Archives
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Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Note: The
Tour International du Poitou-Charentes
(August 22-25) got underway yesterday with stage 1 arriving
in Cognac. Today's stage 2 departs from Cognac. (The air
in Cognac might be performance-enhancing. Better test everyone...
-ed.) The race organizers have produced a nice web site with
live video streaming
from the finish line (each road stage includes a finishing circuit
with at least two crossings of the finish line) and of the post-stage
podium presentations, with commentary by France's "voice of the Tour,"
Daniel Mangeas (photo).
France3 television
is covering the race locally with cameras on motorbikes. (video
clips on their website)
Sylvain Chavanel of Cofidis is defending champion and has American
Tyler Farrar riding in a support role. Also among those competing:
Christophe Moreau, John Gadret, Bradley McGee, and the American
team TIAA-CREF with Craig Lewis, Danny Pate, François Parisien,
Michael Lange, Tim Duggan, Tom Peterson, William Frischkorn and Lucas Euser.
Jens Voigt won this race in 2001 and 2003, Floyd Landis won in 2000.
Note: If you haven't already seen them, there are some
superb photos by Cor Vos of all stages of the Eneco Tour
here
.
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Kopp Wins
David Kopp of Gerolsteiner won yesterday's Stage 6 of the Eneco
Tour in a disorganized sprint finish ahead of Marco Zanotti (Unibet.com)
and Phillipe Gilbert (FD Jeux). With 5 kms to go, there was a cobblestone
section 800 meters long that saw riders all over the road (and the sidewalks!).
Several riders decided to take advantage of the disorganization in the
peloton by attacking. They were eventually brought back, but a
very narrow righthand bend at 400 meters to go served to further disorganize
the peloton. As a result, usual sprint suspects like Tom Boonen,
Simone Cadamuro, Julian Dean, and Baden Cooke were all out of position
and did not contest the sprint, leaving the door open for other riders.
And Kopp would take advantage, taking the sprint for his first ever ProTour
win.
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) maintained his lead in the
overall classification by 3 seconds over Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner),
who was involved in a nasty crash that was the other headline of the day
involving 30 or so riders. The crash claimed as victims, among
others, Leif Hoste (Discovery Channel) and Nick Nuyens (Quick Step).
With today's tough stage, Hincapie may miss the strong presence of Hoste,
who's been a workhorse in this race.
Today's stage is great for cycling fans because it's the second
Liege-Bastogne-Liege of the year! We only had to wait 4 months
for another episode of arguably the toughest one day race of the year,
instead of the traditional 12 months. Sweet! With the 200km
stage going over much of the parcours of La Doyenne, this Eneco Tour goes
out with a bang in its final stage. So, in essence, to win the Eneco
Tour, one of the riders must also win Liege-Bastogne-Liege. I wonder
if the powers at be will let the winning rider put both races on his palmares?
Anyway, it should be a very exciting conclusion to an exciting race.
-Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
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Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Tom Boonen may have the rainbow jersey, and
he returned home yesterday, with another win no less, but Viatcheslav
Ekimov has the ruby slippers. In the above photo, USPS's Christian
Vandevelde (rear) follows Ekimov off the sign-in podium at the start
of the 2003 Paris-Tours and appears to be saying, "I want those ruby slippers
....and your little dog too!" (Apologies to those who have never
seen "The Wizard of Oz". To everyone else, we promise not to mention
the song "Over The Rainbow" lest it take you half a day to get it out of
your head... - ed.)
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
No Place Like Home
For Rainbow Jersey
The weather conditions at yesterday's Stage 5 of the Eneco
Tour were terrible. Rain was pouring down, making the road extremely
treacherous. In short, it was not a very pleasant day to go
to see a bike race. Nevertheless, thousands of cycling-mad Belgian
fans showed up yesterday in Balen, braving the conditions, to watch
their hometown hero Tom Boonen (in the rainbow jersey as World Champion)
race into town. And he did not disappoint them. Winning the stage comfortably
in a bunch sprint ahead of Julian Dean and Simone Cadamuro, Boonen delivered
his best performance to win his 3rd stage of this Eneco Tour. It
was the 20th victory of the year for Boonen, who pumped his fists emphatically
as he crossed the finish line in celebration. Post-stage, Boonen
commented that this
win was second only to his victory in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen
in terms of importance to him, revealing just how much he wanted the
stage win. For Boonen, there's no place like home. Rarely
has a cheer been heard so loud as the one Boonen received on the podium
from his adoring public.
