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25 April 2006

26 April News ...

Eleven Days to Giro: the Numbers

The 89th Giro d'Italia departs in eleven days from Seraing, Belgium with a time trial prologue of six kilometers and 200 meters. A new Giro champion will be crowned when the race finishes in Milano on 28 May after the peloton covers 21 stages and 3,526.2K.

The climbs are spread thick in this 2006 edition, the first stage that could change the classification is stage eight on 14 May, from Civitanova Marche to Maielletta/Passo Lanciano, the first of four mountain top finishes. The others are Monte Bondone (stage 16), Plan de Corones (17) and Passo di San Pellegrino (19). In total there are 30 climbs. The Cima Coppi will come on the 2618 meter Passo Gavia, the penultimate day, 27 May.

Other than the 6.2K opening crono the riders will face a team TT of 38K on stage 5 and an individual test of 50K on stage 11. Both of the time trials come after a rest day, the first in Piacenza, after the transfer from Belgium, and the second in Pontedera.

It will be a trying Giro. There are a total of 20,000 meters of climbing, 15,000 of which are in the last week. The most feared, and unknown, climb of the 89th Giro is the Plan de Corones. The ascent, partly covered in gravel (or "sterrato"), has an average gradient of 10%, and maximum sections of 24%.

The Giro will surely live up to its legend this year as a climber's race. Keep your browser locked to BiciRace.com for coverage.

Read:
Giro d'Italia Preview
2006 Giro d'Italia Presentation News, 12 November
2006 Giro d'Italia Presentation Photos
Giro Jitters: Italians in Wallonne, 8 November
2006 Giro d'Italia to Start in Belgium, 20 July

Romandie with Ulle and il Falco

The 60th Tour de Romandie departs today with two big names: Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile). Il Falco Bergamasco, winner in 2000, will be starting in only his third race of the season, after the Tour of California and Tirreno-Adriatico. The 32 year-old has just come off a week of intense training and will be using the Swiss race as his final preparations for the Giro d'Italia, staring 6 May.

Ulle, who is also racing the Giro but only for training, is making his season debut in the Tour de Romandie. "I did not come here to win a stage or the overall classification, this race interests me only for preparing for the Giro and, above all, the Tour de France," said the 32 year-old German. "At the Giro I expect the last week to be the most difficult, I am ready for the suffering. I have just returned from 15 days of very intense and profound training, which gave me a lot of confidence for the future."

The 1997 Tour champion brushed off the recent criticism of his former Telekom teammate, Bjarne Riis. The Dane, current Team Manager of CSC, called into question the form and desire of Ullrich after passing him in Toscana while out riding. Ulle responds: "I don't give these comments any value. My response will be given this summer."

Other big names for Romandie include Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), winner of la Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Aussie Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto) and the Italians Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros-Würth), Stefano Garzelli, Dario Cioni (Liquigas), Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) and Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole).

Read:
Ulle Confirms Romandie, 5 April

Tin-Tin Rebellin for Giro

Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) is going to the Giro d'Italia to vie for le maglie, specifically the Maglia Rosa, in the opening stages, and then the Maglia Ciclamino. The Italian (34), past wearer of the Maglia Rosa for six days in 1996, has decided to point to his home tour to search for victories.

"First it was the crash in the Vuelta al País Vasco and then I felt outside of the favorites at Liège-Bastogne-Liège due to my fractured rib... It was not a very fortunate period," said Tin-Tin, who in 2004 ruled the Ardennes. "Now I hope all has passed and I will go to the Giro for a stage victory and the Maglia Rosa in the opening stages. Then I will see how the race develops and how I can succeed. The Maglia Ciclamino could be an objective for the end of the Giro."

Rebellin will line up with a strong German backing from his bubbly water squadra. "Stefan Schumacher is a complete rider. He can go for a good time trial and then defend his lead in the mountains," said Rebellin. The other Gerolsteiner riders for the Giro will be Robert Förster, Torsten Hiekmann, Sven Krauss, Volker Ordowski, Matthias Russ, Sven Montgomery and Andrea Moletta.

Read:
Rebellin Rambles on with Fractured Rib, 13 April

Ferretti Asked to Pay Difference

Remember the SonyEricsson debacle of last fall? Giancarlo Ferretti, former Team Manager of Fassa Bortolo, was duped by dealing with a SonyEricsson agent that was not an official representative of the Swedish company. It was bad news for a number of riders who had already signed with Ferretti: Gilberto Simoni, Salvatore Commesso, Carlos García Quesada, Sergiy Matveyev, Cristian Moreni, Andrea Tonti, Stuart O'Grady, Matthew White and Paolo Valoti. They were all left to look for new contracts late in the game.

Francesco Moser, President of CPA (Association of Professional Cyclists), along with the help of lawyer Agostino Guardamagna, is in arbitration with the UCI to have Ferretti pay lost wages. The CPA, on the behalf of Moreni, Commesso, Valoti and Tonti, are asking for the monetary differences between the contracts that they signed last fall with Ferretti and the new, lesser contracts which they found with new teams.

This is sure to drag on for some time... BiciRace.com will update you as more news is available.

Read:
What the heck? Ferretti Loses SonyEricsson, 14 October

Captain Cunego and Crew for la Corsa Rosa

La Corsa Rosa departs 6 May from Seraing, Belgium and Lampre-Fondital will be one of the strongest teams in the peloton. They have to be, they are defending the 2004 Giro d'Italia champion, Damiano Cunego. Il Veronese, along with Team Manager Giuseppe Martinelli, have hand-picked a squadra that is capable of controlling the Italian race from start to end.

"We will be present at the Giro with a good squadra, designed around captain Cunego," explained Martinelli. "Lampre-Fondital feels ready to compete against the other Giro protagonists. We benefit from a good morale, particularly thanks to the recent races and the number of wins this season: a nice 13."

Lampre-Fondital Giro Squadra:
Damiano Cunego (Ita), Marzio Bruseghin (Ita), Paolo Fornaciari (Ita), Paolo Tiralongo (Ita), Evgeni Petrov (Rus), Gorazd Stangelj (Slo), Tadej Valjavec (Slo), Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) and Patxi Vila (Spa).

24 April News ...