Astana Team lost many cyclists when Lance Armstrong decided to start the new RadioSchack squad. Now they need to recruit new riders. And they have found some good guys. The team's big star, Alberto Contador, wants some riders that can help him during the 2010 Tour de France.

The team's recent recruit may not be part of the Tour de France team but he will get the chance to learn a lot during his time with the team. I am talking of the Italian cyclist Mirko Selvaggi. He raced with Cycle Collstrop in 2008 and this year he raced a few months with Amica Chips – Knauf. But his 2009 season was short. Too short. The team was suspended by the UCI on 29 May 2009, due to financial problems.

One of the sport directors of the team, Giuseppe Martinelli, has also recently joined Astana so he brought the 24-year-old to the team. It will be interesting to see how much he can improve with a ProTour-team.

Ag2r La Mondiale is preparing for the 2010 season. The team will participate in their traditional first race Tour Down Under in Australia, January 17 to 24, and Martin Elmiger will be the leader of the team over there.

Yes, it actually starts to become a tradition for them as Ag2r is the only team to have competed in all 11 editions of the Tour Down Under.

Some cyclists are having the time of the year in the beginning, some cyclists like summer the best and other is in extremely good form in October-November. And really, most of the time you can't do anything about it. You can try to peak the form but that's not 100% accurate.

Instead it is better to listen to the body. Take me as an example, I peak my form in April-May and August-September. This is the time when I cycle the fastest, I swim the fastest and I can run long distances. But I can never reach that kind of form in January, no matter how much I try.

Elmiger won the 2007 edition. In 2000, the second edition of the race, was won by Ag2r's cyclist Gilles Maignan. Three years later the team's cyclist Mikel Astarloza won, and yet three years later Simon Gerrans took the victory. And this is of course only the team's overall victories.

Cyril Dessel, Blel Kadri, Yuriy Krivtsov, Rene Mandri, Anthony Ravard and Ludovic Turpin will support Elmiger in 2010 Tour Down Under.

According to Sportweek the Spanish cyclist Iban Mayoz Exteberria (not Iban Mayo) will ride for Spain's Footon-Servetto ProTour team next season.

Mayoz left Xacobeo Galicia after two seasons. In 2008 the rider finished eighth overall in the Vuelta a Andalucía stage race and won the sprint classification in the Bicicleta Vasca and País Vasco in 2008.

Footon-Servetto is the new name of Fuji-Servetto. Footon is a Swiss company which specializes in making healthcare products such as insoles.

They have now signed  14 riders in last three weeks. Other riders are Martin Pedersen (Capinordic), Fabio Felline (neo-pro), Tom Faiers and David Gutiérrez Palacios (both Camargo elite2), Giampaolo Cheula (Barloworld), Pedro Merino (trainee for Fuji-Servetto), Enrique Mata Cabello and Rafael Valls (both Burgos Monumental - Castilla y Leon), Markus Eibegger and Matthias Brandle (both Elk Haus), David Vitoria Rock Racing), Michele Merlo and Macro Corti (both Barloworld), David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (neo pro?) and Miguel Ángel Rubiano Centri della Calzatura-Partizan). I think that was all.

Eros Capecchi, Arkaitz Durán, Alberto Benítez and Ermanno Capelli will remain with the team.

Wow, today has been pacy and the day is certainly not over. I woke up, called the caretaker (of my apartment) as my toilet was a little broke and he came, so now I can't use my toilet for two days (fun?). Yes, I can use it, but I can't flush.

I ate breakfast. Took my bike and took a ride to a store, where I bought a few things. Rode the another store and looked around. And now I am home, I have eaten lunch and now I am taking care of my laundry. Later on I will clean my apartment too. There is down all over the apartment. Don't walk around with down socks if they leak, I promise, not a smart idea.

Love/ Elin

It was a surprise when French mountain biker Jean-Christophe Peraud won the French National Time Trial Championships in front of Sylvain Chavanel and David De Lay.

A while ago the rider decided that he will race as a neo-pro with Belgian team Omega Pharma-Lotto in 2010. In mountain bike he won the2005 European Championship and he took the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Last year he won the French national time trial title. He also placed second in the Chrono des Nations - Les Herbiers and finished 12th in the World Championships time trial. It's actually quite interesting that he see himself as a climber, because so far he has done best in time trials. But I am looking forward to see him in the mountains.
"If I won that time trial, it's mainly because I also know how to suffer."

Now he is facing new challanges. And he is surely excited about it. When talking to L'Equipe he got the question why he turns professional now. He is 32 years old.

"I do it only for the challenge. My aim is to participate in the Tour de France."

Perhaps it was actually good for the French rider that Cadel Evans left. Would he have been signed otherwise? And would he possible have the chance to race the Tour de France for them otherwise? I guess not. He would most likely have raced for a French Pro Continental squad, so he must be really pleased now.

"For Omega, the trigger was the departure of Cadel Evans. They had to find someone to fill in - numerically, that is - and they thought of me, notably counting on my climbing skills. Of course, I will not be on the same level as Evans..."

The rider has a whole bunch of races where he would like to participate. And he wants to try everything. It's really funny to hear. And why not? I hope he gets the chance.

