BiciRace.com :: News :: January 2006

News :: January 2006

12 January 2006

Last Day in Sicilia for Cunego

Cunego In Japan, photo: CyclingTime.com

The Cunego crew will depart from their camp in Sicilia after intense training on Monday and Tuesday, four hours yesterday and a planned five hours today. Lampre-Fondital teammates Damiano Cunego, Paolo Tiralongo, Danilo Napolitano, Daniele Bennati and Alessandro Ballan have been in Siracusa for a mini-training camp before the start of the 2006 season.

Cunego is on target for 2006, weighing in at 63Kg (60 last January) and a lot more relaxed. "These days are very important, I am training without pressure and searching to build a solid base," said the 2004 Giro d'Italia winner. The first races scheduled for il Piccolo Principe are in Spain: "I will look for results only if I am well and I hope to be there on the finishing climbs in the Vuelta a Murcia." The Vuelta a Murcia runs from 1 to 5 March and contains a couple of dicey stages, including stage 4 to Collado Bermejo.

Cunego will aim at two Grand Tours for 2006: il Giro and le Tour. "I hope to be very competitive at the Giro and stronger than two years ago. For my first Tour [de France] it is better I arrive with one more year of experience."

Read:
Cunego and Crew Put in Kilometers, 9 January
Cunego Kicks Off in Almeria, 6 January
Cunego to Siracusa for Training, 2 January
Damiano Cunego and Lampre Schedules, 2 November

Team Training Schedules

There are many team camps going on right now. At this point in the year most teams are gathering for their second camp, which is generally more of a serious camp focused on training kilometers. The first camps, usually before Christmas, are more of a hand-shake and passing out team equipment.

Milram who just finished presentation in Bremen (Germany) are stationed in Castagneto Carducci (Toscana) from 11 to 22 January. Liquigas will meet for 10 days, 12 to 21 January, in Cecina Mare (Toscana).
The Belgian based Quick-Step will be on the Costa Blanca of Spain for their second camp. The team of the World Champion, Tom Boonen, will be based in Calpe from 12 to 21 January.
Lampre-Fondital will be in Terracina (Lazio) from 14 - 24 January. During this camp Damiano Cunego and his boys will practice their formation for the Giro d'Italia's team time trial.
Finally, the yellow squadra, Saunier Duval-Prodir, will be in Murcia (Spain) from 16 to 24 January. "Training hard, because the weather was not good in Italy and Spain, so in Murcia we will find good conditions to put in lots of kilometers," said Team DS, Matteo Algeri.

Adorni Happy with Ale-Jet

UCI ProTour Council President, Vittorio Adorni, is very pleased with Alessandro Petacchi's plans to race in all three Grand Tours. "The decision to race in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta confirms him as the best sprinter of the world, and is a show of maturity on the part of Alessandro Petacchi," said Adorni.

Yesterday the Milram sprinter announced his intentions on racing the three Grand Tours. "I actually decided yesterday [10 January] with Stanga to do the Giro d'Italia. I will also take part in the Tour de France, and maybe the even the Vuelta," said Ale-Jet at Tuesday's Milram team presentation. The winner of the 2005 Milano-Sanremo also wants to target many of the spring classics, including the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem. Bravo Ale!

Read:
Milram to Conquer Every Race, 11 January
Ale-Jet Locks Giro into Radar, 10 January
Milram Presents in Bremen, 9 January
Petacchi Might Skip Giro, 14 November

Halgand out of Tour Down Under

Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole) will not start in next week's Tour Down Under after he crashed today during a training ride. The Frenchman (31) has suffered a broken right collar bone and dislocated his right AC joint, and will have to undergo surgery tomorrow to repair the damage.

"It's quite a nasty injury actually," said Tour Down Under Medical Director, Dr Peter Barnes. "The end of his collar bone has actually broken off and the bone is sticking up so we need to go in and repair that damage and the dislocation."

While out on a training run Halgand clipped the end of a branch which was lying on the road. The branch got caught in the forks of his front wheel, causing the Frenchman to go flying over the handlebars before landing heavily on his right shoulder. Now he will be forced to watch his seven other teammates race in the Aussie sunshine: Thor Hushovd, Laszlo Bodrogi, Alexandre Botcharov, Julian Dean, Mads Kaggestad, Jaan Kirsipuu and Mark Renshaw. BiciRace.com wishes Patrice a speedy recovery.

Liberty Seguros-Würth Gears Up

la Squadra, photo: Liberty Seguros-Würth

Liberty Seguros-Würth will make their season debut at the 8th Tour Down Under on 17 January. For the new 2006 season the boys will be in a newly designed kit supplied by Spanish firm EtxeOndo. The kits have a greater influence of blue this year, much like the Quick-Step and Milram kits for 2006, which should make for some tough TV viewing for the tifosi.

One other item of note is the new crash lids supplied by Specialized. The American firm already has a strong presence in Europe, and now adds to that with helmets for the Liberty boys. Have a look at the team's gear in the photo (left to right): Ivan Santos, Eladio Sánchez, Luis León Sánchez, José Joaquín Rojas, Koen De Kort, Allan Davis and Carlos Barredo. Aaron Kemps, who will race the Tour, was not around for the photo, we assume he was adding on the training kilometers.

Read:
Sánchez Down Under and Planning Spring, 7 January
Luis León Sánchez back Down Under, 15 December

Tour Down Under, 17 - 22 January
Main, Startlist, Overall Map, Photos

Team CSC Train and Race in California

Bjarne Riis is taking his Team CSC squadra to California for training and racing. The entire 30-man squadra will base themselves in Solvang for a training camp prior to the start of the Tour of California (19 - 26 February). It will mark the first time for Team CSC to host a training camp outside of Europe.

"With CSC, our title sponsor, headquartered in California, and so many of our other important sponsors like Cervélo based in North America, I'm pleased to see a race like the Tour of California come about," said Bjarne Riis. "It's only natural that we have high ambitions for such a fine event. ... It's a challenge for the teams based in Europe to bring a squad to America and perform well, but it's an important step in making the sport more global."

Read:
Team CSC Returns for Qatar and GP d'Ouverture, 3 January
Riis Impressed with Sixth CSC Camp, 21 December

11 January News ...