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2 July 2006

03 July News ...

Hushovd Back in Maillot Jaune

28 year-old Thor Hushovd did what no other Norwegian has done before, take the Maillot Jaune in the Tour de France. He had already accomplished this feat before in 2004 but he did it again in yesterday's prologue; beating all of the top crono specialists and taking some lovely yellow threads along the way.

"The last three kilometers from the river, I gave it all I could to try to do a perfect time trial," said Hushovd after the finish. "To win the prologue you have to be in good form. I knew in the last few weeks and month that my form was coming on. I am quite sure this is my best form ever."

What was exciting for the tifosi gathered in Strasbourg was seeing a 'sprinter' grind the prologue specialists into the ground. Riders like Zabriskie and Millar could not top Hushovd's time.

Was the Norwegian surprised to beat such specialists? "Yes. But I knew I could do it. In 2004, in Liège, I was fifth, so that showed it was possible. But still, yes, it was surprising to beat guys like Zabriskie."

The Crédit Agricole rider will ride in tomorrow's stage with the yellow jersey on his back. He will want to try to win a stage, something he did not do last year during his successful bid for the Maillot Vert, but the team orders will be to protect the yellow at all costs. Crédit Agricole is a French team and to have the leader's jersey in their home race means the world to the sponsors. Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) is the next sprinter back in the overall rankings, and at 11" Hushovd might have the jersey for at least two stages.

"For me and for the team it will be important to keep the jersey," Hushovd confirmed. "We will put a few guys in the break tomorrow so we can ride behind. Then in the sprint we hope that teams like Davitamon-Lotto will take control in the final for Robbie and we can keep the jersey as long as possible."

It will be close with you and Boonen. What will be your plans? "We will try to fight for some stages in this Tour. This is really the first match-up this year with Tom. I feel good and confident. I did a lot of sprint preparations in my training leading to the Tour. I am excited to see what happens tomorrow and how the other sprinters are going. ... I was close last year in the sprints. This year it is a very good start, even if my success was not in a sprint. My objective in this Tour is still to win a sprint stage and try to beat riders like McEwen and Boonen."

The Tour has rolled out the door and onto the French roads, hopefully leaving the scandalous days of doping behind. Thor, like all the fans gathered in France, know that cycling is something more than a doping scandal in Spain. We hope the next days of sprinting will be the main attention draw for everyone at the Tour.

"Over the last days it was not nice," Hushovd agreed. "The doping scandal was in all the news. It was very sad for cycling. I kept trying to concentrate on my preparations. The Tour parted today and I think we are looking forward to a beautiful Tour. Of course what happened in the last days is not easy but you have to also pay attention to us here that are still racing. Cycling is a beautiful sport and will be all right."

Benna Comments on Prologue

"It was hot and windy out there. The last two kilometers were windy," said Italian sprinter Daniele Bennati after the prologue opener of the 2006 Tour de France. The Lampre-Fondital rider was not too concerned with today's 7.1K prologue but instead had his eyes on the sprint stages that are on the horizon.

"I am ready for the sprints. I will work with Ballan and we will pull off something... We will see," said Bennati, referring to his good friend and teammate, Alessandro Ballan.

Bennati organizes his sprints like most Italians, using a full-on train. The Lampre-Fondital boys will be one of the teams fighting for dominance in the closing kilometers of stage 1. If it goes right Benna will have a Treno Lampre in full flight before he launches his sprint. His biggest problem will be il Treno Blu, the team of Tom Boonen.

"I will watch for Boonen," said Bennati. "I am not a sprinter like McEwen, I need a train for the last kilometers to lead me out." Any stages in particular that you will want to win? "Any stages of the first week!"

Horner Posts Good Time

Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) posted the second best time when he crossed the line yesterday in Strasbourg. Of course his time, at 8'32", was washed away when the faster men came home but he was nonetheless happy with his prologue ride.

"It's a great course," said Horner. "There are two technical corners early on but the best part of the course is really fast and smooth. It's a beautiful time trial course. It's not very windy out there today. I didn't feel the heat too much and felt pretty good."

Horner on his provisional second place: "If I've got the best time, then I'm happy... second by one second is not bad. I'm pleased with that."

The American will be Cadel Evans' right-hand man for the coming weeks. Horner will turn his attention from the opening crono to the mountain stages to come, but don't be surprised if he has his chance in an escape.

Millar is back

After two years out of the sport David Millar of Saunier Duval-Prodir made a fantastic return in the 2006 Tour de France. The Scot, starting at 15.55, did not post the fastest time of the day, 7th when he crossed the line and a final 17th spot, 14" back from Hushovd.

"I am relaxed," said Millar in the morning before his 7.1K run. "I thought that coming back to competition after such a long break would be harder but the big start has come and I feel like I only quit this sport last week!"

Millar left the start ramp, focused on starting the Tour and re-starting his career. The Scot finished exactly 0.14.65 behind the winner of the day, Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole). Though it was not a win, BiciRace.com thinks the result will give him confidence for the coming stages, and who knows, maybe we will see him pull off a stage before the race hits the mountains or in one of the two 50+ kilometer time trials.

"First of all, I am extremely happy to be there, among the best riders and I feel so good," said a confident Millar after the finish. "I can't wait for tomorrow; to join the peloton again; I missed that a lot."

Vino Plans Takeover of Astaná

A deeply bitter Alexander Vinokourov has announced that Astaná will buyout Saíz's 51% portion of the Active Bay sports company that owns the team. Vino stated, "But today, here I am at home in Monaco while the prologue has started without me. It was without doubt my last chance to win the Tour...and it's been stolen from me."

In an attempt to insure that this kind of deception never happens again Vino will sever all ties with his former Spanish boss. The team will have a Kazakh sponsor, a Kazakh license and will employ only those riders that were not implicated in Operación Puerto. To top it off, Vino will take over as directeur sportif of the squad when he retires in a few years.

"He must leave the world of cycling indefinitely. We no longer want to see him again. Maybe he can find happiness working in his small bikeshop," were the words of Vinokourov towards Saíz.

Paco

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

01 July News ...