BiciRace.com

• News
• Races
• Photos
• Interviews
• Inside Scoop
• Gear & Gadgets

21 April 2006

22 April News ...

Trentino to Liège: Cunego

Damiano Cunego is on the verge of winning the Giro del Trentino: yesterday in stage 3 he successfully defended his GC lead, and he will face today's final stage with a good chance of winning the overall. The four stage affair has been an opportunity for the 24 year-old Veronese to work with his Lampre-Fondital squadra, refining the machinery for the start of the Giro d'Italia on 6 May, but first it is to eastern Belgium to contest the 92nd Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"I will race Liège calmly," said il Piccolo Principe of this Sunday's Classic. "Last year I went for the first time, and I finished ninth. It is a very beautiful race. I want to interpret how my training is over a long distance and hard parcours, like Liège."

"After Liège I will return to Italy and stay with [Paolo] Tiralongo at Almenno San Bartolomeo, near Bergamo, and then we will go to preview some of the climbs of the Giro... Last Monday I did another training ride over Bondone, Thursday we will have a look at Plan de Corones for the first time, but unfortunately we are not able to have a look at Gavia or Mortirolo. ... Of course I remember climbing these in the Maglia Rosa during the 2004 Giro."

Dai Cunego! Buona fortuna in Belgio!

Read:
Cunego Betters Simoni for Trentino Victory, 20 April

The Killer Eye Liège Rivals

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) was on super-hot form last year during the Ardennes Week, only missing out on one of the three races: Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Even though this year The Killer is focused on the Giro d'Italia overall, don't be surprised if given the chance15.04.36 he goes full-gas in La Doyenne.

"I will be ready for Liège, like I was at Flèche, ready to win," explained Danilo Di Luca, who finished sixth in last Wednesday's Flèche Wallonne. "If I just get in the upper placings then that will be fine. It is important in a race like Liège to not make any mistakes... I will watch Basso, I think he is the most dangerous, who could probably arrive to the finish solo."

"This year we will both want to win the Giro, I will watch him and he will watch me...," continued the 30 year-old in regards to Basso. "Our rivalry is on the rise. ... I have seen him go very strong, but I don't think he will be able to make any more improvements. Cunego will arrive here [in Belgium] on Saturday, tired from [the Giro del] Trentino, so I don't think he will be at the front in Liège. Valverde will have trouble with the distance, which is longer than Flèche. Bettini, you can't let him go like usual, where he attacks over and over."

Liquigas for Liège: Franco Pellizotti, Danilo Di Luca, Stefano Garzelli, Patrick Calcagni, Kjell Carlström, Matej Mugerli, Vincenzo Nibali and Alessandro Spezialetti.

Read:
The Killer Returns to Flèche, 19 April
Liquigas ready with Paolini, Garzelli and Di Luca, 14 April

Basso Has the Guns for the Côtes

Ivan Basso (Team CSC) has the guns to win Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège and he will be backed by a squadra with high morale. His Danish CSC team has won two huge wins in the last couple of weeks, Roubaix and Amstel, so they will be a slight more relaxed in this, the most famous of the Ardennes Classics.

"This is the last race for me before the Giro and I don't want to go home with a bitter taste in my mouth," said il Varesino from his team's Belgian base in Lanaken. "On the Mur de Huy [in Flèche] I did not have any possibility, but Sunday is a different race, with longer climbs that are suited to my style."

I want to be a protagonist and if I am near the front it will be fantastic," continued Basso, who will be helped by Schleck and Kroon. "I don't feel any danger of losing, I will just race my race. The rivalry with the others I don't feel... I prefer that the others worry about me and not the other way around. ... I believe that Cunego can win. He is on form, as you saw in Trentino when he battled Simoni, and with his explosiveness he can do some damage. I saw this two years ago at Giro di Lombardia."

