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21 December 2005

22 December News ...

Riis Impressed with Sixth CSC Camp

Bjarne Riis, 1996 Tour de France winner and Team Manager of CSC, called his crew together at the beginning of December for a survival camp. This is the sixth year that Riis has organized the Danish gathering that is designed to test team cooperation under stress and sleepless nights. Riis and BS Christiansen, one of NATO's best trained elite soldiers, tested their staff to read how each member functions.

"These few days have given us some very valuable information ... it will definitely benefit us later on when we hit the roads. ... As part of all the different exercises we've been through during this trip, it's been essential to take responsibility and the team spirit has been tested to the limit," said Riis via Team CSC.

The team was forced to sail boats at 1.00 in the morning for four hours, prepare meals in the open woods before sleeping the night in tents, and put through exercises specificity designed to test group communication under physical exhaustion. "[It is] to observe how everyone reacts under extreme pressure. This is another very important part of out team training," finished Riis.

Read:
CSC Survival Camp Starts, 6 December
November: A Month of Swimming for Basso, 24 November
Camps: Simoni, Basso and Savoldelli, 17 November

Zabel Finishes First Milram Team Camp

Today Erik Zabel (35) finished the first Milram team camp, after 11 days in Castagneto Carducci (Toscana). The German never stops, he had just come off of a hard Six Day race schedule before the Toscana camp. Next for the German/Italian squadra will be a team presentation in Bremen (Germany) on 10 January, followed by another team training camp in Castagneto Carducci (11 - 22 January). All the Milram boys will be there, except Zabel, who will take part in the Bremen Six Day.

Following Zabel's last fling on the track for the winter, and more training, the road racing will commence. The 4X winner of Milano-Sanremo will make his start in Qatar with the Doha International GP (27 January) and Tour of Qatar (29 January - 3 February). The German will then join up with Alessandro Petacchi to perfect their sprint lead-out for one of the season's big goals, the Milano-Sanremo (18 March). The duo will use the Tirreno-Adriatico (8 - 14 March) as the final launch pad for La Classicissima. Zabel Explains: "At Tirreno we will construct and perfect our train for Sanremo. If one idea does not work we will try another. There is always tomorrow to try another method, but in Sanremo there is no tomorrow. If you make a mistake you have to wait another year."

The early season will be a chance for Zabel to get accustomed to his new Colnago machine. The German is known for being particular with his bikes, and in the past he has helped Giant engineers perfect their rigs for T-Mobile. Many of his race bikes fill a special garage in Germany, in which there are around 50 bicycles that Zabel has collected over his career. In the collection are bikes from his four Milano-Sanremo victories and green jersey conquests at the Tour de France. 2006 will provide Zabel an opportunity to add to his personal museum.

Read:
Zabel and Petacchi with Toscana, 14 December
Milram Meets in Toscana, 11 December
Milram Madness: Bulls, Velo and Ongarato, 2 December
Milram Meet and Greet, 1 December
2006 Milram Team Colors, 23 November

Simoni Starts Season Today

Today marks the start of the 2006 season for Gilberto Simoni (34). The last month has been calm compared to the fall when the rider from Trentino was looking for a new squadra. Simoni was caught up in the SonyEricsson fall-out and was sent scrambling for a new team at the last minute.

It was the Spanish/Swiss squadra, Saunier Duval-Prodir, to capitalize on the situation and sweep up Simoni. It was late in the market season and there were few, if any at all, other ProTour teams for the 2X Giro d'Italia winner. But with his new squadra Simoni will be linking with his former DS, Pietro Algeri. "We had two great years together in the past, with a third and a first at the Giro," said Simoni of the Bergamasco DS.

Saunier's next camp is 16 - 24 January in Málaga (Spain). 10 days later Simoni will make his debut in the Vuelta a Mallorca (5 - 7 February), then pass over to the Wild West for the Tour of California (19 - 26 February). His first race in Italy will be the Milano-Sanremo (18 March), followed later by the Liège-Bastogne-Liège (23 April), just two weeks until the start of the 89th Giro d'Italia. Simoni will aim to take his third victory in his home tour, and he also has an eye on stage 16 to Monte Bondone, which passes near his house.

Read:
Gilberto Simoni to California, 30 November
Simoni Scouts Plan de Corones, 19 November
Camps: Simoni, Basso and Savoldelli, 17 November
The Details of Simoni's Saunier Decision, 22 October

Grand Tour Organizers: Team Prize and New Circuit

The Grand Tour organizers, who withdrew from the ProTour on 9 December, are building up their races to entice teams to attend. The organizers, RCS Sport (Giro d'Italia), ASO (Tour de France) and Unipublic (Vuelta a España), are upping the prizes to encourage teams to compete in all three events. A new competition will be geared for team participation in all three races, the Giro, Tour and Vuelta. The best team of the tours will be rewarded a share of the overall prize, valued at €2 million.

There is also discussion of a new circuit combining the Grand Tours with some of the other races that the organizers operate. The organizers hope to do what the UPTC (UCI ProTour Council) was unable to do, and justifiably award the points for winning races. The following races are controlled by the three organizers and could contribute to the new circuit: Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Paris-Tours and Giro di Lombardia.

Read:
Grand Tour Organizers vs ProTour Update, 13 December
Grand Tour Organizers Say "Ciao" to ProTour, 10 December
Grand Tour Organizers Press Release, 10 December

Boonen Kicks Off with Qatar

The World Champion, Tom Boonen (Quick-Step), will make his season debut in the 2006 Tour of Qatar at the end of January. Boonen will use this race, and other spring races, as a lead up to his big objective: The Milano-Sanremo. The 25 year-old Belgian wants to flash his rainbow kit on the Via Roma, and then shift focus to France for another go at the Green jersey. Last year he was thundering a path towards success in the points competition at the Tour de France, after two stage wins, when crashes and knee problems forced him to stop short.

"It is not true that I have achieved all of my career objectives, because I missed out on Sanremo last year and I had to withdraw from the Tour's green jersey competition because of my crashes," said Boonen at Sunday's Awards ceremony. Belgium's recently crowned Sportsman of the Year added, "If I am able to win one of those two goals then the 2006 season would be a success."

Read:
Sprint d'Or from RTBF to Boonen, 20 December
Belgium's Sportsman of the Year: Tom Boonen, 19 December
First Race Win for New World Champion, 7 November

20 December News ...