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28 June 2006

29 June News ...

Italians Finish Prep and Depart for Tour

The 93rd Tour de France starts Saturday in Strasbourg with a 7.1K prologue. The riders taking part in France's race are putting the final polish on their preparations.

Italy has perhaps the number one favorite for the Tour with Ivan Basso. Il Varesino, after winning the Giro d'Italia in a most dominating style, spent the month of June riding criteriums, skipping any official races, and concentrated on specialized training under the guidance of CSC Team Manager Bjarne Riis.

The specialized training had Basso miss the Eindhoven Team TT, which CSC won, and the Italian Nationals, where he could have burned any of the time trail challengers, including Bruseghin, to take the tricolore. Il Varesino divided his time between his residence near Varese (Lombardia) and Riis' home in Lucca (Toscana), with a brief week stint reconnoitering in the French Alps.

Today was one last shine on Basso's already stunning crono form: a triangular loop of 11.7K in Gorla, near Varese. He will make two tests of 7.1K, like Strasbourg's prologue, before climbing in the team car for France.

"To pedal three hours on the bike is normal. With a little bit of climbing, I will use Sacro Monte di Varese," explained Basso yesterday. "I weigh 69Kg, just like when I started the Giro d'Italia... I am ready. I feel very relaxed."

Ivan Basso has already made a few rounds of the Tour de France in years past but for Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) it will be his first go at the famed three-week race. Il Piccolo Principe only decided mid-way through June to take part in la Grand Boucle, a late decision based on his Giro results and his future in Grand Tour racing.

"I have been training in Livigno," confirmed Cunego of his pre-Tour high-altitude schedule. "I stayed up there for 15 days with Tiralongo and then I came back home to finish my preparations. Sunday I was out on my bike for five hours, four hours Monday and three hours yesterday."

There will be no riding for Cunego today, at 11 he boards an airplane in Verona and he will arrive in Strasbourg at 15.30. It could be a chance to reunite with his old teammate, Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir), who is scheduled to be on the same France-bound flight.

Cunego added: "This will be a great Tour for me because I am going without pressure to perform high in the general classification. I will approach the race with curiosity and an open mind to learn."

"I am dreaming of winning my third stage," said Cunego's Lampre-Fondital mate, Salvatore Commesso. Monday, after crashing in training last week, Totò was given a green light to compete in the Tour by his doctor. The former Italian champion will form part of a solid team structure while having the liberty to go in escapes for a stage win.

"After the incident last week, I did two sessions on the rollers and then Sunday I returned to the road for the first time, training under the blazing hot sun for five hours. Monday I got the OK from my doctor. There only remains some sore muscles but it will pass."

Team CSC for Tour: Ivan Basso, Carlos Sastre, Fränk Schleck, Jens Voigt, Giovanni Lombardi, Stuart O'Grady, Bobby Julich, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde.

Lampre-Fondital Tour Squadra: Damiano Cunego, Alessandro Ballan, Daniele Bennati, Marzio Bruseghin, Salvatore Commesso, Daniele Righi, Paolo Tiralongo, Tadej Valjavec and Patxi Vila.

BiciRace.com arrived in Strasbourg today. We are updating our Tour de France yellow pages daily. The complete startlist will be available soon, with back numbers, but for now you can view the preliminary list of starters.

Ullrich Eyes Kilometers of Crono

The main problem for Ivan Basso's chances at Tour de France glory are the number of kilometers of time trialing and the fact that Jan Ullrich is god-like when it comes to riding a crono. The former World TT Champion will relish the 116.1K: 7.1K kick-starts the Tour on Saturday in Strasbourg, followed by a rolling 52K into Rennes on 8 July and then the finally crono icing on the Tour cake, a 57K test on the penultimate day, into Montceau-les-Mines.

The 32 year-old German will hope to hammer Basso (28) into the ground over the time trial parcours and then hold any advantage through the limited number of mountains. It is a plan that the T-Mobile captain and Team DS, Rudy Pevenage, will use to take the Tour de France for a second time, nine years after Ulle's last triumph.

The participation of Ullrich became in doubt when his name was linked with the ongoing Operación Puerto doping investigation in Spain. Ullrich, along with Pevenage, were suspected of having an association with José Luis Merino, the main doctor behind the suspected blood transfusions that took place.

According to Madrid daily El Pais, several code names in Spain's doping investigation allegedly correspond to that of 1997 Tour de France champion, Jan Ullrich. El Pais reported that the Spanish police are investigating the link of the German rider with the names that have appeared on documents obtained in Operación Puerto: "Hijo Rudicio" (Son of Rudy) and "Jan".

Yesterday, in an emergency teleconferenced meeting with the ASO (Tour de France organizers), T-Mobile management clarified their star rider's position. "There is a lot of weak circumstantial evidence, and the data does not clearly identify Ullrich," said a spokesman for the ASO.

T-Mobile and Ullrich are also taking offensive action to make sure there are not any more unfounded facts published. The team and Ullrich's lawyer have both requested from the Spanish officials information regarding the investigation, both parties were not given any response.

The Tour starts in three days and BiciRace.com hopes for peace and calm outside of the race roads, for what will be one of the most hotly contested Tours in years.

Read:
Hijo Rudicio (Son of Rudy): Ullrich, 27 June

93rd Tour de France - presented by , 1 - 23 July
Main, Startlist, Classifications, Tour Favorites, Team CSC versus T-Mobile
Stages and Maps, Key Stages, Overall Map
Photos, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Simoni and Saunier Duval-Prodir Updates
2005 Results

27 June News ...