BiciRace.com :: News :: January 2006

News :: January 2006

25 January 2006

2007 Grand Départ from London

To host the Grand Départ of the 2007 Tour de France London had to slap some other cities around. For the departure rights of the 94th Tour the Brits out-muscled some big cities: Lugano (Switzerland), Herning (Denmark), Rotterdam and Utrecht (Holland). BiciRace.com was pulling hard for our Swiss neighbor, but compliments to London for winning.

London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, was unable to give exact locations, but he did leak some dates and details for La Grand Boucle. 6 July 2007 London will host the opening ceremonies, while the prologue will get underway 24 hours later. The prologue is scheduled to be held in the center of the city based on The Mall. 8 July will see the partenza of the first road stage, surely to be a sprinter's affair, which might start in London and finish on the Kent coast.

Read:
London Calling 2007 Tour, 24 January

Ag2R Prévoyance Down for Tour and Vuelta

Paco Is The MAN, photo: © Unipublic

Ag2R Prévoyance will aim for the podiums of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España in 2006. The French squadra was recently promoted to cycling's highest ranks, ProTour Team, and will now have more freedom for race invitations.

The squadra's big guns are Francisco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau, and it is the hope of Team Manager, Vincent Lavenu, that one of these two will stand on the podium of a Grand Tour. "For the tours they are complementary," said Lavenu. "They have common interests and can help each other ... There are no doubts among the two."

We hope to see Moreau dig deep for Paco in the Tour de France. The punchy Spaniard is quite capable of a Tour podium but will need the loyalty of his French teammate. However, it is likely that Moreau will ride his own race and Paco will seek support from his former Illes Balears teammates, José Luis Arrieta and David Navas. Stay tuned for the drama.

Read:
Mancebo the Ag2R Prévoyance Man for Tour, 3 January
Moreau Digs Mancebo, 23 December
2006 Ag2R Prévoyance Squadra, 8 October
Mancebo Fortifies Ag2R Prévoyance, 7 August

The Killer at Palazzo Montecitorio

Di Luca Talks, photo: BiciRace.com

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) was at Palazzo Montecitorio (Roma) yesterday to be awarded by the Italian Parliament. The event was organized by Monica Baldi, member of Italian Parliament and president of the national cycling team of Parliament, to honor the sport. The Killer was presented with a silver medal by president of the Chamber of Deputies, Pierferdinando Casini.

"An unusual but pleasant day," said the Killer. "I've seen how passionate many members of Parliament are about cycling. Casini, who awarded me, has especially proved to be skilled at our sport."

During the event was also the preview of a new film produced by Rai. The Italian media giant produced a film, entitled Gino Bartali, l'intramontabile, based on the life of the Italian cycling legend. "I believe it would be a success: as far as I am concerned the great richness of Bartali's sportsmanship and personal story will emerge for sure," finished The Killer.

Read:
Gino Bartali Shows Saturday, 1 December
Di Luca and Bettini Awarded, 29 November

Barloworld Train in Montecatini

Barloworld are putting in some serious preseason training in Montecatini Terme (Toscana). The British/Italian/South African squadra are stationed at the Grand Hotel du Park et Regina from 23 January through 2 February.

In November Claudio Corti left Lampre-Caffita to become the new Team Manager of Barloworld. The camp at Montecatini Terme will be a chance for Corti to fine tune his work from the past two months. There will meetings with his new signings, such as Giosuè Bonomi, Mads Christensen and Mauro Facci, and working on the setup of the Cannondale rigs. The USA firm has been with the Corti for many years, first with Saeco and then in 2005 with Lampre-Caffita.

"We are starting on this new season with great enthusiasm," explained Corti. "During the camp the work will be very important to find the right motivation that will allow us to concentrate on season's objectives. Barloworld is a squadra that has to grow but there are already some interesting elements in the team: I already know Astarloa well and I am sure he wants to demonstrate what he can do ... and I'm convinced of the potential of all the riders starting with Arreitunandia, Cárdenas, Cox, Efimkin and our sprinter Degano."

Read:
Corti Building with Barloworld, 20 December
Volpi Helps Corti with Barloworld, 6 December
Corti and Christensen to Barloworld-Valsir, 3 December
Claudio Corti to Head Barloworld-Valsir, 22 November

24 January News ...