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8 February 2006

9 February News ...

41st Tirreno-Adriatico for the GC Men

The 2006 Tirreno-Adriatico will be a race unlike the past editions. This year will be a test for the men of the grand tours. The Due Mari will be an intriguing stage race, one that in the past years favored the men of speed but this edition will see stages for the likes of Di Luca and Basso.

For the 2006 edition the organizers have thrown in a 20K time trial (stage 5) and a mountain finish of 12K to Monti della Laga (stage 6). The diversity will attract more of the grand tour contenders to the seven-day stage race (8 - 14 March) who would otherwise head to France for the Paris-Nice (5 - 12 March). But organizers still offer some stages to entice the sprinters, like stages 4 and 7.

Ivan Basso (Team CSC) and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) will be the two big Giro d'Italia GC contenders who take to the start of the Due Mari. (Due Mari or "Two Seas": Run from the Tirreno Sea to the Adriatico Sea, west to east). In addition there will be the 2004 winner Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step), and his teammate and 2003 winner, Filippo Pozzato; Stefano Garzelli and Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas; Leonardo Bertagnolli (Cofidis) and Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC). Then there are sprinters: Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi, who will use the race as their last Treno Milram test before the Milano-Sanremo; Lampre-Fondital sprint duo Daniele Bennati and Danilo Napolitano; and 2005 winner Oscar Freire (Rabobank), if his knee problems are sorted out.

BiciRace.com will have a full preview of the 41st Tirreno-Adriatico and the 64th Paris-Nice soon.

Stages:
March 8, Stage 1, Tivoli - Tivoli, 167K
March 9, Stage 2, Tivoli - Frascati, 171K
March 10, Stage 3, Avezzano - Paglieta, 183K
March 11, Stage 4, Paglieta - Civitanova Marche, 219K
March 12, Stage 5, Servigliano - Servigliano TT, 20K
March 13, Stage 6, San Benedetto del Tronto - San Giacomo, 164K
March 14, Stage 7, Campli - San Benedetto del Tronto, 166K
Total 1,090K

Tour Méditerranéen Starts Today in Marseille

Today starts the 33rd Tour Méditerranéen with a 110K stage from Marseille to Marignane. There are six stages over five days, including one team time trial, for a total of 596K. Keep your browser locked to BiciRace.com for full coverage.

Read:
Lampre-Fondital Down for Tour Méditerranéen, 7 February
33rd Tour Méditerranéen Finishes in Sanremo, 21 January

2006 Tour Méditerranéen, 8 - 12 February
Main, Startlist, Overall Map, Photos

Giro della Provincia di Lucca

The 8th Giro della Provincia di Lucca will take place 6 March in the hills of Toscana. In 2005 this was the last professional race that Mario Cipollini would win, and he is guaranteed to be at the start to greet the 17 teams for the start of the 2006 event.

The 194K route will take the riders from the beachside of Viareggio to the finish, past Lucca, near Capannori. The race will start towards the Colle di Montemagno, followed by a jaunt through Viareggio towards Massarosa and then the Monte Pitoro. From there the peloton will descend to Capannori to begin the final three circuits, which includes the ascent to Montecarlo before the finish in Piscina.

One big name who will be on the start line is the Olympic champion, Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step). The Italian will take to the start of the Giro della Provincia di Lucca just two days after competing in the Milano-Torino.

The 17 Teams:
Acqua & Sapone (ITA)
Ag2R Prévoyance (FRA)
Barloworld (GBR)
Ceramica Flaminia (ITA)
Panaria-Navigare (IRL)
Lampre-Fondital (ITA)
Liquigas (ITA)
Miche (ITA)
Naturino-Sapore di Mare (ITA)
Phonak (SUI))
Quick-Step (BEL)
Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni (COL)
Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi (ITA)
Team CSC (DAN)
Team LPR (SVI)
Milram (ITA)
Tenax-Salmilano (IRL)

7 February News ...