George Hincapie maintains his 3 second lead in the overall
classification over Stefan Schumacher heading into today's 6th Stage.
Today's stage features two climbs on an otherwise flat day, which
could have some impact on the stage. Today is the last
"easy day" before tomorrow's decisive Stage 7, so anyone who does not
have overall aspirations will have one final chance to claim some glory.
-Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Tom Boonen
(Quick Step)
2005 Paris-Nice
(Copyright
© 2005 Pete Geyer)
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Monday, August 21, 2006
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Big George, Finally!
After so many close calls in time trials this year (see prologue
report), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) must have wondered what
it was going to take to win one. As he came into the final meters
of yesterday's Stage 4 of the Eneco Tour, it became clear that this time
trial would be decided yet again by fractions of a second. Hincapie,
however, was determined to write a different ending to the usual script.
Sprinting from well over 100 meters out, Hincapie managed to win the stage
by a mere 36 hundredths of a second ahead of Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas)
and take the leader's red jersey in the process. It was sweet redemption
for Hincapie who was down 5 seconds on Nibali at the halfway mark but
managed to continue to pick up speed all the way to the finish line.
Hincapie now leads the overall by 3 seconds ahead of prologue winner Stefan
Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), who finished a strong 3rd on the stage.
With a couple of flat stages coming up before the crucial Stage 7, Hincapie
is now perfectly placed for the overall win in this Eneco Tour.
Previous leader Tom Boonen didn't look to be going all out
and lost 1:27 on the stage to drop out of the top 10. With reports
circulating that he was unhappy to wear the red jersey because he prefers
his rainbow jersey as World Road Race Champion, he should be pleased,
ironically, to have lost so much time. Most riders must wish they
were so lucky as to "choose" which jersey to wear.
Today's Stage 5 is a sprinter's stage into Balen, an unimportant
town where no one important has ever come from. Rumors are that
Balen has actually been removed from all official Belgian maps because
it is so unimportant and boring. Boonen should have absolutely no
motivation for this stage, as there will be no crowd there to support him.
In my opinion, he will be lucky to even finish the stage out of sheer boredom.
Ok, seriously, Balen is Boonen's hometown and the media is
making a huge deal about him winning there. With several circuits
through the town, there is expected to be a massive crowd out to support
Boonen. The pressure is certainly on. Can Boonen, resplendent
in his favorite rainbow jersey, manage the weight of expectations and
deliver? -Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
George Hincapie
(Discovery Channel)
2005 Dauphiné Libéré
(Copyright
© 2005 Pete Geyer)
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Sunday, August 20, 2006
Tyler Hamilton wins on Mount Washington
On the road to a possible confrontation with
the UCI
Tyler Hamilton on Mont Ventoux, 2004 Dauphiné Libéré
(Copyright ©
2004 Pete Geyer)
Paris (cyclingfans.com) -- May you live in interesting
times. That phrase is often attributed to a Chinese
proverb, a curse, though apparently no one has ever come up with convincing
proof of that. But American Tyler Hamilton did ride the Tour
of China in his first season as a professional, in 1995, finishing 12th
overall.
Cycling fans might understandably wonder sometimes if they
are cursed. "Why couldn't we have gotten hooked on snooker instead?"
Hamilton's suspension for blood doping ends next month and
he is hoping to be selected for Team USA in order to compete in the UCI
Cycling World Championships in late September in Austria. Hamilton
is in the news again, this time for something he did on the bike. He
won yesterday's Mount Washington (N.H.) Hillclimb race for the fourth
time.
But Hamilton may have an uphill battle of a different kind
in the wake of the "Operacion Puerto" doping scandal. He is without
a trade team since he voluntarily departed the Phonak team in late
2004 after testing positive for blood doping (specifically in his case,
injecting blood from another person for a performance boost) so that
he could attempt to prove his innocence. He failed to do that
and was given a two-year ban. Even if U.S. officials were inclined
to select him to race at this year's World Championships, the UCI may
seek to oppose that, possibly relying on reported evidence from "Puerto"
that allegedly implicates Hamilton in that scandal.
In other words, Hamilton is heading straight into a storm
and with the current climate is unlikely to be welcomed back in the
way that others returning from suspensions in the past have been.
