Vids with the Schlecks,little news about Frank,2015 Championships and random links about Horrillo and CA Sorensen:

I've been incredibly busy in this period and this is the first time I can find a few minutes to write a post about what's going on in Cycledom,so here it is.
First of all: the Schleck brothers stuff.The little news about Frank is that he has confirmed to Luxembourg Wort that he proposed to Martine in Curaçao (original link: http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/artikel/57486/wir-haben-uns-verlobt.php )."I actually wanted to tell this to my father",Frank said,"but a journalist couldn't keep the news for himself and so people got to know about my proposal in a very fast way,faster than I would have liked to.Anyway it's true,Martine and I are getting married". No words were said about the rumours regarding a possible "baby Schleck" coming soon.
Still talking about Frank:here' a vid that was made at the Velomania presentation in which you can see him playing with some kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fptc-qXe88 .
On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJTpqRbar-g instead you can see Andy's visit to the redaction of the Spanish magazine "Ciclismo A Fondo" and a part of his challenge against Burry Stander.
Instead if you enjoy watching the usual tribute vids that are often dedicated to Andy,that's the right vid for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt5koJK8VdY .

Anyway,the most important newsdu jour connected with Cycledom,at least IMO,is that the city where I live wants to host the 2015 Cycling World Championships.

Of course I'm very happy for this news and really hope that my city will be chosen.Ok,I know I'm not impartial at all when I talk about this topic,but I think lots of people will agree with me when I say that a race lap around the city of Bergamo would be nice not just from the "landscape" point of view but,more important,it would be very nice also from the cyclistic point of view.In Bergamo there are some very hard climbs (just think about the Boccole one),so I think that a Worlds race in Bergamo would be very nice for the supporters and hard for the riders.

Of course,as I already said,I'm writing these lines in a very impartial way,but I'd love my city to host the Worlds also because in 2015,if everything goes well,I'll have a degree and perhaps I could even manage to find a temporary job in the Worlds period (according to my plans for the future,in 2015 I should be able to speak 6 languages,so I could work as a translater somewhere). Anyway Logic believes it's better to stop talking about this topic now,otherwise Fangirl will be too disappointed if Bergamo doesn't turn out to be the winning city.In fact,although the winner of the "Worlds city competition" will be known in about 1 year time,Fangirl's already trying to imagine what would happen if she was employed as a translater in the Luxembourgish or Danish hotel...

Other news (that will probably interest you much more than the one about Bergamo): Cancellara will receive the silver medal for the Beijing Olympic Games RR after Rebellin's positivity for CERA.The bronze medal will go to the other Saxo Banker Alexander Kolobnev. Unlucky Andy,who got 5th in the race,is now 4th,but according to Logic he will be consolated by the attribution of the 2009 Fleche Wallonne victory.

Link regarding Pedro Horrillo: http://www.gara.net/paperezkoa/20091116/166878/es/De-todo-intento-sacar-positivo-experiencia-ha-enriquecido .On this link there is a long interview with Pedro Horrillo,the Spanish rider who had a very bad crash during the Bergamo stage of the 2009 Giro.Talking about a possible comeback,Horrillo said: "Even being able to ride my bike again is a great thing to me,since cycling is my job and my passion.My team (Rabobank) has offered me the chance to renew my contract,but (...) I prefer to see if I can reach a decent level before of coming back racing again,since I don't want to come back racing if I'm not at a decent niveau.Btw I'm getting better and I believe I'll manage to reach this level.If I can reach it,it will be wonderful.Otherwise,it will be hard,but...(...) For the team,my comeback has a big emotive meaning,but I still don't know if I'll be able to come back.I don't want to become obsessed with it.I prefer to take things step by step and,if I decide to give up racing,it will be because I really can't go on and it won't be a trauma.(...) And if I continue,I know it won't be easy,especially at the beginning,but I can always decide to give up if I notice that I'm suffering too much.I'll talk with the team about this,I want to be clear".Of course me really hopes that Pedro will be able to come back racing again.Good luck!

