Ok, I know. My previous post was written almost a month ago and me hasn't replied the comments of my readers for more than three weeks, a thing for which I deeply apologise. Still, I must admit that in the last few days I have been very busy and that, perhaps, in these last few months my 'blogging motivation' isn't the same as before. However, in the last few days there have been lots of interesting news going around Cycledom and in this post I'd like to talk briefly about them.
First of all, the team RAnT training camp has started. La Gazzetta keeps on writing articles about Andy Schleck's possible participation in the 2012 Giro d'Italia, but it seems that Bruyneel and his clan don't want the Luxembourgian to waste time in Italy next May. However, cyclists usually anounce their schedules at this time of the year, so we'll have to wait just a few weeks to solve the Giro-enigma that surrounds Andy and his team.
Talking about the 'waiting' topic, in January we'll discover if Contador really did dope during the 2010 Tour or not. Personally, I don't care anymore about the TAS decision, but I just want to lave this horrible story behind. Come on, it can't take a jury more than a year to decide whether a person is guilty or not!
On to another topic, here's the final roster of the Radioshack Nissan Trek Something Else Team. We had to wait 3 months, but at least now we're ably to read it (*chorus of 'it was high time' coming from all over the world):
Jan Bakelants (Bel)Daniele Bennati (Ita)
George Bennett (NZl)
Matthew Busche (USA)
Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
Laurent Didier (Lux)
Jakob Fuglsang (Den)
Tony Gallopin (Fra)
Linus Gerdemann (Ger)
Ben Hermans (Bel)
Chris Horner (USA)
Markel Irizar (Spa)
Ben King (USA)
Andreas Klöden (Ger)
Tiago Machado (Por)
Maxime Monfort (Bel)
Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita)
Nelson Oliveira (Por)
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
Joost Posthuma (Ned)
Gregory Rast (Swi)
Thomas Rohregger (Aut)
Hayden Roulston (NZl)
Andy Schleck (Lux)
Fränk Schleck (Lux)
Jesse Sergent (NZl)
Jens Voigt (Ger)
Robert Wagner (Ger)
Oliver Zaugg (Swi)
Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)
A good team, no doubts about it, even if it'll be hard for Bruyneel to find just one GT leader for next year Tour. Horner, Fuglsang, Kloeden, los Schlecks... Who's the best? I don't know. And I don't even know who will help Cancellara during the Spring Classics, since Leopard Trek fired its few good Cobbleriders in order to get itself 2 other GT men :P Oh, and talking about Fuglsang, did you know that he's the rider who raced the most this year? Amazing Jakob!
On to another topic, Quick Step has recently unveiled its 2012 kit. I don't really like the jerseys, whereas I love the shorts, which slightly remind me Saxo Bank's ones. By the way, what's the thing with light blue this year? Leopard Trek had it in its kits, Saxo Bank had it too, and now Quick Step has chosen it as new colour for their jerseys. It's good to be original, isn't it?
Talking about good old Saxo Bank, the boys right now are in Israel, having fun at the beach, building schools, promoting peace in the Middle East and covering their bodies with a horrible-looking black substance (pictures at: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/gallery-contador-and-saxo-bank-train-in-israel - beware, it features pics of shirtless Uncle Bjarne!!!).
Talking about another team, Rabobank has recently presented its 3 teams (the men, the women and the Continental one). The team has chosen to keep its 2011 kit, which next year will be worn by the following riders: Bauke Mollema (Ned), Bram Tankink (Ned), Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned), Dennis van Winden (Ned), Jetse Bol (Ned), Jos van Emden (Ned), Lars Boom (Ned), Laurens ten Dam (Ned), Maarten Tjallingii (Ned), Rick Flens (Ned), Robert Gesink (Ned), Stef Clement (Ned), Steven Kruijswijk (Ned), Theo Bos (Ned), Tom-Jelte Slager (Ned), Tom Leezer (Ned), Wilco Kelderman (Ned), Carlos Barredo (Spa), Graeme Brown (Aus), Grischa Niermann (Ger), Juan Manuel Garate (Spa), Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa), Maarten Wynants (Bel), Mark Renshaw (Aus), Matti Breschel (Den), Michael Matthews (Aus) and Paul Martens (Ger). Maarten Wynants couldn't attend the team presentation because of the birth of his second son, whereas Gesink became father of a baby girl a few hours ago. Congratulations to those two riders, to their families and to the little 'new entries': may they have a long, happy and serene life! :D
Talking about the 2012 Rabobank team, I'm curious to see what Kelderman will do next year. Moreover I hope that bad luck will stop haunting Breschel and Gesink and I hope that Matthews and Renshaw will get some good victories. In addition, I can't wait to see what Kruijswijk and Mollema will do during the upcoming Grand Tours - they're so talented!