Scot David Millar, involved in the largely "forgotten" French
Cofidis Affair of 2004 ("forgotten" because those in the French media
lately have a tendency to omit mention of it and because the investigation
itself petered out due to lack of interest) returned after his own
two-year suspension just in time for last month's Tour. In fact,
his return was almost completely overshadowed by the "Puerto" affair
on the eve of the race. He may have preferred it that way. Millar,
who under police pressure admitted in 2004 to doping, was well received
in France and said he was back to enjoying himself like he did before getting
involved in doping. Hamilton, by contrast, has always maintained
his innocence. If he does find a way back, it will be interesting
to see the response he gets from the fans.
Interesting times indeed.
For more about Hamilton's win yesterday on Mount Washington,
click
here
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Boonen Wins Again
Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won yesterday's Stage 3 of the Eneco
Tour in a bunch sprint ahead of Max Van Heeswijk and Baden Cooke.
With 1.5 kilometers to go, Discovery Channel put 3 men on the front
of the peloton to lead out Van Heeswijk, with Boonen perfectly placed
on Van Heeswijk's wheel. In the sprint, Boonen went around Van Heeswijk
as Van Heeswijk's leadout man, George Hincapie, ran out of gas.
Van Heeswijk was able to recover on Boonen's wheel, and nearly passed him
in the final 20 meters, but Boonen was simply too strong. It is
the 19th victory of the season for Boonen, who increases his overall lead
to 11 seconds over Manuel Quinziato with the time bonus awarded for winning
stage.
Today's Stage 4 is an important 16.1km individual time trial.
The profile of the time trial is extremely hilly for such a short distance.
As a result, time gaps may be slightly bigger than usual for a time
trial of this length. It will be an important test for anyone
with overall aspirations and should reveal who the contenders are for
this race. -Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Tom Boonen
(Quick Step)
2005 Paris-Nice
(Copyright
© 2005 Pete Geyer)
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Saturday, August 19, 2006
Note: The Vuelta begins one week from today and the
UCI in the days ahead will communicate, to the teams concerned,
the names of several dozen more riders implicated in "Operacion Puerto".
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Quinziato Steals the Show
Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) won yesterday's Stage 2 of
the Eneco Tour with a brave attack in the final 2km to finish 4 seconds
ahead of a 40 man strong peloton. Simone Cadamuro (Milram) lead
the bunch home for his second straight 2nd place, with Wouter Weylandt
(Quick Step) finishing 3rd. Quinziato managed to launch his counterattack
amid some confusion in the peloton, opening up a significant gap.
Even though the peloton was able to quickly organize a chase, it would
prove futile as the Italian won his first career race as a professional.
The stage was animated by some strong winds that split
the field. In the final 20km, Discovery Channel went to the
front of the peloton and put the hammer down, attempting to split the
peloton. In a tactic that both they and CSC are known for, Discovery's
efforts proved very successful as they managed to whittle down the
peloton to 42 riders. Strong work done by Yaroslav Popovych, Leif
Hoste, and Volodymyr Bileka meant that the front group gained at least
53 seconds on the rest of the riders in the race, hampering their chances
of overall victory. Tom Boonen, meanwhile, did not contest the
sprint for 2nd after realizing that Quinziato was not going to be caught.
He did finish in the front pack (30th) to maintain his overall lead by
just a single second. Quinziato's efforts see him now move into
2nd place overall.
Today's Stage 3 is the final flat stage before tomorrow's
important individual time trial. As yesterday's stage showed,
anything can happen on the windy, flat roads of Belgium and Holland.
Will the sprinters get their revenge and settle the stage amongst themselves?
-Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Manuel Quinziato
(Liquigas)
2006 Tour de France
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
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Friday, August 18, 2006
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Boonen's Day
Questions of Tom Boonen's fitness after a subpar Tour
de France were answered yesterday in Stage 1 of the Eneco Tour
as the World Champion comfortably won both the stage and leader's
jersey in a bunch sprint ahead of Simone Cadamuro (Milram) and Erico
Gasparotto (Liquigas). It was Boonen's 18th victory of the year
and his first since Stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse. It is a mark
of how dominant Boonen has been in the last 2 years when he is considered
to be in a small slump for not winning in two months, while most cyclists
go months and even years between victories. Nevertheless, Boonen
answered his critics with a strong performance yeterday after a perfect
leadout by his team. Under the 1 km banner, Liquigas was at the
front of the peloton's charge, working for their man Gasparotto.
