Links to some Curaçao pics plus article about Chris Anker Sorensen:

Yes,I've already seen the pics featuring the Schleck brothers swimming with some dolphins and that appeared on Cyclingnews and on Corvos yesterday.And as a consequence of those pics, Fangirl has spent the last 24 hours envying the Curaçao dolphins and wishing she were one of them.Anyway,leaving Fangirl's envy issues behind,here's a link that may interest you: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF05112009_058 .On it you can find some nice pics of the Schleck brothers that haven't appeared yet on the traditional "Curaçao pics website" (Corvos,Bettini,Tim De Waele and so on) and that I found pretty nice.Of course on that link there also pics involving Contador,Boom,Boasson Hagen and the other riders that are in Curaçao in these days.

Btw,even if the Curaçao pics have been the main object of my posts in the last 2-3 days,I haven't forgotten that the riders are in the Netherlands Antilles also because of the Amstel Curaçao criterium.
The Amstel Jan Thiel Criterium (which is a "warm-up" for tomorrow's race) saw the victory of Kenny Van Hummel (yay!), a hero for lots of supporters (me included).Second was Hoogerland, while third was Brice Feillu.

According to http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=15948 (click on this link if you want to know more about how the Criterium went), the Schleck brothers didn't take part in the race and this explains why I can't find any news about their placements in the race.

Anyay,let's now change topic.In fact I haven't forgotten Chris Anker Sørensen's existence even if he's not in Curaçao swimming with dolphins.Therefore,I'd like to publish an article about him that I found on http://www.riis-cycling.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=2560 .In this article Chris talks about the Japan Cup,the chopsticks,his fat percentage (if he gets worried about it, what should I do?), the off-season, his book about the Tour (I hope it will it be released also in English or in German!), the future and other things.And if I've managed to make you like Chris Anker so much that you even want to see some vids with him (perhaps in the English language,since Danish is so terribly complicated to understand),on this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7oOZ7Bb9xw ) there's a nice interview with him.
Btw,back to the interview,here it is:

He was saved by the bell. The goal for the 2009 season was the same as for many others in the field - a win. And Danish Chris Anker Sørensen took it by himself. On the last passing of the steepest hill on the circuit in Japan Cup he dropped his companion, Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne) after having taken the initiative to slip away from the peloton.
"It was great to win in Japan. The season has, however been great and full of amazing experiences where I have helped teammates to great achievements. But there was still a large and gaping "0" next to “number of victories” this season before the trip went to Asia and it was such a satisfying moment crossing the finish line in solitude”.
In several aspects, there is a long way from Japan to Hammel, Denmark where he was born and raised and visiting his parents.Chris Anker Sørensen has just returned from a run in a meteorologically bad temper which primarily consisted of sleety gales before he picked up the phone to speak with me about the 2009 season. But apart from the geographical gap there are some cultural differences between Japan and Denmark which put his precision skills to the test.
"Michael Mørkøv and I had agreed that everything we ate in Japan had to be consumed only by the use of chopsticks and naturally it turned into a competition of ability which I clearly won.I wonder now whether the chopsticks may be a great tool of helping me keep my weight down over Christmas since gravy and pudding seem rather difficult to consume with a pair of pointy pieces of wood”,says the skinny climber with a wink in the eye and continues:"I am training very hard to the upcoming Christmas holiday so I don't have to restrain myself completely during Christmas dinner."
The fat percentage is being kept to a minimum and does not cross the six percent boundary at any time of the year. Chris Anker is still on his bike several times a week in the early off-season and he even tops his training off with a couple of jogging sessions every week when we hit late autumn.But otherwise,the 25-year-old Dane enjoys a welcome opportunity to meet with his friends and talk about things other than cycling.In addition, there will be a golden chance to be spending time with his girlfriend, Michelle-a Danish soccer player from Copenhagen.
Reaching December, the mountain bike finds its way in the cold and rainy Luxembourg where he resides on a daily basis.To achieve a spot in the line-up for the biggest cycling event in the world requires an endless number of training hours in vast examples of weather conditions. "There have been several great moments this season. Tour of Luxembourg was special because it took place in my second home and because we won the race in superb style with three stage wins, the point classification and the overall victory.But Tour de France was a childhood dream came true for me and it was much bigger than I ever dreamed of. The number of spectators and especially the number of Danes, journalists and the fact that just a few weeks on the bike making me world famous was a slightly surreal but also a truly fantastic experience. In fact,it was so personally rewarding that I along with sports journalist,Dennis Ritter has written a book about my thoughts and conversations during the race. In addition, the book contains race reports of the stages from my and from Dennis' point of view”.
It is no secret that Team Saxo Bank says goodbye to eight riders at the end of this season. But it is not necessarily all negative according to Chris Anker Sørensen:
"Personally,I will without a doubt miss being around several of the riders who are leaving the team. On the other hand, they are leaving a few empty spots in the upper part of the hierarchy and other young riders now have the opportunity to take responsibility and thus get to develop on a higher level and every team needs progression like that.From a Danish point of view,to become successful national representatives in the biggest events like the World Cup or the Olympics,we need an expanded approach to gain the necessary experience which can only be achieved through participation in major races.I am looking forward to welcoming four new riders on the team when we all are going to take part of the survival camp with B. S. Christiansen in the beginning of December."
Thus, the young Dane gets a month off work before he embarks on another season. A new year from which he expects quite a lot:
"My main objective is the Tour de France as I hope to get another chance in the line-up.I expect to become even stronger so I can be an even greater help for Andy.Besides the Tour, I hope to receive a chance in the overall classification in the Vuelta in the autumn where I aspire to take another win in the Japan Cup.All in all,I would like to take another step up the rankings and that is now possible on Team Saxo Bank”, concludes Chris Anker Sørensen.
NB: The Dane's book release, "Debutantens dagbog" (Diary of a Debutant) is being published Monday 23rd November.
(Pics by Amstel Curaçao Race 2009 and by Cycletime website).