Schlecks: In these days there aren't lots of news about the brothers around;for what I understood,their next race will be the Gp of Plouay (23rd of August).Then the brothers will be racing the Vuelta that this year begins on the 29th of August and ends on the 20th of September.
Di Luca: the news du jour is that Di Luca's counter-analysis confirmed that the Lpr rider was doped during the Giro 2009.
Every time a rider "gets caught" at the anti-doping,people usually say the same things about disappointment,honesty and so on.And the rider always says the same thing:" What? Doping? Me? Are you crazy? I'm the cleanest rider of the peloton! It can't be true! I'd be a stupid if I doped".Anyway,I'd like to write here an article that Marco Pinotti wrote on the local newspaper after receiving the news of Di Luca's positivity.Here are some sentences that I remember:
"I got the news of Di Luca's positivity after having finished a race.I was on the team bus with my teammates.Normally,when you get the news of a rider's positivity,you feel angry and disappointed.This time I felt happy.Anger and Disappointment came later,perhaps because I didn't realise the importance of the news and because I was still excited about the stage that had just ended (...).Di Luca is not new to this kind of problems:he had problems already in 2004;in 2007 he was disqualified because of the "Oil for Drug" inquest;In 2008 instead CONI wanted to ban him for 2 years because of some strange things that the doctors found out while analysing blood samples from the 2007 Giro.Then he had problems because of his doctor,mr.Carlos Santuccione (ndr;see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Santuccione to find out more about that man).Now,he's finally been found positive to an anti-doping test (...).He'll probably be disqualified for 2 years,but it doesn't matter.It doesn't matter because no one will ever pay back all the riders who lost a victory,a good result,an important chance of getting a good result because of him over the last years".
It was a very strange article because Pinotti is normally a very diplomatic person,but this time instead he really looked angry.And the last sentence of his article really made me think a lot.If Di Luca hadn't raced this year's Giro,how would things have gone? Yes,Menchov would have won anyway but perhaps Lovkvist would have kept the maglia rosa for more time,2 stages would have been won by other 2 riders (Basso and Garzelli,perhaps),there would have been less polemics between Lpr and Liquigas...It would have been a different Giro.
COMEBACKS...
Let's change topic...Here' the "Comeback section news".
After the Emaciated Chickenman,also Vinokourov has come back racing again.And me likes Vinokourov even less than Rasmussen,so you can probably understand how happy I am.
A much nicer comeback is Kenny Robert Van Hummel's one. The Dutch rider suffered a severe laceration to his knee on July 22,but now is ready to come back racing.Kenny said he expects to race in the Profronde van Oostvoorne,a Dutch criterium,on Thursday afternoon. (see full article about Van Hummel's comeback on: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-hummel-returns-at-profronde-van-oostvoorne ).Of course,after having supported him at le Tour,I'm really looking forward to see Kenny on the roads again.
Another rider who is coming back soon is Kurt-Asle Arvesen,who is scheduled to ride the Tour of Ireland.
Then: Do you remember that horrible fall caused by Theo Bos at the Tour of Turkey?
Well,Daryl Impey (the rider who fell together with Bos) returned racing again this week,in GP Carnago.In the April crash Impey suffered facial injures,broken teeth and 2 broken vertebrae. Hopefully the South African rider will get some good results soon.He would deserve it,after that crash.
TOUR OF POLAND: I know that I have ignored that race completely so far,but here in Italy they broadcast it at crazy hours and so I just have to read the results on the newspapers.
Then: Do you remember that horrible fall caused by Theo Bos at the Tour of Turkey?
Well,Daryl Impey (the rider who fell together with Bos) returned racing again this week,in GP Carnago.In the April crash Impey suffered facial injures,broken teeth and 2 broken vertebrae. Hopefully the South African rider will get some good results soon.He would deserve it,after that crash.
TOUR OF POLAND: I know that I have ignored that race completely so far,but here in Italy they broadcast it at crazy hours and so I just have to read the results on the newspapers.