However, with 500 meters to go, Quick Step made their move and leadout
man Steven de Jongh perfectly set up Boonen to power to the finish line.
Boonen now holds the leader's jersey by 4 seconds, leapfrogging Stefan
Schumacher and George Hincapie in the standings.
Today's Stage 2 is another flat stage covering 195km.
Will Boonen make it two for two, or will another sprinter pull
off the upset? -Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Tom Boonen
(Quick Step)
2005 Paris-Nice
(Copyright
© 2005 Pete Geyer)
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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Discovery Channel names team for Vuelta
Danielson to be leader
Tom Danielson, Discovery Channel
2006 Tour of Italy
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team has announced
its line-up for the 2006 Tour of Spain. As announced earlier
in the season, American Tom Danielson will be the team leader
for this year's edition of the race.
Joining Danielson will be Michael Barry, Manuel
Beltran, Janez Brajkovic, Stijn Devolder, Vladimir Gusev, Benoit
Joachim, Egoi Martinez and Jurgen Van Goolen.
The
Vuelta
starts August 26 and runs through September 17.
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Schumacher Wins Prologue
Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) of Germany won
yesterday's opening prologue in the Eneco Tour, finishing 45
hundredths of a second ahead of George Hincapie (Discovery Channel).
It was a great result for the youngster, who earlier in the year introduced
himself to the cycling public by winning two stages in the Giro d'Italia
and wearing the maglia rosa as overall leader. Although his
style was not the smoothest, it was nevertheless effective as he powered
his way around the picturesque setting of the prologue (right on the
edge of the North Sea in Holland) to become the first leader of this year's
Eneco Tour.
Hincapie's 2nd place continues his strong but ultimately
unlucky string of prologue performances this year. This is
the third time that Hincapie has finished 2nd in a prologue of a
stage race by around 1 second (along with the Dauphine Libere and the
Tour de France). He has also finished 3rd in the Tour of California
Prologue, plus longer time trials including 2nd in the De Panne Tour
time trial and two 4th place finishes in the Tour of California and
the Dauphine Libere. However, his 2nd place yesterday shows
that he has good form and is one of the favorites for this race.
Joost Posthuma of Rabobank completed the top 3, another .6 seconds behind.
Other results of note were World Champion Tom Boonen's strong 5th place,
while defending champion Bobby Julich finished 15th.
Today's stage is mostly flat, a day for the sprinters.
With Boonen only 3 seconds back, he could win enough time bonuses
to become the next leader of the Eneco Tour. But will he just
repeat his efforts at the Tour de France (where he wore the leader's
jersey but didn't win a stage), or will he add yet another win to
his collection? -Chris
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video streaming:
(--)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Stefan Schumacher
(Gerolsteiner)
2006 Giro d'Italia
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
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Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Bobby Julich, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2006 Paris-Nice)
(Copyright
© 2006 Pete Geyer)
Julich back to defend
American Bobby Julich (Team CSC) is back to defend
his 2005 title in the Eneco Tour, a ProTour event.
The action gets underway today with a 5.8km prologue
in Den Helder in The Netherlands.
Also referred to as the Tour of Benelux (Belgium,
Netherlands, Luxembourg), the race this year might best be called
the Tour of Bene as it does not travel into Luxembourg!
Riders joining Julich in this race include: Steffen
Wesemann and Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile Team), Axel Merckx (Phonak
Hearing Systems), Thomas Dekker and Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank),
George Hincapie, Yaroslav Popovych, Leif Hoste, Viatcheslav Ekimov,
Max Van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital),
Thomas Fothen and Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), Gert Steegmans
and Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto), Tom Boonen (Quick Step - Innergetic),
Jaan Kirsipuu and Alexandre Botcharov (Crédit Agricole), Bradley
Wiggins (Cofidis), Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas), Philippe Gilbert and
Thomas Lovkvist (Française des Jeux), and Baden Cooke (Unibet.com).
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2006 Eneco Tour
August 16-23
(Tour du Benelux)
Official Site
Start list
Live video:
(--)
Live audio:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
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Sunday, August 13, 2006
Note: We now have a News Ticker on the upper
right of the home page.
