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28 July 2006

28 July News ...

Pinotti Campione Italiano

Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval-Prodir) is the 2006 Individual Pursuit Italian Champion. Yesterday on the track in Bassano del Grappa, Il Bergamasco clocked a time of 4'36"60; winning ahead of Alan Marangoni.

Following a stint on Plan de Corones, Marco trained in Padova specifically for the individual pursuit. The idea was to win on the track and to prepare for the upcoming World Time Trial Championships in Salzburg. One of his goals has been completed, now all that waits is a rainbow jersey on 21 September.

Pinotti, following his season's first victory, will head to Germany for the start of the Deutschland Tour on 1 August.

Petacchi Races 12 August

Alessandro Petacchi will return to racing on 12 August in Germany, in the Rund um die Hainleite. The Milram sprinter crashed in stage three of the Giro d'Italia, which resulted in a fractured left kneecap, forcing lo Spezzino to abandon one of his major objectives and face time off the bike.

If Petacchi's first race back goes without a hitch then the next day he will take part in the Sparkassen Giro Bochum, followed by the Regio Tour (16-20 August). The objective is for lo Spezzino to recuperate the muscle tone of his right knee, which still lacks 5cm of movement with respect to his left, to contest the Vuelta a España at top speed.

Petacchi is working with Doctor Mario Spinelli in Pisa, and the two are calmly building Ale back up to his "Jet" self. "I don't feel pain in the knee and that is already a positive, but I don't think it has yet reached an acceptable level."

Read:
Petacchi Needs 10 More Days for Bike, 15 June
Petacchi Continues Rehab, 1 June
Giro Over for Alessandro Petacchi, 9 May

Landis Wants to Clear Name

No-Fuss Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, denied taking banned substances during the French Grand Tour. In a telephone press conference the American said that he would do all he could to clear his name after results of an elevated Testosterone/Epitestosterone (T/E) were found following his stage victory to Morzine.

Landis' win in Morzine lifted him back into the classification battle after suffering from a huge defeat on the day before, losing over 10 minutes before the finish of La Toussuire. After his dramatic stage win on 20 July, No-Fuss was subject to testing that produced a high indicator for T/E.

"I don't know what the explanation for it is, whether it was a mistake or whether it's an occurrence from some other circumstances that go on in the race or something I did, but it was not from an exogenous outside source of testosterone," said Landis.

The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) allows up to a 4:1 T/E ratio in tested cyclists. Normal males have a T/E of 1:1.

After Roberto Heras being expelled from the 2005 Vuelta a España and the doubts of Ivan Basso in the 2006 Giro d'Italia, this makes three for three in Grand Tour flops. This year's Tour already was subject to a rocky ride, when before the start Operación Puerto revealed a list of possible doped riders who were then banned from participating.

"Unfortunately, I don't think this is ever going to go away no matter what happens next," recognized Landis, who if found guilty would be the first king to be dethroned in the Tour's 93 editions. "Most of the public has an idea about cycling because of the way things have gone on in the past. I know a lot of people are going to think I'm guilty before I have a chance to defend myself."

Landis is still waiting for the results of the B Sample. If the high T/E ratio is confirmed he will work with Spanish doctor Luis Hernández, who has helped other riders prove naturally high ratios of T/E.

"I think there's a possibility I can clear my name. That's what I want to do, that's my objective now. But regardless of whether that happens or not I don't know if this will ever really go away."

The damage continues to be done to cycling and it is harder and harder for i tifosi to have faith in the winners. When Landis spoke, or refused to speak, of doping at the press conference after locking in his Tour victory, many had accepted the American as the race's winner but their hearts would no longer allow full tifosi commitment. The damage had been done before the Tour started and the hope of new heroes seems to be lost.

Cycling tifosi can take some consolidation in the fact that their sport is leading the way in testing riders and dealing with cheats. Doping is a problem in sport worldwide and, for better or worse, cycling is leading the charge of change.

Read:
Tour Positive is Landis, 27 July
Tour de France Positive, 27 July

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 July News ...