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Archive for August, 2007

Tre Valli Varesine

Posted by Damo on August 22nd, 2007 | No Comments »

The 2007 Tre Valli Varesine (Cat. 1.HC) is a 198km race around Varese and its environs. The course is made up of a flat section of 30km, then the riders will do 2 laps of a 19.4km loop. After that they head out on a 41.75km section that includes the only climb of any note and finally the will complete the course with 5 laps of a 17.5km circuit. This is the first of three races that make up the Trittico Lombardo with the Coppa Agostoni and the Coppa Bernocchi to take place on August 22 & 23 respectively.

Well, it was wet...damn wet in Varese today and the race came down to a two man sprint after Christian Murro (Tenax-Salmilano) and Alessandro Bertolini (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia) had gotten themselves clear of their breakaway group of 19 with 12 kilometres to go. Christian Murro prevailed in horrible conditions in a race that was shortened by one of the final 17km circuits.

Overall Results (Top 10)

1 Christian Murro (Ita) Tenax Salmilano
2 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni- Selle Italia
3 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Barloworld
4 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
5 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Fondital
6 Marlon Alirio Perez Arango (Col) Team Universal Caffe' - Ecopterol
7 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System
8 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare
9 Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas
10 Riccardo Chiarini (Ita) Team L.P.R.

Filed under 2007, Races

The Beat Goes On – 21 Aug 2007

Posted by Damo on August 21st, 2007 | No Comments »

All teams (with the exception of Astana and, of course Unibet) are preparing themselves for a big couple of weeks with the Eneco Tour imminent not to mention a host of one-day races in Italy and Belgium. Team announcements have been made and I suggest you visit team websites (click the links over there on the right) for the latest team selections.

The Astana Team have announced that they intend on getting back to business in September starting with the Pro Tour event, the Grand Prix de Plouay in France. Once again, as part of the announcement the Astana Team Management have assured all who will listen that they are determined to set up a system of independent and external anti-doping measures for the team.

The rumours about Milram's main sponser Nordmilch pulling their backing after Joerg Jaksche's allegations have proven to be unfounded. The boss of Nordmilch, Martin Mischel has said, "I don't see why we shouldn't continue". Their current contract is in force until 2009.

Credit Agricole have announced that Laszlo Bodrogi has renewed his contract with the team for the 2008 season. They have also announced their Vuelta a Espana team with the leader being Pietro Caucchioli and he will be led through the mountain passes by Alexandre Botcharov and Remi Pauriol.

The Lampre-Fondital team are still basking in the glory of Alessandro Ballan's victory in Sunday's Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg. "We've been perfect and we obtained the victory even if some accidents happened - Guido Bontempi commented, talking about the crash suffered in the last 2 kilometres by Claudio Corioni. Bontempi does admit that Corioni's crash probably had a big influence over the final result which is true considering it took out Thor Hushovd.

Quickstep - Innergetic have assured us that, apart from a few cuts and bruises, Tom Boonen looks to have suffered no major ill effects after the fall with 20km to go that he suffered during the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

Team CSC experienced Dane Nicki Sørensen's season is over after he suffered an accident at home in which he broke three bones in his foot. "He's really upset, because he' been looking forward to doing Tour of Ireland, Vuelta a España and of course the World Championships," said CSC sports director Kim Anderson. On another note, the team has signed 24 year old Lasse Bøchmann from the Glud & Marstrand Horsens as new team stagliare.

Filed under Pro Teams

Vattenfall Cyclassics

Posted by Damo on August 20th, 2007 | No Comments »

The Vattenfall Cyclassics is in its 12th year, previously known as the HEW Cyclassics, the race is along a 229km figure 8 course in and around Hamburg. The final 126km consists of 3 laps of a 42km loop that incorporates a 600m hill called Waseberg. Although not particularly long it reaches gradients of up to 19 per cent which will hurt the legs of any rider.

After only 12km a breakaway of 3 riders, Luke Roberts (Team CSC), Gerben Löwik (Rabobank) and Floris Goesinnen (Skil-Shimano), escaped and worked together to reach a lead of up to 14 minutes on the peloton. By the time they had covered 134km the lead had dropped back to 10 minutes, the Waseberg was climbed for the first time and the work in the peloton was being put in by the Milram team as well as T-Mobile and Gerolsteiner.

By the time the last of the three laps was started the lead was down to under 5 minutes and with around 10 kilometres to go it was all back together again.

