VeloNews

The Colavita/Baci Women’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light opens training camp Friday in Borrego Springs, California, ahead of the team’s 2010 debut at the San Dimas Stage Race March 19-21.

“We’re planning six days of intense training in San Diego’s Borrego Valley,” said co-Directeur Sportif Tina Pic.  “We will be looking forward to testing our legs in San Dimas.”

With then-team leader Pic in the saddle, the team slotted nine top ten finishes at San Dimas in 2009, including Pic’s second-place to Ina Yoko Teutenberg in the stage 3 criterium. Colavita/Baci will look to improve on that record and pull a stage win next week.

“Kelly Benjamin and Modesta Vzesniauskaite gave us a great preview at last weekend’s Merco Credit Union Classic,” said co-directeur Rachel Heal. “Kelly took third in the road race and Modesta finished both races in the top 10 so I’m confident we can expect even more podium finishes with the whole squad working together.”

Led by six-time national criterium champion Pic and former British Olympian Rachel Heal, the team includes U.S. and international champions representing all forms of road racing.

Colavita/Baci rosters for San Dimas Stage Race and Redlands Bicycle Classic:

Kate Bates (AUS)
Kelly Benjamin (USA)
Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA)
Andrea Dvorak (USA)*
Shontell Gauthier (USA)
Heather Logan-Sprenger (CAN) Carmen Small (USA)
Modesta Vzesniauskaite (LTU)*

*San Dimas Stage Race only

Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for a training camp report from domestic racing beat reporter Brian Holcombe.

Liquigas-Doimo scored a double in Europe Friday as the team’s Daniele Bennati won the third stage of Tirreno-Adriactico the same afternoon as Peter Sagan won the fifth stage of Paris-Nice.

Bennati outsprinted Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi and HTC-Columbia’s Bernhard Eisel for the win. American Tyler Farrar was fourth.

Bennati also takes over the general classification lead from Milram’s Linus Gerdemann. Gerdemann is now second on GC at 4 seconds, while stage 2 winner Tom Boonen (Quick Step) is third at the same time.

Gerdemann’s teammate Fabian Wegmann left the race with a suspected broken collarbone after a crash about 8km before the finish, and Milram’s Johannes Fröhlinger had to abandon due to the intestinal infection which has been plaguing him for days. “That was a very bitter day for us,” said Milram director Christian Henn.

Preliminary stage results:

• 1. Daniele BENNATI (ITA) Liquigas Doimo in 3:54:09
• 2. Alessandro PETACCHI (ITA) Lampre-N.G.C at 0
• 3. Bernhard EISEL (AUT) HTC – Columbia at 0
• 4. Tyler FARRAR (USA) Garmin – Transitions at 0
• 5. Juan Antonio FLECHA GIANNONI (ESP) Team Sky at 0
• 6. Sacha MODOLO (ITA) Csf Group-Navigare at 0
• 7. Assan BAZAYEV (KAZ) Astana at 0
• 8. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN (NOR) Team Sky at

Preliminary GC:

• 1. Daniele BENNATI (Italy) Liquigas Doimo in 11:44:23
• 2. Linus GERDEMANN (Germany) Milram at 4
• 3. Tom BOONEN (Belgium) Quick Step at 4
• 4. Pablo LASTRAS GARCIA (Spain) Caisse D’epargne at 8
• 5. Paul MARTENS (Germany) Rabobank at 8
• 6. Alessandro PETACCHI (Italy) Lampre-N.G.C at 8
• 7. Alan PEREZ LEZAUN (Spain) Euskaltel – Euskadi at 8
• 8. Matti BRESCHEL (Denmark) Team Saxo Bank at 10

Liquigas’s Peter Sagan scored a second stage victory in this year’s Paris-Nice with a bold solo attack in the final two kilometers on Friday.

Sagan, who also won stage 3, emerged from a group of about 40 survivors on what turned out to be a tougher-than-expected stage 5, a relatively short 157-km run from Pernes-les-Fontaines to Aix-en-Provence.

The route included four ranked climbs.

The 20-year-old Sagan attacked on a small rise about 1.5 k from the end and built a small gap. The peloton came up on him in the final 500 meters but he held them off.

Sagan also holds the leads in the points competition.

The pace in the final kilometers was vicious and many riders were shed out the back of the front group. Most of the GC favorites remained in the main pack and the top ten on the overall standings appears to be unchanged, but some time gaps may have changed as the leaders crossed the line in small clusters.

American Levi Leipheimer finished in a second group in 80th place at 2:35. His RadioShack teammate Chris Horner finished 57th at 1:57.

Please check back soon for a full report, complete results and a gallery by Graham Watson.

