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19 July 2006

20 July News ...

Ballan Working for the Weekend

Everybody's working for the weekend, including our Lampre-Fondital friend, Alessandro Ballan. When BiciRace.com spoke with him before the mother of all cycling days, a stage to Alpe d'Huez, he was thinking of the flatter stages to come. "Friday and then the stage to Paris are going to be more suited for me," said Ballan early Tuesday morning in Gap.

This is your first Tour, how have you heard it is different than in year's past? "I heard the Tour in the past was harder but this year is less controlled and more open."

Cunego Waits for Winter

Damiano Cunego lit up the stage to Alpe d'Huez, attacking at the foot of the beast and forming the move with eventual winner, Fränk Schleck. With his climbing speed, finishing second on the stage, he moved within 6'58" from Maillot Blanc, the white jersey that signifies the best rider 25 years-old or under.

"I like the under-25 jersey but it would be better for me to win a stage," said il Veronese from Gap, before the start of Tour de France stage 15. "Today or tomorrow, I hope to do something special. The legs feel great."

Cunego rode the stage just like he predicted, only falling short to a Schleck power-surge in the finally 2000 meters. Cunego made his bid for l'Alpe d'Huez glory and maybe we will see him have another go in stage 16.

We were at the Lampre-Fondital team hotel the other morning and talk with Cunego while he was eating breakfast There was a lot of pasta going around the team table, so we were curious to know what is the typical pre-race food for Il Piccolo Principe.

We saw you the other morning eating lots of pasta for breakfast. Is that the usual food before a race? "We usually have lots of pasta, we need the carbohydrates for the long day," said Cunego. "I enjoy bread with jam. Or here in France, the baguette."

Do you like Nutella on your baguette? "I love having Nutella on bread but it is not good for my form. I have to wait until the winter to enjoy that. Oh, another food is bread with apples, it is really good."

Cunego left us with a sense of happiness. It is only the first Tour for the 2004 Giro d'Italia winner and he appears comfortable.

Bruseghin: Team Lacks Win

Italian Time Trial Champion, Marzio Bruseghin, is waiting for a Lampre-Fondital win. The Italian has helped set up moves for Bennati, Ballan and, in the stage to Alpe d'Huez, Cunego, but all have fallen short.

"I think that Damiano is strong," said Bruseghin when we asked about Cunego on the morning before stage 15 to Alp d'Huez. "We have been riding well as a team but we just lack the stage win. I hope in this last week that we will have a win."

Caucchioli on Thinks of Raisin

BiciRace.com was talking with Pietro Caucchioli on Tuesday morning in Gap, before the start of Tour de France stage 15, when we noted his green and white Raisin Hell Bracelet.

Caucchioli, like many all over the world, is giving support to young Saul Raisin by wearing a cool bracelet. The green and white "Raisin Hell" bracelets are not only fashionable but support a good cause, all the proceeds go to the Shepherd Center to aid in brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation and care.

"Saul send emails everyday to [teammate] Le Mevel," said the Italian. "He writes that he is watching the Tour de France from his home in Georgia; it is really nice. ... I heard he is doing so much better. He is now up to four hours on the trainer, which is very impressive considering his crash."

Raisin, Caucchioli's teammate at Crédit Agricole, crashed in the Circuit de la Sarthe (4 April) and subsequently had to be treated for head injuries. Raisin faced emergency surgery two days later to remove pressure to his brain caused by an erupted hematoma. Since recovering, in and out of a coma, he is back in his home state of Georgia.

Team CSC Backs Schleck

When the winning move in Tour de France stage 15 formed it contained three Team CSC riders, a good advantage to produce a win. Fränk Schleck, with help from Jens Voigt and David Zabriskie, followed the attack of Damiano Cunego at the foot of Alpe d'Huez to win a big one.

"The plan was for me to stay with Carlos [Sastre] to the end," said the 26 year-old Luxemburger after the win. "To help him out if he needed anything. But then it ended up that I was in the breakaway, we had three guys up there. A lot of riders told me to go back because I was too close in the overall, at 11 minute. I said no. Bjarne [Riis, Team Manager] told me to sit-in and not to work. David and Jens did such great work for me, enabling me to continue and win."

Schleck is coming out of his shell, with a win in the Amstel Gold earlier this spring, today he was quick to follow the attack of Cunego and then delivering the death-blow at -2K. "Well, normally I am afraid to attack in the final of a race but in this case I knew that it would be impossible if I arrived with Cunego in the sprint. I tried and it worked. I am glad I went because you don't get many chances to win on the Alpe d'Huez. ... Of course it is something very special to win here and be compared to the greats. I am very proud to be compared to Charley Gaul... He was a great guy, who just died not too long ago."

Schleck is lighting the hearts of tifosi worldwide with his youth and talent. Amstel Gold and Alpe d'Huez are successes that will bring the confidence out of Schleck. "I think I have more confidence now. Many were telling me that I had to have stronger self-confidence, and I think they were right. I went with the early break. To win on the Alpe is something so special but I think I will need a lot more time for this day to become a reality."

The Luxembourg rider owes a lot of his success to CSC Team Manager, Bjarne Riis. Three years ago he was about to stop cycling and search for other work but then he hooked-up the Dane, and the results are impressive.

"I had a really tough time to find a team [three years ago]. I almost gave up but Bjarne gave me a chance and the time I needed to grow." Can you win the Tour in the future? "I don't know. I still don't know how far I can go. I won a stage but the GC still seams like a long ways off."

A Defensive No-Fuss

Floyd Landis did what many expected in Tour de France stage 15; The American of Phonak road defensively, moving back in to the Maillot Jaune as reface leader, while one by one his competitors fell wayside, leaving only Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile).

No-Fuss Floyd put in some hard accelerations to try to drop the German but nothing succeeded, and the two are now separated by 2'29". Between them, on the general classification, are Pereiro, Dessel, Menchov and Sastre. We think Landis will be the winner in Paris, he looks fresh after every stage and the nearest serious threat is Menchov, at 2'12".

"I am a good actor," said Landis, who never seemed to be on the limit during the ride up l'Alpe. "I would assume to not let you know when I am at the red-line. I was happy to stay were I was at and just follow Klöden. I will continue to be conservative. I don't have to win a stage, I would like to but it is not necessary.

"I don't know if you saw but in the first kilometers Pereiro went very hard and dropped a lot of riders. I was there with Klöden, and he was showing to be very strong. My objective was to stay with him [Klöden]. It would have been fine if Pereiro went on to keep the yellow."

In stage 13, team Phonak did what many teams would never do: gamble with the yellow jersey, purposely losing it to Pereiro and then taking it back in stage 15. The risk seemed to have paid off; saving Phonak of some work and earning some new friends.

"I don't care what anyone says about why we gave away the yellow a few days ago," explained Landis. "Now I would like to keep it. I can't think of a scenario that would arise where we would give it away. I think it will be best if I keep it. ... Racing is a tactical game. To my way of thinking I would like to save my team as much as possible. I would like to save my team up to Paris, having them go home fresh. If I win a stage or not, going home with the yellow Jersey will make me very happy."

Landis faces two more serious days in the Alps before the final time trial. He wants to defend himself through the mountains and then blasting the field in the time trial. It is a little dicey to gamble it all on the TT and we think that Landis will have to fire some missiles to put more time into his rivals, just to be safe.

Landis finished: "Tomorrow [stage 16] there are a lot more climbs before the final climb. It is up and down all day. Thursday, the Joux-Plane is a fast downhill, with the finish soon after... there won't be much regrouping, if any at all. It will be a very hard day. I will take it day by day, being conservative to save the team."

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

18 July News ...