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9 July 2006

10 July News ...

Unzúe with Valverde Update

There was a slight rain in Saint-Grégoire for the start of the Tour de France stage 7 time trial but that did not stop Team DS of Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, Eusebio Unzúe, going about his work. When we visited the team bus, Unzúe was busy helping prepare his team for the day's 52 kilometer test. It was hard to believe that only a few days ago the Tour lost one of its main protagonists, Alejandro Valverde.

The young Spaniard went down hard in stage 3 and fractured his collarbone.

"Valverde is already at home," said Unzúe when we inquired about his star rider. "He had a surgery the day after the crash. Sunday or Monday he should start with some basic stretching and then in 10 days be on his bike."

After making an early depart last year due to a knee injury, it was sad to again have Valverde's chance at completing his first Tour dashed. All year there were discussions regarding how well the Green Bullet could ride in the overall of la Grand Boucle and now we will have to wait another year.

Is Valverde thinking of the Worlds? "Yes. He will race the World Championships and also the Vuelta a España. We don't know whether or not he will ride for the overall classification of the Vuelta. It may be used more as a preparatory race for the Worlds."

How is Valverde doing on a mental level? "He is sad to be out of the Tour and unhappy about the crash," Unzúe continued. "He is still attentively following the Tour; He watches the stages on TV."

We hope to see Valverde back in flying form for the late summer races. Given the Spaniard's forced rest we think he will come back with a stronger desire to win, and perhaps one of those wins will include the World Championship.

Honchar Spells Maillot Jaune Success

36 year-old Serhiy Honchar (T-Mobile) did the double this year: Wearing the leader's jersey in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. After T-Mobile's impressive ride in the Cremona team crono, Honchar was awarded the Maglia Rosa, which he wore for two days. Stage 7 of the Tour de France, a 52K time trial to Rennes, allowed Honchar to show his individual strengths and take the Maillot Jaune in the process.

The former World TT Champion is no stranger to riding at the top end of a Grand Tour but it is unlikely that he could still be in yellow by Paris. Expect Honchar to carry the Maillot Jaune up to the race's first stage with a summit finish, stage 11 to Puerto de Beret. The first "mountain stage", the day before stage 11, will not faze Honchar, who is capable of grinding his way alongside the mountain goats.

After the stage finish in Rennes, Honchar was not really thinking too far in advance. "For now I am just enjoying this jersey and this victory," said a satisfied Honchar, the first Ukrainian ever to don the Maillot Jaune. "A few days ago I said I just wanted to win a stage, and now I have won. It is a special time for me and I want to just be happy in this moment. Over the next two days I will think about what I would like to do; I don't know yet."

"At the beginning the ride was going great," said Honchar of his ride. "My legs were responding well the whole way. Ok, in the last 10 kilometers I was going in a slight crisis, but it was to be expected from such a hard time trial. I think I did well in the end."

What a difference a year makes for le Tour. Last year, and well, the six years before that, we always had a dominating time trial performance early on that spelt the end of the GC battle in the Tour de France. The race overall is still wide open, it is likely Honchar won't go on to be the race winner, and the tifosi are prepared to watch a fist-fight in the approaching Pyreneen stages.

"The atmosphere is always the Tour's," Honchar commented in regards to the change of Tour favorites. "It is a Grand race with a grand atmosphere. It is always the same and what can I say, It is exciting to be here."

The race is exciting but one that started off on a wrong foot. Honchar's supposed team leader, Jan Ullrich, was asked not to participate in the race under clouds of doping suspensions (recall the "Son of Rudy").

T-Mobile might have started the Tour de France in a confused state but they stamped their authority all over the western France roads of stage 7, placing six of their riders in the top 20. "Our squadra prepared 100& for the Tour de France. I am sorry for Jan [Ullrich] but we are still a competitive squadra. I think I showed that today. I am content with my squadra and I believe they are content with me. Above all, I am young inside. I prepared well and in tranquility, using the Giro to good ends for preparing for the Tour."

Finally, how do we spell the name of the Maillot Jaune? "My name is spelt with a G but when they made my passport it was in error, with an H. It was copied on other official documents in error and created a mess of misspelt documents. Now I go with H in most of my documents. I prefer G but H is what has been used! [Laughs.]"

No disrespect to the charismatic champion but we will continue to use the UCI's official spelling of the Tour's race winner, Honchar.

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

8 July News ...