Preliminary stage results:
1. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo, 3:34:15
2. Mirco Lorenzetto Lampre – Farnese, 0:02
3. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne at 00:02
4. Matthieu Ladagnous Francaise Des Jeux at 00:02
5. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:02
6. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 00:02
7. Larrea Koldo Fernandez De Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:02
8. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:02
9. Matthew Harley Goss Team Htc – Columbia at 00:02
10. Alberto Contador Astana at 00:02
Preliminary GC standings after stage 5:

1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Astana, 20:04:13
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, a 0:20
3. Roman Kreuziger (Cz), Liquigas-Doimo at 00:25

Dear Readers,
This week marks the return of both Paris-Nice and of our daily up-to-the-minute Live Coverage of racing. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job, due largely to the fact that I get to hear directly from readers throughout each day’s stage. Readers can simply type in comments, observations and questions and those appear right on the control panel, next to where Andrew Hood and I type in the latest news from the road.

Paris-Nice takes riders from the chilly suburbs of Paris to the (hopefully) warm, sandy beaches of Nice. | Graham Watson photo

Despite the fact that cycling is an exciting sport — certainly my favorite — and often filled with drama, even I have to admit that there are certain times when there is a lull in the action. So, on those days when there is a doomed break, with eight minutes on the peloton, but still another 150km to go, readers will often chime in with questions. I thought I’d devote this week’s column to answering a few of those questions. In some cases, I might have answered the question during Live Coverage, but too briefly for my satisfaction.

I’ll start out with a question about the history of Paris-Nice, from reader “ Old Guy,” who asks

“So you keep saying this is the 68th Paris-Nice. When did the race start?”

Well, fellow old fella, the first edition of Paris-Nice was in 1933. Like the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, Paris-Nice was originally established for the sole purpose of promoting newspaper sales. As you know, the Tour was started by the owners of L’Auto and later taken over by the publishers of L’Equipe. The Giro was promoted by the owners of Italy’s sports newspaper, Gazetta dello Sport.

Paris-Nice was the branchild of lbert Lejune, who first promoted the race in 1933. Lejune owned both Le Petit Journal in Paris and Le Petit Niçois in Nice. Lejune really wanted to encourage Parisians to consider Nice as a vacation destination as well, so he promoted his week-long stage race as a reminder that despite the winter-like conditions in other parts of the country, Nice was a warm and pleasant place to spend some time, especially in the spring. His “Race to the Sun” was designed to underscore that point.

It’s kind of hard to imagine that Nice needed that kind of promotion, but it really was a small, sleepy town back in those days.

The race ran uninterrupted from 1933 to 1939 and then was canceled until 1946 because of World War II. That year’s race was organized by the owners of the newspaper Ce Soir, but it faltered and the race was again canceled until 1951, when the owners of Road and Track magazine took over management of the race. While Road and Track ponied up the cash, the resurrected Paris-Nice can really credit its re-emergence to the Nice mayor, Jean Medecin, who again viewed the race as a way of promoting the community as a warm weather destination for the winter-weary French.

It was in those post-war years that Paris-Nice really began to shine and the list winners looks like a roster of some of cycling’s greatest. The list of Paris-Nice winners is full of Tour de France stars like Jacques Anqutiel, Eddy Merckx, Raymond Poulidor, Joop Zoetemelk and, of course, Sean Kelly, who won Paris-Nice seven times between 1982 and `88.

Despite the big names, the race has had its ups and downs and was close to another permanent cancellation in the late 1990s. It was saved by two-time Tour winner Laurent Fignon in 2000, when he managed to put together a group of investors to carry the race through tough times. That deal, though, wasn’t quite enough and Fignon finally decided that the race would be better off being run by Tour de France organizer ASO. The infusion of cash and the logistical expertise of ASO seems to have benefited the race and it appears to be in relatively good financial health.

Reader Mary McDermott wrote in to ask:

“Is Paris-Nice really a good indicator of form for the Tour. How often does the winner of Paris-Nice end up winning the Tour de France that same year?”

Roger Lapébie was the first rider to win both Paris-Nice and the Tour de France in the same year. | AFP file Photo

Well, it’s not a bad indicator, that’s for sure, but it varies from year-to-year. There have certainly been Paris-Nice winners who have won the Tour, but not always in the same year.

Often Tour contenders don’t opt to compete, or their Tour preparation schedule doesn’t necessarily coincide with being a contender for the overall at Paris-Nice.

Alberto Contador sure seems to like the race. He won Paris-Nice in 2007, ahead of his first Tour de France victory that year. He came close (but-for that untimely bonk) last year on his way to Tour No.2. He’s certainly a favorite to win Paris-Nice this year and remains the odds-on pick for a third Tour win in July. Other riders? Let’s take a look.

