BiciRace.com :: News :: January 2006

News :: January 2006

9 January 2006

Jeker and Day to Carvalhelhos-Boavista

Jeker out of Yellow, photo: Capture-The -Peloton.com

Fabian Jeker and Ben Day have both signed for Carvalhelhos-Boavista, a Portuguese Continental team. After two years with Saunier Duval-Prodir the Swiss had been linked with Unibet.com. It will be a return to Portugal for Jeker (37), who rode for three years with the Portuguese based Milaneza-MSS.

Day, ten years younger at 27, will be making a return to Carvalhelhos-Boavista after two years with MrBookmaker-Sports Tech. The Aussie made his pro debut in Portugal, starting with a year on Matesica-Aboboda and a then a year with Carvalhelhos-Boavista.

Jeker's Teams:
Helvetia (1991 - 1992), Castorama (1993 - 1994), Festina (1995 - 2000), Milaneza-MSS (2001 - 2003), Saunier Duval-Prodir (2004 - 2005)
Day's Teams:
Matesica-Aboboda (2002), Carvalhelhos-Boavista (2003), MrBookmaker (2004 - 2005)

Milram Presents in Bremen

Zabel and Ale-Jet Wine Up, photo: Milram

Tuesday (10 January) will be the official Milram presentation in Bremen (Germany). There will be 30 riders presented in the light blue kits of the Italian-German squadra (15 Italians, 10 German, 2 Ukrainians, 1 Kazakh, 1 Dutch and 1 Slovak). The press and fans will gather to see the big names presented, like Erik Zabel, Alessandro Petacchi, Mirko Celestino, but the team also has a deep foundation of quality riders.

Colnago and McDonalds, photo: Milram

"We have a squadra with great structure and built on champions," said Team Manager, Gianluigi Stanga. "We will wait to show ourselves right at the end, above all in the sprints. Then do not forget that we have group of young riders which we have great faith in, and from them we will expect a little something this year."

Read:
Zabel Finishes First Milram Team Camp, 21 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

Fassa Roberto Petito Still Searching

Roberto Petito (34) is still racing while looking for a contract for 2006. The former Fassa Bortolo rider continues to search for a squadra but took time to compete in Italy's cyclocross nationals. The Romano wanted to change-up his training and insert a little 'cross action, an old passion of his, and at the same time he is keeping his name in the light for potential teams.

Petito finished fifth in Saturday's nationals (held in Lecce) and now will be traveling with the Squadra Azzurra to the World Championships in Zeddam (Holland). The blue color will be normal for him, back in 2004 he raced at the road World Championships in Verona. 2005 was a season of helping Alessandro Petacchi to sprint victories, not to mention placing fifth in the Tour of Flanders.

The Romano has been a professional since 1993, and he has raced the last six years with Fassa Bortolo at the side of Petacchi. He has archived seven career victories, which include the Giro di Romagna (1994), Tirreno-Adriatico (1997) and Giro di Sardegna (1997).

Read: Italians without Contracts, 6 January

13 Italiani Down Under

There will be 13 Italians making the long voyage to the 8th Tour Down Under. The Aussie stage races runs from 17 to 22 January, and usually serves as season opener for many professionals. Here are the Italians will be traveling with their Nutella and Parmigiano: Giovanni Visconti, Fabio Sabatini, Simone Cadamuro, Elia Rigotto, Carlo Scognamiglio, Michele Gobbi (all Milram), Luca Paolini, Eros Capecchi, Daniele Colli, Manuel Quinziato, Nicola Loda, , Mauro Da Dalto and Marco Righetto (all Liquigas).

Read:
Tour Down Under Route Information
Sánchez Down Under and Planning Spring, 7 January
Milram debuts at Tour Down Under, 29 December
Navigators Down Under, 22 December
Luis León Sánchez back Down Under, 15 December

Cunego and Crew Put in Kilometers

The training continues to go well for Damiano Cunego and his teammates. A group of five Lampre-Fondital riders have based themselves in Siracusa (Sicilia) from 3 to 13 January to seek out warm weather.

The 2004 Giro d'Italia winner, accompanied by Paolo Tiralongo, Danilo Napolitano (both Siciliano), Daniele Bennati and Alessandro Ballan, has concluded the first few days of training. Most days consist of six hours in the saddle, near 200K of riding. Yesterday the crew had to change their plans when bad weather moved in, they were forced to wait until the afternoon for a shortened (2 hour) ride along the coast of Siracusa.

Read:
Cunego Kicks Off in Almeria, 6 January
Cunego to Siracusa for Training, 2 January
Damiano Cunego and Lampre Schedules, 2 November

41st Tirreno-Adriatico Teams

Organizers of the Tirreno-Adriatico, RCS Sport, have announced the teams that will take part in the 41st edition of their race. The race, typically run from the west (Tirreno Sea) to east (Adriatico Sea) of Italy, will be held from 8 to 14 March. The teams selected are all ProTour teams, with the exception of the one wildcard team, Panaria-Navigare, an Italian based Professional team.

The 21 2006 Tirreno-Adriatico teams:
Ag2R Prévoyance
Bouygues Telecom
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
Cofidis
Crédit Agricole
Davitamon-Lotto
Discovery Channel
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Française Des Jeux
Gerolsteiner
Lampre-Fondital
Liberty Seguros-Würth
Liquigas
Milram
Panaria-Navigare
Phonak
Quick-Step
Rabobank
Saunier Duval-Prodir
T-Mobile
Team CSC

7 January News ...