The UCI
have rejected a request from the organizers of the 2006 Salzburg World
Championship road race to shorten the event distance from 265 to 220km.The organizers felt the reduction would
make for a more exciting race.
In a
letter to the race management, the UCI said that the World Championships are
"one of the biggest events on the international calendar. Like Milano-San Remo,
the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liége-Bastogne-Liége, Paris-Tours and the
Giro di Lombardia, the World's live on the myth which is created by a distance
of 250 to 280
kilometers. We don't want to change that."
"[The
Madrid World's] were exciting from the very beginning until the end, raced fast
with average speeds of 42
km/h.”It
went on to add that, “an important aspect is the reduction of team sizes from 12
riders for the greatest nations to nine since last year. The race is more open
because of it, as the greatest nations are finding it harder to implement their
tactics."
Floyd Landis (Phonak - iShares) - 2006 Tour de France winner? Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.
LANDIS
Following
his win in the recent Paris-Nice stage race, Floyd Landis has been labeled, by
his team mate Axel Merckx, as a possible future winner of the Tour de
France.
"Floyd
can win the Tour," he told Belgian newspaper HLN. "He's surprising everyone. Never
thought that he already would be this good this early,"
"Floyd is
really blooming now he's reached thirty. He's got all the qualities [to win the
Tour}: he's a strong time-triallist, a decent climber and he's not afraid. You
can build your house on him. But let him start with Paris-Nice," Merckx added.
Following
his extended trip to South
Africa, Jan Ullrich has returned to Europe.He’s
now (firmly) based in Tuscany as he continues his preparations for
the 2006 season."After my
successful training camp in South Africa in February, I am now
working on my form in a very concentrated and intense way," he said on the
T-Mobile website.He’s accompanied
by Directeur Sportif, Rudy Pevenage and his physiotherapist, Birgit Krohme.
Pevenage
reflected that, "the snow chaos is Southern
Europe made our arrival a bit more difficult."He added that "it is dry here and with
temperatures around 15°, we can carry out our planned
program."
Readers…why
not discuss the Ullrich news in our reader
forums?
According
to the Associated Press, Lance
Armstrong’s Lawyer, Enrico Nan, has asked an Italian court to drop the
litigation case brought about by Filippo Simeoni following comments made by the
American in the Le Monde
newspaper.Armstrong called Simeoni
a liar following his testimony in the investigation surrounding Italian sports
doctor, Michele Ferrari, in 2003.
On March
7th, Nan argued the case should be dropped "because a foreigner
should not be held responsible in Italy for comments made to a French
newspaper 'even if the Internet can be read anywhere,'" according to AP.
New
Liberty Seguros
– Würth leader, Alexandre Vinokourov, last week spoke to french daily, L’Equipe of his steady start to the 2006
season.He explained that Manolo
Saiz, his new Director Sportif, “wanted me to change my programme, to be less
present in front.”He added that,
"he's certainly right: even if I had gone [to Paris-Nice] only for training, I
would have wanted to be up front. I feel much more free this year, as if I had
no pressure at all. The Spanish journalists are not really interested in me, so
I tell myself it's not too bad if people forget about me before the Tour..."
“Manolo
is incredible.He takes care of
everything in this team: the rider's programme, the choice of handlebar tape and
organizing each rider's traveling. He doesn't delegate anything."
Vinokourov
went on to explain that he and his fellow Kazakh riders, which he took to the
team with him, he integrated well with the other riders."I think the Kazakh clan has been
accepted; it is now part of the team. It's normal, we were the new ones. We
responded to them in our own way: with vodka and caviar which we brought from
Kazakhstan. They loved
it!"
One of the Liberty Seguros–Würth Kazakhs Andrey Kashechkin last week won a stage at Paris-Nice. Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.
One of the Liberty Seguros – Würth Kazakhs Andrey
Kashechkin last week won a stage at Paris-Nice. Photo copyright Fotoreporter
Sirotti.
Finally
this week, if you’ve ever dreamt of riding through the Italian hills with one of
the leading riders in the world, you have your chance this summer.Australian, Oenone Wood, the number one
ranked rider in women’s professional cycling, will be the guest of honor during
a 10 day fall cycling tour to Tuscany,
Italy with the New York based cycling
tour operator Vélo Classic Tours.Ms. Wood is the two time defending World
Cup champion and is based in Germany during her European racing
schedule. She accepted the invitation from Peter Easton, Director of Vélo
Classic Tours.