The leader at the moment is Alessandro Ballan.The Italinan rider also won a stage in this race and achieved his first victory 315 days after the one at the Worlds.2 stages were then won by Edvald Boasson Hagen,while other stages instead were won by Bozic,Furlan and Guarnieri.
TEAM CHANGES
Bruseghin will race for Caisse d'Epargne next year.
Talking about my favourite team (Saxo Bank),Luxembourgish rider Laurent Didier has signed a contract with Riis' team.
Didier is 25-year-old and took the second place in both the road race and time trial at the National Championships 2009. Didier has been riding with Team Designa Kokken over the last year.Also Jakob Fuglsang,Alex Rasmussen and Chris-Anker Sorensen raced in that team before.
"I'm really happy about this contract and I'm looking forward to joining the team.I know Fränk and Andy quite well and know that I'll get ample opportunity to improve myself with Team Saxo Bank.Last fall I did a couple of races as a helper and I also went to the training camp this winter, which only made me even more sure that this is the right team for me,"says Laurent Didier,who's become a fulltime pro this year because he wanted to end his engineering studies first.
Didier is 25-year-old and took the second place in both the road race and time trial at the National Championships 2009. Didier has been riding with Team Designa Kokken over the last year.Also Jakob Fuglsang,Alex Rasmussen and Chris-Anker Sorensen raced in that team before.
"I'm really happy about this contract and I'm looking forward to joining the team.I know Fränk and Andy quite well and know that I'll get ample opportunity to improve myself with Team Saxo Bank.Last fall I did a couple of races as a helper and I also went to the training camp this winter, which only made me even more sure that this is the right team for me,"says Laurent Didier,who's become a fulltime pro this year because he wanted to end his engineering studies first.
Frank said some very good things about Laurent Didier in an interview that I published on the blog some months ago (http://fede-myblog92.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-article-about-schleck-brothers.html).
RispondiEliminaNormally the young riders that come from Designa Kokka are very good and I think Didier won't be an exception.
The schlecks aren't in the team for the GP Plouay on the saxobank site. I think the Vuelta will be their next race.
RispondiEliminaLaurent Didier is a good racer, like many other riders who come from the Designa Kokken team. Jakob Fuglsang and Chris anker Sorensen are also from that team (and I think they are good riders)
I've read it as well.Probably the GP of Plouay website was wrong,I read the news there.
RispondiEliminaC.A.Sorensen and Fuglsang are very good racers and I think that also Didier will become a very good pro-rider.
Talking about Fuglsang,I think he'll do pretty well in the Vuelta and I think that Denmark will have a very strong team at the Worlds. Last year Breschel came in third and I think that it wouldn't be a big surprise if this year another Dane rider arrives on the podium.
Yeah, the Schlecks not be riding the GP of Plouay, their next race will be the Vuelta. I'm really looking forward to that, I think it will be a very exciting and interesting race this year!
RispondiEliminaI also think Denmark will be strong at the Worlds, they really have some good riders with Fuglsang and Breschel.
And I have to say that I've never trusted Di Luca. Really, I always thought there was something just not right about him. So this doping news doesn't surprise me at all. I'm sure he was doped at the 2007 Giro, which means that actually Andy won it. It's too late for that now, I know, but I see Andy as the real winner.
In the Vuelta there will be lots of riders who want to do well and so I think it will be very exciting race :)
RispondiEliminaI don't know why,but I have the feeling that one Dane rider will be on the podium in Mendrisio.It's the same feeling I had when Sorensen won the Colmar stage.
If one Dane rider actually makes it to the podium at the Worlds,it would mean that I could become a witch specialised in predicting good results for the Dane riders... ;)
I think that Di Luca wasn't clean during the 2007 Giro as well.I never liked him that much,and what Pinotti said made me think about how the Giro 2007 could have ended if Di Luca hadn't raced.
When Di Luca won the Giro,someone in my family told me that,for him,the real winner of the race was Andy.And I think that now many people think of Andy as the real winner of 2007 Giro (and I'm not referring just to Schleck fans).