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26 June 2006

Paolo Bettini Tricolore Bis

Paolo Bettini of Quick-Step has won the Italian Championships for the second time. Yesterday in Gorizia (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), after winning three years ago in Saltara, Il Grillo Livornese stuck it to Mirko Celestino (Milram) and The Killer, Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas), in a sprint finish. Bettini was presented with the famed Maglia Tricolore on the podium and then his thoughts immediately shifted to Salzburg, the city of the 2006 World Championships.

"I am already working on a game plan with Franco Ballerini," said a happy Bettini. "I will rest for four weeks and then I will build a plan to win the Worlds in Austria."

Immediately after the race Il Grillo departed with his wife, Monica, in her Porsche for the drive back home to Pisa. Bettini will rest, taking a vacation in Marina di Cecina, skip the Tour de France but will be able to show his green, white and red colors in the Vuelta a España.

"This jersey is the Italian flag, it is one of the most important jerseys in Italian cycling," Bettini (32) continued. "Now to complete my career I want to win the World Championships. I will take a break and race at the end of July in the Tour Wallonne and then the Vuelta, thinking of Worlds."

Bettini, to retire at he end of 2008, desperately wants to win the World Championships and is thinking of all is possibilities: "There are only three more occasions to take the rainbow jersey: 2006, 2007 and 2008. If I was to win in 2008, in Varese, then I would have to continue racing for another year."

The race was played against a strong Bettini. Liquigas used their numbers to put the Olympic Champion in difficulties by sending 2005 Italian Champion, Gasparotto, and Nibali in an early break and forcing Bettini's men to work. But the race came back together and the threat was shifted from Liquigas to Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati.

Bettini made sure to weaken the legs of Benna by attacking hard on the last of seven circuits, using the San Floriano climb (3600m in length) to his advantage. On the descent some of the other favorites joined but Benna had been weakened. Bettini made the sprint easily, finishing in front of Celestino and Di Luca.

Celestino Just Misses

Mirko Celestino (Milram) just missed out on the Maglia Tricolore, finishing second behind an unstoppable Paolo Bettini. It was the same Bettini that denied Celestino of another grand win: the 2003 Milano-Sanremo after forming a late escape group.

"On the last ascent I was a little off but I was able to return easily on the descent," Celestino (32) recalled. "I had my doubts at first and then in the sprint but then I was able to remount but it was Bettini to come up on my right. It was too bad because the jersey was so close for me to take."

Celestino has been building his form since his early season crash in Paris-Nice. It is evident from yesterday's performance that the Milram rider is ready to go to the Tour de France and vie for stage wins.

The Killer Focused on Tour

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) rounded out the podium in yesterday's Italian Championships. The Killer is on the rise, in his first race back since his lack-luster performance in the Giro d'Italia. A final push over the finish line put Danilo ahead of Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) and gave him the confidence needed for the upcoming Tour de France.

"I feel bad at missing out on the win," recalled the 30 year-old Abruzzese. "But in the finale my legs responded well and this is a good sign for the upcoming Tour de France. I have prepared well at my home in the last month and it showed today, also a great showing by the squadra."

Di Luca is going to France with a few ideas: winning the Maillot Blanc à Pois Rouges, taking a stage and riding high in the general classification. The Italian will be up against the best of the best in the biz but will find the experience educational for future three-week races.

"We will see how the roads unfold as to how I race," continued the Killer. "There are a lot of kilometers to ride in the time trials but they don't frighten me. I think I can also ride a good classification in France. I know that at the Giro I was off but I understand my errors and remain convinced that I am a man of three-week racing."

Other Nationals

In Belgium the World Champion, Tom Boonen, for once in his life, got the sprint wrong: missing out on the black, yellow and red national jersey, finishing third behind Nico Eeckhout (Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen). Another big name in Belgian cycling, Frank Vandenbroucke (Unibet.com), was unable to ride after visiting the hospital the day before for "stress" reasons.

The blue, white and red colors of France's jersey went to Florent Brard (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), who worked over three favorites Voeckler, Rous and Moreau. Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) tripled in Holland to take the national jersey ahead of Sebastian Langeveld (Skil-Shimano) and Karsten Kroon (Team CSC). The Dutchman previously won the jersey in 1997 and 1998.

Finally in Japan, it was a Disco affair. Fumiyuki Beppu (Discovery Channel), under raining conditions, stuck it to his companions to take the white jersey of Japan. Bravo Fumy!

93rd Tour de France - presented by , 1 - 23 July
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2005 Results

Controversy: Spanish Championships

June 25 was to be the day for all European countries to determine their respective national road race champions. This was not to be so in Spain.

Prior to the race, one of Spain's largest daily newspapers, El País published a three page exposé in which 58 Spanish and international elite level cyclists were implicated in the now famous Operación Puerto. Also mentioned as heads of a vast doping network were Spanish doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes and former Liberty Seguros-Würth boss, Manolo Saiz.

Reputedly, Manolo Saiz formed a working relationship with Eufemiano Fuentes in March 2004 at the urging of Roberto Heras. However, that relationship was subsequently severed after the 2005 Dauphiné Libéré when Isidro Nozal exceeded the 50 percent hematocrit limit.

The end result is Spanish professionals were sick and tired of the mud flinging in the media so they dismounted their bikes after scarcely riding 500 meters and called it a day. One rider was quoted as saying, "The decision was unanimous, because we are not prepared to undergo this orchestrated harassment." Prior to Sunday's race, a meeting was held in which the President of the Association of Professional Cyclists, José Rodríguez, The Spanish Cycling Federation and the riders themselves attended. The riders had the support of Rodríguez, but not of the Spanish Cycling Federation.

So who gets to wear the prized national champions jersey since there was no race? Current champ, Juan Manuel Gárate (Quick-Step) will wear the jersey one more year by default.
- Paco

24 June News ...