Rabobank women's team instead is formed by Marianne Vos (Ned), Thalita de Jong (Ned), Roxane Knetemann (Ned), Iris Slappendel (Ned), Rebecca Talen (Ned), Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned), Monique van der Vorst (Ned), Liesbet de Vocht (Ned), Sarah Düster (Ger), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra), Lauren Kitchen (Aus) and Tatiana Antosjina (Rus). A very strong team, which features Her Majesty Marianne Vos, the great Classic rider Van Vleuten, the young Ferrand-Prévot and the miracle-athlete Monique van der Vorst, who has recently recovered the use of her legs after spending more than 10 years on a wheelchair (read more about her amazing story on: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rabobank-womens-team-signs-miracle-athlete-monique-van-der-vorst). Seriously, look out for this team next year!
Talking about another team, Geox has recently given up hope of finding a new sponsor. This means that guys like Cobo and Menchov now are officially unemployed and that the same worths for less famous guys who will surely have a tough time finding themselves a new equipe at this time of the year. So far the riders who've already managed to find a new contract are the following ones: Mauricio Ardila and Fabio Duarte (Colombia-Coldeportes), Fabio Felline (Androni Giocattoli), Matteo Pelucchi (Europcar), Daniele Ratto (Liquigas), Xavier Florencio (Katusha), Daniele Colli (Team Type 1), and Matthias Brändle (Team NetApp). Let's hope everyone else will manage to find a decent team too!
After talking about the 2012 cycling teams (or, at least, after talking about few of them), let's now talk about 2010 Liége - Bastogne - Liége, the one that was won by Vinokourov in front of Kolobnev. Apparently, UCI thinks that Vino paid Alexander Kolobnev 100 000 euros to let him win the race and, in order to demonstrate their point, the UCI guys published parts of e-mails that the two riders wrote to each other ( http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/emails-between-vinokourov-and-kolobnev-published ). Imo these e-mails are rather creepy because of many reasons. First of all, it seems that Kolobnev almost considers Vinokourov as some kind of divinity. Moreover, Kolo seems to dislike the Belgian riders ("Even my wife was not too uneasy by the fact that I was second, because you were the first"; "My only comfort is that you won and not one of the natives"). Moreover, Vino's passage about God ("You have done everything properly, do not worry. As you say, the Earth is round and God sees everything ... So, again thank you. You, this year you will win the championship finally, I believe. Do not worry about the agreement, I will do it”) slightly reminds me of the mafia, whereas Vino's words to justify his payment reminds me a lot of mr. Berlusconi (“I often make payments left and right, sometimes I lend money, but I never offered to buy the win from Kolobnev" - Vino, would you please lend me 100 000 euros? Come on, I'm the founder of the AAVL, aren't I?). Scary, isn't it?
I remember that in the last kms of 2010 Liége Kolobnev did behave in a petty strange way and that at the time some chronists stated that he made big mistakes that cost him the victory. After reading these e-mails, I think we can understand why he made them :P
So, that's all from me for the moment. University is keeping me busy but, as I wrote in my reply to Auntie Coug's comment, I'm really having a good time in these days. So, don't worry for me if you don't see new posts coming up - it just means that I'm too busy to write. Have a good evening everyone and have a great weekend! (and sorry for this far-fetched post - I just needed to check whether I was still able to write something decent about cycling :P)
Hi Fede,
RispondiEliminaYou really don't need to apologise for not posting so often. It's always a pleasure to read a new story, but that doesn't have to be every day or week. We would become too spoiled and wouldn't appreciate your efforts anymore.
Glad you feel so good about your studies and friends you've found there. Not every first-year-student has that kind of luck.
I think the chances that Andy will ride the Giro grow each day and maybe he'll even opt for the win of the Double. Impossible or not, the goal would be great.
Barbara.
Ditto for everything Barbara's said :)
RispondiEliminaBrisbane Gal
@ Brisbane Gal & Barbara: I'd love to blog much more than I do in these days, but unfortunately I don't have the time for it. I love writing about cycling, but this year unfortunately I haven't been able to write about it as much as I would have liked to do. Hopefully 2012 will be a much better year :P
RispondiEliminaMy first semester at uni is almost over and I've loved every minute of it. Most of my teachers are extremely well prepared and their lessons are always very interesting. Moreover, some of my classmates are amongst the best people I've ever met in my entire life. Seriously, I've been so lucky so far!
I'd so love to see Andy going for the Double! That would surely make many critics shut up :)