We will use this vertically scrolling
News Ticker to keep you informed of upcoming races
for which live internet coverage will be available, selected
news stories, and our site announcements. We will on occasion
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Saturday, August 12, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
Deutschland Tour photo gallery
Jens Voigt (Team CSC), winner of the
2006 Deutschland Tour
Photo Copyright
© 2006
Christine Grein
The ever popular Jens Voigt of Germany
wrapped up victory in his home Tour on Wednesday, taking
the biggest win of his career. There was a dearth of
Deutschland Tour photos on the various cycling news web sites
but fortunately contributing photographer Christine Grein was
there to capture the moments and the peloton in her superb style.
While Christine continues to travel to races throughout Europe,
check out her latest pics in our
photo gallery
and you can see lots more of her work and her unique rider image
database at her own web site:
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Upcoming race coverage
The next race on the ProTour calendar
is the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian in Spain this Saturday,
August 12. The bad news is that unlike last year, Eurosport
is not covering it live. No one is broadcasting it live
at all in France where cycling (outside the Tour de France) must
rank after ping-pong by now and where no one wants the ProTour
anyway. Eurosport will show a one-hour highlights program
on Sunday morning with the broadcast time depending on country.
Not good. What a shame because this race has an impressive
start list including: Carlos Sastre, Frank Schleck, Oscar Freire,
Denis Menchov, Michael Boogerd, Cadel Evans, Alexandre Vinokourov,
Andrey Kashechkin, Levi Leipheimer, Davide Rebellin, George Hincapie,
Paolo Savoldelli, José Azevedo, Alejandro Valverde, Paolo Bettini,
Serhiy Honchar, Eddy Mazzoleni, Danilo Di Luca, Stefano Garzelli,
Damiano Cunego, Evgeni Petrov, Marzio Bruseghin, and Iban Mayo. The
official site
will have some live streaming radio
commentary in Spanish. It looks like David Millar will
be wearing #1 in this race. Yes, it's Millar time. Vive
le ProTour!
Next will be the Eneco Tour (Tour
du Benelux), won in 2005 by American Bobby Julich, from
August 16-23. Eurosport is broadcasting this race live,
so there will be live audio streams available. Cycling.tv
will have it but only on the premium channel. We'll be
on the look-out for options.
Eneco Tour official site
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Note: German Jens Voigt of Team CSC is set to wrap up
the biggest win of his career, at the Deutschland Tour. Links
to live coverage and race commentary from Chris in our live programme...
Levi Leipheimer, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2005 Dauphiné
Libéré)
(photo Pete Geyer)
Voigt Does it Again
Jens Voigt (CSC) won yesterday's
Stage 7 time trial of the Deutschland Tour with a storming
performance to clinch overall victory. Starting the
stage with a 24 second buffer over Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner),
Voigt settled any doubts about his chances by finishing with
a winning time of 45:03, over 1 minute ahead of everyone else.
By comparison, the next 6 riders all finished within 18 seconds
of each other. It was the third stage victory for Voigt, who
now leads the overall standings by 1:38 over Leipheimer heading into
today's final stage. With only one Cat 3 hill during the stage,
Voigt should wrap up victory in his native home tour.
Leipheimer, the defending champion,
finished a solid 5th on the day to claim 2nd overall.
While he did not win the overall race, he nevertheless was good
in every stage, winning the 5th stage and finishing in the top
5 in Stages 6 and 7. Andrey Kashechkin rounds out the podium
with a strong 6th place in the time trial allowing him to move ahead
of Vladimir Gusev who was 8th on the day and finishes 4th overall.
Evgeni Petrov, previously in 3rd overall, dropped to 5th.
Today's final stage is a flat one
for the sprinters. The day should be mostly a ceremonial
affair, similar to the stage to the Champs-Elysees in the
Tour de France. It will be a celebration for Team CSC and
Jens Voigt, who thoroughly deserves this victory. The popular
man from Germany will add the Deutschland Tour, his finest ever
victory, to his palmares that include victories in the Criterium
International and the Tour of the Mediterannean. But before he
is crowned, the stage win has to be decided. Will Erik Zabel break
his streak of seconds and thirds to finally win a stage? -Chris
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2006 Tour of Germany
August 1-9
(Deutschland Tour)
(Tour d'Allemagne)
Official Site
Start list
(.pdf)
Live video:
(--)
Live SRM Telemetry:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Jens Voigt
(Team CSC)
2006 Giro d'Italia
(Copyright ©
2006 Pete Geyer)
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Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Note: In the Tour of Germany, it all comes down to today's
38.2km individual time trial. A gutsy Jens Voigt
still leads the race, by just 24 seconds over Levi Leipheimer
and 56 seconds over Evgeni Petrov. Vladimir Gusev of Discovery
Channel and Andrey Kashechkin of Astana, at 1:00 and 1:03 respectively,
are among those with a shot at the podium. Links to live
coverage and race commentary from Chris in our live programme...
