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13 January 2006

14 January News ...

Zabel on Track while Milram Trains

The entire Milram squadra is in Italy for their team camp, minus Erik Zabel. The super sprinter from Germany is racing in the Six Day of Bremen (12 - 17 January) along with Marco Villa. Zabel has always used track racing in the off-season to help keep his form from fading.

The road racing will commence following Zabel's last fling on the track. 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.

Read:
Milram to Conquer Every Race, 11 January
Zabel Finishes First Milram Team Camp, 21 December

Team LPR and Pieri at Camp

Team LPR is in training on the coast of Italy in Marina di Bibbona (Toscana). Over the nine days (10 - 19 January) the squadra will be up and down the roads preparing for 2006. The UCI Professional team, with 'new' signing Dario Pieri, is expected to make a strong showing in many Italian races.

The Dario Pieri (30) transferred to Team LPR in August of 2005 and is looking forward to the new year. "Now I am happy because I have a team that believes in me. With this enthusiasm everything else comes easily," said the Fiorentino. Pieri has been a professional since 1997 but the wins recently have been few and far. Back in 2002 saw a victory in the E3-Prijs Harelbeke, followed in 2003 with a 2nd place in the Paris-Roubaix.

Read:
Paolo Valoti Signs with LPR, 5 November
Pieri to LPR for 2005 remainder, 5 August

Teams for 2006 Coppi e Bartali

Settimana Ciclistica di Coppi e Bartali will take place in just over two months, from 21 to 25 March, in Italy. Race organizers will invite 23 teams, and only nine of those will be ProTour teams. The top tier teams down for the start are: Liquigas, Lampre-Fondital, Milram, Davitamon-Lotto, Quick-Step, Gerolsteiner, T-Mobile, Team CSC and Saunier Duval-Prodir. Full route details of the 2006 Coppi e Bartali will be unveiled at the official presentation on 27 February.

Vuelta a Mallorca with 12 ProTour Teams

The UCI has given the 15th la Challenge-Vuelta a Mallorca special permission to invite extra ProTour teams to their race. Under the UCI rules the Spanish race was only able to invite 50% of the 20 teams from the ProTour level, but now they that can go ahead with their planned 12 ProTour teams. For the race it is a step up in stature, after last year only having five ProTour teams of the participating.

The 2006 Vuelta a Mallorca will be run from 5 to 9 February, and it makes a nice starting point for many of the European teams that hold their camps in Southern Spain. The racing is always exciting due to the unique setup: There are five independent races but still an overall GC ranking. There are no requirements to ride one stage in order to start the next day, unless you want to compete for the overall GC. This format is ideal for teams in the early season because it allows them to bring more riders to the race and try out their new recruits.

The following are the 12 teams that are confirmed for the 2006 Vuelta a Mallorca: Liquigas, Rabobank, Davitamon-Lotto, T-Mobile, Quick-Step, Phonak, Gerolsteiner, Ag2R Prévoyance, Team CSC, Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Saunier Duval-Prodir.

12 January News ...