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Thursday’s Eurofile: Gilbert sprints to lead at Dunkirk; Giro rosters solidifying

by Andrew Hood

• May 05, 2005
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By Andrew Hood

There’s no stopping Belgian phenom Philippe Gilbert in France.

After taking a pass on the Giro d’Italia because he felt he wasn’t in top form to compete in the season’s grand tour debut, the Française Des Jeux rider scored an impressive victory in Thursday’s 204km second stage to grab the overall lead at the Four Days of Dunkirk.

Overnight leader Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) slipped to second after finishing eight seconds back in fifth place.

Gilbert charged away from a 19-man breakaway with just three kilometers to go on the course that pounded over two sections of pavé featured in Paris-Roubaix.

Gilbert obviously likes the roads in France as all his wins so far this year have come on French soil. The 22-year-old scored a win in the Tour du Haut Var in February and won the Trophée des Grimpeurs last weekend. He lost another likely win at GP Marsaillaise at the beginning of the season when he was misdirected off course while leading the race with just a few kilometers left.

The race continues Friday with the 193km third stage from Liévin to Sangatte Cap Blanc Nez along the blustery coast country.Four Days of Dunkirk
Stage 2, Marcq-en-Baroeul to Lens, 204km
1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Française Des Jeux 4h33:42
2. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu), Ag2r — same time
3. Jan Valach (Svk), Ed’ System-Zvvz +0:03
4. Sebastian Siedler (Ger), Wiesenhof +0:08
5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole s.t.

Others
30. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Davitamon-Lotto s.t.
53. Kirk O’bee (USA), Navigators +0:17
70. Mark Walters (Can), Navigators +1:16
135. Shawn Milne (USA), Navigators +20:40

Overall standings after two stages
1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Française Des Jeux 7h55:49
2. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole +0:07
3. Jan Valach (Svk), Ed’ System-Zvvz +0:13
4. Jaroslaw Zarebski (Pol), Intel-Action +0:18
5. Linus Gerdemann (Ger), Team CSC s.t.

Carlström, De Groot tops in Austria
Kjell Carlström won the final stage of the Uniqa Classic in Austria while Bram De Groot (Rabobank) took the overall honors.

Carlström, the overall champion last year, took the final sprint on a circuit course while De Groot came through in the top position to secure the victory in the four-day race in Austria.

Uniqa Classic, final overall standings
1. Bram De Groot (Ned), Rabobank 13h02:35
2. Murilo Fischer (Bra), Naturino-Sapore di Mare — same time
3. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita), Liquigas-Bianchi +0:03
4. Giovanni Visconti (Ita), Domina Vacanze +0:12
5. Ondreij Sosenka (Cze), Acqua & Sapone +0:13

Nürnberger controlling Spanish race
Nürnberger Versicherung is in complete control two stages into the three-day Vuelta a Castilla y León in northern Spain.

Regina Schleicher took a sprint victory in Thursday’s 97km stage from Sepulveda to El Burgo De Osma, finishing ahead of Italy’s Giorjia Broncini.

Judith Arndt, a winner in Wednesday’s opening stage, retained the overall lead going into Friday’s 114km finale from Burgo De Osma to Arando Del Duero.

Vuelta a Castilla y Leon Femeninas, Stage 2, Sepulveda to El Burgo De Osma, 97 km
1. Regina Schleicher (Ger), Nürnberger Versicherung 2h43:03
2. Giorjia Broncini (Ita), A.S.Team F.R.W-Chirio Forno
3. Katia Longhin (Ita), S.C. Michela Fanini-Record Rox
4. Isabella Wieser (Aut), Elk Haus-Tirol Noe
5. Tania Belvederesi (Ita), Top Girls — all same time

Overall standings after two stages
1. Judith Arndt (Ger), Nürnberger Versicherung 5h34:32
2. Noemi Cantele (Ita), Team Bigla +0:02
3. Sara Carrigan (Aus), Van Bemmelen +0:05
4. Marta Vilajosana (Spa), Spanish national team +0:06
5. Anna Zugno (Ita) ,Safi-Pasta Zara +0:10

Danielson excited for debut, Savoldelli ready for battle
Tom Danielson makes his long-awaited grand tour debut Saturday with the kickoff of the 88th Giro d’Italia.

Fresh off his victory at the Tour de Georgia, Danielson says his main Giro goals are to help Discovery Channel leader Paolo Savoldelli and learn the ropes of a three-week tour.

“Our main man, Paolo Savoldelli, has won here before and knows what he has to do. As for me, I’ll be totally supporting him, staying close, and helping primarily in the mountains,” Danielson said in his journal on the team’s website. “Johan’s guidance to me is pretty simple: Don’t worry (especially in the first 2 weeks), learn as much as I can, and have fun.”

Danielson didn’t ride a grand tour last year in his European debut at Fassa Bortolo, but he’s quickly making up for lost time.

“I am definitely excited about finally riding in the Giro d’Italia, I think I also have a little of the fear of the unknown going on,” he continued. “I am still working that balance between being excited about racing, staying focused, and remaining calm.”

Leading Discovery Channel will be 2002 champion Savoldelli. Nicknamed the “Falcon” for his incredible descending skills, Savoldelli looks to be back on form after two hard-luck seasons with T-Mobile.

After just missing victory in the opening prologue by less than a half second, Savoldelli wasn’t able to stay with the strongest in the recent Tour de Romandie, a result team boss Johan Bruyneel shrugged off.