In 2006, Floyd Landis became only the second American to win Paris-Nice (Bobby Julich won in 2005) and he then went on to stand atop the podium in Paris at the end of the Tour, but that result was eventually negated by a positive drug test. So, according to the record books, that one doesn’t count.

Indeed, you have to go all the way back to 1971 to see coincident wins in both by the same rider in the same year. Eddy Merckx won Paris-Nice in March of that year and then went on to win his third of five Tour titles. Of course, Merckx was pretty much winning everything those days. In fact he had already accomplished the Paris-Nice/Tour double in the previous two years.

Jacques Anquetil, who has five Tours de France to his credit, also won five editions of Paris-Nice. Like Merckx, he doubled-up for three years, winning both races in 1957, 1961 and 1963.

Other than those, I think the only other Tour winner to double up at Paris-Nice in the same year was Roger Lapébie, who won both in 1937.

There are plenty of Tour winners who have had success at Paris-Nice in years other than those in which they won the Tour. Miguel Indurain won Paris-Nice in 1989 and 1990, but that was before his string of five successive Tour wins began in 1991. Louison Bobet, who won three Tours, won only one edition of Paris-Nice, but that happened in 1952, the year before his first victory in the Tour. Interestingly, the year he won his third Tour de France, in 1955, his younger brother Jean won Paris-Nice.

Others include the great Jan Janssen, who won Paris-Nice in 1964, four years ahead of his only Tour de France victory. Stephan Roche won Paris-Nice at the age of 19 in 1981 and then went on to win the Tour in 1987. Joop Zoetemelk won Paris-Nice in 1974, 1975 and 1979 and then scored his only win in the Tour in 1980.

Don't mess with Bernie. | AFP file photo

One other winner of note, of course, is Tom Simpson who won Paris-Nice in 1967. He was among the big favorites to win the big one that year, too, but Simpson died on the slopes of Mont Ventoux on July 13th, the 13th stage of that year’s Tour.

As I mentioned above, there are plenty of Tour winners who raced in, but never won, Paris-Nice. Fignon, who came to the race’s rescue in 2000, was among those. His old teammate Bernard Hinault, too, made regular appearances in the Race to the Sun, but never won it. (Okay, okay, I admit it. The only reason I mentioned that last one is because it gives me an excuse to include this terrific shot of Hinault tussling with demonstrators at the 1984 edition of Paris-Nice. Yeah, I’ll concede that it’s gratuitous, but you have to admit that it’s not your usual guy-on-a-bike racing shot.)

Reader Dean, in Harrisburg wrote in to ask

“how did VN decide on which race (Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico ) to cover ‘LIVE’ this week?”

I guess it is a question of time and resources. Of the two, Paris-Nice attracts a stronger field of Tour contenders and it’s often seen as an early indication of those riders’ early season form.

Given that those races are being contested at almost the same time — since both are in the same Central European time zone — it would be hard for us to do both. It’s worth mentioning, though, we will not be facing the same dilemma come May, when the Tour of California and the Giro d’Italia will be happening concurrently for a week. Given the nine-hour time difference, we’ll have no trouble offering Live Coverage of both. Of course, that may mean that those of you tuning in from the office will really not be getting a lot of work done on those days.

Uhhhh, sorry `bout that.

Reader William wrote in to ask

“What’s the status of radios at Paris-Nice this year? I thought I read that they are banned by the UCI now.”

The UCI ban extends only to lower-level events, those that do not have a UCI Category 1 or hors catégorie sanction from the international governing body. While there is a movement to ban race radios in all events, the response from ProTour riders has been mixed at best.

You might recall that the Tour had planned to ban radios on two stages in last year’s race. The uproar was such that they left it at just one stage and the issue is still the subject of some debate at this point.

Follow-up: As a follow-up to last week’s column (see “Why regulate at all?“), I wanted to thank those readers who reminded me that the UCI first tried to spell out the underlying philosophy to its technical rules in a document released almost 14 years ago.

The Management Committee of the UCI was beginning to wrestle with the question of technology and at a meeting held in conjunction with the 1996 world championships in Lugano, Switzerland, issued a one-page document known as “The Lugano Charter.” I have to admit, that one slipped my mind.

While very short on specifics, the Charter does attempt to outline the UCI’s general philosophy on bikes and bike design. You can tell by reading it that these guys were really bothered by the rapid rate of development in the sport:

The bicycle is losing its “user-friendliness” and distancing itself from a reality which can be grasped and understood. Priority is increasingly given to form. The performance achieved depends more on the form of the man-machine ensemble than the physical qualities of the rider, and this goes against the very meaning of cycle sport.

