Francisco Casagrande, divorced from Lampre after registering a Haemocrit value outside the norm on the eve of the Vuelta will don the colours of Vini Caldirola when he lines up at the start of the Coppa Sabatini next Thursday, September 23. It is understood that Casagrande's contract is good through the end of 2005. (Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Australia wins first Paralympics medal
Sat Sep 18 23:21:55 2004
Australia won its first medal of the Paralympic Games, with visually-impaired cyclist Lindy Hou taking bronze in the women's 1km time trial. Hou and pilot Janelle Lindsay finished behind Great Britain and the United States, with all three breaking the previous world record. ``It's a surprise, I hadn't even thought about being the first medal at the Paralympics, all we wanted to do was do our absolute best,'' Hou said. ``I don't think there's a word to describe it, just happy.'' (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
Thorsten Schmidt wins Stage 4, Rhineland Palatinate Tour
Sat Sep 18 22:53:41 2004
Germany's Thorsten Schmidt (Gerolsteiner) stormed to a win in stage 4 of the Tour de Rhénanie-Palatinat on Saturday run over 142.9 km from Trèves to Sarrebourg, and his compatriot Bjoern Glasner (Lamonta) captured the Maillot Jaune. Schmidt prevailed in the sprint against Colombian Mauricio Ardila and Glasner whose third place gained him the leader's jersey at the expense of the former leader, Australian Luke Roberts, who finished 42nd. 19 minutes off the pace. ``I hope my squad is sufficiently strong to defend the jersey for the rest of the race,'' said the new Maillot Jaune. The 5th and last stage will be run Sunday between Kaiserslautern and Pirmasens over 159.2 km. Stage 4: 1. Thorsten Schmidt (ALL/Gerolsteiner) les 142,9 km en 3h36'07" 2. Mauricio Ardila (COL) à 1" 3. Bjoern Glasner (ALL) m.t. 4. Steffen Wesemann (ALL) m.t. 5. Ronny Scholz (ALL) 05. 6. Christian Werner (ALL) 11" ........ 42. Luke Roberts (AUS) 18'57" GC after Stage 4: 1. Bjoern Glasner (ALL/Lamonta) 17h30'53" 2. Mauricio Ardila (COL) à 7" 3. Ronny Scholz (ALL) 14" 4. Christian Werner (ALL) 23" 5. Marc Wauters (BEL) 28" 6. Christophe Brandt (BEL) 49" ........ 11. Luke Roberts (AUS) 18'54" (Source: L'Equipe)
Tour de la Somme - Stage 3
Sat Sep 18 22:18:31 2004
Uzbek, Sergeï Krushevsky (Oktos) emerged overall victor in the Tour de la Somme on Saturday, after the third stage run Saturday afternoon over 105.8 km between Moreuil and Abbeville, won by Belgium's Wouter van Mechelen. Saturday morning, the second stage, a 17 km. time trial in Moreuil was won by David Boucher of France. Stage 2: 1. David Boucher (FRA/Oktos), les 17 km en 23"12. 2. Stéphane Barthe (FRA) à 09" 3. Eric Berthoug (FRA) 11" 4. Jan Kuyck (BEL) 17. 5. Eduard Vorganov (RUS) 19. Stage 3: 1. Wouter Van Mechelen (BEL/Vlaanderren), les 105,8 km en 2h32'23" (moyenne: 41,658 km/h) 2. Wesl Van Steybroeck (BEL) m.t. 3. Sergeï Krushevsky (OUZ) m.t. 4. Saulius Ruskys (LIT) m.t. 5. Guillaume Lernould (BEL) m.t. Final Overall: 1. Sergeï Krushevsky (OUZ/Oktos), les 319,8 km en 7h34'55" (moyenne: 42,179 km/h) 2. Andreï Ptchelkin (RUS) à 02" 3. Frédéric Mille (FRA) à 08" 4. Ivan Terenin (RUS) à 55" 5. Charles Guilbert (FRA) à 1'30" (Source: L'Equipe)
Vuelta - Victory for Perez
Sat Sep 18 22:11:49 2004
Santiago Perez (Phonak) soloed home to win the 14th Stage, Malaga-Grenada (167 km). Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) remains General Classification leader. (Source: L'Equipe)
Flecha Prevails - Giro del Lazio
Sat Sep 18 21:30:55 2004
Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) has won the 70th edition of the Giro del Lazio run Saturday between Rieti and Nettuno. Flecha, 27 on Friday has also added the seventh career win to his palmares, his second win this year after the Championnat de Zurich. He also avenged his crash 200 meters from the line last year in this same event when he seemed sure of victory. This year the Spanish rider from Stiges, a small town near Barcelona, proved the swiftest of a group of 22 who broke away on the Campi Annibali climb 60 kilometers from the finish. Perfectly led out by his Fassa Bortolo co-equipiers Mario Bruseghin and Dario Frigo, the Spaniard jumped authoritatively off the wheel of Italian Mario Savoldelli who had launched his sprint too soon to win by half a wheel. ``I thought for an instant that I should squeak by on the barriers, but then I thought that it would be smarter to go around the other side in the middle of the road which proved to be the right decision,'' confided Flecha after the finish. German Jan Ullrich, returning to form finished third, but might have fared better if he had not been lightly leaned against by Salvoldelli which cost the German rider his chance at victory. (Source: L'Equipe)