Last news: you've probably already heard the news regarding CA's missed anti-doping warning. Chris yesterday updated his blog and wrote:"I talked about my missed anti-doping test in my book not because I want to criticize the Danish Anti-Doping service.In fact I believe that they do a good and necessary job,but I really do hope that one day there will be so much confidence in cycling that the whereabouts-rules will become less strict.As I often say,I don't have anything against the anti-doping system and I give my disponibility to make as much tests as they want.I talked about what happened in July just because I wanted to give people an insight of how the anti-doping system works.It isn't easy to update the whereabouts data very often and I hope that people have realised this.However,I am pleased with the feedback I have received,lots of people have been positive to me and this means a lot to me".
Chris missed an anti-doping test this July,two days after the end of the Tour de France.In fact the evening of the last stage of the French race he flew back to Denmark and the following day he rode a race in Kjellerup.On that evening he and some friends had a party and so the young Danish rider decided to spend the night in Kjellerup and not at his parents' house.Little problem,the Anti-Doping guys went to control Chris at his parents house the following morning and couldn't find him,so he received that warning.
Of course when Fangirl firstly read the headline of the news ("Chris Anker Sorensen receives a warning for missed doping control"),she immediately went "WTF has happened?" but,as soon as she read the article,she could understand that there was nothing to worry about.In fact I believe that Chris just wanted to talk about how strict he anti-doping rules are and not create a scandal or something similar (the evil part of me thinks that it's also a way to sell the book better,but Fangirl immediately cancelled this possible reason from my mind).
Btw,a little question remains: why do the anti-doping guys have to control a rider on his first bike-free day after 3 weeks of races? And then,why do they have to control him in the morning? I don't have anything against the anti-doping guys,but I can't find any answer to this question (sadism isn't a reason,right?).

And now that I remember,there's another question to which I can't find any answer and it is:if Chris Anker Sorensen isn't blonde and hasn't got blue eyes,how can you dear Cyclingnews boys still get confused between the 2 Sorensens (Chris and Nicki) and publish pics of Nicki instead of the ones of Chris and viceversa? I really have no clue about this.I can understand people who get confused between Frank and Andy Schleck (after all,they are very similar to one another),but getting confused between Chris and Nicki Sorensen,well,I guess it's a bit like confusing HGS and Ballan.

Presentation of the "Velomania" book and Sastre's reply to Andy:

NB: I already wrote a post about Sastre's reply to Andy and about the Velomania book,but then I decided to modify it because I managed to find more info about the Velomania presentation.Of course there is also another reason for which I modified this post,which isn't the fact that I'm listening to David Bowie's "Changes" in this exact moment,but the fact that I wrote the original post yesterday evening at 10.30 pm, fter a long day spent studying and cursing René Descartes,so me wasn't totally ok at the moment of writing and therefore lots of the things I wrote didnt' make a lot of sense.Anyway,here's the modified version of yesterday's post:

PART ONE:SASTRE'S REPLY TO ANDY:
Do you remember what Andy Schleck said about Carlos Sastre in an interview with El Paìs few weeks ago ("I never understood what Carlos' problem was.He won the Tour in 2008 and everyone who saw the race on the television and knows a bit about cycling understood how we sacrificed ourselves for him.Then he went to talk to the press and said things that didn't make sense,for example he said that we weren't working for him...We were working at 100% for him,we were completely there for him! He's got a problem with his head!")? Well,Carlos has recently replied to the young Luxembourgish rider by saying: "A los niños hay que educarlos, pero que me eduque un niño a mí no es lógico.Lo que digan me da igual (source: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2009/11/13/ciclismo/1258141881.html ).Translation: "People have to educate the children,but it's not logical that a child (ndr;Andy) tries to educate me.Btw,I don't care about what people say".

The problems between the Schlecks and Carlos officially began after the Alpe d'Huez stage at the Tour de France 2008.Sastre won that stage and managed to get the yellow jersey by attacking at the beginning of the Alpe d'Huez.He took the jersey from Frank Schleck,who had got it in the Prato Nevoso stage and that didn't try to keep the jersey in any way (the same worths for Andy,who finally came in 3rd in that stage).
The disagreements between Carlos and the Schleck brothers began after the Tour,when Carlos told the Spanish press about "problems" between him and the Csc Team.Some people,hearing about that,started to think that the real problem that Carlos had wasn't with Csc Team,but with Bjarne Riis and with the Schleck brothers too much,and someone thinks that this is the main reason for which Sastre said "Goodbye Csc" at the end of 2008.
Anyway,let's hope that this "words battle" between Andy and Carlos won't continue in the next days,since I think it's useless to talk about these things more than a year after the 2008 Tour.

PRESENTATION OF THE VELOMANIA BOOK:

Reading the headline of this post,you may have asked: what is "Velomania"? And has it anything to do with the Schleck brothers?
The answer is: yes,"Velomania" has a lot to do with the Schleck brothers.In fact it is a book (written by Lucien Gretsch and containing lots of Serge Waldbillig's pics) that talks about the Luxembourgish cyclistic year 2009.That's why yesterday afternoon the 2 brothers were at the book's presentation in Bereldingen.Together with Andy and Frank there was also Kimmy Kirchen,since he is the other main protagonist of the book.Yesterday's event had a big success and lots of people went to meet the 3 Luxembourgish cyclists.
"It's unbelievable to think about the cycling hysteria that has recently developed here in Luxembourg.It is quite hard to describe the feeling you get when you see Luxembourgish supporters at the side of the roads,ready to support you,during the whole year and in almost every country we've raced in.These people are part of our motivation and they often sacrifice a lot of their free time to support us.Therefore it's normal that we want to take part in this kind of events,it's a way to thank the fans for their support" said Frank.
Talking about the book,the elder of the brothers said:"The book is really well done.If you look at the photos,you start to remember things about the races and about the emotions you had during them.That's fun".
Of course the book talks also about other Luxembourgian riders and isn't totally focused on the Schleck brothers and on Kim Kirchen.

