontedera [50K]. The stage will be very decisive for Cunego."

UPTC says End of Year for Grand Tour Organizers

Yesterday in Bruxelles there was a UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) meeting where Vittorio Adorni laid down the latest in ultimatums. Adorni, president of the UPTC, said that the three Grand Tour organizers had until the end of the year to meet the ProTour conditions, and therefore be included in the 2006 ProTour calendar.

Since this time last year there had been a storm brewing between the UPTC and the organizers of the Grand Tours: RCS (Giro d'Italia), ASO (Tour de France) and Unipublic (Vuelta a España). Arguments were loudest before the start of this year's Giro (May) and Tour (July), when the race organizers where throwing their weight around. The main concern of the Grand Tour organizers is losing control of their historic races to the newly formed UPTC. The ASO leads the battle against the UPTC, and for good reason, they organize cycling's golden event: le Tour de France.

Yesterday Adorni, on the behalf of the UPTC, stated clearly that they were through with negotiations, and that the Grand Tour organizers must meet the UPTC conditions or they will remain outside of the ProTour. The risk that the UPTC runs with such a heavy hand is losing out on related races. For example, RCS controls the rights to Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, and the Giro di Lombardia. It is hard to imagine the importance of the ProTour without the Grand Tours and their related races.

14 November News ...