Personal hopes for 2011 cycling season:

And so another year is ending. Many things have changed over the last 12 months, although one thing remains the same. In fact, for the third year in a row, I find myself writing a 'personal hopes for next cycling season' post in the last days of the year. Unfortunately for you, this has become a traditional way to end the year for me- and I'm not sure you appreciate it very much...
My first 'new year's hopes' post appeared on this blog in 2008 and it was probably one of the most fangirlistic things I've ever written. For example, in it I wished that Andy Schleck became my boyfriend (*blushes red and tries to hide her head in the sand without succeeding*).How embarassing. Luckily last year post was much more serious and I can proudly announce that few of my hopes came true. For example, Chris Sorensen won a Giro stage.

Anyway, talking about the 2009 post, here I've got something that may amuse you. In that post, in fact, me wrote: 'I hope that some riders who doped in 2007 won't be able to get any good results in 2010'. Now, that was a not so hidden reference to 2 people: Riccò and Vinokourov. Yes, Vinokourov. In fact I have to admit that 12 months ago I couldn't stand him at all. He sounded too arrogant to me and I didn't think cycling needed a guy like him to come back racing. And instead, 12 months after writing that post, me has become a member of the AAVL (Anonymous Association of Vino's Lovers) and the Kazakh is one of my favourite riders. Funny to think about how things can change in 12 months time, isn't it?

However, let's finally start with my 2011 cyclistic hopes. First of all, just like last year, I hope that new year will have less doping cases than 2010.

Please boys, stop taking the mickey out of us supporters. It isn't fun. And then, when they discover you, you break into tears and feel like a s*** because no one trusts you anymore. Please, stop it. And, in case you're found positive at the anti-doping, don't invent strange stories involving you, Spanish steaks, your team's doctor, your dog's tail or whatever else. We're not stupid. Not that much, at least.
Another hope for the 2011 year is going to watch some live races, just like I've done over the last 2 years. Now that I have that cursed driving license, me has a very ambitious plan for next year. And that is: 1. watching the Sondrio, the San Pellegrino, the Bergamo and the Milan's stages of the Giro. 2. watching the Pinerolo stage of the Tour.
Unfortunately, it's going to be hard to achieve these goals. I live near San Pellegrino so, if I use the good old 'The Giro is riding through my village!' excuse (I did it in a very successful way in 2007), I should be able to skip school that day. In that case I could also go to Sondrio's stage, which is on the previous day. But to do so, I need someone to lend me their car. Will someone be that brave? I don't think so. Then, as far as Bergamo stage is concerned, it is likely to start from Bergamo at about midday. At that time of the day, however, me should be at school. Of course I could invent some random excuse for my teachers, but if I break the infamous '20 days of absence' limit, then I could have some troubles. Stupid school that doesn't allow me to watch the Giro' start in my town.
As far as the Tour is concerned, then, in July I'll have my bloody final exam. And, considering my luck, my final exam is very likely to be on the day of Pinerolo's stage. What an anger.

Anyway, on to my other hopes, let's start talking about my favourite riders. First of all, I hope team Lux won't be named Team Leopard and I hope that their kit won't be horrible. Then, I'd like the Schlecks to race well in the Ardenne's classics and I'd like Andy to win the Tour (and Lombardy); Frank instead could win the Vuelta (after arriving second at the Tour, of course). Hey, but wait a minute! Fuglsang was the one that should have won Vuelta! I wrote that in a comment and I can't change my mind now! Uhm, let me think about this problem for a while (*thinks, thinks, thinks*). Okay, I've got the solution ladies! Frank wins the Vuelta, Jakob (who is younger than Frank and has plenty of time to win a GT) arrives on the podium, wins Tour of Denmark and wins a Vuelta stage. Oh, and Frank will also win Liége next year and will dedicate the victory to Leea. Ok?
Talking about Chris Sorensen (who's not going to ride the Giro), I think it'd be good for him to win a Classic. What about Fleche Wallonne? Oh, and he could also win a Tour de France stage and Giro dell'Emilia (although, to achieve this latter goal, he needs to get over his Emilia curse).
On to other riders, I hope Pinotti will arrive on the TT Worlds' podium. Moreover, I hope that Breschel will win the Worlds in Copenhagen and an important North Classic (what about Flanders?). I also hope that some of my less known favourite riders (Jorgensen, Vanmarcke, Niemiec, not to mention Leukemans and Hoogerland) will do well in some important races.

In addition I'd also love to see Jens Voigt winning an important GT stage (what about coming to the Giro, Jens?) and I'd also love to see some young riders getting good results (yes, I'm talking about Stefan Denifl too).
As far as the Giro is concerned, I hope it will be won by Nibali. I like him and it'd be nice to see him winning the Corsa Rosa in front of, say, Riccò. On the other hand, I'd hate it if Riccò won.
I also hope that Geox will be invited to Grand Tours and that Menchov will reach the Tour podium again. And I'd also like Oss and Modolo to get some important results this year. I'd also appreciate it a lot if Szmyd managed to win Dauphine Libére.

So, these are my hopes for 2011. However, the most important thing for me is to be able to follow a great, exciting and 'clean' cycling season. Hopefully the riders will give us a great year and they'll also make some of our 'cyclistic personal hopes' come true.

Anyway, here we are at the end of 2010. Considering that I won't write anything new tomorrow, I take this chance to wish you all a happy new year- may 2011 bring you happiness, health, love and whatever else! And do feel free to tell me what your cyclistic hopes for 2011 are!

2010 Cycling Awards decided by moi plus some radom links:

So ladies, here I am again after our virtual party. I didn't post any news over the last days, therefore here you have some interesting links:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schlecks-to-be-ambassadors-for-special-olympics-in-luxembourg : not only are they cool and good-looking, the Schleck brothers are also golden-hearted boys (did we have any doubt about this?). In fact Frank and Andy presented a check for 7000 euros to the sport federation for people with intellectual disabilities. Didier, Kirchen and Serge Waldbillig presented a check for 5000 euros too (the link also contains some clues about team Luxembourg's cars which, as we already know, will be Mercedes).
http://www.team-saxobank.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=3007 : the new season is finally beginning and Richie Porte is going to ride TDU together with N.Sorensen, Tanner, Vandborg, JJ and Sebastian Haedo and Cooke. On this link you have a nice interview with him (and if you go to the right you can also book a signed copy of Riis' biography...).
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/geox-and-tmc-threaten-to-quit-cycling : what a bad story. Don't Geox and Tmc realise that, if they leave cycling now, their image could suffer some bad blows between cycling supporters?
http://www.team-saxobank.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=3008 : here you have a interview with Chris Sorensen, who has recently written in his blog that he's not going to take part in 2011 Giro d'Italia. Right now, I'm a disappointed Fangirl.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/breschel-voted-danish-rider-of-the-year : Yes dear fangirls, over the last days the 'Best 2010 rider of the year award' has been held in Denmark. The prize was won by Matti Breschel (as predictable), who had a very funny comment on it(“I've always thought that this event was deeply corrupt, but now I have faith in it again").

Matti won in front of Chris Anker Sorensen, Jakob Fuglsang, Alex Rasmussen and Lasse Norman Hansen.

