Cycling
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Robbie McEwen crash points to end
Posted on June 1st, 2009 1 comment
CYCLING star Robbie McEwen’s jinxed year put him in hospital again yesterday amid fears his great career may be over.McEwen, who turns 37 next month, will miss the Tour de France for only the second time in 12 years after crashing heavily during the second stage of the Tour of Belgium, hitting a tub of flowers.
He severely damaged his left knee, cutting ligaments and opening a deep wound. He required surgery and doctors said he would need up to four months to recover.
But his Russian team, Katusha, which he joined less than a year ago, said it might be career-threatening.
The Tour de France begins in Monaco on July 5, and the explosive Queensland sprinter would have been one of its biggest names.
He has won the sprinter’s green jersey – the second-most important category behind the overall winner – three times, in 2002, 2004 and 2006, and has claimed 12 stages.
He has also won the Paris-Brussels one-day race four times, the Australian road race championship twice, 12 stages of the Tour of Italy and a world championship silver medal – a trophy list that puts him firmly in the upper echelon of Australia’s greatest international sports stars of the past decade.
In that time, he and Stuart O’Grady – and more recently Cadel Evans – have been the leading protagonists in a concerted Australian assault on the Tour de France and European road racing generally.
It has led to Australia now being ranked No. 3 in the world behind Spain and Italy and ahead of traditional powerhouses France, Belgium and Germany.
Melbourne and Geelong have been awarded next year’s world championships in acknowledgment of this progress.
McEwen has had a challenging and painful six months.
In January, he arrived in Williamstown two hours late for the start of the first race in the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic criterium series because his flight from Queensland was cancelled.
Then he injured an arm when he hit a spectator leaning over the barriers just as he was poised to win the first stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide.
Six weeks ago he crashed heavily during a one-day race in Belgium, ending up in hospital but escaping with concussion and a lot of sore spots – but no broken bones.
That kept him out of the Tour of Italy, which is normally his warm-up for the French marathon.
McEwen, who has had stints with five major teams since 1996, joined Katusha as an elder statesman as the team tries to establish itself as a force.
The father of two lives in Belgium with his Belgian wife Angelique.
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Menchov wins the Giro d’Italia, despite fall in the last kilometer.
Posted on June 1st, 2009 1 comment
2009 Giro d'Italia - Stage 21: It's safe to say that the usually stoic Menchov had a bit of an adrenaline rush at the finish.
Race leader Denis Menchov won the Giro d’Italia on Sunday despite suffering a fall in the last kilometer of the final stage, a 14.4km time trial through Rome.
Menchov, now the third Russian to win the Giro, added the title to his two Vuelta a España victories in 2005 and 2007.
The 31-year-old Menchov beat 2007 Giro champion Danilo Di Luca (LPR) by 41 seconds over the course of the three-week tour, with Liquigas’ Franco Pellizzoti rounding off the podium finishers a further 1:18 adrift.
Lithuanian Ignatas Konovalovas (Cervélo) team won the final stage in a time of 18:42 with Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream) only a second back and Columbia’s Edvald Boasson Hagen in third.
2009 Giro d'Italia, stage 21: Di Luca used a road bike with aero bars.
Menchov finished 10th on the stage with Di Luca 16th.
The Russian had a 20sec lead coming into the final day in one of the closest ever finishes to a
Giro, in its centenary year. Di Luca briefly looked to be on the brink of a famous victory when he got to the first time-check fastest of all and 5 seconds up on Menchov.
But the LPR rider had blasted out too fast, gradually fading from there and he was 14 seconds down on Menchov at the next time check.
When he came over the line, Di Luca had lost 45 seconds to Konovalovas whereas Menchov, who had won the 12th stage time trial to take over the maglia rosa jersey, was getting stronger.
Menchov rises
Menchov is one of the best in the bunch at masking his emotions. The stoic Russian is like a sphinx; rivals can’t tell when he’s hurting or feeling good and he never gives much away to the media hungry for a good story.
That mask melted away Sunday in the intense final kilometer of the Roma time trial when glimpses of the intensity behind the Russian wall were revealed.
