Dog's joy

Famous cyclist exonerated in doping case

An eight-day race along the Paris-Nice route began the next season of the Pro Tour cycling road series, in which two dozen elite teams participate. The day before yesterday, the Spanish police, for lack of evidence, stopped the investigation into the case of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, who was suspected of supplying the world's leading cyclists with illegal drugs. The winner of the 2006 Giro, Ivan Basso, who appeared in this case only for the reason that a client code name was found in Fuentes’ work records that coincided with the name of the Italian’s dog, was given the opportunity to again take part in the most important races. Today he starts in the Pro Tour at the Tirreno-Adriatico race, which will run parallel to the Paris-Nice race for several days.

The Pro Tour was created by the International Cycling Union (UCI) at the beginning of 2005 and replaced the highly prestigious World Cup on the calendar. Now, alas, the relatively young series is experiencing a certain crisis. The organizers of the three most prestigious stage races, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, have repeatedly informed USI that they wish to reduce the mandatory quota of "pro-Tour" teams in favor of local cycling stables that have a lower status, but are attractive to local television. , sponsors and so on. However, such requests did not find understanding. For now, there is a certain transition period in the conflict situation. Passions can flare up with renewed vigor as early as May, immediately before the start of the Giro.

For Russian cycling fans, the main feature of this season is that this is the first year after the retirement of the legendary Vyacheslav Ekimov, a two-time Olympic champion and our most respected compatriot in the world peloton. Vyacheslav holds the position of assistant to Johan Brunnel, the famous sports director of the American team Discovery Channel, formerly known as U.S. Postal.

Currently, the elite teams have approximately 25-28 athletes under contract. Russia in the Pro Tour is represented by riders Sergei Ivanov and Sergei Mikhailov (both from the Kazakh Astana, registered in Switzerland), Vladimir Efimkin, Vladimir Karpets and Alexey Markov (all Caisse d'Eparn, Spain), Alexander Bocharov (Credit Agricole, France), Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel, USA), Vuelta 2005 winner Denis Menshov and Dmitry Kozonchuk (both Rabobank, Holland), Alexander Kolobnev (CSC, Denmark), Alexander Khatuntsev and Sergey Kolesnikov (both Unibet.Com, Sweden).

The Scandinavian team deserves a special mention. Despite having received the Pro Tour license, Unibet.Com is not able to participate in races taking place in France. This country has a law prohibiting advertising of foreign bookmakers. The Swedish cycling stable was never allowed to start the Paris-Nice stage race and its place was taken by the modest “Agributel”. “Astana” also received a special invitation from the organizers of a wild card, although as a holder of a “Pro Tour” license, this team should have the right to automatically enter races of this level. However, Alexander Vinokurov’s team still has a half-hearted status. “Astana” received its license later than everyone else and already outside the established period, so race organizers are not obliged to guarantee its inclusion in the list of participants.

According to experts, this season should be very successful for Vinokurov. After the departure of the seven-time winner of the Great Loop, American Lance Armstrong, the end of the career of German Jan Ullrich, and the disqualification of Floyd Landis, there are very few strong multi-day racers left in the world. The main favorite in almost all serious one-day races is the Belgian Tom Boonen; in the finishes of the flat races, he is competed by the Italian Alessandro Petacchi, who has lost his former luster, and his compatriot Daniele Bennati. Vinokourov’s main rivals in multi-day races include Basso, who moved from CSC to Discovery in the off-season, Menshov and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde. American Tom Danielson last year did not justify the advances handed out to him by specialists, and after Basso joined Discovery, he takes a secondary role in this cycling stable.

The prologue of the Paris-Nice race was won by the Briton David Millar, in the first stage the best finisher was the Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon. In Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts today in the Apennines, for the first time at such a serious level, the Russian-Italian Tinkoff team will compete on a wild card, sending their star newcomer Tyler Hamilton to this race.

Vladimir ILYIN