The next attack involved 6 riders, one of them Tour of Germany winner Jens Voigt (ya gotta love him, don't ya?) He, along with Paolo Bettini (Quickstep-Innergetic), Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne) and Jussi Veikkanen (Française Des Jeux) worked hard for a few minutes but were unable to make their escape.

Then it was down to Simon Gerrans (AG2R Prevoyance) and Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) to try their luck and they rode together to for another few kilometres but they, too, were unable to skip clear.

With 2 kilometres to go they were reeled in by a flying Rabobank team who looked to be setting things up nicely for Oscar Freire to defend his title. That is, until Alessandra Ballan (Lampre - Fondital) made a neat move that gave him some separation with just over a kilometre to go. He looked far from confident, continually peering over his shoulder as he waited for the responses to come after him. When he finally realised that he may just have stolen it he put his head down and banged away furiously on the pedals.

Coming into the final 200m he was still checking for challengers and had focused his sights on the flying Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) who was coming fast on his right hand side. Ballan was almost oblivious to the presence of Oscar Freire who was closing fast on his left and as he raised to salute his victory was very nearly beaten on the line.

A crash by Lampre - Fondital rider Claudio Corioni occurred 2 kilometres from the finish when he misjudged some road furniture, clipping a barricade right in front of Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) taking him out of the picture in the process. Earlier, Tom Boonen (Quickstep - Innergetic) had also been involved in a crash that removed his chances and he finished 5 minutes behind the peloton.

There's no doubt about the form of Gerald Ciolek at the moment, given a little bit of luck and a stronger lead out, he could have continued his stellar run with a victory here. He was certainly going as well if not better than any of the other finishers.

1 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) T-Mobile Team
4 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
5 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
6 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
7 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step Innergetic
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
9 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner
10 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt

5.21.05

Filed under 2007, Races

The Beat Goes On – 19 Aug 07

Posted by Damo on August 20th, 2007 | No Comments »

It has been a busy week with plenty of developments to get tongues wagging. While I'm watching the ticker and keeping an eye on the eurosport.com streaming of the Vattenfall Cyclassics race, here are some of the notable stories of the last week.

Unibet Disbands
We start with the announcement that Unibet.com will be disbanding at the end of the 2007 season. This was the kind of news that many felt was inevitable and, sure enough, the reason given was due to the exclusions from the season's Grand Tours and other Pro Tour events. The injustice surrounding this case should have caused much greater outrage than it seems to have done, in my opinion.

Team Roamfree Are the Aussies coming
Rumblings from Down Under that a sponsership deal has been brokered to throw $20 million at the formation of a possible Australian Pro Tour team with the aim of having it in place by the 2009 season. Now, there's nothing like positive thoughts to make dreams come true but the statement on the Cycling Australia website probably epitomises optimism with this : It’s official - Australia is going to enter the Tour de France. This would have come as a surprise to ASO officials, I'm sure.

Zabel & Valverde "Unwelcome" in Stuttgart
Although World Championships committee president Susanne Eisenmann announced that Eric Zabel and Alejandro Valverde would not be welcome at Stuttgart due to their connection (Zabel because of admissions of EPO use in the 1990s and Valverde because of allegations of involvement in Operacion Puerto), both men are still targetting the event. It's still very much a case of will they or won't they. I'm pretty sure, though, that being told they are unwelcome will be little deterrent if they are selected by their respective national teams.

Andreas Kloden Looking For a Team
If ever there was a guy who has deeply regretted signing with a team it must be Andreas Kloden. I would be surprised if T-Mobile showed any interest in welcoming him back given their determination to fly the anti-doping flag. Surely any rider coming from the Astana debacle will be tarred with the same brush of suspicion.

Where Will Devolder Go?
Meanwhile, Stijn Devolder is a much sought after man. With Discovery Channel not around next year, the grab for valued cyclists has begun and the word is that 4 teams have raced over to Devolder, grabbed him by the arm and called "Mine!". Apparently QuickStep - Innergetic are favoured to win his hand in cycling for season 2008.

Crash, Bang, Wallop!
The usual litany of woes that make up the risks of being a professional cyclist continue with another week of injuries to report. Matty White copped a fractured skull while out training - it seems the canine breed has nabbed another scalp. Eric Baumann (T-Mobile) broke his shoulder in a training accident. And most graphically, Rigoberto Uran suffered multiple fractured elbows in an accident while on a descent in the Tour of Germany. Cycling Fans Anonymous has a more complete list of the scrapes and bruises.