With showers dampening the cobblestones, Menchov’s decision to ride a full time trial setup seemed to backfire when his front tired slipped out on wet cobbles, sending him flailing arms-out to the unforgiving wet stones. He slid nearly 30 feet, desperately clawing for his bike, slipping even further away on the slick cobbles.
His Rabobank mechanic saved the day. Before Menchov even stopped his cobblestone slide, his wrench pulled the spare bike off the roof of the trailing Rabobank car and directed the frazzled Menchov to remount the new bike. Within 10 seconds, he was desperately pedaling for the finish line.
A flustered Menchov hammered across the line, his maglia rosa scruffed and muddied from the fall, but safe. Despite the final-hour drama, Menchov actually widened his lead to Di Luca to win by 41 seconds.
2009 Giro d'Italia - Stage 21: Menchov gets a new bike and a push from his mechanic.
Once safely across the line, the intensity and adrenaline came pouring out. There was no more holding back, no reason to hide. Foaming at the mouth from the intense effort, Menchov screamed, pumped his fists in the air and hugged the mechanic.
“All the tension and stress of the Giro, everything came out,” Menchov said. “This is the most beautiful victory of my career.”
Di Luca ─ who doggedly nipped at Menchov’s heels since forfeiting the pink jersey in the stage 12 time trial at Cinque Terre – was quick to say that he wouldn’t have wanted to win if Menchov someone lost it all in the final-kilometer crash.
“To fall like this wasn’t beautiful, Denis was the strongest and he didn’t deserve to suffer this setback,” said Di Luca, who proudly claimed second to the superior Menchov. “I have nothing to regret. I attacked every chance I had. I can take away a lot from this Giro – two stage victories, seven days in the maglia rosa and the points jersey. I can be very satisfied with this Giro.”
For Menchov, the victory not only makes him only the third Russian to win the Giro (Evgeni Berzin and Pavel Tonkov preceded him in the 1990s), but it also confirms him as one of the best contemporary stage race specialists.
A winner of two Vueltas a España, not many picked Menchov as a likely winner despite his steady fifth-place result in 2008.
Menchov immediately proved he was here to win, sprinting ahead of Di Luca and an elite pack of climbers at the summit finish at Alpe di Suisi in stage 5. Di Luca grabbed the maglia rosa that day, but Menchov looked good.
Menchov took the maglia rosa for good with a stunning victory on the highly demanding Cinque Terre time trial course in stage 12, beating back pre-stage favorite Levi Leipheimer (Astana) and taking a narrow, but decisive lead that would hold to Rome despite incessant attacks from Di Luca.
“I think I was at my best during this Giro. I was really confident,” he said. “I hope it’s a natural and logical progression. I’ve been improving the past few years. I am at the right age to win big tours.”
The inevitable question came: can he win the Tour? By then, Menchov had pulled back behind his mask. All he said was, “we’ll see; now I want to enjoy this victory. You have to have luck to win the Tour.”
He obviously had the legs to win the Giro.
Stage 21 results
1 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team 18.42
2 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0.01
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia – Highroad 0.07
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Astana 0.11
5 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C. 0.16
6 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) ISD 0.18
7 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 0.20
8 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank 0.21
9 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 0.23
10 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.24
10 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 0.27
16 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.45Final general classification
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 86.03.11
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.41
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 1.59
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 3.46
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 3.59
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 5.28
7 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 8.43
8 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 10.01
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale 11.13
10 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C. 11.28Source: Velonew.com
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Volcanic victory for Sastre at the Giro Stage 19
Posted on May 31st, 2009 No comments
2009 Giro d'Italia, stage 19: Di Luca and Menchov were never more than a few feet apart
Danilo Di Luca keeps chipping away at Denis Menchov’s grip on the maglia rosa, but he keeps running out of asphalt.
And now he’s running out of time.
Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) climbed to his second sublime stage victory Friday in the 164km 19th stage, ending atop the brooding Mont Vesuvius. But all eyes were on the showdown between Menchov and his slender 26-second advantage to Di Luca.
In the last major mountaintop finish of the 2009 Giro d’Italia, Di Luca unleashed a series of fearless attacks, but couldn’t shake the stubborn Russian rider on the excruciatingly steep 13km climb up the scarred flanks of the Vesuvius volcano.