Since the end of the year is 'award time' almost everywhere, however, miss Fede's now going to give her own 2010 cycling awards. Here they are:

Best performance: Fabian Cancellara's Parix-Roubaix victory. Simply amazing.
Best Team: Liquigas, Astana or Saxo Bank? That is the question. Saxo riders won Flanders, Roubaix, the TT World Championship and one of them was second in the Tour. On the other hand, Liquigas won Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. Astana instead won the Tour and Liége. However, considering that the Tour and the Classics didn't go that well for Liquigas, that Astana didn't win anything at the Worlds, and that SB also got stage victories at the Giro (Richie Porte even won the Maglia Rosa), I think I'll go for Saxo Bank.
Best sprinter: Cavendish. When he's fine, he's unbeatable. Special mentions also goes to Yahueni Hutarovich for winning a Vuelta stage in a very surprising way, to Freire for winning Sanremo and making my race prediction come true, and to Petacchi for winning a great stage and the green jersey at the Tour.
Best TT rider: Cancellara (did anyone have doubts about this?)
Best new rider: Richie Porte. He rode an amazing Giro and showed that he has a bright future in Grand Tours. A mention also goes to Peter Sagan, great revelation of the first part of the year.
Most emotional moment of the year: imo there have been many emotional days this year. For example, when Chris Soensen won the Giro stage on Terminillo. However, I think the most emotional moment of the year was Andy Schleck's victory in Morzine-Avoriaz. That day I screamed as if I was mad!
Rider to watch in 2011: Richie Porte, of course. Also Peter Sagan has showed great things this year, just like Craig Lewis, Teejay Van Garderen, Sacha Modolo and Geraint Thomas. Attention also to Taylor Phinney.
Craziest moment of the year: The 60 men breakaway at the Giro, with everyone blaming everyone on what had happened, Vinokourov trembling in the rain, Chris Sorensen finding a random excuse for what had happened and Savoldelli transforming himself in Vinokourov's personal psychologist.
Most exciting Grand Tour of the year: Giro d'Italia. From the Dutch roads to l'Arena di Verona, going through Gavia's snow, Montalcino's mud and L'Aquila's stage, the Giro had a daily surprise for everyone who followed it (those surprises include Chris Sorensen going 'round with a Inter scarf in his hands the morning of the Zoncolan's stage).
Most exciting one day race of the year: the Worlds in Melbourne. Once again, I screamed as if I was mad when I saw that Hushovd had passed Breschel.
Worst moment of the year for Fangirl: Andy Schleck's chain pop on Port du Balés. In that moment I could have smashed my own tv. Then I managed to calm down, but Contador's stupid excuse had the power of making me get angry again.
Best chronist of the year: Savoldelli, of course. His Bergamask accent has become a symbol of this year Giro, just like his 'A Voi!' sentence. Moreover, he kept in contact with Rai during the Tonale stage by using his mobile phone and he commented what was happening through that. A genius.
Worst polemic of the year: there have been a lot of polemics over the last months. Beergate and Chaingate were probably the biggest here in the Blogosphere, but I think that the polemic that someone created with Cancellara ('You have an engine in your bike!') was probably the worst.
Best race I saw live this year: Tonale stage of the Giro (although I managed to meet Menchov at Tour of Lombardy, and not at the Giro).
Best brothers du peloton: and you expect me to give you an unpredictable answer? Muahahaha.
Best eyebrows du peloton: Jakob Fuglsang, of course. However, Logic doesn't accept the idea that those eyebrows have that natural shape.
Most unlucky rider of the year: For the second year in a row, this award goes to poor Robert Gesink for what happened to him at the end of the season.
Worst supporters of the year: those who booed at Vinokourov in Liége. If the system allows doped riders to come back racing after a disqualification, it doesn't make sense to boo at them as soon as they start winning important races again.

So, these are my random 2010 awards. You're free to create new categories or/and give me your opinions about my decisions, of course.
Considering that I'm not going to write anything new before of Christmas, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a nice holiday break :D
(Pic by Scanpix).

19/12/2008- 19/12/2010: my second year as a blogger:

Picture yourself in a big open field, on a warm summer evening, surrounded by many cool people who are taking part in the same party as you. Picture some little tables all around the field, cookies, cakes and some bottles of champagne over them (sangria for me please!) and imagine some good music playing softly. Then imagine me, aka miss Fede, using her not-that-flawless English in order to welcome you at My Blog's special party.

Yes, because exactly two years ago me started this random blog about cycling and today I'd like to celebrate this fact with you all, my dear readers. Unfortunately this isn't possible, since we all live in different countries. Therefore, all I can do is to invite you to this imaginary virtual party that, in my imagination, should be held in summer (and not in December, with 15 cms of snow on Bergamo's roads) and should also be attended by some of our favourite riders. So, let's raise our virtual glasses in a virtual toast to this blog and to us all ladies and gentlemen!

When I started this blog 2 years ago, I just wanted to have some fun and to have a space where I could write my opinions about cycling. At that time my mania for the Schleck brothers was even worse than today, since Andy and Frank were my main topic of discussions with my familiars. Now, luckily for my relatives, my passion for cycling has got much wider and I can express my views on complicated matters like doping, ProTour licenses, team's strategies during Grand Tours, riders' schedules and so on. And I can do it also in English!

When I think about my first posts I actually feel a bit ashamed. Some of them were so stupid and childish! However, nowadays this blog receives about 200 visits pro day, so it means that I've probably become a better blogger over the last 2 years.

As I said at the beginning, I'd really like to meet you all in person, so that we could also find out more about each other's lives. Hopefully, one day we'll finally manage to organise a big Schleck party somewhere in the world. Btw it must be a very big and 'central' space, since it will have to host many people from all over the world. In fact, this blog is read by people who come from: Canada, Usa, Guatemala, Brasil, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Lettonia, Russia, Bosnia-Erzegovina, Hungary, Ukraine, Japan, Australia and other countries I don't remember right now (Malaysia and Singapore were in the list too) . So, if some of you knows a place where we can all gather together in the future, you can tell me- although I'm afraid it will take me some time to be able to attend a Schleck party outside Italy. It would be a bit strange to turn up at my parents and ask them money (a lot of money, if the party is not going to be held in Italy) to go to a Schleck party, wouldn't it?

In the meanwhile, however, we can talk in the comment area or on Twitter. Yes, Twitter. In fact yesterday me surrendered to the damned thing too. Talking about Twitter, let me say that the 'words limit' is a tragedy for someone like me who, in order to express one thought, needs to use 40 lines on her blog. Moreover, I'm having some troubles in understanding how that thing works. Anyway, if you want to follow me, the link is: http://twitter.com/FedeYeah_92 (I know, it's a stupid name, but Fede_92 wasn't available anymore...).
Anyway. Back to this blog's birthday (if we can call it this way...), I think it is a good excuse to look back on what happened in the last cycling season.

First of all, in January we could see the new jersey of team Saxo Bank, which was appreciated by almost everyone. Then in February there was the terrible tragedy of Ballerini's death, one of the worst moment of the year together with the deaths of Fignon and Sassi. Then, before of the beginning of the true season, Andy had all those health problems in his first races and the first rumours about team Luxembourg started to go round in the press.

In March we discovered Sagan's great talent, got worried for Spilak's misadventure at GP Lugano (a car almost ran over him) and we all watched Sanremo, which was won by Freire. In case you have forgotten it, my official prediction for that race (which I wrote on another blog, after writing my post about Sanremo) were: 1. Freire 2. Petacchi 3. Boonen. And the eventual result was: 1. Freire 2. Boonen 3. Petacchi. Wow.

At the end of March then we had Gend-Wevelgem, which was won by Eisel and saw Matti Breschel puncturing at a very unfortunate time of the race. In the same period, Chris Anker Sorensen broke his collarbone and that news got me in despair.

Then there was that amazing April Sunday that began with a family's lunch and ended with all my aunts asking me information about Cancellara (and feeling disappointed when I told them he was already married), who in a week won Flanders and Roubaix (Breschel's Flanders instead was ruined by a horrible mechanical problem). Then Frank and Martine Schleck became the happy and proud parents of the little Leea right before of the Ardennes Classic. Gilbert won Amstel (I had predicted it), Evans got Fleche and Vino got Liége (that was when I joined the Anonymous Association of Vino's Lovers).

In May there was the Giro, with the crazy 60 men breakaway, Chris Sorensen's stage victory, Porte's maglia rosa, Montalcino's mud, me cheering on the Tonale and my mum congratulating Pinotti on his Giro's performances in Verona, while he was in the bus and she was on the road. 'Well done Marco!', she screamed. 'Thank you!', he replied kindly.

