BiciRace.com :: News :: February 2006

News :: February 2006

26 February 2006

Raisin Wants Training

Saul Ready for Training, photo: Capture-The -Peloton.com

BiciRace.com caught up with Saul Raisin (Crédit Agricole) before the start of stage 6 of the Tour of California. "Alright. I'm feeling better," said Raisin when we asked how he was doing. "I was pretty destroyed after Malaysia [Langkawi]."

"Good. It wasn't that bad. It was more controlled," said Raisin in regards to stage 5 into Santa Barbara. "Like all the big teams were just attacking each other until it just doesn't seem that fast anymore. It's more like just attacking until everyone's just dead. It was like the other day, after all the attacking and after two hours everyone just said 'I've got to use the bathroom'. I need a break and so we stopped for 30 minutes."

"[San Marcos pass] not that bad, just a big road, with a headwind," continued the young American. "And Gerolsteiner attacked. More like two of his guys got on the front and then me, and then Levi on my wheel. I just jumped on their wheel and they started sprinting and going so hard, and I just thought 'forget that' and I popped off. And then Levi [Leipheimer] had to close the gap, but actually when he closed the gap he just kept going and rode off. And then I just jumped back on everyone's wheel and kind of recovered and rode up the mountain."

"I only moved up one place on GC because Alexandre Moos worked hard for Floyd [Landis] and popped off at the finish," said Raisin, who is now 18th at 3'11". "[Last night] I just stayed in the hotel. I'm on the rivet. Not really tired. I tell you my immune system, just coming straight from Malaysia and with the time change and everything, I was sick the first couple of days, was on antibiotics and had some weird virus. And now that's gone, and I'm stronger than I was, but now I'm getting a little tired."

"I have a little break [after Cali], and then I start back with a team camp and then Milan-Sanremo ... I will look for BiciRace.com there," said Raisin. There will be no Paris-Nice for him: "No way. It's too much. They originally talked about it, but I need a break as I haven't really done any real training this year. I did two weeks of training and started racing. I'm looking forward to having a break and getting in some real training and up in the mountains and what not."

After stage 6, in Thousand Oaks, Raisin saw BiciRace.com again and said: "I went and I was going and going, and then I just said, please make it stop."
- Kim

Horner Heading to Paris

BiciRace.com bumped into Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) after stage 6 in Thousand Oaks, but he was still thinking about stage 4 to San Luis Obispo. He scoffed at the break not wanting to work with him in it and said: "I could have done 43K by myself."

Did Horner see any of the Santa Barbara nightlife on State Street? "Go out? I'm trying to find form. For me this is business. I mean I enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but I've got Paris-Nice just after this so..." The American will stay in San Diego for a few days and then go straight to the start of Paris-Nice. "I don't know if the form will come by then. I don't know when it will come. I think it will be after Paris-Nice and I will have a few weeks of training."

Horner noted that he will not do Redlands or the other California races that he has dominated in the past: "I'm not doing that anymore. I'm doing Liège-Bastogne-Liège."
- Kim

Street Clothes Simoni

Simoni heads to Tunnel, photo: Beth Seliga

Simoni was in street clothes and sitting shotgun in the Prodir-Saunier Duval car when BiciRace.com spoke with him. "A beautiful race," said Simoni of the inaugural Tour of California. He did not start stage 6 from Santa Barbara because he had a fever and "could not recover and needed to get well for the bigger goals in the season."

"Yes, every day it starts fast," said the 2X Giro d'Italia winner of the pace at the Tour of California. Are the Americani going extra hard to impress on home turf? "Naturally, given that we are here." Next week Simoni is scheduled to travel to San Diego for time in the wind tunnel.
- Kim

Zajicek Happy to Miss Figueroa

Phil Zajicek took time to speak with BiciRace.com of stage 6 into Santa Barbara. The captain of the Navigators was thankful when "we got to the Figueroa road turnoff and we didn't turn." The American had been in the area three years ago while with Saturn and had ridden the painful Figueroa and out to Jalama.

We reminded him of his Amaro interview last season after Worlds at BiciRace.com headquarters. Had Zajicek enjoyed any of the local wines in California? "Not so much. And no Amaro. Next October."
- Kim

Johnson Sees Water

"The only good part was coming over the climb and seeing the water, and knowing we were almost done," said Tim Johnson (Health Net-Maxxis) of the stage 5 San Marcos Pass. His squadra had based their camp in Buellton and he sarcastically added: "Yesterday, coming over the stage we had a big advantage."

"The race is awesome because everyone stays in the same hotel and everything's there and it makes it easier," said Johnson of the Tour of California organization. Everyone's favorite American will be covering most of the California races with his squadra. "We're doing Merced, Fresno, Redlands, Sea Otter, all that stuff," said Johnson. Although from Boston, he has based himself on the Central Coast during the winter.
- Kim

Riis Does Not Talk Danish

Bjarne Riis, Team Manager of CSC, based his squadra in Solvang prior to the Tour of California and the boys knew all the Santa Barbara roads. Was being based in Solvang a chance for him to speak his native language, given that it is allegedly a Danish town? "No," said Riis in a rather stoic manner, but of course it was immediately prior to the start of stage 6.
- Kim

Disco Punches Rodriguez

BiciRace.com talked to Fast Freddie Rodriguez briefly and asked him how the Cali Tour was going. "It's been tough, but just enough. It's been fast," said the Davitamon-Lotto sprinter.

"I just missed the group by a 100 meters," said Fast Freddie of stage 5 into Santa Barbara. "I just made it over the top with Stuey [Stuart O'Grady] and my team didn't have any radios and I couldn't call them back so we had total miscommunication. And if they had known that I was that close they could have dropped back and towed me back on. I thought we were with the group when we came over the top. We were only ten seconds back. Then Discovery realized we weren't there and they just punched it."
- Kim

Pinotti Gives it a Go

Marco Pinotti (Prodir-Saunier Duval) attacked towards the end of yesterday's stage 6 to Thousand Oaks, trying to bridge up to Sebastian Lang of Gerolsteiner. "I tried but it was hard," said the BiciRace.com Inside Scoop writer. Marco again indicated that he was thoroughly impressed with the race organization, as are the majority of the riders.
- Kim

25 February News ...