Road News and Results – June 19, 2009
June 19th, 2009 by Al Fresco No Comment
No clever headline today, just the latest in cycling news from around the world: TdF team announcements from Euskaltel, AG2R and Milram, Valverde appealing case to CAS, Boonen and Quick Step to sue ASO and more!
- The Steering Committee of the International Cycling Union (UCI) has agreed to ban the headsets worn by riders in two stages in the 2009 Tour de France. The stages are those leading to Issoudun (July 14) on a flat course, and Colmar (17 July) after a day in the Vosges mountains.
- Euskaltel-Euskadi for the 2009 Tour de France: Igor Antón, Mikel Astarloza, Koldo Fernández, Egoi Martínez, Juanio Oroz, Alan Pérez, Rubén Pérez, Amets Txurruka and Gorka Verdugo.
- AG2R has named 5 of the 9 riders for the Tour de France: Cyril Dessel, Vladimir Efimkin, Jose-Luis Arrieta, Lloyd Mondory and Stephane Goubert. The rest of the team will be named after the French championships.
- Milram: Linus Gerdemann and Gerald Ciolek will captain the team and will have Fabian Wegmann, Christian Knees, Markus Fothen, Johannes Fröhlinger, Niki Terpstra and Peter Velits to work with.
Other News:
- Alejandro Valverde has appealed his two year suspension in Italy to the CAS on the basis that the Italian National Olympic Committee does not have jurisdiction over a Spanish rider.
- Now Ivan Basso is attributing his stomach troubles to gastritis. He will undergo a gradual recovery and hopes to return in time for the Tour of Poland.
- The UCI announced on Thursday that it has reserved two dates for ProTour races on the 2010 calendar. The ProTour Council set aside September 10th and 12th, 2010 for two new UCI ProTour races, both in Canada. The news comes on the heels of the announcement that the Tour of California has applied for ProTour status from 2011. (CN) [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/north-america-to-get-three-protour-events]
- Zipp Speed Weaponry of Speedway, Indiana announced that it will continue in its role as title sponsor of the Zipp OVCX Cyclocross Series through the 2009 season.
- Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke hopes to sign a professional contract again as soon as possible. He currently rides for Cinelli-Down Under team, where he is not paid and has the status of an elite rider without a contract.
- Retired Dutch cycling great Steven Rooks confessed to taking EPO in a book being released this week. The 48-year-old, who finished second in the 1988 Tour de France when he won the Alpe d’Huez stage, admits that he resorted to taking the drug after his best years were behind him. (VN)
- Belgian cyclist Kenny Dehaes has agreed to part ways with the Katusha team. He is expected to move to another Pro Tour team, but an announcement has yet to be made. He was one of the riders that failed to sign Katusha’s contract addendum on penalties for doping.
- There are expected to be other riders suspended as a result of the biological passport program before the start of the Tour de France.
Boonen:
- Belgian lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugghe says that the ASO doesn’t have a leg to stand on in their ban of Tom Boonen from the Tour de France. He concedes that the decision is not a surprise as doing anything else would contradict their actions of last year. He says that the decision is in violation of the European Social Charter, which guarantees the right to work and the right of leisure.
- Lawyers for Quick Step and Boonen are mapping out their legal strategy and will file a suit as soon as possible to hopefully come to a resolution before the start of the race. They will likely appeal to the Constitutional Court of the French Olympic Committee.
Results:
- Cyclocross world champion Niels Albert (BKCP – Powerplus) won yesterday’s prologue of the Boucles de la Mayenne (UCI 2.2) in Laval.
- Chad Gerlach, a former homeless drug addict who returned to the pro ranks this year has won the opening stage of the Tour de Nez, a stage race in Truckee and Reno, California. [Okay, now can we just start referring to him as "Amore & Vita cyclist Chad Gerlach"? - Ed.]
- Andre Greipel (Columbia) won the second stage in the Ster ElektroToer and took over the race lead from Niki Terpstra.
- Polish rider Przemyslaw Niemec (Miche Sylver Cross) won the second stage in the Route du Sud (Fra/2.1). He’s the new leader.
- Kim Kirchen (columbia) outsprinted Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) to take the seventh stage of the Tour of Switzerland. This is Team Columbia’s 5th victory in 7 stages of the race.
Something's missing from this post: your voice. Add your comments below!
For the latest in cycling news be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed .
Questions or suggestions? Use our contact page to let us know.