In June Frank won a stage at Tour of Luxembourg and won Tour de Suisse, then in July we had the Tour de France. 3 weeks of daily pain, excitement and passion, which saw riders crashing badly in Spa, facing a carnage on the Roubaix cobblestones (poor Frank broke his collarbone there), climbing historical climbs like Tourmalet, using their heads in sprints and their wheels in post-stage fights. Those 3 weeks saw me cheering for Andy's triumph in Morzine and for his yellow jersey, but they also saw me feeling terribly sorry for him after the Bagneres de Luchon stage. They saw me hoping that Vinokorouv would have got angry at Contador after Mendé's stage and they saw me clapping my hands in front of the Kazakh's victory the following day. They saw me cheering for Petacchi and feeling respect for Armstrong. Moreover, at that time the new team speculations had already begun and they cast a very negative shadow on Riis' team.

In August me fell in love, ehm, I meant, we had some hot discussions about Chaingate and about the fact that Riis had employed Contador and found a new sponsor which, strangely, was the good old Saxo Bank.

In September we watched la Vuelta, were astonished by Mosquera's performances (we understood something about them a few weeks later), disappointed by Andy's ejection from the race (that gave birth to Beergate discussions) and shocked by the news of Contador's positivity.

In October we Europeans got up very early to see Melbourne's worlds and greeted Hushovd as new world champion. I felt sorry for Italy's 4th place, I felt sorry for Gilbert and I felt sorry also for Breschel. But at the same time, I was happy for Thor.

In the same month then we all said 'chapeau' to Gilbert for his second Lombardy victory, which he got on a very rainy day. Then, in November, we had the chance to take it easy, talk about new teams, argue with one another and go 'Oooooooh!' while wathing Curaçao's pictures by Tim De Waele.

So, this is what happened this year. I wrote about all these things here on this blog and you shared your clever and witty remarks about these facts in the comment area.

Waiting for the new season to begin, therefore, I would like to thank all my readers (those who leave comments and also those who keep their opinions for themselves) because coming up here and discovering that about 250 people from all over the world read my blog daily is something very nice- and very strange, to say it all. Then I would like to thank every single peloton cyclist, since those boys give me daily inspiration and entertain me during races. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, let's raise our virtual toasts to cycling once again- in spite of everything, this is the best sport ever.

PS: Oh gosh, how bad am I at writing those silly moving posts? And how hateful are they?

Team Luxembourg's mistery, Saxo Bank's training camp in Didier and Sorensen's words:

Hear ye, hear ye- and be part of this blogger's joy: miss Fede has no homeworks for tomorrow (it's the first time since September that I can write this sentence!!) and so she's going to write a new random post. Happiness!
So, first of all, let's talk a bit about Team Luxembourg. Or whatever its name will be. In fact, yesterday the team's name mistery was apparently solved by our dear Jakob Fuglsang, who told Cyclingnews that the new squadra was going to be called 'Team Leopard'. Moreover, he added that the team kit should have a classical design and should also have a big leopard printed on it.
This news had actually got me in despair, since the idea of screaming 'Go go Leopards!' to my favourite riders for the next 4 years doesn't actually appeal that much to me. About the leopard on the kit, well, I would have bet they would have printed the Luxembourg lion on it, instead I was wrong. How strange.
Btw this morning Brian Nygaard denied the news that Jakob had given yesterday and he said that, to know the true name of the team, we'll have to wait until the 5th of January. Now, let's reflect a bit about this.

Some weeks ago, Nygaard had already said that the team wasn't going to be called 'Team Leopard'. Therefore, after reading Fuglsang's words, me was a bit sceptical about them and that's why I didn't publish the news immediately. In fact, Nygaard has denied it earlier today.

But still, me smells a rat about this story. I mean: Jakob seems an intelligent guy, so I don't think he said that name, 'Team Leopard', completely by chance. Moreover, me was a bit disturbed by Nygaard's reaction. In fact not only did he deny the news immediately, but he also seemed a bit angry on his Twitter. In fact there he said it was time people stopped all these speculation about the team's name and he added that we have to wait until the 5th of January if we want to know more about the team.

The little problem is that, unfortunately, the day of the team presentation I will be in Austria, with no Internet connection. Does this mean that I'll have to wait until the 10th of January just to know the name of m favourite riders' team and what their new kits will look like? Gosh, don't people at team Lux realise that we've been waiting for these details since August?

I had already got fed up by this 'secret-mania' in September, so you can imagine how I feel about it right now. And the funny thing is that Nygaard also got angry at those who speculate about the new name of the team. Ask yourself some questions, dear.

Still talking about the secret-mania: everyone talked about Crans Montana's training camp in a very happy and entusiasthic way, but no one mentioned that O'Grady crashed while skiing and broke two ribs (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ogrady-set-for-tour-down-under-in-spite-of-skiing-accident ). Now, if I'm on a training camp and one of the people who are there with me breaks 2 ribs while skiing, I wouldn't probably talk about said training camp in very euphoric terms. But still, guys at team Lux didn't mention O'Grady's injury until yesterday. And, still talking about that training camp, I haven't seen any 'official' picture from it yet.

Did I miss something or are the only pictures of the training camps the ones that the riders posted on Twitter? Is someone else fed up by this secret-mania, or is it just a product of my impatient imagination?
Anyway, back to the name's mistery, Frank Schleck has recently given an interview to Tageblatt (which appeared also on Cyclingnews) in which he said: ”I like 'Team Lëtzebuerg' (as a new name for the team)”. I have to admit I like it too, although almost everything is better than team Leopard. I mean, leopards are cute (see pic below), but I just can't imagine to see my favourite riders being called 'leopards' in every single race of next year. That would be a bit disturbing, imo.

On http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/frank-schleck-eager-for-2011-season-with-number-one-team , Frank also talked about the new team in a very entusiasthic way. He also said that Linus Gerdemann is a nice guy. This is funny, since Chris Anker Sorensen actually can't stand poor Linus and also said that, in the peloton, Gerdemann hasn't got so many friends.
In the interview Frank also said: “We can't wait until things finally start and we can finally do what which we do best – that is, ride races.” I can't wait either!

SAXO BANK NEWS...
Talking about the other team, Saxo Bank, on http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/news/dossier/%20newsletter/story/28605173 there's a nice interview with Laurent Didier, one of the riders who didn't follow los Schlecks in their new team. This is actually a bit strange, since Laurent is Luxembourgian and Frank Schleck praised his skills last year.
Talking about the training camp in Fuerteventura, Laurent said that everything went well - in other words, no one broke anything. Didier also said that at first the Spaniards had remained a bit on their own, while in the following days he spent a lot of time with Navarro. The Luxembourgian also claimed that the training camp was also a good chance to practise English. Considering that I need to practise my spoken English too, can I join you in your next training camp too? I'm small and tidy! ;)
Talking about los Schleck brothers, Laurent said that they're good friends of his, but that he's paid by Saxo Bank and so he's riding for them also in 2011. He also adds that he had been in contact with Kim Andersen, but then Riis didn't want him to leave the team and so he decided to respect his contract. 'This is normal when you're a pro cyclist', said Laurent, who ended the interview by saying that he doesn't want to talk about a possible team change in 2012 yet.

