Wannabe Bike Girl

This is from CN.

» Würth Team denies new sponsorship agreement with Kazajan Oil, Begins Euskal Bizikleta minus Sanchez

At the start of today’s opening stage of the Euskal Bizikleta in Spain, Würth rider Luis León Sanchez did not join his teammates in Eibar. Instead, the team was comprised of Joseba Beloki, David Etxebarria, Aaron Kemps, Aitor Bear, José Antonio Redondo, Carlos Abellán, Assan Bazayev and Angel Vicioso, who were wearing white-painted gear with Würth logos on their clothing.

Press officer Jacinto Vidarte denied speculation that team manager Manolo Sáiz had reached an agreement with a company known as Kazajan Oil, but did confirm negotiations were taking place: “We are working on this, but there is nothing concrete,” he said.

Likewise, Vidarte denied any truth behind now sole sponsor Würth issuing Sáiz an ultimatum if the team were left out of the ProTour as a consequence of ‘Operation Puerto’: “It was a supposition more than a reality, because we have not [had] any warning in this sense.”

I’ve tried to find pictures, but haven’t had any luck. As soon as I do, I’ll post them. I don’t know why Sanchez didn’t start, but I worry. Actually, I worry about the team. Not just their future next season but the races this season as well. Hopefully they can turn it around (and aren’t involved in this mess). But it seems that something big (and bad) is about to break in the cycling world. Who knows, though. There is talk (first story) that the team formerly know as Liberty Seguros won’t be racing at the tour. There’s been some speculation over at Podium Cafe as to who Vino will ride for, at the Tour and perhaps for the rest of the season. Again, I don’t know. Perhaps, as was suggested, Unibet? I know some Aussies who’d be happy racing at the tour. Here’s some old news from procycling, Cofidis staunchly denies that Vino will ride for them (I am torn on this one). I read that he said he’d race the tour no matter what, but I haven’t been able to find a reliable link for that. What I did find is this from Eurosport (from the 29th).

The news is positive for Tour de France hopeful and Liberty rider Alexandre Vinokourov, who has said he does not want to change horses mid-stream.

“If i chose this team, it’s because it was the best equipped to help me realise this dream,” Vino said on Friday.

If worse came to worse, however, Kazakhstan’s first son was prepared.

“The Prime Minister has promised me he would find a solution very quickly if Würth did not want to be the sole sponsor,” Vino said. “This Kazakh sponsor would allow us to finish the season.

We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. Nothing’s ever certain in cycling.

» Sevilla admits to visiting the lab

In further developments in the case, El Pais has reported that Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile) has admitted to visiting Jose Merino’s clinic at Zurbano, 92 in Madrid. After Spanish magazine Interviú reported that the Civil Guard was investigating Sevilla, T-Mobile told El Pais, “[Sevilla] has told us that it was possible that he appeared in the photographs taken by the Civil Guard at the door of the laboratory of Zurbano, 92.” Sevilla admitted to receiving training programs from Ignacio Labarta, an associate of Dr Fuentes who was also arrested last week, but claimed that he had nothing to do with Fuentes. “If it turns out that he lied to us, Sevilla will have a problem.”

According to El Pais, the investigators have also said that they have photographed riders coming to the lab in the evening, after it is closed.

And for some cute and adorable news:

» Basso returns home as Giro victor

After securing a dominant win in this year’s Giro d’Italia, CSC’s Ivan Basso has returned to his home in Cassano Magnago as Giro victor and father to a new son, Santiago. While Basso celebrated his triumph in the loop of Italy, it was also his first opportunity to see his baby son, who was born during the last week of the race. Basso saluted Santiago by displaying a photo of the newborn as he crossed the line in stage 20 of the Giro.

There are pictures here.

I’ve been really slacking on posting. The Giro should have changed that, but I was too distracted by that and work and other things. So to make up for it, here’s my take on a few things that have happened recently.

» Ivan Basso wins the Giro d’Italia

I should have guessed as soon as I looked at the design of the course. But, as usual, I held out hope that Savoldelli would somehow work some miracles. Of course I was wrong, but that’s okay. It was a fun three weeks of cycling and I enjoyed (for the most part) watching it.

Some things that caught my eye:
    · The Panaria boys worked their way even further into my heart (more than just Paride Grillo this time). I loved watching Laverde win the 14th stage of the Giro. I also loved that Baliani worked so hard to keep the KOM jersey for a few days. And the day that Sella and Saunier Duval’s Mori had those horrible downhill crashes — and both finished the race (and the Giro). And Sella even came in third that day. And today, Richeze finished the stage in second place.

· Daminao Cunego was all hype. I totally fell for it too. I still haven’t decided if perhaps he was being a bad sport in the 20th stage or if he just couldn’t do the work (or even he was even asked to any).

· The mountains were also midly overrated. Sure, I enjoyed the stages, but perhaps there should be some better planning involved. Instead of just trying to outdo previous years (or the Tour de France) the Giro should do more of whatever made Stage 20 so amazing.

· Savoldelli. I love this guy. I rooted for him to the bitter end. I hope that he has at least one more Giro in him. I am slightly insulted that the team Discover gave him was mostly worthless, but then again I’m not surprised.

· Sprinters: McEwen dominated again until he quit. Bettini is quite good, but I still don’t like him. Robert Forster made me both proud and giddy. And I definitely missed Paride Grillo (more on that in a bit).

Overall I liked the Giro. I think last year’s was more exciting and I still don’t like Ivan Basso.

» Paride Grillo

He’s probably my favorite Italian sprinter (followed closely by Petacchi, most likely). He was supposed to race in the Giro (for Panaria), but instead managed to get sick and thus couldn’t race. So he ended up racing in the Tour of Belgium. Where, much to my (and, of course, his and his team’s) chagrin, he managed to hit a parked car during the second stage. According to the Daily Peloton, it was Grillo’s second crash (gah). I have no idea what his health status is, but I do know he didn’t finisht he race.

» Doping and Liberty Seguros

Ever since Vino announced he was moving teams and his team of choice was Liberty Seguros, I made it a point to care about them. And somehow I managed to fall in love with the team. I should have known better, Saiz being the DS and all. And maybe in the back of my head I did, because when the news broke I was more concerned with the welfare of my team than of his guilt (for obvious reasons). And so, when Liberty Seguros announced that they were pulling their sponsorship money, my reaction was obvious. I was mildly distraught (over something I have no control over). But, luckily for the boys, the team will continue, at least until the end of the season. It remains to be seen if Vino and the team will be at the Tour de France, but a girl can hope. As for the boys and their doping status? I have no idea. I make no judgments. I don’t know and I can’t know.

One last thing, I have no idea about this list of 200 riders or the implications. I don’t know if it’ll go public (or if it has — or even if it should). Nor do I really want to know. I suppose and at some point I should know if my favorite cyclists dope, but I don’t know.

And that’s it for now. There are a lot of races coming up and that’s not even including the Tour de France in July. I will try to update more often.

And, just because, if you haven’t been to the Podium Cafe, go. Participate and have fun. And if you want some live cycling? Subscribe to cycling.tv. And those are my plugs for the day.