Winners for the Week

Jen Voigt (Team CSC) - Tour of Germany
Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) - Vuelta a Burgos
Xavier Tondo (LA MSS) - Volta a Portugal
John Gadret (AG2R Prevoyance) - Tour de l'Ain

Filed under Team News

Robbie McEwen’s Not A Happy Chappy

Posted by Damo on August 19th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

Robbie McEwen chucked a bit of a tanty during the week over his team's decision to leave him out of the team to contest the Vuelta a Espana. Predictor - Lotto have finally come to their senses and realised that, with an honest to goodness GC contender in their team, it would be wiser to concentrate on winning the overall GC rather than be a team with two diminished missions. Essentially, they have finally given Cadel Evans 100% support and said, "We'll ride this tour in support of you."

Robbie's been top dog at Predictor - Lotto for a long time now and, being a typical sprinter, is only willing to be a team man if he's the beneficiary of the teamwork.

In a true show of selfishness Robbie has petulantly pointed out to Sportwereld.be that "There are 11 flat stages in the Vuelta, and our team goes there with absolutely no sprinter. That is not good planning."

Hmmm, yeah Robbie, I'll bet Discovery Channel, Team CSC and Caisse D'Epargne are really kicking themselves for failing to field sprinters and instead, going for GC honours in the Grand Tour events. I mean, those teams have really suffered by throwing their energy behind their big men, haven't they? What could they be thinking?

Now if the news is true about Predictor - Lotto's plans to sign up Levi Leipheimer as a general classification helper for Cadel Evans, Robbie would have to be choking on his Wheaties. The focus of the team has moved from being content with McEwen picking up stage wins to taking out the General Classification.

Filed under Opinion

Tour of Germany – Stage 9 – Final Results

Posted by Damo on August 19th, 2007 | No Comments »

The 2007 Tour of Germany is held from August 10 thru August 18.

Jens Voigt successfully defended his title with an almost flawless 2007 Tour of Germany proving once again what raw power and a fierce self-belief can accomplish. Voigt's winnig margin ended up at 1' 57" over Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) with David Lopez (Caisse D'Epargne) in 3rd place at 2' 10".

Let's run through the classification winners. The Points Classification was won be Erik Zabel who added points in the final stage courtesy of his 2nd placing. He was also helped out by Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Caisse d'Epargne) who started the day equal on points but chose not to start the final stage. Niki Terpstra (Team Milram) took out the Mountains Classification which was uncontested thanks to the flat course of the last stage. The Young Rider Classification went to Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and unless I'm a very bad judge, we're going to see his name at the head of this classification in quite a few races over the next few years. The Team Classification was taken out by Team CSC by a very healthy 6 minutes.

Stage 9 Profile

The final stage was won by Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) who outsprinted Erik Zabel to take his 3rd stage win for the Tour. The final day consisted of a 143.3km course that took the field from Einbeck to Hannover over flat terrain.

A group of 4 escaped early over the only climb of the day, a Category 3 bump up Rote Fuchs, they were Grischa Niermann (Rabobank), Harald Totschnig (Elk Haus), Matthew Lloyd (Predictor-Lotto) and Pierre Drancourt (Bouygues Telecom). They really only got to around 2 and a half minutes clear of the peloton which was never going to be enough and by the time they hit Hannover the lead was back to 1' 35".

Once in Hannover 4 circuits were to be covered and the escapees did well to stay away for 3 of those laps. But in the final lap they finally succumbed and the sprinters had their final say. Ciolek emerged down the side of the road to power away to yet another impressive victory.

The reactions and the news...
Team CSC - another big day for the team with comparisons with the Tour of Denmark made.
T-Mobile - Gerald Ciolek is the new sprinter to watch.
Rabobank - Grischa Nierman returns to his home town.
Cyclingnews
VeloNews
Daily Peloton

Stage Results (Top 10)

1 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) T-Mobile Team
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
3 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
4 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
5 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
6 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt
7 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
9 René Weissinger (Ger) Team Volksbank
10 Carlos Dacruz (Fra) Française des Jeux

3.16.55

Final Overall GC (Top 10)

1 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
3 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
4 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas
5 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
6 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
7 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone
8 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com
9 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com
10 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner

30.57.21
1.57
2.10
3.05
3.15
4.06
5.22
5.26
6.08
6.16

Points Classification

1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
2 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) T-Mobile Team
3 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital

98 pts
88
62

Mountains Classification

1 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram
2 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC

23 pts
15
12

Young Rider

1 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
2 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
3 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone
4 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone
5 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team

31.00.36
0.51
2.07
3.08
3.35

Teams

1 Team CSC
2 Discovery Channel
3 Caisse D'Epargne

93.02.25
6.23
6.32

Filed under 2007, Races, Tour of Germany

Vuelta a Burgos – Stage 5 – Final Results

Posted by Damo on August 19th, 2007 | No Comments »

The Vuelta a Burgos (Cat 2.HC) is held from August 14 - 18.