Still talking about Saxo Bank's training camp, Chris Anker Sorensen wrote a very funny (as usual) post about it. Here's a little translation of it.
'Morkov and I chatted about the fact that we were happy that, during this camp, we did not have to sleep on some mountains with BS in a rainy weather. It goes without saying that this year's team building was very different from the survival camps with BS. I would say that both camps have their advantages and I can't actually decide what the best training camp method is (...)', Chris wrote about the survival camps.
Then he talked about the different things he did during this year camp. Talking about the strange human pyramids and things like that, he said: 'We may use some of the things we have learned in the training camp during the presentations of some of the 2011 races . For example, we could build a human pyramid, a thing on which we are quite keen now. One thing that none of us really liked instead was kitesurfing. We all went down like flies. I kept on checking whether my falling teammates were going to land on my head (ndt: there may be something wrong in this sentence, since Google Translater translates it in a very strange way :P). Surfing was much better, I really liked it and I think I could do it again. However I was a little annoyed by the fact that, between all the clips in which I was surfing perfectly, TV2 chose to broadcast one of the few ones in which I was having some troubles'.
Then Chris said something about being a 'culture bearer' of Cycling. Or, at least, that's what Google said that Chris wrote. Shall I trust the damn thing or not? Mistery.
Then Chris said: "Also this year we played some tennis (...). Our doubles matches Vandborg / Chris Anker vs. Morkov / Nicki always ended up with a victory for Vandborg and me, mainly because of Brian's skills. If a sport consisting of tennis, badminton, table tennis and cycling existed, Vandborg would be a champion in it".
The guys also had apnea lessons during the training camp and Chris wrote: "I started the training as the absolute worst hold breather, in fierce competition with our Pole Jaroslaw. In fact, we got an impressive result of 15 and 16 seconds in the first attempt we did of holding our breathes. After three days of training however I improved my performances and could hold my breath for 1:45. I could have probably reached the goal of the 2 min, if JJ and I hadn't swum into each other".
Surprisingly, Chris ends his post by wishing everyone a merry Santa Lucia. This is the proof that Chris knows what Santa Lucia is - and this makes me like him even more.
However, I've already talked too much for today. So here I close this random post too.

PS: I obviously offer my condolences to the family of Aldo Sassi. He was a great man, a 'living biologic passport', as Pastonesi called him on today's Gazzetta, and cycling has lost a great personality after his death. Rest in peace Aldo.

Random post about Robert Wagner plus Random Randomness:

I've just discovered that someone has recently come across my blog by typing 'weather in Bergamo on the 17th of December' in Google. I'm flattered although, at the same time,I do feel sorry for that poor creature who came up here believing that this blog was dedicated to weather forecasts.
Anyway, what's been going on in Cycledom over the last days? Well, first of all Andy Schleck has won the 'Best Luxembourgian Sportman of the year' award. The battle for the victory wasn't actually that exciting, since Andy got about 200 votes more than his brother Frank, who was second in the competition. The brothers couldn't attend the award ceremony, since right now they're having fun in Crans Montana's snow, therefore it was up to mum and dad to go and retire their son's prize.

On http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/sports/story/--Ce-titre-a-une-vraie-importance-pour-mon-fils---21981619 you can find Johnny's words about the prize: "I'm very proud to see my sons racing at such a high level and see them receive the '2010 Best Luxembourgian Sportman' award. For me, the most important thing is that they have fun while cycling and that they have contact with the press, with the supporters and with all the people that approach them. It's not always easy, they're very busy. I myself am overwhelmed by the requests of people who ask for a jersey, for a hat or for a picture too, actually. Sometimes it is a bit complicated, but we try to answer those requests when it's possible. For my sons, this prize is very important (...) because they're very proud of their country" (translation by Google, so I don't actually know if there are mistakes in it).
Since I'm missing Andy a lot in these days, here's a picture of last year ceremony. Congratulations on your prize, Andy!!!

Talking about other news, Cipollini has recently criticised the lack of machismo in nowadays' cycling.
Mario is very particular personality in Cycledom, but I must admit that I sometimes agree with him about some matters. For example, I agreed with the critics he had made to Pozzato after Melbourne's Worlds. Anyway, back to his recent words, Cipollini told l'Equipé: “I lived a very different cycling. At the beginning of a sprint, I felt like a gladiator, ready to do anything to keep my place. And when I lost, I wasn’t capable of going to congratulate whoever had beaten me, like Andy Schleck did at the Tour. Me, I’d hate him because he’d taken the bread from my mouth.” Actually, Cipollini seemed to have some critics for Andy Schleck's friendship with Contador. I don't see anything wrong in friendship between two riders (Andy and Alberto are clever enough to separate private life and work), but their hugs after Tourmalet actually left Logic a bit disappointed too this year. I had expected Andy to be terribly angry, and instead... Talking about this fact, Cipollini said: “Seeing Schleck and Contador embrace on the Tourmalet after crossing the line and then seeing Contador affectionately pinch Schleck’s cheek during his interview was unreal for me. Logically, Schleck should have been raging, he had just lost the Tour after all.After the chain slip incident on the Port de Balès, he should have attacked the Spaniard day after day, in front of the microphones and on the air too, without giving him time to piss!"
Cipollini also added: “Machismo is disappearing, I can’t find it in Contador. He has the anonymous face of a surveyor or an accountant.”
Personally I think that Cipollini isn't totally wrong about this. Unless the Schleck brothers invite Contador to hunt with them in Luxembourg not because of friendship, but because of the chance of being with him, alone, in a wood and with guns in their hands... Ok, I'm joking. But still, I think Cipollini isn't that wrong when he says that cycling (or, at least, this year Tour) lacks/lacked of machismo.

On to another news, the Denis Menchov's manager has got so angry at Tchmill that he has even threatened him with legal action (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/menchovs-agent-threatens-tchmil-with-legal-action). The last time someone publicly annoyed Menchov was in the last stage of the Giro 2009, when he crashed and lots of stupid Italian supporters in Rome went: 'Yeeeess!' Unfortunately for them, Menchov eventually won the Giro anyway (and Di Luca was found positive at the anti-doping). So, I'd suggest Tchmill to be careful not to annoy the Silent Russian (and his ds)too much, otherwise he could take revenge ;)

Since I have some free time, here I'm going to introduce Robert Wagner to you. Althogh he is already 27 (he was born on the 17th of April 1983), Robert isn't that well known, so I decided to look for some information about him. While doing so, I discovered his personal website (http://www.itswagnertime.com/ ), which is often updated and is full of news and pictures. Moreover, if you have Twitter and want to follow Robert, here's the link to his profile: http://twitter.com/robertwagner83 .

So, as said Robert (not Richard: that is the componist) was born in 1983 in Magdeburg (Germany). Btw now he lives in Belgium with his wife Sandra and his daughter Juli (you can find some pictures of his wedding on his website). Robert is 186 cms tall and has a weight of 75 kgs.
His hobbies are 'Family, Internet and Eating' and he says he loves Italian cuisine.
He started his cycling career when he was 10 year-old and raced for Magdeburger SV Boerde. In 2006 he started to ride for Continental Team Milram (please pause a minute to remember the end of Moo Moo team),which he abandoned the following year, when he moved to Team Wiesenhof Felt. Between 2008 and 2010 instead he rode for Skill Shimano.
This year Robert won the 2nd stage of the Die Drei Tage von West-Flandern, better known as Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Then he also won the Ronde van Noord-Holland, the second stage of Tour of Bayern and the second stage of Delta Tour Zeeland.He was also second in a stage of La Panne's 3 days. Robert actually seems to love Delta Tour Zeeland, since he won stages there in 2010, 2009 and 2008.
As far as his education is concerned, Wagner went to a Realschule and then he practised to become a car-seller at Peugeout. In 2007 he said that his favourite race was Ronde van Noordholland but that, when he feels well, every race can become his favourite one.
According to that same interview, before beginning a race Robert always controls whether his bike is ok and whether his looking glasses are clean (that's the same thing I do before driving my car). Still in that 2007 interview, Robert said that, after the end of his career, he'll eat a lot of chocolate (this was his answer to the usual: 'what will you become at the end of your career?' question).
Robert considers himself a sprinter who can do well in the Classics and seems a very funny guy (just read his interviews at Cyclingfever to know more about him). This year he had to close his season earlier than expected because he had to undergo an operation on his femoral artery (if I understood correctly...). Btw now he's back on the bike and ready to race with Cancellara and los Schlecks next year. Let's wish him good luck then! :)

So, this was my very little introduction to Robert. Hope you've enjoyed it and, remember, Robert isn't a relative of the AustinPowers actor-and don't confuse him with Richard Wagner!!