Whatever that all means. Anyway, it makes for an interesting read. It’s short and maybe someone out there can make a bit more sense of it than I can. Thanks again for the heads up and the reminder.

Charles

“The Explainer” is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a question related to the sport of cycling that our editors might be able to answer, feel free to send your query to WebLetters@CompetitorGroup.com and we’ll take a stab at answering. Not all letters will be published and some questions may be combined with those of other readers. Please include your full name and hometown.

I just finished reading the book Outliers. I think it is easy to believe that successful people like Bill Gates or Mozart were successful because of some extraordinary talent. And, some of their success was due to talent. However, as you read in the book you learn it was a combination of that talent, a passion to use it, and opportunity that propelled them to greatness. In fact, many of the stories that the book shares revolve around specific opportunities presented at specific times to individuals or groups. Obviously, they still had to seize it, grow it, and use it, but at some point there was an opportunity presented that helped pave their way.

I started to reflect a little on my own path from soccer through distance running to where I am as a cyclist. And please, do not take this the wrong way: I am not comparing myself to Mozart. However, looking back on my life, I see a path that took many twists and turns as different doors or opportunities opened while others closed. As a fifth grader, I dreamed of scoring the winning goal in the gold medal Olympic game, and as a freshman in high school, I led the county in goal scoring. However, also as a freshman, the cross country coach, who was my PE teacher, witnessed me running the mile in class and convinced me to come out for the cross country team. A new door was opened, a door that would have never opened if I had a different PE teacher. There was something God-given with the talent, and I still had to put in the hours of diligent and specific practice, but I first needed an opportunity and then a willingness to go through the door.

New goals

New goals were set. The dream shifted sports. I went on to run at the University of Nebraska on a cross country and track scholarship. I was always only a bundle of potential, though. Injuries eventually closed the running door. Opportunity lost? Maybe. Or maybe the process gave me the opportunity to develop the core mental, character, and faith intangibles that I have needed to reach a world-class level.

What would have happened if I had never gone to a UC Irvine Cycling club meeting where I met my coach, or if USAC and Mr. Stapleton had never decided to help fund a national team project, or if they had done it five years earlier or later?

Years later in graduate school, I was introduced to cycling. The athlete in me had never left, and the dreams of gold and championships had never died, so when the new path appeared and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, I took the risk and went that direction. Those pieces (or opportunities) involved me meeting my coach. They involved me transitioning from the mountain bike to the road bike at the same time as the new USAC national team (T-Mobile) started, which put me in the situation where I was surrounded by great riders and taken to Europe to race hard races against the best. What would have happened if I had never gone to a UC Irvine Cycling club meeting where I met my coach, or if USAC and Mr. Stapleton had never decided to help fund a national team project, or if they had done it five years earlier or later? Yes, I have had to be extremely focused and disciplined in the process of reaching and chasing my goals. However, I have also had opportunity that has been available at the right time that has matched my passion and abilities.

It is actually really fun for me to think about how I got to where I am now, and who has helped get me here. I definitely have not been the orchestrator of any of this, there is no way I could have planned such a path, but I have certainly enjoyed the journey. And now, as a veteran of many kinds of racing, experiences, successes and failures, I am excited to be in a position where I can help others find or recognize their own opportunities. Of course, at the same time, I am keeping my eyes open for the doors in my own life that I need to walk through.

New Zealand: opportunities present

For example, I just returned from the Tour of New Zealand, where I had the pleasure of working with a new, young group of American cyclists. We gelled as a team unit, and we helped Shelley win four stages and the GC. I had a chance to be involved with the leadership of the team and to share my knowledge with the next generation. I didn’t personally win the race, but I helped our team take advantage of opportunity and then to succeed. It was actually quite rewarding.

Going back to my own situation, many of you know that I am looking for that new door since I recently had one slammed shut. I raced for Nuernberger last year, and I had signed with them and their new sponsor for 2010. However, all of that collapsed back in late November. Since then I have been quietly searching, waiting, and listening. I didn’t want to jump just to jump. I have explored different ideas and promises that have failed to materialize. Now, however, I think things are starting to clear up. Part of the new opening will involve me racing with the national team for a good portion of the season while the other part will work itself out in the upcoming days.

So … Opportunity … I’ll ask you what I’ve been asking myself. Will you recognize it when you see it? Will you answer the door if it knocks? How can you help create opportunities for others to succeed? Hmmmm …

Amber Neben is a former world champion, Olympian, and seasoned international vet in her ninth year of full-time racing. In this column she hopes to give readers a different perspective on cycling, life as a cyclist, and the women’s pro peloton. You can all Amber’s column on VeloNews on her author page, follow her at www.amberneben.com or www.twitter.com/amberneben.