Levi Leipheimer, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2005 Dauphiné
Libéré)
(photo Pete Geyer)
Voigt the Hero
Jens Voigt (CSC) won yesterday's
Stage 6 of the Deutschland Tour in a spectacular uphill
finish. Once again, just as in Stage 5, Voigt was put
under pressure on the final climb. Once again, stronger climbers
like Levi Leipheimer and Andrey Kashechkin opened up the gap on
Voigt, who was in real difficulty. But Voigt, perhaps the
toughest rider in the peloton, is not one to go down without a fight.
Clawing himself back into the race in the final 2 kilometers,
huffing and puffing, Voigt regained the lead group that included
Leipheimer, Kashechkin, and Evgeni Petrov. Then, riding
completely on determination and courage, he powered his way ahead
of the other riders in the final meters to cross the line in first
place, even opening a 2 second gap on 2nd place Leipheimer.
As he crossed the finish line, Voigt could barely muster up the
strength to raise a fist in celebration, a demonstration of how
much energy he used up on the road.
Voigt has now increased his lead
in the overall standings over Levi Leipheimer to 24 seconds,
while the rest of the pack is around a minute or further back.
Although the race is certainly not over yet, as there is still
an all important 38km time trial today, Voigt has to be considered
the favorite. At the very least, he will be the popular choice
because he deserves the win more than any other rider. In every
important mountain stage in this Deutschland Tour (Stages 2, 5, and
6), Voigt has been the animator. In Stage 2, he was the attacker,
eventually winning the stage after multiple attacks saw him break
away from the peloton. In Stages 5 and 6, he showed the strength
to push himself further than anyone else. On paper, Voigt would
not be considered the top favorite. By watching the stages on
TV, specifically noting his climbing style and his facial expressions,
it would have been easy to assume that Voigt would not be amongst the
top riders at the end of these critical stages. But as the
cliche goes, races are not decided on paper and certainly not decided
by who looks the best. Voigt cannot be commended enough for his
efforts in this race, he has been truly spectacular.
As mentioned above, though, there
is still the 38 km time trial today. And there is
certainly the possibility that Voigt has burned through one
too many matches during the mountain stages and will run out
of gas. With the defending champion Leipheimer only 24 seconds
back, and the top 8 riders all within 1:34 of each other, anything
is possible. Can Voigt come up with one more heroic performance
and take the victory in his home tour? -Chris
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2006 Tour of Germany
August 1-9
(Deutschland Tour)
(Tour d'Allemagne)
Official Site
Start list
(.pdf)
Live video:
(--)
Live SRM Telemetry:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Jens Voigt
(Team CSC)
2006 Giro d'Italia
(Copyright ©
2006 Pete Geyer)
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Monday, August 7, 2006
Note: With yesterday's shortened stage of the Tour of
Germany, due to inclement weather, today's final battle in the mountains
followed by tomorrow's 38.2km individual time trial will
decide the race. Can American Levi Leipheimer add a
second consecutive Tour of Germany title to his June victory
in the Dauphiné Libéré? Links to
live coverage and race commentary from Chris in our live programme...
Levi Leipheimer, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2005 Dauphiné
Libéré)
(photo Pete Geyer)
Leipheimer Strikes Again
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
won yesterday's shortened (*) stage 5 of the Deutschland
Tour ahead of Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) and Marzio Bruseghin
(Lampre). Leipheimer, the defending champion, crossed
over the summit of the Mosern (Cat 1) along with Leonardo Peipoli
(Saunier Duval) and Kashechkin, whose attack 3kms from the
summit caused the final selection. Leipheimer then attacked
his breakaway companions with 2.5 kms to go to the finish and
held off the chase behind to win the stage. It was sweet redemption
for Leipheimer, who is coming off a disappointing Tour de France,
finishing 13th overall. Germany, however, seems to suit
the American perfectly as he stands poised to claim his second straight
overall title. He currently sits in 4th place, 18 seconds
behind.
Jens Voigt (CSC), the ever-present
German strongman, produced an incredible ride to finish
4th on the stage and in the same time as Kashechkin and Piepoli.
