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22 July 2006

23 July News ...

Cunego in Maillot Blanc

At the start of Tour de France stage 18, BiciRace.com found Damiano Cunego sitting on the back of the team car. The young Italian was happily in the Maillot Blanc, a jersey he conquered the day before with an impressive ride on the final climb of the day, the Col du Joux-Plane.

"It was a great climbing day for me," started Cunego. "I am happy to be here in the white jersey. I will enjoy the jersey today and hopefully tomorrow I won't lose too much time. I think it will be impossible to keep the jersey, Fothen is a faster crono rider."

Cunego is only a handful of seconds ahead of Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) in the under-25 Tour classification and will have a hard time holding the jersey through Saturday's 57K crono.

"This jersey is great, my first in the Tour de France. My daughter and girlfriend are watching back in Italy. I think that she [his daughter] is still too young to understand what her dad is doing. When she gets older she will appreciate this [white jersey] and be able to see the photos."

"I hope to come back here and win, not next year but in two years."

Cunego finished the 2006 Tour's most memorable day in forth. Il Veronese put in an attack with Moreau on the final climb of stage 17, while up the road American Floyd Landis won the day. Cunego seemed really impressed by what Landis accomplished in this Tour and is clear that he looks up to the American.

"I always had trust in Landis winning, even when he lost the yellow," continued Cunego. "It was an impressive ride by him but one I knew that was possible."

After the Tour, Damiano will race the Clásica San Sebastián and then schedule the remainder of his season. He is still uncertain about the Worlds and clashing with two other Italians, Di Luca and Bettini.

Has Ballerini called? "Yes. He has called but I don't know. I will wait some more time before making a decision."

Calcagni Makes it Through

Patrick Calcagni (Liquigas) suffered through Tour de France stage 17 while Landis was making history on at the front. The Swiss started the day sick but managed to finish safe with the gruppo, at 44 minutes back.

"I was suffering a lot yesterday," said Calcagni from Morzine, before the start of stage 18. "I started the day with a stomach ache and that made the day worse. However, I was surprised with the Col du Joux-Plane, I thought it would have been harder than it was."

The ride by Floyd Landis, going solo and moving back into GC contention, left an impression on Calcagni... "I was amazed with Landis. I knew that he had to attack on the first climb, the Col des Saissies, but to stay away like he did was seemingly impossible. I was sort of pulling for Pereiro, but this is bike racing."

We have passed the Tour's major climbing days. What did you think was the toughest climb this year? "I don't know why, but I thought that the Tourmalet was the toughtest."

Riccò Finishes Solo

"Tomorrow I will finish solo," joked the 22 year-old, Riccardo Riccò, at the start of stage 18. The Italian referred to Saturday's time trial, where all the riders will finish solo and also showed that his sense of humor is still intact after three weeks of hard racing.

"I now am finished with all the mountains and I am ready to go home," said Riccò. "I miss my family. I call them and my girlfriend everyday, so it will be nice to be back home in Modena. My girlfriend did visit me on the last rest day in Gap."

What did you think of yesterday [stage 17]? "It was tough but the climbing was made easier because I was in the gruppetto."

Riccardo has been learning a little bit of English in this Tour... "I have been rooming with David Millar," continued the upbeat rider. "We speak in a little Italian, French, Spanish and English. Mostly we don't talk because we are tired after the stage. I will typically sleep right after dinner or watch a film on TV. It is great to learn from a champion like David Millar."

Bravo Riccardo on nearly finishing your first Grand Tour.

Pereiro Faces Landis in Crono

The Tour de France enters the last weekend; there will be a 57 kilometer time trial on Saturday followed by the closing stage in Paris. The Paris stage is more of a party but the 57K TT will be a serious day for the top GC riders. Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears) is in the top spot on the general classification but is worried about a threat from third-placed rider Floyd Landis (Phonak), sitting at 30 seconds back.

"Today was fine, a little bit of recovery. I am confident my time trial for tomorrow," said a happy Landis after Friday's race, stage 18.

Pereiro thought he had a good chance of winning the Tour de France after the stage to La Toussuire but then the following day [stage 17] Landis bounced back. The Spaniard went from a comfortable lead in the Maillot Jaune to a small margin that should be easily closed by Landis in the TT.

"It is a pity what happened," commented Pereiro after stage 18. "Sastre and I both lost a lot of time. Now we are on the eve of the time trial and Landis has the possibility to win the whole race but I am happy with my teammates, they did all they could do to help me win the Tour. ... I don't understand why they [CSC] went on the attack yesterday."

"It was not possible for my team to do more in the stage [stage 17]. I am happy to still wear the yellow jersey. If I win the Tour I would be very happy but if I don't, I won't be sad because I have worn yellow."

Sastre is behind Pereiro by 12 seconds and Landis by 30 but Pereiro does not count out his chances of winning the Tour de France, and we agree, it would be possible for him to win if all of the factors fall in his favor.

"For me it is a good time trial when I don't lose more than two minutes in a 50 kilometer run. Tomorrow is a different thing; I can only lose 29 seconds. You never know what will happen so we will see."

"In an amateur race I was in the same spot. I won the TT and then won the overall. One year in the Tour de Suisse I had a similar experience with Jan Ullrich and I only lost a little bit of time. Tomorrow [the 57K TT] will be another long day and anything can happen. It really depends on how you feel and I can say that I feel great."

Tosatto Wins Rare Victory

Matteo Tosatto took a rare victory in Tour de France stage 18: the first for Italy and his team Quick-Step in the 93rd Tour and one of the few wins in a career of a cyclist that is normally spent in the service of others.

Tosatto gave a much needed win to Quick-Step. Even though the first week Tom Boonen wore the Maillot Jaune, he failed to take a stage win. The Belgian team leader ended his Tour this last week and Tosatto's win was a welcomed high-note.

"Yes finally," said Tosatto Friday evening after winning stage 18 in regards to his team's first win in the 2006 Tour. "We had some great days with Boonen in yellow and we did some great work for him. This victory is for me, my family, Italy and above all, Quick-Step. We have ridden a great Tour, so it is a payback."

"Even after Tom left the team, we still have guys to win. There is a good relationship amongst the team and this makes it easier to keep the morale on a high level."

Strangely, Italy has not taken a win in this year's Tour until Tosatto came blazing into Mâcon. The Tour had seen more French wins than usual, which as good for France but Italy was lacking a victory. Commesso came close to claming a stage win in Gap, and scoring one for Italy, but the Italian was nipped by a wiser, French rider.

"I win very little in my career. My palmarès are small. To win is always hard for me because I usually work for others. This may not be the last win for an Italian because there is still tomorrow and Sunday. OK, maybe not in tomorrow's crono but Sunday in Paris. I think an Italian can win on the Champs-Élysées, but if not then I am very proud to have this only win by an Italian in the 2006 Tour."

"I knew this morning that everyone was feeling tired," continued Tosatto. "The heat has been bad. I wanted to make my move in an escape. I found the first one that worked and then made a great win. [In the finale, against Moreni] I thought I can not mess up this occasion and luckily it worked out right."

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

21 July News ...