Taking a 2 second lead into the final stage, Tour de France King of the Mountains winner Juan Mauricio Soler would have had to have been nervous. Then, when the field was 2 kilometres from the end of the race, Alejandro Valverde made his attempt to take the lead away from the Colombian, but the Barloworld team was ready and reacted strongly to cover assuring Soler the win.

Winning the final stage was Vasil Kiryenka (Tinkoff Credit Systems) who pulled clear of Francisco Perez Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) to finish 2 seconds ahead. Third place went to Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo).

Classification winners for the Tour were : Points - Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne); Mountains - Vasil Kiryenka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems; Teams - Caisse D'Epargne.

For a full list of starters, please visit cyclingstartlists.com

Stage Results (Top 10)

1 Vasil Kiryenka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems
2 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
4 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Team L.P.R.
5 Antonio Olmo Menacho (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
6 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia
7 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
8 Samuel Sánchez González (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
9 Jaume Rovira Pons (Spa) Viña Magna - Cropu
10 Israel Perez Rodriguez (Spa) Extremadura - Spiuk

3.39.42
0.02
0.11

GC Overall Standings (Top 10)

1 Juan Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Carlos Castaño Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia
4 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax - Gam
5 José Ángel Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
6 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel
7 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia
8 José Miguel Esp Elías Galindo (Spa) Relax - Gam
9 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Extremadura - Spiuk
10 Rubén Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne

14.31.37
0.02
0.30
0.47

1.23
1.52
2.08
2.15

Points Classification

1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems
3 Juan Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld

53 pts
45
37

Sprint classification

1 Rodrigo Garcia Rena (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias
2 Maurizio Bellin (Ita) Team L.P.R.
3 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - Topsport Vlaanderen

13 pts
10
6

Mountains Classification

1 Vasil Kiryenka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems
2 José Ángel Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
3 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax - Gam

38 pts
37
34

Teams

1 Caisse d'Epargne
2 Relax-Gam
3 Saunier Duval-Prodir

43.38.40
0.57
2.11

Filed under 2007, Races

Tour of Germany – Stage 8

Posted by Damo on August 18th, 2007 | No Comments »

The 2007 Tour of Germany is held from August 10 thru August 18.

Jens Voigt not only retained his yellow leader's jersey through the Individual Time Trial he won the stage powering over the 33km course in Fuerth to finish with a time of 39.42.4. His winning margin was just under 15 seconds from Laszlo Bodrogi (Crédit Agricole) with Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) only capable of finishing 3rd a further 10 seconds back.

Voigt's enormous effort has extended his lead out to to 1'57" and has assured himself a successful defense of his title. Levi Leipheimer has moved into second spot 13" ahead of David Lopez Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne).

Stage 8 Profile

Notable performances throughout the day, apart from Voigt's awesome effort, came from Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) finishing in 4th place and Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) whose 5th placing helped move him up to 14th place overall and 5th place in the Young Rider Classification.

Of the younger brigade, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) finished his Time Trial in 29th place while Chris Anker Sørensen (Team CSC) finished in 39th. However, it was Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) who moved to 3rd on the Young Rider list with a 14th placing.

The reactions and the news...
Team CSC - not only has Jens Voigt increased his overall lead, but youngster Chris Anker Sørensen was able to maintain his place in the top ten.
T-Mobile - kudos to Jens while applauding Gerdemann and Marco Pinotti's rides.
Rabobank - the white jersey is theirs courtesy of Robert Gesink.
Cyclingnews
VeloNews
Bike Radar
Euro Sport

Stage Results (Top 10)

1 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
2 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
4 Jason McCartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
5 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team
6 Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile Team
7 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas
8 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com
9 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
10 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank

39.42.4
0.14.8
0.25.6
0.39.1
0.39.8
0.43.7
0.46.1
0.46.5
0.50.3
1.14.6

Overall GC (Top 10)

27.40.26
1.57
2.10
3.05
3.15
4.06
5.22
5.26
6.08
6.16

Points Classification

1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
2 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) T-Mobile Team

78 pts
78
63

Mountains Classification

1 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram
2 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC

23 pts
15
12

Young Rider

27.43.41
0.51
2.07
3.08
3.35

Teams

1 Team CSC
2 Discovery Channel
3 Caisse D'Epargne

83.11.40
6.23
6.32

Filed under 2007, Races, Tour of Germany

Vuelta a Burgos – Stage 4

Posted by Damo on August 18th, 2007 | No Comments »

The Vuelta a Burgos (Cat 2.HC) is held from August 14 - 18.

