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STAGE 12: ROAD BIKE ACTION: FIRST EDITION NEWS 17 JULY, 2008
Road Bike Action & AFP
July 17, 2008
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Unknown Factors Make 95th Tour Suspenseful
With 10 days of racing left in this year's Tour, the Tour is still a wide open contest to see who will wear the Maillot Jaune in Paris on July 2th. Current leader Evans and second place Frank Schleck are separated by one tick of the clock, while little know American Christian Vandevelde is in 3rd. The Garmin man is followed by other surprises, like Bernard Kohl (4th), Juan-Jose Cobo (8th) and Vladimir Efimkin (10th). Vincent Lavenu, director sportif of AG2R–La Mondiale wonders if Vandevelde can keep his potential podium spot all the way to Paris: "We knew Vandevelde is a great rider, but no one has paid attention to him. That's a big surprise because he's on a serious team without a doubt. Among the unexpected riders in this Tour, he has the best chance to make the podium, if he stays steady in the mountains." Lavenu's analysis is prescient, as the
man from suburban Chicago has been riding within himself throughout the Tour. If he can withstand the coming attacks of the climbers and keep his eye on Menchov, who is lurking just 19" behind on gc, Vandevelde has a chance to nail the penultimate stage 53km ITT and win the Tour De France.
Menchov is a real threat in the Tour, as Caisse d'Epargne's Valverde and Pereiro, CSC-Saxo Bank's Schleck Bros and Sastre as well as the Basques of Euskaltel all named the stone faced Russian Rabobanker as the danger man in the stages to come at the Tour. Menchov himself sees Evans as his main rival, while the Silence-Lotto Aussie is concerned that Menchov will come on strong for the end of the Tour. Both Evans and Menchov are complete riders who can climb and time trial, but so is the Vandeman. Stay tuned for what might be the most exciting Tour De France finale in recent memory.
Ballerini Hints At Italian Olympic Team
The "commissario technico" of the Italian national cycling team Franco Ballerini discussed the upcoming selection of the squadra azzura for the Beijng Olympic games. The cagy Tuscan didn't make any concrete revelations, as the big reveal will take place on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ballerini made a quick trip to Pau to meet with some of the potential selections such as Alessandro Ballan and Fillipo Pozatto, both of whom were in yesterday's break to Foix.
Certainly defending Olympic road race champion Paolo Bettini will be on the roster of 5 riders, with both Ballan and Pozatto likely. Marzio Bruseghin is another possibility as he can ride the tough, hilly road race course and the ITT. The surprise is that Ballerini also met with emerging Italian star Riccardo Ricco', who will likely be added to the Italian team roster, possibly as a reserve.
Cycling: UCI Prexy McQuaid "Spanish need to clean up cycling"
World cycling chief Pat McQuaid has once again called on the Spanish authorities to increase their efforts in the fight against doping after the latest doping affair at the Tour de France. With Moises Duenas (Barloworld) the second Spaniard to leave the race after a positive test for EPO on Stage 4, McQuaid thinks it is no coincidence it has been just Spanish riders found positive. "For me there is a correlation", explained the dubliner from his UCI office in Aigle, Switzerland to AFP. "Operation Puerto (doping affair) was in Spain and a large proportion of the riders involved in that were Spanish,". McQuaid tried to incite Spanish authorities to fully investigate Operation Puerto, but at the time, doping was not considered a crime in Spain, so the case has been shelved by Spanish judges. But McQuaid believes that the Spanish should look at cycling "...from the top down. I would be interested to find out if there has been one athlete brought before a judge in Spain," said McQuaid, who has been in conflict with the McQuaid numerous times. "I have spoken to the president of the Spanish federation on several occasions and have tried to impress upon him the seriousness of the problems of doping. It's not just to do with testing. It's about changing a whole culture."
McQuaid continued to put the Iberian peninsula in a bad light, saying "I have been to Spain, spoken to people and seen what goes on. I've heard of cyclists racing at junior level who have been caught cheating. Often, it's not just the riders, it's the people around them." Last year before the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, McQuaid and the UCI tried to block Spanish star Alejandro Valverde, allegedly involved in Operation Puerto, from riding the elite road race. The Spanish cycling federation appealed to the Court for Arbitration in Sport, who overturned McQuaid's decision and gave Valverde the green light to ride. Prior to his election as UCI Prexy, McQuaid's candidacy was challenged by the Spanish cycling federation in concert with other European federations, all of which opposed the portly Irishman. But former UCI Prexy Verbruggen, who many observers still believe runs the UCI by wire, pushed McQuaid through. With his ongoing conflicts with the European federations, Grand Tour organizers and now the implosion of the ProTour, the tenure of Pat McQuaid as UCI President has been an unmitigated disaster.
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