BiciRace.com :: News :: January 2006

News :: January 2006

2 January 2006

Coppi: 46 Years Later

Coppi In Action, photo: RCS Sport

Today marks 46 years since the passing of cycling's legendary Fausto Coppi. Il Campionissimo will be honored in a ceremony in Castellania (Piemonte), the city where he is buried, alongside his brother Serse. After the ceremony there will be recounts of the Italian's life, entitled "Welcome Castellania", and then there will be the presentation of the 2006 Coppi Calendar.

Fausto Coppi is one of cycling's best, perhaps only topped by Eddy Merckx. From the years 1938 to 1957 he recorded 118 victories on the road, and also held the Hour Record for 14 years at 45.871K. Despite a pause for World War II he won the Giro d'Italia an amazing five times (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953) and the Tour de France twice (1949 and 1952). His palmarès also includes impressive one day wins: the Giro di Lombardia five times, on the Via Roma of the Milan-Sanremo three times, once on the pavé of Paris-Roubaix and winning the rainbow jersey in the 1953 World Championships. In his 1946 victory of Milano-Sanremo Coppi had time to finish a bottle of spumante and shower before the second place rider was seen, some 14 minutes later.

Il Campionissimo caught malaria at the end of 1959, while on a cycling and hunting trip in the African Upper Volta (or Burkina Faso). After his return to Italy the illness broke out and it was not recognized in time for effective treatment. Coppi died 2 January 1960 at 40 years of age.

Cunego to Siracusa for Training

Cunego In Japan, photo: CyclingTime.com

Damiano Cunego will be traveling to southern Italy to avoid the snow that has fallen on the north. From tomorrow to 13 January he will be training on his Wilier bike in Siracusa (Sicilia). The weather for the 2004 Giro d'Italia winner is forecasted to be 15°C (59°F) with some clouds.

Cunego welcomed the invitation from his Lampre-Fondital teammates, Paolo Tiralongo and Danilo Napolitano, to come to their home region. Traveling with Il Piccolo Principe will be Daniele Bennati and Alessandro Ballan.

Read:
400 Tifosi Party with Cunego, 19 December
Time Trial Work for Cunego, 3 December
Wilier have Two-Year Deal with Lampre and Cunego, 2 December
Terme Time for Lampre-Fondital, 1 December
Damiano Cunego and Lampre Schedules, 2 November

First Birth in Pisa is Manuel Galletti

Yesterday in Pisa, 42 minutes after midnight, arrived Manuel Galletti, the second son of the late Alessio Galletti. The Toscano (37) experienced heart problems and died shortly after while climbing the Alto de la Manzaneda during the Subida de Naranco. After racing 147 f 162K the former rider for Naturino-Sapore di Mare said "I feel bad, I feel chest pains."

Manuel, 3.950Kg, was the first registered birth in Pisa for the new 2006 year. He joined his brother, Marcus, and mother to help celebrate the new year. The Galletti family lives in Cascina (Toscana) where they operate a gelateria (ice-cream shop). BiciRace.com sends peaceful wishes for the new year to all those affected by the death of Alessio Galletti.

Read:
Alessio Galletti's Funeral Brings Many Friends, 21 June
Tragedy in Asturias, 15 June

Furlan to Colombia-Selle Italia

Angelo Furlan (28) has signed to ride for 2006 with the team of Gianni Savio, Colombia-Selle Italia. The Italian turned professional in 2001, riding for Alessio and then in 2005 for Domina Vacanze. Over his career he has brought home six victories, his last one being in 2004 with the Coppa Bernocchi.

Savio has brought onboard a rider capable of nudging his way through heavy bunch gallops. Furlan has many high placings in sprints of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, this year he placed in the top five at the Tour on two occasions. A crash in stage 7 ended Furlan's Grand Boucle and forced the sprinter to take a rest. For 2006 Savio hope to have Furlan back up in the thick of the sprints once more.

Read: Wladimir Belli to Selle Italia-Colombia, Not Portalupi Salumi, 31 October

Boonen Wins International Herald Tribune Award

Tom Boonen won the International Herald Tribune Award for Cycling's Man of the Year. The American daily paper justifiably awarded the Belgian hard-man but then ran the title "Cycling's man of the year? No Lance, it's not you" on the front page. That was despite Lance Armstrong having dominated the Tour de France for an astonishing seventh time this last summer.

"Last year, I lost to a corpse (Belgium's Emile Brichard, with 104 years of age the oldest surviving Tour de France rider in the world received the honors last year, only to die shortly afterwards). Who is it this time? A spectator?" the Texan was quoted as saying. The paper replied to Armstrong saying, "It is true, Mr. Armstrong, that you had a magnificent ride in the Tour de France and that your record will not be broken any time soon - at least not for the next seven years. But the Tour de France is just - if that is the word - a three-week-race in July."

The American paper, along with many tifosi, considered Tom Boonen's record this year far more award worthy. He is "a cyclist for all seasons" and not just for the month of July. In 2005 Boonen stomped to victory in the Tour de Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, stages of the Tour de France, and World Championship. "This award will be a lesson to some riders, who base their season on July, that there is life outside the Tour," finished the International Herald Tribune.

BiciRace.com enjoys the year long, full-throttle, racing style of the young Belgian. Boonen's wins sparked life into the world of cycling, unlike the predictable seventh victory of the Texan. We do think that the American paper was a little hard on the retired Disco man, when they should have just focused on the victories of Tornado Tom.

Read:
2nd Oscar Gazzetta to Boonen, 28 December
Sprint d'Or from RTBF to Boonen, 20 December
Belgium's Sportsman of the Year: Tom Boonen, 19 December
Tom Boonen Wins the 2005 Mendrisio d'Oro, 2 December
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
The King and Boonen Meet, 27 September

Armstrong Wins AP Male Athlete of Year

Retired Lance Armstrong put a win on the board by being named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth consecutive time and thus becoming the first athlete to do so since the award's introduction in 1931.

The American's record, and kind of boring, seventh straight Tour de France win enabled him to win 30 of the 83 votes cast for the award. Second and third places went to American football players, and unfortunately Tom Boonen was nowhere in the results.

Read:
El País Names Armstrong Sportsman of the Year, 27 December
Armstrong Strong at Team Camp, 12 December

Panaria-Navigare in Qatar and Langkawi

Panaria-Navigare will make their season start in Qatar (27 January - 3 February). The Italian team will be lead by Paride Grillo, along with the following riders: Brett Lancaster, Aitor Galdos Alonso, Laverde Felipe, Matteo Priamo, Tiziano Dall'Antonia, Andrea Pagoto and Moisés Aldape Chavez.

Another squadra of Orange boys will head to Malaysia to contest the Tour de Langkawi (3 - 12 February). For the Asian race the boys will be: Julio Pérez, Ruben Bongiorno, Ariel Richeze, Fortunato Baliani, Mirko Allegrini and Sergiy Matveyev.

29 December News ...