CSC for La Doyenne: Ivan Basso, Karsten Kroon, Fränk 'the Lux' Schleck, Bobby 'J-Man' Julich, Jens Voigt, Peter Luttenberger, Carlos Sastre and Nicki Sørensen

Read:
CSC Axis: Basso, Kroon and Schleck, 20 April
Schleck and Kroon Backed by Basso, 19 April
Basso in Belgium Racing and Reconnoitering, 18 April

La Doyenne Odds from Paolo

BiciRace.com had a late start this morning, but we were still able to catch Paolo at his favorite bar, Frigerio. We quizzed Paolo on Sunday's grand Classic, Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Our Italian odds-maker was in great spirits, more to do with the recent weather, and was happy to help the BiciRace.com readers gamble their hard earned money.

Paolo reminded us that the finish in Liège is basically 'Little Italy', and that the presence of the tricolore flags always spurs on 'our riders'. He advised us against 2004 winner, Tin-Tin Rebellin, and steered us towards the Giro d'Italia riders, like the Italian Stallion, Basso, and Il Piccolo Principe, Cunego.

Paolo did hesitate for a moment, when BiciRace.com thought he might be thinking about his upcoming vacation to the Liguria coast, but instead he was worried about a Spanish conquest. Paolo warned us of the Green Bullet, Valverde, who looks to be an obvious pick after last Wednesday's romp in la Flèche Wallonne. We were told to dismiss what the others have been saying about 'inexperience', and that Alejandro Valverde is a Spaniard who can deliver.

BiciRace.com was happy to see Aussie Evans on Paolo's list. And we were not surprised to see Bettini (2X Liège winner), Vino (2005 winner), Simoni (hot form) and Sánchez (another in-form Spaniard).

Enjoy Sunday's race, it will be spectacular. Gather and place a bet with your friends. BiciRace.com is leaving our Italian pride behind this Sunday, and betting the office on ... The Green Bullet.

Paolo's Odds:
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears) 1-8
Ivan Basso (Team CSC) 1-8
Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step) 1-8
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) 1-10
Alexander Vinokourov (Liberty Seguros-Würth) 1-10
Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir) 1-12
Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 1-12
Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto) 1-15
Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) 1-15
Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) 1-15
Igor Astarloa (Barloworld) 1-15
Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) 1-15
Karsten Kroon (Team CSC) 1-20
Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) 1-20
Andrey Kashechkin (Liberty Seguros-Würth) 1-20
Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) 1-25
Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) 1-25
Jens Voigt (Team CSC) 1-25

Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 23 April, 262K, The Ardennes Classic
Main Page, Overall Map, Profile, Startlist
Report and Results, Photos
2005 Results

Landis Takes TT but Danielson for Brasstown

No-Fuss Floyd Landis (Phonak) copied last year's Tour of Georgia success by winning the time trial stage and taking the overall lead along the way. Landis is now a marked man, in the yellow jersey with four seconds over Tom Danielson, and still has to contend with three more stages, one of which is Brasstown Bald [stage 5].

"The race is never over until the last stage," said No-Fuss Floyd in Chattanooga after his stage 3 win. "I think Saturday is going to be a very difficult stage [stage to Brasstown Bald]. Obviously Tom Danielson is in very good shape, but I trained hard, and we have a really strong team. It'll be a good race."

Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), 2005 Georgia winner, finished second yesterday and, with the climbing stages to come, he is poised to repeat his overall victory. "I'm very happy with my performance," said Danielson after his impressive second. "The two guys here Floyd Landis and David Zabriskie [third] are the best time trialists in the world right now. Jan Ullrich is there, and Ivan Basso is there, and besides that, it's these two guys. For me to be there with them is a big improvement. It shows my improvement. It shows my equipment is good, my fitness is good."

The Disco Captain is eyeing his favorite stage to sweep the leaders jersey: "... I'm very, very motivated for Brasstown Bald. It's the only reason why I came to this race. I love it. Whether I'm three minutes down at that point, four seconds, or zero seconds, it doesn't matter to me. I love that climb, and I love to go fast up it."

Today's stage 4 is a 191.4K 'rolling' stage from Dalton to Dahlonega, leading to Saturday's grand stage to Brasstown Bald. The riders will cover 152.1K on stage 5, with the final 10K on Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest point at 1426 meters.

2006 Tour of Georgia, 18 - 23 April
Main, Overall Map, Photos

20 April News ...