The result means that Voigt is now the overall leader of the race,
3 seconds ahead of Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel). Dropped
from the group by Kashechkin's attack, Voigt managed to stay in sight
of the leaders and keep the gap at 50 meters. It was agonizing
to watch as Voigt, clearly riding at his limit, could not make any headway
into the gap but wasn't losing any time either. However, once
he crossed the summit of the Mosern, Voigt and Bruseghin managed to
bridge back up to the main group, just as Leipheimer attacked.
Gusev, meanwhile, produced a solid
ride to finish 6th on the day, only 16 seconds behind,
to maintain his second place overall. Disappointments
for the day included pre-race favorites Alexandre Vinokourov
(77th at 4:39) and 2004 Deutschland Tour winner Patrik Sinkewitz
(64th at 3:35), who are now both out of the running for overall
victory.
*Stage Note: The stage was
shortened by 30km after the riders successfully protested
against riding up Mount Kuhtai (HC) due to inclement weather.
Reports of rain and snow on the mountaintop forced the race
organization to abandon it and create an alternate route at the last
second.
Today's Stage 6 has a very similar
profile to yesterday's planned Stage 5, with another
Hors Categorie climb coming in the middle of the stage before
an uphill finish to St. Anton am Arlberg, rated category 1.
Look for today's stage to feature more decisive time gaps and
give a clearer picture as to who will win the overall race. -Chris
|
2006 Tour of Germany
August 1-9
(Deutschland Tour)
(Tour d'Allemagne)
Official Site
Start list
(.pdf)
Live video:
(--)
Live SRM Telemetry:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
Levi Leipheimer
(Gerolsteiner)
2005 Dauphiné Libéré
(Copyright ©
2005 Pete Geyer)
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Sunday, August 6, 2006
Race flash: Due to snow,
today's stage of the Tour of Germany will skip the HC
climb up the Kuhtai Pass!
Note: Today is the queen stage of the 2006 Deutschland
Tour. Is Levi Leipheimer up to the task of successfully
defending his title? We must not forget his teammate
Georg Totschnig who finished third last year. Will
"Vino" turn his pedals in anger? Or will home country
favorites like Linus Gerdemann or Patrik Sinkewitz, both of Germany's
T-Mobile, steal the show? One thing seems sure: Jens Voigt
will attack early! Live coverage links and race commentary
from Chris in our live programme...
Levi Leipheimer, 2005 winner
(file photo: 2005 Dauphiné
Libéré)
(photo Pete Geyer)
First European Victory for Brown
Graeme Brown of Rabobank won yesterday's
Stage 4 of the Deutschland Tour in a bunch sprint ahead
of Stefan Schumacher and Erik Zabel. It is the first
career win in Europe for the Australian, who won amid controversy
and excitement in the last 1000 meters. With 500 meters
to go, CSC's Jens Voigt, the man who does nothing but attack, took
advantage of a momentary hesitation by the peloton and opened
up a gap. However, the sprinters were alert of the danger
and he was pulled back with 200 meters to go. Then
came a moment of controversy as Graeme Brown clearly pushed fellow
sprinter Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) out of the way before opening
up his own sprint to win the stage. However, the judges
ruled that it was not a significant enough infraction to warrant
punishment and gave Brown the victory.
As expected, Erik Zabel (Milram)
picked up enough bonus seconds to take the overall leadership
from Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel). He now leads
the Russian by 7 seconds. Unfortunately for Zabel, he
couldn't cap off a good day with a stage win as he was boxed in
during the finale, though he still managed to take 3rd.
His day's reward would be the yellow jersey and he received a huge
cheer from the hometown crowd as he stepped onto the podium.
Unfortunately for Zabel, he will only get one day in the leader's jersey
as today's stage enters the high mountains.
Today's Stage 5 is the queen stage
of the Deutschland Tour, with the beyond category climb
Mount Kuhtai coming in the middle. The stage finishes
3 km from the summit of Cat 1 Moserm, so the stage will cause
decisive time gaps. Who will be the next to pull on the
leader's yellow jersey? -Chris
|
2006 Tour of Germany
August 1-9
(Deutschland Tour)
(Tour d'Allemagne)
Official Site
Start list
(.pdf)
Live video:
(--)
Live SRM Telemetry:
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
News and photos:
(cycling news)
Yahoo photo gallery
(AP/AFP)
|
|
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