PS: The money that the riders will earn from the book will be destined to a charity organization. If you want to see some pics from yesterday's event, here's the link: http://www.wort.lu/%20wort/web/sport/artikel/56703/drei-stars-ohne-allueren.php .
On http://www.editions.lu/. instead you can get information about the book.

(Pic 1 by Getty Images;pics 2 and 3 by Marc Wilmert-the 2 people that you probably don't know and that appear in the 2nd pic are Lucien Gretsch and Serge Waldbillig)

Curaçao stuff + news about O'Grady and Bellis:

I know,the Curaçao Criterium was raced few days ago,but me was too busy (or lazy?) to write a post about it.Anyway,here are some pics (and a vid) from the Criterium (and from the riders' holidays) and 2 links about Saxo Bank riders O'Grady and Bellis.

So,let's start with the Curaçao topics,starting with the "serious thing" (the criterium results) and ending with the Fangirls-stuff (pics and a vid):
CURACAO CRITERIUM: Me would have loved Kenny Van Hummel to win the Amstel Curaçao Criterium,but unfortunately my hopes didn't come true.In fact the winner of the Criterium was Alberto Contador.Hushvod came in 2nd,while 3rd was Koos Moerenhout.4th was Mark Cavendish (if he had won,I think that some of the sprinters that were on the island would have drowned him in the Caribbean sea and blamed the dolphins for that...),while 5th was Kenny Van Hummel.6th was mr.Boasson Hagen.
I don't have any news about the Schleck brothers' placements,but I think they decided to take it easy and just enjoy the race.
CURACAO VID (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-OY2xvOsvU ):yes,in this interview with Lars Boom and Koos Moerenhout you can also see one of the Schleck brothers swimming with dolphins.
CURACAO PICS: Tim De Waele has uploaded his website with the Curaçao pictures and I've managed to find just one (one!) pic involving Jakob Fuglsang.Btw some pics involving 2 shirtless Luxembourgish brothers will probably make you forgive mr.De Waele for the lack of Jakob's pics.
RANDOM THOUGHT: I envy the "Telegraaf" special reporters in Curaçao.Really.Not just because of the cyclists,but also because Curaçao seems such a quiet and wonderful place to be.

NEWS ABOUT CONTADOR,O'GRADY AND BELLIS:

ASTANA-CONTADOR TELENOVELA: I refuse to write anything about it unless there are some certain news about which team mr.Contador will choose to ride for in 2010.
STUART O'GRADY: (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/millar-describes-ogradys-seizure ) Saxo Bank rider Stuart O'Grady collapsed during a corporate event at the MotoGP circuit in Valencia on Sunday.The Australian rider was brought to a Spanish hospital but is now feeling better and will hopefully be able to come back to his home in Monaco tomorrow.
JONATHAN BELLIS (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bellis-back-in-london-and-recovering-well ): A very good news: Jonathan Bellis has arived in a London hospital and is said to be progressing.Hopefully he'll be able to come back to normal life soon.

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).

Curaçao Pics:

Yes,the first pics from Curaçao have started to appear in Internet and make Fangirls happy.
Here are few of them (thanks Corvos!):
Andy and Frank,ready to go snorkling:Andy and Koos Moerenhout: Frank and Leo Van Vliet:
On http://www.corvospro.com/arimages.aspx you can also find pics of Lars Boom,Koos Moerenhout,Thor Hushovd (will I ever learn to write his name correctly without looking it up somewhere?),Brice Feillu and Alberto Contador.

On this link (http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/wielersport/5247219/__Operatie_Schleck_geslaagd__.html) instead you can find a nice pic of Frank and Martine and a little interesting article.Here's a really short (and hopefully correct) translation:
Talking about his proposal,Frank said:"You suddenly feel that it is the right moment and you do it.It really couldn't go better,with this fantastic setting and almost the whole family around us."
About the operation:"Although my knee is still vulnerable,it seems that the operation has been successful.I haven't had any intensive training session yet,so we have to wait and see how the knee will react when I take up training intensively again".
About the Amstel Gold Race crash:"It was the scariest moment of my life.I opened my eyes and suddenly I found myself in an ambulance,without knowing what had happened.Anyway the pain in my knee didn't come from that crash,since I already felt it during the Tour of the Basque Country. The cause is something else."

