Team Phonak aims to defend second-place ProTour ranking
By David Cohen
Jan 21, 2006, 10:38
Switzerland’s Phonak Cycling team
finished second to Denmark’s Team CSC in the UCI ProTour
rankings in 2005.It garnered 353
points; CSC had 390.
Defending that
second-place ranking will be one of Phonak’s biggest challenges of the 2006
season, according to team owner Andy Rihs.
Phonak had a great year
in 2005.Colombia’s Santiago Botero, who
joined Phonak in 2005 after two disappointing seasons with T-Mobile, won the
Tour of Romandy and took two stages of the Dauphine Libere.He notched 19th spot in the
2005 ProTour rankings.
Team Phonak-iShares 2006. Photo copyright Roadcycling.com.
And Phonak’s big man,
Floyd Landis, took ninth spot in the 2005 Tour de France.
Phonak’s performance in
2005 was all the more remarkable due to the fact that its GeneralManager, Belgium’s John Lelangue, was in his
first year at the helm of the team.No less remarkable was Lelangue’s youth; he was 34 last
year.
With Lance Armstrong
absent, the 2006 Tour de France is up for grabs, and Landis and Botero have to
be considered contenders.
They should benefit by
the off-season Phonak acquisition of Belgium’s Axel Merckx, who came over
from Davitamon-Lotto.Merckx, while
hoping to make a big impression at the classics and in the Giro d’Italia (which
begins this year in Belgium), says he will place himself
in the “complete service” of Landis and Botero in the Tour de
France.
Merckx grew up in
Belgium with Lelangue and has always
wanted to work with him.
As for Botero, he’s
aiming high.He wants to win the
Tour de France.“Being the first
Colombian to win the Grande Boucle would be the greatest,” he says.He is “training harder than ever before”
to achieve this goal.
Floyd Landis chats with Jean-Marie Leblanc. Landis: "I'm in better shape than last year at this time." Photo copyright Roadcycling.com.
Landis, low key as ever,
isn’t making predictions but does say he’s in “better shape than last year at
this time.”He plans to compete in
the Tour of California in February and then enter Paris-Nice, the Criterium
International and the Tour of Georgia.And he’s likely to enter the Giro d’Italia – but as a tune-up for the
Tour de France.“I don’t think it
makes sense to go for [wins in] both the Giro and the Tour de
France.”
Another Phonak threat
for 2006 is Victor Hugo Pena, the former Lance Armstrong lieutenant.Forced to take a long break after
fracturing a thoracic vertebrae at last year’s Paris-Roubaix, he’s anxious to
demonstrate his old strengths in 2006.
His main goal is the
Giro d’Italia. “I want to win in Italy,” the Colombian says.He adds that he also has high hopes for
the World Championships and the Tour de France. “This year I want to wear the
maillot jaune again, just as I did for three days in 2003.”
Lelangue says Phonak is
“betting on continuity” in 2006.
Axel Merckx and John Lelangue. Lelangue: "Team Phonak is betting on continuity in 2006." Photo copyright Roadcycling.com.
There will be seven new
athletes on the team in addition to Merckx.Lelangue believes he has the right mix
of experienced pros and young hopefuls.“During the scheduled 52 races [in 2006] we’ll not only climb mountains
together; we also intend to move mountains.” Commenting on the 2006 Tour de
France, Lelangue told Roadcycling.com that “We go to France to win Le
Tour.”
“The perfect mix of
experienced and young riders and the right people in management positions are
the reasons why we can tackle the new season with self-confidence,” adds team
owner Rihs.
The Phonak team has just
returned from training in Mallorca. The team
will participate in its first race at the Doha International GP on January
27.
