BiciRace.com :: News :: February 2006

News :: February 2006

3 February 2006

Cunego Records Lampre Best on Serra

Cunego Flies on Monte Serra, photo: Lampre

The Lampre-Fondital camp in Montecatini (Toscana) is progressing well. Yesterday the blue-pink Italian squadra covered 170K in training that climaxed with a test on the Monte Serra.

The entire squadra timed themselves on the climb between Pisa and Lucca, and Damiano Cunego recorded the best time. Il Piccolo Principe recorded a time of 16'25" over 6.125K, which was 20" faster than the time he recorded on Tuesday. Yesterday's result was achieved with the support of his teammates whereas Tuesday's time of 16'45" was an individual test.

"Here the group really attacked," said Giuseppe Martinelli, Team Manager. "The last ones to stick were Tiralongo and Figueras, then Vila left Cunego solo with 500 meters to the top." It was good training for all the riders, especially Paolo Fornaciari who on the day of his 35th birthday recorded his personal best time of 18'18".

BiciRace.com readers might remember that only two weeks ago Ivan Basso (Team CSC) cracked his winter record on the Monte Serra. The Varesino recorded a time of 16'40" on 15 January, which is 30" shy of his 'in-form' record of 16'10" (Before the 2005 Tour de France). Basso's January test of Monte Serra (917m), like yesterday for Cunego, was with the aide of his teammates.

"The thing that I liked the best was that all the boys repeated the climb of Serra," continued Martinelli. "But for the second attempt they went on the side of San Giusto di Compito, which is unpaved. ... All went well for Cunego. I am content."

Read:
Lampre-Fondital on Monte Serra, 1 February
Lampre-Fondital in Montecatini, 30 January
Basso Cracks Winter Record, 16 January

Lampre-Fondital for GP Etruschi

Ten of the Lampre-Fondital boys will start in the Italian season opener tomorrow, the GP Costa degli Etruschi. The blue and pink riders to start the 193K race will be Daniele Bennati, Alessandro Ballan, Matteo Carrara, Claudio Corioni, Paolo Fornaciari, David Loosli, Danilo Napolitano, Daniele Righi, Mauro Santambrogio and Sylvester Szmyd. DS for the race will be Fabrizio Bontempi.

Petacchi Develops Milram Train

Alessandro Petacchi makes his season debut tomorrow in the GP Costa degli Etruschi. He will seek to answer the Qatar roar of Tom Boonen and to develop his Milram lead-out train. He should be comfortable with the run-in to Donoratico but will need to build the race confidence of his new Italian-German teammates.

"The biggest problem is who will be able to form the train that will lead me out," said Petacchi (32), who is showing uncertainty in his new squadra. "Excluding Den Bakker, who has raced in a grand squadra, I know little of my new teammates. And the language is still an obstacle. Zabel has spoken highly of Becke and Siedler, who are strong pace makers like Knees and Grabsch ... From the Germans I am most impressed with Schröder, who went well in training, and also the Ukrainian Dyudya, who comes from the track and has a lot of enthusiasm to form part of my train. ... I hope to arrive at Tirreno-Adriatico with more certainty."

The adjustment period could be long for Ale-Jet, after serving the last six years under Giancarlo Ferretti at Fassa Bortolo. "After 10 years as a pro this gives me stimulation," continued Petacchi. "It will not be easy because it does not only depend on me. I will try to talk to everyone and involve them in the project."

Tomorrow the train will likely form with Volodymyr Dyudya, Alessandro Cortinovis and Elia Rigotto doing pace work starting at the 5K banner. Fabio Sacchi will take the reins at -2.3K, who will be followed by Mirco Lorenzetto at -1.5K. Then Petacchi's trusted men, Alberto Ongarato and Marco Velo, will serve in the final meters. Ongarato will take over at -800m, followed by a leg-cracking pace from Velo at -400m. If the Milram train works well Ale-Jet will likely fly solo in the last 200 to 180 meters. Stay tuned!

Read:
Milram Train of Petacchi Debuts in GP Etruschi, 1 February
The Italian Opener: GP Etruschi, 31 January

Liquigas in GP Etruschi

The Euro opener for Liquigas will be tomorrow in Donoratico. The green squadra will line-up in the GP Costa degli Etruschi with a mix of riders that include expert riders, like Andrea Noè (37), and enthusiastic young riders, like Eros Capecchi (19).

From the team's young group, sprinter Daniele Colli (23) has a good chance for victory if the race comes down to a bunch gallop. "In truth, we're likely to aim at the second place because of the presence of Petacchi in the race," said an honest Colli. "Alessandro will want to react to the series of wins obtained by Boonen in Qatar, but believe me, if I have a chance to get my first pro win, I'll take it."

Liquigas for GP Costa degli Etruschi: Eros Capecchi, Andrea Noè, Dario Andriotto, Mauro Da Dalto, Francesco Failli, Marco Righetto and Charles Wegelius. Mario Chiesa will be the Team DS.

Eisel is Honest after Boonen Beating

Eisel Over Top Guns, photo: ASO

After four straight victories in the first four races of the season, Tom Boonen has lost. Bernhard Eisel (Française Des Jeux) won stage 4 in the Tour of Qatar and stopped the Tom Boonen show, with the Belgian finishing in third. The Austrian (24) was honest in how he won: "I won only because Boonen had a problem with his shifting."

The young Eisel should not be so modest, he also finished in front of Erik Zabel, Fabrizio Guidi and Stuart O'Grady. It was a very good result, even if the World Champion fumbled his Campagnolo shifting. Maybe we will see an Eisel repeat in today's final stage of the 5th Tour of Qatar.

Alessandro Bertolini Finds Home with Selle Italia

Alessandro Bertolini (38) found a new team at the last moment. The Trentino, pro since 1993, will ride the 2006 season in the colors of Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni. The former Domina Vacanze rider has 12 career victories, which include Paris-Bruxelles (1997) and Coppa Sabatini (2005). He will make his 2006 season debut on 4 March in the Milano-Torino.

Read:
Italians without Contracts, 6 January

2 February News ...