“put him in trouble,” Di Luca said, “But I was in trouble, too. I was at my limit, but so was Menchov.”
Di Luca sprinted to third behind Sastre and second-place rider Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) to claim a Pyrrhic victory of sorts, earning an eight-second time bonus to trim Menchov’s lead to 18 seconds with two stages to go.
With the 14.4km Rome course favoring Menchov — who won the decisive 60.4km along Cinque Terre in the Giro’s second week to grab the pink jersey leader’s jersey — Di Luca knows he might be as close as he’ll get to pink before the Giro wraps Sunday.
“When you arrive at the end of the Giro, our strength are more or less the same,” Di Luca said. “I will give all I have in the time trial. Menchov has the advantage, but until the day, I cannot say.”
Di Luca — who’s called “The Killer” by his fans for his incessant attacking style — vowed to fight on, and even hinted he could pull a surprise in Saturday’s 203km 20th stage from Napoli to Anagni. The hilly course ends on a circuit featuring a third-category climb at 18.2km to go and with the finish line sitting like a cherry atop the same hill.
A 20-second time bonus with a stage victory and Menchov out of the top-3 would vault him in pink to ride triumphantly into Rome in the maglia rosa for the final-day showdown.
“Tomorrow is a good stage with a finish that suits my characteristics,” Di Luca said with a smile. “I will try to win the stage or be there for the sprint. We’ll see.”
Time bonuses make life tough for Menchov
Menchov knew all he had to do was follow Di Luca’s wheel, but that proved easier said than done.
Not only was Di Luca on the march, but Sastre, Pellizotti and Liquigas teammate Ivan Basso were all lighting up the narrow steeps grinding up the side of Italy’s most infamous volcano.
Menchov was under the gun, but just as he’s been able to do since donning the pink tunic in stage 12, he responded methodically and evenly to snuff out Di Luca’s attacks.
“I can be satisfied, the legs responded when they had to, and I was with Di Luca when I needed to be,” a relieved Menchov said. “We are still very close. This Giro is coming down to seconds. It’s better to be ahead than behind. He has to still take time on me.”
Time bonuses are playing a decisive role in this Giro. Menchov pipped Di Luca to win at Alpe di Suisi in the Giro’s first week and then edged him again for second at Monte Petrano, but Di Luca has beaten Menchov for third at Blockhaus and again Friday at Vesuvius.
With Saturday’s tantalizing hilltop finish possibly playing a much bigger role than it might otherwise in the GC battle, Menchov wondered about the fairness of time bonuses, especially at the end of a grueling climb like Vesuvius where he lost eight seconds to Di Luca despite finishing with the same time.
“The time bonus for riders who fight in the GC, it’s something special. It’s more for the sprinters or the first part of the tour, but it’s for everybody the same. All the riders can take some time,” he said. “Sure, I would have liked to have won those eight seconds instead of lose them. I didn’t lose any time. I didn’t win the sprint today because I couldn’t.”
Despite the tension over the shrinking lead – which has shrunk from 39 seconds after Monte Petrano on Monday to 18 seconds after Vesuvius due to time bonuses – Menchov can take confidence that he’s a better time trialist than Di Luca.
“I have to be satisfied with this situation. I know that I am in good shape right now. I know I can do a good time trial,” he said, before adding the inevitable. “Until the finish line in Giro, you cannot say the Giro is over.”
In this case, however, he just might be right.
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Michele Scarponi wins the Giro’s stage 18; Garmin’s Pate is third.
Posted on May 29th, 2009 No comments
2009 Giro d'Italia, stage 18: Scarponi took his second stage win of this year's Giro.
Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream) and Jason McCartney (Saxo Bank) went on the hunt for stage victory in Thursday’s 182km hilly 18th stage from Sulmona to Benevento, in what turned out to be a breather for the GC favorites ahead of Friday’s showdown on Mont Vesuvius.
The U.S. pair worked into a huge, 24-rider breakaway across the hilly Campagna region that atrophied to a seven-man winning effort.
McCartney helped forge the decisive gaps late in the stage and settled for seventh, but Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni) ruined a possible victory by Pate to snatch his second victory of this Giro d’Italia.