Very funny photoshopped pictures and some random links about Saxo Bank (post including also other random randomness):

To everyone's delight, on this wonderful page lost in the Blogosphere you can see miss Fede's latest post, in which you'll be able to find the usual random links and, surprise surprise, two very funny photos that have been photoshopped by our dear blogmate Mar.
Our blogmate in fact has recently sent me an e-mail that contained two pictures that she had modified in a very funny way. The leitmotiv of the pictures was, attention attention, men and parfumes.
In fact Mar once read on a blog that Jakob Fuglsang would have looked good acting as a model in an 'eau de cologne' commercial (whoever had this idea is a genius!)

Mar thought a bit about this fact, pictured the commercial in her mind and then she made this really good picture, thanks to which Jakob magically entered the world of parfume's models ;)

Still talking about parfumes, who doesn't like the aroma of coffee? As far as I'm concerned, I really love it (and I'm sure I'm not the only one).
If Starbucks created a coffee parfume, not only would I buy it immediately (although I'd never use it to go to parties or to school), but I think I'd also have a good suggestion for the people who'll have to find a model for the new fragrance's commercial. In fact, who could advertise a coffee parfume better than Jens Voigt, one of the most famous coffee-aholic of Cycledom? ;)

RANDOM NEWS:
After having fun with the pictures above (thank you once very much for your nice work Mar!), let's now go on with some random links.
Let's begin with the first interesting link that I've found over the last days: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-attends-first-saxo-bank-sungard-camp . As you probably already know, Saxo Bank is having a training camp in Fuerteventura right now and Tim De Waele went there to take some pictures of the riders.
The shocking thing is that in some of those pictures you can see naked men coming out of nowhere and watching/being watched by the riders and the team's stuff in a very curious way. For example, there is a picture of a fat, naked man looking at the riders in a very strange way. Run away as long as you can boys!!!
The second shocking thing is that the naked man who appears in said picture looks at the riders in a strange way, as if he was aking himself: 'Hey, why are these guys windsurfing? And why the hell aren't they taking it easy as me?' Such question, made by someone who's walking on a beach in a very 'natural' way, seems a bit weird to me. Actually,that picture also reminded me of a boy that I saw while waiting to leave my town for the 2010 summer holidays. I was in the center of my village, with a bright orange suitcase, waiting for my friend to come and give me a lift, when there came this boy, dressed like a cowboy and riding a horse. Still, he was brave enough to look at me in a very strange way, as if he was asking himself: 'What is this girl doing?'. A question which, asked by a teenager dressed like a cowboy, in Bergamo, riding a horse in the center of the town, actually sounded a bit strange.
Anyway, back to the link. Another thing that pretty shocked me was the shirt that Chris Anker was wearing while Tim De Waele took some of his pictures. If you check mr. De Waele's website, and notice a Saxo Bank rider wearing a bright pink/blue shirt, you'll immediately understand what I mean. However, as they say, just true men can wear pink, therefore I should probably be happy to know that Chris is brave enough to wear it.
The last shocking thing that I noticed about the pictures is that Riis' idea of 'building team spirit' terribly looks like my P.E. teacher's idea of 'let's teach my girls how to work together!'
The main difference is that, at least, when I work together with my classmates (a kind way to say that I sit down and they stand up on my spine, as if that was a very normal thing to do), we don't have anyone taking pictures of us (after all, I don't think I could actually stand people taking pictures of me during my PE lessons- not if I'm sober, at least).

Talking about other shocking things, I'd like to know whether some of you can recognise the rider who appears in the picture below.
I know that that you won't believe me, but I must tell you that the rider in the picture above is Pellizotti.
'Pellizotti? That Pellizotti? Are you serious? It can't be him! Where did his golden curls go?!?', I hear you wondering in despair. Unfortunately I'm as shocked as you and I don't have the answer to your last question.

Changing topic, Kim Andersen has recently said that Brian Nygaard and he actually started to hire Saxo Bank riders for their team in mid-June 2010 (link: http://www.velonation. com/ News/ID/6612/Team-Luxembourg-and-Saxo-Bank-battle-began-in-June.aspx ) and Jakob Fuglsang said that he had already decided to join the new team of the Schleck brothers before of the Tour's beginning.
Still talking about Jakob, in the next days there will be 'best cyclist of the year' awards in different countries and, as far as Denmark is concerned, the riders who'll battle against each other for this prize are: Chris Anker Sorensen, Matti Breschel, Jakob Fuglsang and Alex Rasmussen. Sorry for you, Jakob's lovers, but this time this Fangirl will support Chris Anker in the fight ;) Go go Chris!
On the other hand, the best Luxembourgian sport personality of 2010 will be named on Thursday, but I think we can already say who the winner will be. Anyway don't expect any post about that prize from me, since unfortunately on Thursday I'll be drowning in a sea of sh..., ehm, homeworks.

On to another news, you must know that Silvére Ackermann was a young rider that I really liked. He used to race for Voralberg Corratec, but then he retired this June during the Swiss Championships. The news made me very sad, since I've always liked Silvére's riding style and I thought he could have been a very good rider also in the ProTour category. On http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ackermann-explains-reasons-of-retirement, Ackermann explains why he got retired. At least, no one can deny that he did so in a very spectacular way, by getting retired as he was in the leading breakaway at the Swiss national championship.
I'm still very sorry about his retirement, but I wish Silvére all of the best for his new career anyway. Good luck for your future boy!

On to a last (and happier) news, on http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/saxo-bank-names-two-danes-in-giro-ditalia-squad it is said that 2 riders are already sure of riding 2011 Giro for Saxo Bank. They are Mads Christensen and Jonas Aaen Jorgenen.
I must admit that I don't know much about Mads, while last year I wrote a post about Jorgensen and so I followed his first season at Saxo Bank pretty carefully. He's a very good and young rider, so I'm really glad to hear this news. If the Schlecks really don't come to Italy next May, I surely won't have many doubts about who to support during the Giro!

PS: I know that I keep on writing about Saxo Bank and that this may annoy some of you, but:
1) finding interesting news about team Luxembourg is almost impossible, since even Wikileaks would have problems discovering something about it
2) I still love the guys on this team.
(Pic 1 and 2 by Mar, pic 3 by Bettini)

Astana and Rabobank's new kits plus random randomness:

I swear it: this morning I did try to go to school. Seriously. I did try to go to school, but then I was defeated by the ice and came back home. After all, this Fangirl doesn't want to break her neck on a cold and frosty morning, without even knowing what Team Luxembourg's kits will look like next year!
Really, what happened to me this morning was very strange. And also a bit funny, actually. Yesterday it snowed the whole day here in Bergamo but, since Bergamask weather knows that we people of the town and of the suburbs are work-addicted, before starting to snow it rained for some minutes. Therefore, the snow on the roads didn't become too much and Bergamask people could happily go to work/to school.

This morning it didn't snow and, since it seemed that there wasn't too much snow on the garage ramp, I asked one of my parents whether they could give me a lift to the bus stop (it's a pretty dangerous road from my house to it). They said 'yes' and so I jumped inside the family car happily. Too bad that my prediction about the garage ramp's conditions was wrong. The snow wasn't that much, but there was some very tricky ice there and so coming out of the garage was very difficult. We tried to go outside it twice, but failed both times. So I got off the car and started to run to the bus stop (I had just 3 minutes to do so). While walking/running I slipped a few times, risking to break my neck, and I arrived 20 meters far from the bus stop just on time to see my bus driving fast in front of me. I had lost it because I had been 30 seconds too late. Nervous.