"Beside the Tour, the event that I most look forward to is the Dauphiné, which has a very mountainous route. But it's true that I can make good use of my qualities as a rouleur in races like the Critérium international, Paris-Nice or the Dauphiné, to remain in contention on the general classification. But I was first and foremost recruited to help our stage race leader Jurgen Van den Broeck. I would also like to be at the side of Philippe Gilbert in the Ardennes Classics like Liège-Bastogne-Liège; races that have a certain rythm to them like some mountain bike events."

There has been a tough time since Olaf Pollack testing positive for some kind of dope. I don't know which, though, as the name of the substance for which he tested positive has not been released. After the A-test he denied any wrongdoings but then his B-test came back positive as well. He faces a two-year suspension if the charges are upheld.

Olaf Pollack says he was stunned at the results of the B-sample of his doping control, and that the German cycling federation announced the results without consulting him. It was at July 6 that he tested positive in an out-of-competition doping control.

He had been around for three days at the opening and analysis of the B-sample. According to him the B-sample gave significantly different results from the A-sample. He also said that he wished that the federation would have called him, before announcing the result.
"Obviously this is a reflection of the spirit of the times, to trample on athletes' rights with both feet. The headline is more important than the explanation," said his attorney, Marcus Hotze.

Pollack said he wished to know whether the resuld was caused for his intensive training or if it had something to do with the medication he was taking for an eye and vision problem. He suffers from a detached retina.

The Guardian is speculating if Ben Swift will race for Team Sky next year. A couple of days ago the team announced that the two Italian riders in Dario Cioni and Davide Viganò had been signed, but the British news paper is really interested to find out who the 25th signing will be. Of course the British news paper hope it will be a British cyclist.

Next week the team will meet for its first training camp. There has been rumours that the team would like to hire Garmin-Slipstream’s Bradley Wiggins but both Wiggins and Swift have contracts with Garmin-Slipstream respective Katusha. Ben Swift did amazingly well in 2009. He is considered one of the brightest stars of Britain’s next generation of riders coming through the ranks and I don't ponder why. Just looking at him makes me realise that the Britons can be proud of him. Earlier this year he took his first professional victory on the Tour of Britain’s seventh stage. In 2008 the Briton finished fourth at the U23 World Road Championships.

"For us, at this moment, Swift is a Katusha rider," a Katusha representative told The Guardian.
The person also said that the team could consider a buyout of Swift’s contract. So what do you think?

As a russophile I feel really sad that Boris Shpilevsky of the Russian national team got a penalty at Tour of Hainan and therefore ended the race in 37th place. Otherwise he would have won the whole race.

Instead Francisco Ventoso of Team CarmioOro A-Style won the Tour of Hainan. The Spaniard sais he was pleased with his victory, and he thought that Shpilevsky had been riding irregularly all week.

What happened was that the Russian broke a wheel during one of the last two of 12 laps of the 6.6km circuit course, and replaced it with one from a rider with the German Nutrixxion Sparkasse team. He took the victory of the stage. Ventoso finished third and was in second overall.

The jury gave Boris Shpilevsky a two-minute time penalty for the wheel change. The UCI's rule 2.3.012 says that “The lending or exchanging of tubular tyres of bicycles … shall be permitted only amongst riders of the same team.” So surely the penalty is right. But what if the Nutrixxion Sparkasse gave the wheel because he wished to help the Russian? I understand the rule, I do, and I believe the rule is correct. But under some circumstances people want to help and is it all wrong then?

Nothing wrong with Ventoso of course, but I have a special to love to everybody who speaks Russian. So I would rather have seen Shpilevsky as the winner, just because of his nationality. Goosh, I sound dreadful.

“The truth is that from the outside this may appear to be bad luck for the rider, but it comes after many days of unsportsmanlike manoeuvres,” Ventoso said. “I won't go into details, but … (Shpilevsky) had many irregularities of this kind throughout the week. Today was the straw that broke the camel's back.”

“I am personally very pleased with this new victory.”

Davide Rebellin denies that he doped during the 2008 Olympic Games. The rider has just been stripped of his Olympic silver medal. Rebellin says he don't want to end his career like this. The Italian has promised that he will return to racing.

"Even if I am not believed and I will be blamed, I will return to race to show who Davide Rebellin is to everyone," Rebellin said according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Rebellin finished second in the men's road race at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Many months later it was revealed that the cyclist had tested positive for CERA during the Games. The rider is not yet suspended by the Italian anti-doping tribunal (TNA). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made its decision though. Rebellin must give away his medal.

"We are stunned because the IOC has taken a step that gives little respect to the parties," Rebellin's lawyer Fausto Pavone said. "It waited to see our defence, then after six months and with reasoning we don't agree with, it took action."

Pavone says that they will appeal the IOC's decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). So it will take yet another while (at least 21 days) before a decision is made.

Bernhard Kohl has confessed having used doping and now his ex-manager Stefan Matschiner has decided to write abook about it, and “maybe some people are nervous about it.”

Matschiner has himself been named as a major suspect in doping investigations. Both Kohl and triathlete Lisa Hütthaler have admitted that they have received doping products from Matschiner. And according to them he has not only provided them doping but also assisted with blood doping.