The Individual Time Trial was on the agenda for the 4th stage of the Vuelta a Burgos and it was Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) who stepped up and took the stage. He rode the 15km course in a time of 16' 47" to win the day by 22". Such was the authority in which he won he very nearly ripped the overall lead from Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloword) only to miss out by 2". Second for the day was youngster Mikhail Ignatiev (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and in 3rd place, 34" behind Valverde was Andrei Kunitski (Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo)

For a full list of starters, please visit cyclingstartlists.com

Stage Results (Top 10)

1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
4 Nikolai Trussov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems
5 Juan Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld
6 Vasil Kiryenka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems
7 Pedro Romero Ocampo (Spa) Extremadura - Spiuk
8 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems
9 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel
10 Emilien Benoit Bergès (Fra) Agritubel

16.47
0.22
0.34

0.40
0.42
0.46

0.50
0.51

GC Overall Standings (Top 10)

10.51.00
0.02
0.30
0.47

1.23
1.52
2.08
2.15

Points Classification

1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems
3 Juan Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld

53 pts
45
37

Sprint classification

1 Rodrigo Garcia Rena (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias
2 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias
3 Maurizio Bellin (Ita) Team L.P.R.

9 pts
7
6

Mountains Classification

1 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax - Gam
2 Juan Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld
3 Iker Flores Galarza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi

34 pts
30
30

Teams

1 Caisse d'Epargne
2 Relax-Gam
3 Saunier Duval-Prodir

32.38.36
0.46
2.14

Filed under 2007, Races

Cycling Stars of the Future – Rigoberto Uran

Posted by Damo on August 18th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

An exciting bunch of young riders are hitting the scene and giving us a taste of the quality that we can look forward to enjoying over the next 10 years or more. This is the first of a series of profiles that spotlights the up and coming brand spanking new pros, some of whom could become superstars.

Name : Rigoberto Uran
Country : Colombia
Date of Birth : 26 January, 1987
Weight : 54 kg
Height : 162 cm
Turned Pro : 2006

Performances

2007 Tour de Romandie - 59th
2007 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - 40th
2007 Euskal Bizikleta - 24th (1 stage win)
2007 Tour of Switzerland - 9th (1 stage win)
2007 Brixia Tour - DNF
2007 Classica San Sebastien - 27th
2007 Deutschland Tour - DNF (Hospitalised after smashing his elbows)

About Rigoberto

One can only hope that Rigoberto is a quick healer after suffering shocking arm injuries when he crashed while descending a mountain pass during the Tour of Germany. I would expect that he will be out of action for the rest of the season and, with the demise of the Unibet.com team will be looking for a new team. Since signing on with Unibet in November 2006 he has put in some impressive performances and was right in the thick of things when he had his accident.

In 2005 Uran was the Colombian Junior Road Race Champion and the National Track Champion, he then became Pro in 2006.

In his first race, the Tour de Romandie, he gave a glimpse of what he is capable of with a first up 9th placing in the Time Trial Prologue.

He managed to pick up a stage win on June 23 at Schwartzsee in the 8th stage of the Tour de Suisse. He ended the Tour in 9th place overall, an outstanding effort for the 20 year old. He also had a stage win, although it was in an abbreviated Time Trial, during the Euskal Bizikleta at the start of June.

His Stage 3 accident occurred in the first kilometre of the descent while in the lead group after a strong showing climbing the Category 1 Riedbergpass at Zufluct. He failed to take a left hand turn and was airborne into a ditch putting both arms out instinctively to break his fall. He ended up with multiple fractures to both elbows and an extended stay in hospital. (I've included the footage of the accident for you to flinch over).

Uran certainly looks to have a bright future with good Time Trial and mountain climbing ability. At only 20 years of age he looks to have plenty to offer any team who wants to take part in the feeding frenzy of the Unibet.com demise.

Filed under Young Riders

Cycling Beat

Archive for August, 2007

Tre Valli Varesine

The Beat Goes On – 21 Aug 2007

Vattenfall Cyclassics

The Beat Goes On – 19 Aug 07

Robbie McEwen’s Not A Happy Chappy

Tour of Germany – Stage 9 – Final Results

Vuelta a Burgos – Stage 5 – Final Results

Tour of Germany – Stage 8

Vuelta a Burgos – Stage 4

Cycling Stars of the Future – Rigoberto Uran

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