Denis Menchov (Rabobank) finished safely in the pack to retain his 26-second lead to Danilo Di Luca (LPR) while Pate came close to another grand tour stage victory by crossing the line third.
“The bad thing is that no one even remembers who got second in stage 18. No one even knows what stage it is today, no one will remember who second is,” said Pate, who was third in stage 15 at last year’s Tour de France. “It’s just all about the win. We were close, we rode a really good race, it just didn’t work out — not much you can do about it.”
Pate, of course, is wrong. People will remember the stage because the finale was the most exciting breakaway finish so far of this Giro.
McCartney and Pate each played key roles. McCartney was driving the pace with the attack that definitely split the breakaway in the closing 10km. That spit out such dangerous sprinters as Julian Dean (Garmin-Slipstream) and Giovanni Visconti (ISD-Neri) and trimmed the group down to seven.
Pate was marking wheels, hoping that Dean could chase back on from 20 seconds in arrears. McCartney and Bak played the numbers game, but Scarponi rejoined in the final kilometer and then spoiled the party.
“JD was one of the best sprinters in the group. I had to cover the moves as best as I could. I got in a group and playing for JD to come back,” Pate said. “I only attacked once for real, and I followed all the other times. For a while, we didn’t have Scarponi and he came up from behind. He was just strongest up the hill.”
Scarponi regained contact just in time to hitch a ride on the final rising finish, shooting off Pate’s wheel to bolt past Pate and Felix Cardenas (Barloworld) to win for the second time of this Giro.
“It was a perfect finale for me. I like those climbing finishes like that,” Scarponi said. “It’s always beautiful to win out of a breakaway. The last few kilometers were difficult, with so many attacks. I had the legs to cover the moves and be there for the sprint.”
Scarponi’s win was his second of this Giro and the third for his Diquigiovanni team.
The repeat also kept the lid on stage victories for teams at this Giro, with only six teams winning stages so far. In addition to three with Diquigiovanni, Columbia-Highroad has won six, four by LPR, two each for Rabobank and Cervélo, and one for Liquigas.
Menchov in driver’s seat
2009 Giro d'Italia, stage 18: Menchov held his lead another day
There will be two GC races up the scarred and burned ramparts of Mont Vesuvius in Friday’s final summit finish.
The first is the showdown between Menchov and Di Luca, separated by just 26 seconds, and second will be a dogfight for the final spot on the podium.
Menchov’s Rabobank team kept Thursday’s breakaway from gaining too much time and even got some help from Ag2r, which was interested in protecting Tadej Valjavec’s ninth place to the potential danger of Popovych’s presence in the break.
“Today was a pretty good day for us. Having a breakaway was ideal and we were able to control it without too many complications,” said Menchov, who crossed the line 27th with the main pack at 3:57 back. “Tomorrow, we know that Di Luca will attack. I have to follow him and then see what happens on the climb.”
Revealing that he was taking the Giro very seriously from the start, Menchov said he climbed Vesuvio once in training to scout out the final obstacle between him and the time trial in Rome.
Menchov knows that he can ride defensively, marking Di Luca’s wheel and keeping Liquigas riders Ivan Basso and Filippo Pellizotti on short leashes. In a worst-case scenario, Menchov said he cannot afford to lose more than a minute to Di Luca or the other challengers.
“If you lose one minute, you cannot do anything in such a short time trial. This difference is very big,” he said. “I am more relaxed now, I am confident, I feel strong. I know tomorrow is an important day, not only for me but my (rivals). It’s the last important day.”
Di Luca didn’t attack in the rising finish in Thursday’s final kilometer and instead decided to cool his engine ahead of Friday’s final clash on Vesuvius.
“It’s the last chance for me to try to win this Giro,” Di Luca said. “It’s an interesting climb, not as long as Blockhaus, but it has some steep sections and it’s an inconsistent climb. I take some confidence out of Blockhaus. If we keep the pressure on Menchov, maybe I can grab the maglia rosa.”