After reaching the bus stop however I decided to wait for the next bus to come. It arrived and I asked the driver whether he was heading towards the place where I needed to go. 'Yes', he said. I thanked him for the information but, as soon as I went to sit down on a free seat, he called me back: 'Sorry but I shfifiufgyfdsh', he told me. 'Eh?', I replied. The man looked at me and went: 'I said I'm not jhnbvxchgvasdj. Have you ophidfagasdg?'. For the second time in 10 seconds, I hadn't understood what the bus driver was trying to tell me. I felt like a stupid. 'Sorry but I can't understand you...', I said, trying to look sorry for being that deaf. The man looked at me as if I was crazy and repeated very slowly, as if I was a patient of a mental hospital: 'I'm not going where you need to go. Sorry'. I looked at him, understood (it was high time) and got off the bus. 'And now?', I asked myself. The next bus was due to arrive in 30 minutes time. 'Enough time to freeze', I thought. So I called home, discovered that one of my parents was still there and reached them.

I managed to do so without killing myself (and it wasn't that easy!) and, when I got home, I realised that the situation was very bad. I had left the house 15 minutes earlier, but things outside the garage looked pretty much the same.

It eventually took us (me and my parents) 45 minutes to clean the road outside the house and at that point I had 3 options: 1) getting in the car again, asking to be brought to school and making my parents arrive way too late at work; 2) going back to the bus stop to get on the 8.30 am bus (which, considering the ice on the roads, wouldn't have arrived outside my school before of 10 am); or, 3) staying at home. Obviously, I chose the latter option (and don't worry, I studied for my exams :P).

Anyway, I've just realised that I digressed too much. Sorry.

On to cycling, the most interesting news of the last hours regard the teams presentations. Yesterday I found out that I'm going to lose Team Luxembourg presentation in January (I won't be in Italy at that time of next year), so in this post I'm going to talk about some 'kits news' regarding Rabobank and Astana.

Talking about Astana, the kit is pretty much the same as this year (although I already know that I'm going to miss the yellow sun on the front of the jersey). But what attracted my attention most, however, was the fact that Astana guys had to take Vinokourov as a model for the new kits. This made me wonder: who will model the kits of Team Luxembourg? Andy? Frank? Fabian? Jakob? Or Bennati? A wide range of choice, as you can see.

Btw, here's a picture dedicate to all the girls who are part of the 'Anonymous Association of Vino's Lovers'. Enjoy the view ;)Talking about Rabobank's presentation, instead, I liked the place where it was held and, to say the truth, I also quite like the new team cars.

Unfortunately, I don't like the new Rabo kits. It looks too old fashioned imo. Moreover, I think that Rabobank has kept the same jersey design for the last 3 years or so, therefore I didn't expect them to change it this year. What a sadness. Oh, and Fangirl is sure that this kit will also end up affecting Matti Bresche's sexyness.Uff. Also Denis Menchov didn't look that convincted during the kits' presentation, did he? Talking about Team Schleck, instead, Robert Wagner showed his new bike to the World through Twitter. I like the colour, but now I'm even more curious to know what the new kit will look like.

Let's wait for more news to come in the next days!

(Pic of Rabobank's presentation by Bert Geerts, pic of Vino by Team Astana, last pic by Wagner).

Random post about Stefan Denifl (and Fabian finally joining Team Lux):

To everyone's joy and relief, one of the worst-kept secrets of Cycledom has finally been revealed. And said secret is: Fabian Cancellara is officially joining Team Luxembourg next year.

Although Logic welcomed the news with a rude: 'It was high time they announced it!' , Fangirl was very euphoric after reading about it and would like all the fangirls out there to join her in a virtual toast and in a loud 'YAY!' in order to celebrate properly the signing of a 3 year contract by Fabian. So, girls: 1, 2, 3... all together: 'YAYYYY!'

Well done ladies, below you have a picture of Andy and Fabian as a prize for your effort (and for the patience we all had while waiting for the official news to come). To make your joy increase, however, miss Fede has decided to spend a part of her evening looking for information about a new promising rider who's joining Team Luxalicious this year. Said rider is Stefan Denifl, 23 year-old, who this season rode for Cervélo. In spite of having been a pro for already some years, Stefan isn't actually that famous, so I decided to write a post about him too.
So, let's start with some facts. First of all, Stefan was born in Fulpmes, Austria (near Innsbruck) on the 22nd of September 1987. He's 179 cms tall and has a weight of 62 kgs. He's been a pro since 2006 (he was just 19 at the time), but so far he's ridden for a ProTour team for just one year.
In 2006 Stefan rode for Volksbank-Vorarlberg, while the following year he joined ELK Haus, a team for which he raced until 2009.
In 2006 Denifl didn't take part in many races, whereas in 2007 he was 14th in the U23 World Championships in Stuttgart, which had a pretty tough parcours. In 2008 poor Stefan had to undergo an operation on a very delicate part of his body, but he managed to win the TT National Championships anyway. The following year instead he won the Thueringen-Rundfahrt for U23 riders. That same year he was 8th in the Tour of Austria (which is a very hard race) and he was 7th in the Tour of Bayern.
As far as the 2010 season is concerned, during it Stefan got a 7th placement in a stage of Vuelta a Murcia, was 8th in the GC of Vuelta a Castilla and had some good results in Tour of Austria. For example he was 8th in the Kitzbuehler Horn stage (where Chris Anker Sorensen won in 2008), 12th in the Grossglockner one, 12th in the final TT and 7th in the GC. As you can understand from these results, Stefan is a good climber who goes fast also in the TTs.
On to his hobbies, Denifl likes listening to music and surfing the Internet. Moreover, he has a big passion for winter sports and for the USA. He also likes training in the Dolomite mountains (Italy) and his favouite race, according to Cervélo's website, is the Tour of Bayern. His favourite charity organisation is Unicef (don't worry: I didn't dream a journalist asking Stefan this question, I simply read it on Cervélo's website!) According to Wikipedia, Stefan took up mountain biking in 2001. That year he rode for 'Team Bike Denifl' whose name, I presume, has something to do with the fact that Stefan's father was a professional mountain bike racer who even took part in the Olympic Games.
Denifl jr. took up road cycling after 2 years of mountain bike and he became pro in 2006.
To give you some more information about the guy I'm talking about, I'll just say that, on his first pro race, Stefan went on a 180 kms breakaway and eventually ended the race in 9th. Moreover, when he joined Cervélo he said that he just wanted to help his teammates. And according to Team ELK Haus website, Stefan's Motto (at least in 2008) was: 'If you want to change the world, you should start from yourself'. Last but not least, this year he didn't complain for not riding the Tour de France, saying that he was still too young for a race like that. Nice guy, isn't he?
If you want to take a closer look to him,

on http://www.eventarena.tv/pages/sportarena/radsport/oe-rundfahrt/interviews.php?article_id=340 there's a recent video interview with him. Below instead you have a picture of him riding at this year Tour of Austria.Unfortunately this is all I could find about this rider. In fact there are some old interviews with him around the Net (just take a look at Cyclingfever), but they're all pretty boring and always have the same questions: What do you think of doping? , Do you dope?, Are you going to change team next year?, ecc. This makes me wonder whether it is really that difficult not to ask obvious questions to cyclists. Apparently, the answer is: 'Yes, it is bloody difficult'. Actually, I have to admit that, if I had to interview a rider too, I would probably end up asking him the same boring questions too. Or perhaps I wouldn't.
Anyway, if you already like a lot this boy, here's a good news for you: Stefan, just like the majority of important people inside Cycledom (me excluded), has got Twitter. Here's the link to his page: http://twitter.com/stefandenifl/ .

(Pic 1 by Sirotti, 2 by Gepa, 3 by Klaus Titzer).

