NEWS ABOUT THE TOUR DOWN UNDER AND THE GIRO:

First of all,I'd like to wish a Happy New Year to everybody.Then,I've got some news.

First: According to http://www.cyclingnews.com/, the Saxo-Bank team for the Tour Down Under (18-25 January) will be formed by Stuart O'Grady, Jens Voigt, Nicki Sørensen, Kasper Klostergaard, Matthew Goss, Frank Hoj and Anders Lund.The Team Manager will be Kim Andersen (for more information,go on the website and see the news of the 30th of December). The leader of the team will be O'Grady,that has already won the Tour Down Under twice in his career. Btw,does anybody know why Chris-Anker Sørensen will not run that race? Last October he was supposed to run Herald Sun Tour and he was very happy because he really wanted to go to Australia for the first time in his life,but then when Frank and Andy decided not to run the Tour of Lombardy he had to come here in Italy.Poor boy! Someone hopes to go to Australia for the first time in their life (and dreams about the sun,the snakes,the crocodiles,the wonderful cities,the bush and all this kind of things) and then finds themselves in Lombardy...For me,that would be quite desolating (maybe because I live in Lombardy all the year...Eh eh)

However,he and all the other Saxo-Bank riders that aren't taking part in the Tour Down Under will do a ten-days training camp in Mallorca.

Other News: A stage of the Tour 2010 may arrive in the city of Bergamo.Yuppi! (I know you don't care much about this news,but for me it's quite interesting...).

Giro News: Basso has said that the second TT of the Giro 2009 (that is 61 kms long) is the hardest that he's ever seen.Simoni and Cunego have decided to make a plan against Basso and Armstrong.Will it work? We'll discover it in the next episode (unfortunately we'll have to wait for some months)... =)

(photo by Tim De Waele)