Stage 18 results
1 Michele Scarponi (Ita) S.Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 4.07.41
2 Félix Cardenas (Col) Barloworld
3 Danny Pate (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
4 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Saxo Bank
5 Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukr) ISD
6 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
7 Jason McCartney (USA) Team Saxo Bank
8 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) ISDGeneral classification after stage 18
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.26
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 2.00
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 3.28
5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 3.30
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 4.32
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 7.05
8 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 8.03Source: Velonews.com
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Pellizotti pounces at Blockhaus; Menchov defends lead
Posted on May 27th, 2009 No comments
2009 Giro d'Italia, stage 17: Pellizotti gets the stage win at Blockhaus
Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) climbed to a solo victory in stage 17 of the 2009 Giro d’Italia on Wednesday, a short, tough ride from Chieti to Blockhaus.
Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes) fought like a wildcat to take time from his rivals, but race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) stuck to him like a decal, and Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) had the audacity to sucker-punch the Killer at the line for second place on the day.
“I started this Giro with the ambition of winning. To win the Giro is hard, especially this year with the high level of participation and the diffciluty of the course,” Pellizotti said. “We’re making a good Giro, we’re attacking, now we’ve won a stage. I think we deserved to win today and the podium is very much an option.”
Lance Armstrong (Astana) showed some flash on the ascent to Blockhaus, making a bid to follow Pellozotti’s attack, but he and teammate Levi Leipheimer both lost more time on the day as the favorites for the overall rolled up the road without them.
“It was good to see that Lance tried,” said Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel. “He was able to maintain a good rhythm and once we saw that Pellizotti was gone, we were just informing him that Menchov and Di Luca were coming and that was a little too fast. Definitely he is coming to another level again. That’s exactly what I hoped for.”
“Levi was OK,” Bruyneel continued. “We had just to see if what we saw on Monte Petrano is a trend which continues to go down or not. Fortunately we saw that Levi can stay at the same level, maintain his position and climb with the best riders. I am happy about the day.”
Menchov had little difficulty staying with Di Luca’s manic attacks, though he did lose the wheel in the final charge to the line.
“The most important thing was to stay with Di Luca until the finish line. In the last 250m, in the end I had too much gear, a little bit tired, I lacked a little rhythm,” Menchov said. “One day I got bonuses, he gets one back, we’re playing a little game with these bonuses. Today was tranquilo.”
2009 Giro d'Italia, stage 17: Cardenas and Voeckler in the break
Short and decidedly unsweet
The stage was only 83 kilometers long, but it was far from an easy spin. It began with a descent for the first few kilometers and then stayed relatively flat for the next 28km or so. A couple of small, unrated climbs and a short descent followed before the road began its gradual rise to the day’s only climb, a tough haul that began to steepen at the 65km mark. The 18-kilometer climb to the finish averaged 7 percent, but the steep parts reached grades of 13 percent.The ever-active Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) had an early go and quickly found himself with company: Felix Rafael Cardenas (Barloworld); Giovanni Visconti (ISD–Neri); Ruggero Marzoli and Giuseppe Palumbo (Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo); Mauro Facci (Quick Step); Matteo Bono (Lampre-N.G.C.); Riccardo Chiarini (LPR Brakes Farnese Vini); Delio Fernandez Cruz and Gonzalo Rabunal Rios (Xacobeo Galicia).
With 49km to go, the LPR and Rabobank teams were sharing the chase work, keeping the gap around two minutes. By midrace it had gone out slightly, to just over three minutes. The Cervélos then came to the fore and started bringing the gap down.
Voeckler had another dig at the base of the climb that cracked the break into bits. LPR’s Chiarini quickly latched on, along with Cardenas, Marzoli, Gonzalo Rabunal and Delio Fernandez. But their advantage was falling, and 15km from the finish — with the climb just starting to bite — the bunch was coming up fast.
Stage 17 results
1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 2.21.06 (35.294 km/h)
2 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 0.42
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.43
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.48
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 0.57
6 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C. 1.54
7 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas 1.55
8 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 1.59
9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
10 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
11 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
12 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) S. Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 2.05
14 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 2.09
15 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia – Highroad 2.17General classification after stage 17
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 72.28.24
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.26
3 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 2.00
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 3.28
5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 3.30
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 4.32
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 7.05
8 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 8.03Source: Velonews.com