Random post about Will Clarke plus random links:

Also this year, miss Fede is going to write a short introduction to every of the neo pros who have joined her favourite teams. Or, more or less, that's what she would like to do (she still doesn't know whether she'll have enough time to do so or not). Therefore, today me's going to dedicate a random post to Will Clarke, who's recently signed a 2 year contract with Team Luxembourg (aka 'Schleck the best, fuck the rest', 'We're the Cutest brothers of the peloton',ecc. ecc).
But before of starting to talk about Will, there are some things I have to do.
First of all, you probably know that last week I had a discussion with someone on another blog and I was told that I had a strange idea of friendship. Well, that person has recently deleted me from her list of friends on a social network without any explanation. Since I can't send her e-mails there anymore, I'm now going to thank her here for showing me what true friendship is through her honorable actions. Thank you very much dear, now my idea of friendship is much better than before and it's all due to you! =)

Anyway, after making you know about the mean part of me, let's go on with some links. First of all, on http://www.procycling.no/article3034930.ece there is an interview with Richie Porte in which, as well as other things, he said: 'I rode with Andy Schleck in the Classic of San Sebastian and he was my domestic. It was one of the best moments this season: I had a great rider who was riding in front of me and protecing me in the peloton'.
On http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6447/Fothen-still-hasnt-got-a-contract-facing-future-as-a-pig-farmer.aspx (via http://sansenmag.livejournal.com/ ) instead you have an article about Marcus Fothen. After Milram's retirement from Cycledom, the 29-year-old German hasn't found any contract for next year yet. The problem for Marcus is that, if he doesn't find any new contract before of the end of 2010, he'll end up working at his parents' pig farm.Anyway, did you know that pigs are said to be able to eat human beings when they are extremely hungry? I already imagine the newspapers' headlines: 'Former promising cyclist gets eaten by a pig in the family's farm'. Terrible. Therefore, I really do hope that Marcus will be able to find a new contract for next year. Otherwise, let's just hope he'll be careful with the pink 4 legged creatures that his parents breed.
On http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vinokourov-aiming-for-tour-de-france-podium-in-2011 instead it is written that Vinokourov's aiming for a top 3 placement in next year Tour de France. Therefore, girls of the Vino-rehab, I'm afraid we'll have to meet us more often at the course, because I don't want anyone to pop up on this blog in the middle of July 2011 to tell me they've decided to support Vino rather than los Schlecks during the Tour! ;)

Anyway, let's now talk about Will Clarke. William is a Tasmanian rider who was born on the 11th of April 1985, is 192 cms tall and has a weight of 80 kgs.
Will (whose nickname is Wilbur and whose family has a farm) was a very good 400 and 800 metre runner before taking up cycling, a thing that he did just in 2007 (this reminds me a lot of Richie Porte, another Tasmanian rider that we've all learned to appreciate over the last months). Just like Richie, Clarke rode for team Praties (also known as Genesys Wealth Advisers/Praties Cycling Team). The difference between Will and Richie, however, is that Richie left that team in 2007 and Will joined it the following year.
In 2008 Will won an Australian race called 'Goulburn-Citi' and was 3rd in the 4th stage of Tour of Tasmania. The following year instead he won the Cycling Australia National Road Series, an annual award in which riders accumulate points during the year in selected Australian races. He accumulated the points by winning a stage and the GC of Canberra Tour, a stage at Tour of Geelong and the Launceston International Cycling Classic. That year he also got other good results in races near Australia.

In 2010 he was 4th in the National Open TT Championship and rode as a stagiaire for Ag2R since July. Moreover, last year the boy won a stage in the Mersey Valley Tour, dominated the Tour of the Southern Grampians (he won all 3 stages, the GC and even soloed 30 kms to the finish with a numerous group of cyclists behind him, unable to catch him). Then Will also won a stage in Tour of Canberra before heading to Europe, staying with Richie Porte in Monaco and getting his stagiaire contract with AG2R.
'Richie is just a good bloke and has been helping me a lot. He’s been letting me stay with him. I’ve also been training with him and it’s partly because of him I’ve been able to get this chance with Ag2r,’ he told the Daily Peloton this July.
Daily Peloton actually has lots of information about William and on http://www.dailypeloton.%20com/displayarticle.asp?pk=16277 there's also an interview with him. Here are some questions taken from it (interview by Chris Graetz):

ournalist: How did you first get into cycling, who was instrumental in this?
I first got into cycling just before my 22nd birthday in 2007. I bought a bike because I had been injured from running for a while. I was recovering from a navicular stress fracture in my leg and I couldn’t run - I rode because it didn’t put any pressure on my injury.
Soon I got the bug for it and went along to a "Bums on seats Race"-racing designed for beginners to learn the ropes about the sport. It was only a 37km handicap but I managed to get the fastest time and just missed out on winning. It is run by an older but experienced cyclist called Peter Fraser from Launceston. Peter really encouraged me early on and told me that I had a lot of talent. I kind of laughed at him to start with because I still thought I was a runner just keeping fit, but that soon changed and I became a cyclist. I met a guy called Tim Elmer out at my first cycling Tasmania Open Race. He was a really strong rider in his day and still is. He won the Victorian 200km championship 2008 aged in his 40’s and he took me under his wing and trained me and helped me develop from a C grade rider to an A grade rider in a bit over 6 months.
You were a big athletics star before you turned to cycling, can you shed more light into your other talents?
Will Clarke: Haha! I don’t think I have many other talents, but I seem to be reasonable at most sports like football and swimming. I did a lot of sport when I was at school - that is what I enjoyed doing.
Who were your heroes growing up and who are they now?
I used to love AFL football as a kid so I Idolized the Melbourne Demons. I admired all the great middle distance runners like Steve Ovett and Seb Coe and the battles they had even though it all happened before my time, and in cycling I really like the classics guys. If I could be any cyclist it would be Fabian Cancellara - he is amazing.
(...)
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
I think my strengths are my ability to ride hard for long periods of time. My weaknesses are that I can often get a bit carried away and I tend to waste energy at times when I don’t need to. However, as I develop more, I will learn how to deal with that.
What type of rider are you?
I’m a bit of an all rounder - but my sprinting and time trialing is probably better than my climbing. I just sort of try and hang in there and it is something I think I need to work on. I think my strengths are longer stage races and one day races. I seem to do better at these than the shorter races we do a lot of.
What are your hobbies besides cycling?
I like reading, I have an interest in history and I like watching most sports and going to the beach and relaxing.
Tasmania have produced some good talent and one of your friends, Richie Porte has turned professional. How much of a lift is it you to try and follow in his footsteps?
Tassie has produced its fair share of cyclists over the years, particularly Matthew Goss and Wesley Sulzberger. It’s definitely inspiring to see one of your friends join the Pro Tour ranks. It shows me that it’s not impossible and it can be done. I hope to follow Richie's lead.
What are your longer term goals?
My longer term goals are to represent my country in international events, and get a pro contract and be a professional cyclist.

As you can see from the interview above, Will took up cycling very late, but managed to get very good results in just two years. He's an all-rounder cyclist (although he's not that good at climbing, according to him) and in his free time he enjoyes reading. According to http://genesysprocycling.com.au/?page_id=245 ,his favourite movie is 300 (this is Spartaaaaa!) and he likes listening to all kind of music
If you've already started to like the boy as much as I do, here's Will's Twitter: http://twitter.com/clarkeywilbur . Now that we know a bit more about him, let's wish Will a good first season as a professional rider!!