The ex-manager seems a little afraid himself. Or maybe he just want to make PR about the book. Anyway, he says he will publish the book “definitely not until after my trial. There could be some things in it which could incriminate me,” he said, according to the Austrian website sport24.at.

Matschiner has confessed that he did help the athletes with doping, and he said that  “I admit my guilt, but I don't regret anything!” Of course not, he got the money. He helped the athletes to become better. And they were happy. Matschiner says he tried to tell Kohl that it was likely that the rider would get caught if he used CERA.

“I told him,: 'Bernhard, stay away from CERA!' But he risked it, because he was maniacal in thinking that the whole peloton would ride with it.”

It's a little funny as very few people knew that an anti-doping test for CERA existed at that point. That's why so many athletes got caught. But believe in it if you want...

Kohl said that Matschiner had provided him with EPO, growth hormones, insulin, testosterone and blood doping. So now you know why I don't believe in the ex-manager when he tries to warn Kohl.

Stefan Schumacher is also one of the athletes who have been sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The five athletes who has been sanctioned participated in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing but when it was time to re-test a couple of samples they all tested positive for CERA, a third generation of EPO. Also fellow cyclist Davide Rebellin was sanctioned.

Schumacher finished 13th in the time trial. Rebellin won a silver medal in the road race. Both rider's results have been withdrawn.

IOC has asked Rebellin to return his medal and diploma and now the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) says it will  review the request.

The other sanctioned athletes are Rashid Ramzi from Bahrain (gold medallist in the 1500m in athletics); Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece (ninth in the 20km walking event); and Vanja Perisic of Croatia (sixth in round 1, heat 3 of 800m in athletics).

Dominican weightlifter Yudelquis Maridalin Contreras (fifth in the 53kg weightlifting event) was not sanctioned after her "B" sample was clean.

BMC Racing Team has received wild card invitations to the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman. But the team of World Champion Cadel Evans will open its season when racing the Tour Down Under in January.

“These are the two perfect stage races with which to begin our assault on the new season,” said sport director John Lelangue.

The team has raced the Tour of Qatar before, but it will be their first appearance at the Tour of Oman.

“The team for Qatar will most likely be led by riders Alessandro Ballan and Marcus Burghardt. And with John Murphy, we will have an excellent sprinter present,” Lelangue said.

“The Oman parcours is substantially more selective than Qatar, and the final time trial is particularly suited for Brent [Bookwalter],” according to Lelangue.

I know somebody who will be very pleased now as Enrico Franzoi has signed a contract for two years with the BKCP-Powerplus team. That means he will leave the ProTour team Liquigas. Instead he will become team mate with World Champion Niels Albert.

"Cyclo-cross is my priority," Franzoi told Sporza.be. "I chose BKCP because it is a strong team where I can quickly find my former level."

His road race career has not been as good as he hoped for. And the 2009 season were really bad. He got a bacterial infection in May and he had to take the summer off. He had his best part of the season in October when he started racing cyclo cross again and this Saturday the Italian finished third place at the Grand Prix de la Région Wallonne.

I am sure he will feel better when doing what he really loves. The team manager Christophe Roodhooft hopes that Franzoi will be able to win some races when Albert cannot be present.

"Last year when Albert was gone we had nobody who could contend for the podium. Now, with the addition of Franzoi, a former espoir world champion, we have that."

 

I believe it will be great for the team, and for the two riders.

Time to rest a little while. Love/ Elin

The Basque regional parliament has voted to let the Vuelta a España to return to the region for the first time since 1978. I am sure the Basque riders are very pleased.

Basque cultural and sporting minister Blanca Urgell has had a meeting with Vuelta director-general Javier Guillén so perhaps we will soon see the Vuelta entering the beautiful region. They say they want both a start and a finish during the race.

The last time the race visited the region was for the 1978 edition. Bernard Hinault won that edition. Four stages were scheduled to take place in the Basque Country, and three of them did. The penultimate one was radically shortened. The last stage, a time trial in San Sebastián, was cancelled as they feared that a terrorist attack or something would occur.

In the last couple of years, some Basque towns and cities including Bilbao have wished the race to return. There is still some fear of terrorism, but not as much as before.

"This request expresses the feelings of Basque society. Like any other part of the country they have the right to watch the Spanish national team and the Vuelta. The Basque Country is region known for its love of football and cycling," said Spanish minister of sport Jaime Lissavetzky.

He has been considering changing nationality for a while, and now it seems he indeed has made his decision. Heinrich Haussler wants to race for Australia.

"I am not going to do the Worlds Championships for Germany just to be World Champion. If I want to ride the Worlds to become World Champion then definitely in Australian colours," Haussler told Australia's SBS.

Haussler is born in Australia and his mother is Australian, while his father is German. He raced the first four years of his career with German team Gerolsteiner and this year with Switzerland's Cervélo TestTeam.

In 2010 Haussler says the Worlds are "my main goal, especially next year in Australia. The course suits me 100 percent. I know if I have top form, or like I had this year in the Classics, I think I can win there."