BiciRace.com :: News :: December 2005

News :: December 2005

2 December 2005

Wilier have Two-Year Deal with Lampre and Cunego

Cunego Is Fitted, photo: Wilier

Lampre and Wilier bicycles have joined forces again. Yesterday at Wilier Triestina's factory in Rossano Veneto the deal was made official when Lampre-Fondital's Team Manager, Giuseppe Saronni, and Wilier Triestina's administrative chief, Andrea Gastaldello, signed an agreement. The deal will link the Veneto industry to the ProTour team for the following two years (2006-2007).

In 2006 Wilier Triestina will provide Lampre-Fondital with 150 bicycles, oh mamma mia! Each rider will have four road bikes and one time trial machine. The 2004 Giro d'Italia champion, Damiano Cunego, will be using a prototype in the early season that is especially shaped for him. The prototype will be a carbon frame based specifically on Cunego's weight and physical attributes. The frame is expected to weigh 850g, and the complete bike will be around 6.850Kg.

Cunego at Factory, photo: Wilier

Il Piccolo Principe was involved right from the start with developing the new prototype. Only days after winning the Japan Cup (23 October) Cunego was back in Italy at the Wilier Triestina's factory. There he spent all day with Lino Gastaldello and his sons to work on the details of his 2006 bikes. The Italian bike firm will take the knowledge learned from developing frames for Lampre-Fondital and then apply that to the frames offered to the consumers.

Cunego Inspects Prototype, photo: Wilier

Read:
Terme Time for Lampre-Fondital, 1 December
Camps Commence, 28 November
Lampre-Fondital Official, 12 November
Damiano Cunego and Lampre Schedules, 2 November
Lampre-(Caffita or Fondital) Changes, 2 November

Fine Tuning of the TT Machine for Di Luca

Today is the last day of the first Liquigas training camp in Salsomaggiore (Emilia-Romagna). The team assembled at the Grand Hotel Porro for the week to organize their season and meet the new members. Danilo Di Luca, after his stellar 2005 season, is now the big gun on the team and the majority of attention was focused on him.

The Killer (29) has stated that his season goal is to win the 2006 Giro d'Italia. Judging by his 2005 performance (4th overall and 2 stage wins) he has a great opportunity to succeed in his home tour, however the 2006 course will be much harder. One aspect that will hurt The Killer is the number of flat TT kilometers. "I am making every adjustment possible to improve in time trialing, especially changes in the bike setup," said Di Luca. "Look at [Ivan] Basso, over the last few years he has transformed himself into a time trial beast. ... I am looking into an all carbon bike for the time trials. The new frame should soon be ready and we will test it on the track in Padova."

Di Luca will soon embark on a long journey to Mexico, like he did at the beginning of last season. 29 January The Killer will depart to Toluca with Stefano Garzelli, Patrick Calcagni, Stefano Zanini, Alessandro Spezialetti and a sixth member yet to be named. He will bring along three bicycles, one of which will be his time trial machine.

The Italian will not focus on the early spring races like in 2005. He aims to be competitive in Liège-Bastogne-Liège (23 April), only 13 days from the start of the Giro. By the end of the first week of the Giro he expects to be in top form, and he thinks that the first true test will come at the finish of stage 8. This stage will finish with the Passo Lanciano, a climb that is very near Di Luca's home and one that he uses in every training ride.

Read:
Di Luca and Bettini Awarded, 29 November
Liquigas Gathers in Terme, 25 November
Liquigas Winter Training, 17 November
Mexico and Training for Danilo Di Luca, 3 November
2006 Liquigas-Bianchi Squadra, 21 October
Danilo Di Luca Interview, 5 July

Gasparotto with Mononucleosis and Pellizotti with Fracture

Italian champion, Enrico Gasparotto, could not take part in the terme at the first Liquigas meeting in Salsomaggiore Terme. The young-gun (23) from Friuli is knocked-out by mononucleosis and has to stop riding for two months. "Better now than in the middle of the race season," said a disappointed Gasparotto. "I know that this stop will partially affect my plans for 2006. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the season I won't be able to take part in any of the races."

Franco Pellizotti (27) also was unlucky, but he was able to make it to the relaxing terme in Salsomaggiore (Emilia-Romagna). "I crashed during the last training ride before the team meeting started," said the Italian with his right arm in plaster. Pellizotti will start to ride again within ten days thanks to the substitution of the plaster with a splint.

Read:
Enrico Gasparotto Looks Good in Tricolore, 28 July
Enrico Gasparotto Is The New Italian National Champion, 27 June

Milram Madness: Bulls, Velo and Ongarato

Zabel On Bull, photo: Milram

The full madness of the first Milram meeting is starting to be revealed. The new Italian/German squadra met for the first time in Bremen (Germany) this last week for a lesson in dairy production. Along with the new Milram squadra were the factory workers of the Nordmilch dairy [Nordmilch is parent company of the Milram brand].

"It was an interesting and fun day at the same time," said mega-sprinter, Alessandro Petacchi. "Nordmilch they impressed me with the amount of work that goes on every day to succeed in the dairy business." The workers showed Ale-Jet every aspect of the factory, including how to milk a cow.

Petacchi Milks It, photo: Milram

"I too was impressed with the amount of work that goes into producing the milk every day at Nordmilch," said Erik Zabel. "It was nice to be with all the new team members, and with Petacchi there is already that good feeling." The German fast-man was put to the test, and was quite successful, with the Nordmilch mechanical bull. He held on tight during the rough ride, just like he is accustomed to every sprint throughout the season.

The bad news for the team was that Marco Velo and Alberto Ongarato could not take part. Ongarato is taking it easy back home in Italy because he has influenza. Marco Velo was whacked by a car when out training just days before he was supposed to depart to Bremen. "In short it went well," said an upbeat Velo. "Judging by how my bicycle was destroyed I am just happy to be here today, even if I am in some pain, I am still happy." BiciRace.com wishes a fast recovery to Velo and Ongarato.

2 Fast-Men and 2 Milk-Men, photo: Milram

Read:
Milram Meet and Greet, 1 December
2006 Milram Team Colors, 23 November
Victory for Alberto Ongarato, 26 October

Tom Boonen Wins the 2005 Mendrisio d'Oro

Tom Boonen has been selected as the winner of the 34th Mendrisio d'Oro, a prestigious Swiss award that is given every year to the best cyclist. This award adds to the collection that Boonen has already received at the end of this year. The Belgian has also won the Velo d'Or, Belgium's Sports Merit Trophy and the Flandrien Trophy.

Read:
Velo d'Or for Tom Boonen, 30 November
Sports Merit Award for Tom Boonen, 18 November
First Race Win for New World Champion, 7 November

Frank Vandenbroucke Confirms with Unibet.com

There is finally a signature from Frank Vandenbroucke (31) to ride the 2006 season with Unibet.com. The Belgian team (formerly MrBookmaker-Sports Tech) will have the Belgian wild man for the next season. VDB will return to training 7 December with an aim on the spring Classics and to ride the Tour de France.

Read:
UniBet.com and VDB, 26 October
Unibet.com Builds with Serpellini, 24 October
Mr. Mojo Risin', 8 June
VDB Returns to Battle in Dunkirk, 4 May
VDB: 19th New Beginning, 29 April
Frank Vandenbroucke to Start Paris-Roubaix, 8 April

1 December News ...