ProTour licenses, some riders heading to Saxo Bank, article about Fuglsang, fangirlistic videos ad more:

In spite of all the problems miss Fede has had over the last days (her telephone doesn't ring anymore, her wallet pretended to disappear making her feel desperate, Logic forced her to swallow her pride a few times in order to stop childish battles), here she is with a post about what's been going on in Cycledom over the last days.
First of all, you probably know that today UCI announced which the 2011 ProTour teams are.
On http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/507898/uci-announces-2011-proteams-early.html you can find a list of all ProTour and continental teams, which I write below in case you're too lazy to click on the link above:
UCI ProTeams
Ag2r (FRA)
Garmin-Cervélo (USA)
Katusha (RUS)
Lampre-ISD (ITA)
Omega Pharma-Lotto (BEL)
Quick Step (BEL)
Rabobank (NED)
Saxo Bank SunGard (DEN)
Sky ProCycling (GBR)
Team RadioShack (USA)

ProTeams renewed or received its first licence
BMC Racing Team (SUI) 2011-2014
Euskaltel-Euskadi (ESP) 2011-2012
HTC-Highroad (USA) 2011-2014
Liquigas-Cannondale (ITA) 2011-2014
Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project (LUX) 2011-2014
Movistar Team (ESP) 2011-2013
Pro Team Astana (KAZ) 2011-2013
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro (NED) 2011-2013

I'm very glad to see that Euskaltel managed to get its Pro Tour license also this year, while I'm simply entusiasthic about knowing that Vacansoleil now is a ProTour team too. This means we'll see a lot of breakaways starring Johnny Hoogerland in 2011 GTs and this is something I'm really looking forward.
Btw, one important name is missing from the list above: Geox in fact didn't manage to get a ProTour license. This news ruined Fangirl's day, since now it isn't known whether Denis Menchov will be able to take part in all the most important races of the world next year. Stupid ProTour system.
Btw, if you thought that I had forgotten about the team of the Schleck's brothers, don't worry: dulcis in fundo, Team Luxembourg got a 4 year long Pro Tour license and this is a very exciting news for me. Btw I'm also glad to know that Saxo Bank got a ProTour license too, since for Bjarne failing to reach this little target would have probably been the most terrible blow of the last 12 months (at least imo).
Talking about Team Luxembourg, Brian Nygaard said that he's obviously satisfied with this new Pro Tour license (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brian-nygaard-weve-done-our-homework ). However he added that he's not going to reveal the main sponsor of the team before of January and he also said that the final line up of the team will be known soon. Imo I've already been waiting a bit too long for knowing these details, but probably guys at 'Team Luxembourg-Schleck the best, fuck the rest' think that all this mistery is good for the team. Let them believe so then.

However, here's the line up of the team so far. Nice to see that there are some young Italians too!
Will Clarke (Genesys Wealth Advisors), Stefan Denifl (Cervelo), Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil), Daniele Bennati (Liquigas), Davide Viganò (Team Sky), Giacomo Nizzolo (neo), Bruno Pires (Barbot Siper), Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia), Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step), Dominic Klemme (Saxo Bank), Linus Gerdemann (Milram), Fabian Wegmann (Milram), Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank), Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank), Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank), Anders Lund (Saxo Bank), Martin Mortensen (Vacansoleil), Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank)

And now, to celebrate this happy news, I'd suggest you all taking a look at the old vid here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH6EV3mjofI&feature=player_embedded . It lasts just 15 seconds and, if you haven't seen it before, it is very likely to make your day. I know that the oldest supporters have probably already seen it (I first saw it back in 2008), but I also know that some of my readers in 2008 didn't even know who Andy Schleck was (nothing bad in it, don't worry; I'm not going to begin an 'I'm the oldest Schleck fan of the Blogosphere!' fight ;) and so this vid might be very enjoyable for them. Moreover, it contains the official anthem of Andy's supporters from all over the world: Allez Andy, allez Andy, allez Andy...

Anyway, let's now forget about Andy for a while and let's talk about Saxo Bank. Although Andy and Frank have left the team, I won't start ignoring SB completely from now on, especially because Chris Sorensen is one of the few guys who've remained faithful to Bjarne over the last months (and, if you still hadn't realised it, Chris is one of my 3 favourite riders).

This evening I'm writing about this team because I wanted to inform you that between the guys who are racing for SB next year there will be also Tosatto (he was the best Italian rider in Melbourne in my opinion), Gustov and the young Italian Manuele Boaro. It's nice to see young Italian boys turning professional with such important teams like SB and Team Lux, and I think it is also a great relief to know that Tosatto has finally found a new contract for next year. He completely deserved it!

Talking about SB, on http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/entry388829.html there's the latest entry of Chris Sorensen's blog. In it the Dane says bad things about a book that he's recently read ('it took me a lot to read it, not because it was in English but because it was very bad') and he also expresses his surprise at discovering that we Italians call 'Russian salad' the Italian salad (or, at least, that's what my translater says). This makes me wonder: does a salad that foreign people call 'Italian salad' actually exist, or is Google Translater translating worse than usual?

To close this post, then, here's a link about Jakob Fuglsang: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6440/Jakob-Fuglsang-dreaming-of-Tour-de-France-leadership.aspx .
Here instead there's a vid ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YPlkTFd_U ) that Mar (thank you girl!) pointed out to us some days ago. It is probably one of the most fangirlistic videos that I've ever seen and I'm sure that Cancellara, Fuglsang and Schlecks' s supporters are going to enjoy it very much :)

That's all for now, good night to everyone.

PS: As you probably know, on this blog it is possible to leave comments even if you don't own any Google account. In that case, the comments will appear as written by an Anonimo.

Over the last days I've noticed an increase of the 'Anonimos' commentators on this blog. Since talking to different Anonimos without knowing whether they are the same anonimos that wrote to me some days before is a bit strange, I have a little favour to ask you: if you don't own any Google account, could you please sign your comments? I don't want to know your true names, a number or a letter would be enough. You know, I'd like to know if I'm always talking to the same person or if there are different Anonimos around this blog ;)

Thank you very much for the attention and wish you all (again) a good night :)

Picspam time 3: guys just wanna have fun :)

To everyone's joy, the picspam season here at My Blog isn't over yet.

The last 2 days have been a bit tense here in the Blogosphere, so I think it's better if we all relax ourselves and have a good laugh together. In order to do so, I suggest you taking a look at these pictures that Mar (thank you girl!) and I collected over the last days. Enjoy!

First of all, here you have Chris Anker Sorensen and Matti Breschel wearing funny viking helmets on the Champs Elysées. After 3 weeks of daily fatigue and stress, you're allowed to behave a bit in a strange way, aren't you? Here's another picture from Saxo Bank's celebrations on Champs Elysées. This time, the one behaving in a strange way is Stuart O'Grady :) Talking about funny guys, then, how can we forget about Fabian Cancellara? Here we can see him making horns to poor Andy. The skinny Luxembourgian (just notice how thin his arms are!) looks a bit annoyed, but Fabian doesn't seem to care about it :) This time instead the victim of Fabian's jokes was O'Grady, who probably ignored what Fabian was doing behind him. Luckily Tom Boonen knows how to take revenge on the Swiss rider :) Talking about other former Saxo Bankers, I think I'm almost obliged to put some pictures of Jens Voigt in a post like this. Here you can see him riding a very strange vehicle.Below instead you have Voigt-san having fun with a supporter in Japan. And here we have the FA Jens having a coffee-break at work.
Here instead we have Matti Breschel joking with a photographer. Let's now abandon our Sexy Bankers for a brief moment and let's watch 2 pics about the relationship between riders and animals. For example, take a look at this rider who wants to stay with his adorated penguin even while racing.
Here instead we have a guy showing us the perfect descent position for riders. I wonder what the bear thinks of it.
Back to the guys who raced for SB this season, here we have Chris Sorensen reading a foreign newspaper. Has he just read something about a defeat of his favourite football team, or is he just shocked by the language in which the newspaper is written?
To close this post, then, I couldn't avoid publishing 2 pics of the Schleck brothers. Andy, you cunny guy, what are you looking at?
And here's a classic picture of Frank and his concentration expression. Everything's ok dear?
So, that's all for now. Thank you again to Mar for the help and let's hope you enjoyed this picspam :)