(Pic by Wessel Van Kreuk/Corvos Pro website).

Frank proposed to Martine yesterday evening :)

I don't like publishing things about the private life of the Schleck brothers,but this time there is an important news about Frank.In fact yesterday he proposed to his girlfriend Martine and now they're going to get married :)
I'm truly happy for Frank and Martine and I wish them all the best for the future! Felicitations!!
Here you can find the translation of the article that Ilaria published on her blog (original link: http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/wielersport/5241940/__Schleck_in_de_wolken_op_Curaao__.html):
Frank Schleck asked his girlfriend Martine to marry him yesterday evening in Curaçao.During a fireworks display that the Lions Dive & Beach Resort Hotel offered the riders,the elder of the Schleck brothers had the spontaneous idea of proposing.On the edge of the pool under the colorful sky,Frank asked his girlfriend whether she wanted to marry him.Martine immediately answered "yes".Later there was a small party with champagne celebration.Also the Tour winner Alberto Contador raised the glass to the next Luxembourg couple.

Once again,best wishes for the future to Frank and Martine!

(Pic by Serge Waldbillig)

Interview with Frank part 2:

Here's the second part of the interview with Frank that appeared 4 days ago on Luxembourg Wort.In this second part of the interview Frank says he'll be in Curaçao (yay!) and talks about his plans for the 2010 season and about the operation he underwent in September.
NB: Before of publishing the translation of the article (I had to translate it from German to Italian and from Italian to English,so please don't get angry at me if I I've made some mistakes!) I must say a bit "Thank you" to Ilaria (http://allezandy.blogspot.com/) for having sent me the whole article.Grazie 1000!

Here's the translation of the article:Six weeks after having undergone an operation,Frank's knee is ok again."I can move my leg without problems and I can also train.The swelling has disappeared and I don't feel pain anymore".
Before of starting the preparation for the 2010 season,the Schleck brothers have decided to allow themselves some other days of relax."After a season that was very stressful also under the mental point of view,I think it's very important to switch off for a while.I took advantadge from the operation because I've managed to have more time to do the things I usually don't do during the season,or that I do just few times because I don't have enough time.Right now there is a journey to the Caribbeans on my schedule for the next days",says Frank.Yesterday (29th october) in fact Frank drove to Amsterdam in order to take the airplane that will bring him to Curaçao,in the Netherlands Antilles.At the moment Andy Schleck is in the USA and will fly to Curaçao from the United States.The Schleck brothers,together with other riders (this year the organizators of the Curaçao Criterium have invited also Contador,Cavendish and Hushvod to take part in the race),will spend some days in the paradisiacal island of Curaçao,lay on the beach and relax before of taking part in the Curaçao Criterium (7th November),a race that Andy Schleck won last year.
From the 10th of November until the 30th of November the 2 brothers will be in Luxembourg. Then they'll go to the Fuerteventura Island on the 30th of November in order to take part in Saxo Bank's traditional boot camp.The brothers will be able to come back to Luxembourg after 2 weeks.During the first week of the boot camp the riders will have to face a series of proofs. During the following week instead they'll train normally.After spending the rest of December in Luxembourg,the Schleck brothers will face the beginning of the 2010 season.

"The first goals of the year are going to be the Ardenne classics.The second goal will be the Tour de France.The World Championships in Melbourne are a goal as well:it's always an honour to wear the jersey of the Luxembourg national team".
"This year we had our seasonal debut in the Tour of California,but next year this race will take place in May and so we'll probably have to start our season with an European race.The Mallorca Challenge (7-11 February) will probably be our first race of the year.We'll have a training camp in the Balearic Islands before of taking part in the Mallorca challenge and after that race we'll run the usual races we take part in during the spring.For example,we'll race the Paris-Nice.We haven't decided the complete schedule for 2010 yet,for example we aren't sure if we'll take part in the Tour of Flanders or in the Vuelta a Pays Vasco.Anyway,before of July we'll also go to see some Tour de France stages,although we still have to decide whether we'll go to see them before of the Tour de Suisse or after the Paris-Nice".
Frank talked about the 2010 Saxo Bank team as well."We're gonna have a very strong team also in 2010.Yes,Karsten Kroon and Kurt-Asle Arvesen were very important riders and they've decided to change team,but there are some very strong young riders that will close the hole left by Kurt and Karsten.Matti Breschel and Jakob Fuglsang for example will surely get even better in the next season.And I think that also the new entry Laurent Didier will integrate in the team without any problem.I also think that I'll be able to have an even bigger role in next year team.We've got a very strong team".

(Interview from Luxembourg Wort 30-10-09-Pic by Serge Waldbillig)