“I don’t take Romandie as a measurement to where he is right now. He had a good prologue, a difficult first mountain day then on the second mountain day, he didn’t push it too hard,” Bruyneel said on thepaceline.com. “For Paolo, normally he gets better during a stage race and I expect him to be better in the last week. He’s already won the race (2002) and finished second (1999) and this is one of his big objectives this year. He has had a very, very good lead up to the Giro, turning in some good races and good training blocks. I think he’s ready for it.”

Supporting Savoldelli will be a solid, motivated lineup that includes Canadians Michael Barry and Ryder Hesjedal, Americans, Danielson, Tony Cruz and Jason McCartney, Volodymyr Bileka as well as Tour de France veterans Pavel Padrnos and Benoit Joachim.

Discovery Channel for Giro (provisional)Paolo Savoldelli
Michael Barry
Volodymyr Bileka
Tony Cruz
Tom Danielson
Ryder Hesjedal
Benoit Joachim
Jason McCartney
Pavel Padrnos

All-star cast for Liguigas
Mario Cipollini won’t be there, but Liquigas-Bianchi will still have plenty of star power for Saturday’s prologue to open the 2005 Giro d’Italia.

Led by 2000 champion Stefano Garzelli, Italy’s latest super team will shine with ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca, last year’s fourth-place man Dario Cioni and British climbing ace Charlie Wegelius. “We will start to the Giro with a strong team, especially for the hardest stages,” said Liquigas-Bianchi team manager Roberto Amadio. “Riders like Garzelli, Cioni, Noé, Wegelius, and Miholjevic will play an important role on the big climbs. The Tour of Romandie gave us important signals, also for the time trials. We can also count on Di Luca, the ProTour leader, several finishes will be suitable to him in the first 10 stages.”

Liquigas-Bianchi for Giro
Stefano Garzelli
Dario Cioni
Danilo Di Luca
Charlie Wegelius
Andrea Noe
Dario Andriotto
Patrick Calcagni
Vladimir Miholjevic
Marco Milesi

Cunego, Simoni lead Lampre-Caffita
Three Giro titles will be represented when Lampre-Caffita takes the start in Reggio Calabria on Saturday, two with Gilberto Simoni and another with defending champion Damiano Cunego.

Both riders have shown glimpses that their form is coming on line just in time. Cunego won a stage at last week’s Tour de Romandie while Simoni won a race in Italy to go along with his stage-win at Paris-Nice back in March.

“My favorites? Basso and Cunego, for sure. Damiano and I will lead this team together. The success of our squad is very important and there’s no other way to do it,” Simoni told Italian radio. “I feel quiet and calm. I know the Giro very well. The past few years I’ve been a protagonist and I will be one again this year.”

Paolo Fornaciari, Gorazd Stangelj, Sylvester Szmyd and Andrea Tonti all return from last year’s winning team. Evgeni Petrov and Spanish rider Patxi Vila will add some firepower in the key stages.

Lampre-Caffita for Giro
Damiano Cunego
Paolo Fornaciari
Evgeni Petrov
Marius Sabaliauskas
Gilberto Simoni
Gorazd Stangelj
Sylvester Szmyd
Andrea Tonti
Patxi Vila

Scarponi pumped, Liberty already warming up
Michele Scarponi lines up as an outsider for overall victory, but many are starting to take the four-year pro more seriously.

If the front-line Giro favorites are Simoni, Cunego, Basso and Garzelli, Scarponi is certainly among the second-tier favorites who could deliver a surprise blow if the main contenders aren’t careful.

“I feel ready for the Giro and I’ve prepared for the race to the maximum,” Scarponi said. “This is the first time I’ve come to a grand tour with the hopes of getting a big result.”

Scarponi leads the return of Spanish team Liberty Seguros (formerly ONCE) back to the Giro, which has been absent the past three editions following a spat over TV broadcasting rights back in Spain.

Team boss Manolo Saiz has put complete confidence in the 26-year-old Scarponi to lead his troops into May.

“My problems is that I’ve always faded in the third week, but Saiz and I have worked to improve to be able to fight against Basso, Cunego and the other favorites right to the end,” Scarponi said. “I hope to be able to perform to the best of my abilities.”

Eight of Liberty’s nine riders arrived in Italy on Wednesday and went for a three-hour training ride in the country around Reggio Calabria.

Joseba Beloki, the three-time Tour de France podium man, says he’s racing the Giro to help Scarponi and to continue getting fit for July.

“My objective here is to work for Michele and accumulate racing days ahead of the Tour,” Beloki said. “I feel good, but I still lack quite a bit to be truly competitive.”

Liberty Seguros for Giro
Michele Scarponi
Joseba Beloki
Koldo Gil
Giampaolo Caruso
Javier Ramírez Abeja
René Andrle
Jan Hruska
Nuno Ribeiro
Darius Baranowski

Disco’s TdF 11
Discovery Channel has narrowed its choice of riders for the Tour de France down to 11 riders.

The loss of eternal strongman Viatcheslav Ekimov to injury has opened the door for several riders who continually find themselves on the bubble with such a strong Tour team as Discovery.

“With Eki we had 12 guys, so now we are down to 11,” said team manager Johan Bruyneel.

On the short list to support six-time Tour champ Lance Armstrong in his final race of his career are team veterans Jose Azevedo, Manuel Beltran, George Hincapie and Jose Luis Rubiera. Others include Benjamin Noval, Benoit Joachim and Pavel Padrnos as well as Paolo Savoldelli, Yaroslav Popovych and Leif Hoste.

Regarding Hoste, Bruyneel added, “He’s never been a real candidate as we expected him to turn in a real heavy schedule of spring races, but he’s had to back off a bit following his crash (in Roubaix) and now he’s in the picture. He will start again at the Tour of Catalunya and will be pretty fresh.”

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