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Monday's EuroFile: Vande Velde confident for '07; Raisin visits the hospital that saved his life
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Christian Vande Velde rides into the 2007 season with renewed confidence he can pick up where he left off last year, which included a stop atop a winner’s podium for the first time in his European racing career.
“It’s not easy to win in Europe. Now that I’ve done it, I know it’s possible again and it doesn’t seem so far-fetched,” Vande Velde said. “The confidence is going to play a big factor. Just knowing you can do it and knowing you’ve succeeded the year before, you’re just going to have more confidence overall.”
The 30-year-old all-rounder won the Tour of Luxembourg, his first victory since racing in Europe since 1998, and has even higher expectations for what will be his 10th professional season.
“I feel good. I feel better on the bike than ever and some of the injuries I’ve had in the past in my back and some of the imbalances I’ve had are starting to feel strong. It makes it easier to train, so I am a little ahead of last year,” Vande Velde said. “I am looking to build on 2006 and take that solid year and hope I have this year without any big setback.”
The Chicago-area product said his nagging back problems, which almost derailed his professional career in 2001-02, have mended well and he can train and race at full strength.
Somewhat surprisingly, Vande Velde said his Luxembourg win wasn’t the highlight of 2006 season. Instead, he cites his strong Tour de France performance that included a third-place finish on the stage into Gap and 24th overall.
“I have to be realistic. The field at Luxembourg isn’t as big or deep as a race like the Tour. It’s nice to win, but as far as the highlight, it wasn’t,” he said. “I have all these other things to be proud of – working at the front at the Tour de France, having a good stage [into Gap], being at the front in the most important race against the best racers.”
Vande Velde spent most of the fall and winter in his Girona home with wife, Leah. The Vande Veldes are expecting their first child, due sometime in June.
In the meantime, Vande Velde heads to California this week for a two-week training camp with Team CSC ahead of the Tour of California. From there, he’ll return to Europe and is scheduled to race at Paris-Nice, Criterium International, the Ardennes classics, the Volta a Catalunya in May, the Dauphiné Libéré and “hopefully the Tour.”
Last year, Vande Velde snapped his shoulder at Paris-Nice, an injury that left him with a steel rod and seven pins, an option he chose rather than risk any complications from further surgery. Calling the crash a “blessing in disguise,” he bounced back from the injury to win at Luxembourg and ride strongly at the Tour de Suisse to earn a surprise bid to join Team CSC’s Tour team.
Vande Velde admits it will be hard to see former CSC captain Ivan Basso riding in a Discovery Channel jersey. Last year, the team was thrown into turmoil after pre-race favorite Basso was among nine riders kicked out of the Tour for links to the Spanish doping investigation, Operación Puerto.
Italian officials dropped any possible sanctions against the 2006 Giro d’Italia champion, but Basso and Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis split ways, opening the door for Basso’s arrival at Discovery Channel.
“That is going to be hard. At the same time, I have nothing against Ivan. I know how much of a hard worker he is, I know his entire life is cycling. Now if he wins the Tour of California, that’s going to be different,” he said. “I had no doubts about Basso. I would have never thought that anyone from CSC or Ivan would have anything to do with it. I still have yet to see any hard proof. The easiest way is with DNA at this point. That would open-and-shut the case for me.”
Raisin meets docs, sets fundraiser
Saul Raisin returned to the hospital in Angers, France, to meet the medical staff that saved his life after he crashed in the first stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe last April.
The French sports daily L’Equipe helped arrange Raisin’s visit earlier this month to the French hospital where he spent nearly a month. Last spring, French doctors successfully performed emergency brain surgery that saved his life after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
“I had the honor of going back to Angers to meet the doctors and nurses that saved my life. It was wonderful,” Raisin wrote on his web page. “What can I say? Every one of them treated me like their son. My parents told me how great and kind everyone was to them during the darkest days of their lives. It was very surreal to see the place where I [was] for over a month and I have no memory of.”
Earlier this month, Raisin joined his Crédit Agricole teammates for a pre-season camp along France’s Cote d’Azur. Raisin, 25, is optimistic of a return to racing later this season.
“I’ve just been surprising everyone, including myself on how well I am doing,” Raisin said. “The doctors can’t believe it. Statistically, I should be dead or in a wheelchair. At first I just wanted to be able to live a normal life again. Now I think I can race my bike again. It’s been like a miracle.”
Raisin has since returned to the United States and is scheduling a fundraiser set for March 31 in Dalton, Georgia.
The “Raisin Hope Charity Ride” features three rides - 15, 35 and 50 miles, respectively – as well as a lunch and an address by Raisin to the crowd. Proceeds will benefit the Shepherd Center, Camp Twin Lakes, The Brain Injury Association of Georgia and the USA Cycling Development Foundation.
Riders can register online at www.sportsbaseonline.com.
Bettini opens season at GP Etruschi, considers Roubaix
Reigning world champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) confirmed he will make his season debut in the rainbow jersey at the 12th GP Costa degli Etruschi on Feb. 10. The 193km route passes Bettini’s hometown of La California and organizers were keen to have the Italian world champ in the race.
Bettini, who is also slated to race the Tour of California, will be among a star-studded field to open the Italian racing season. Other confirmed riders include Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) and Tom Steels (Predictor-Lotto).
After California, Bettini will return to Europe and begin an ambitious spring classics racing schedule. In addition to starts in the Ardennes and Milan-San Remo, Bettini is eyeing Tour of Flanders (“the only major race I haven’t won”) and a possible start at Paris-Roubaix.
“It depends on how things are going so far in the season,” Bettini said of the Hell of the North. “I would to try to represent the world championship jersey in such an important race, but I also don’t want to take unnecessary risks.”Bettini will then race the Giro d’Italia, skip the Tour de France and prepare for the world championships in September.
Liberty riders sue for back pay
even riders from the ex- Liberty-Würth/Astaná team have sued team owners Manolo Sáiz and Pablo Anton of ActiveBay in an attempt to recover unpaid salaries, the Spanish daily El Dario Vasco reported.
Joseba Beloki, Unai and Aitor Osa, David Etxebarria, Jörg Jacksche, Eladio Sánchez and Ramírez Abeja are riders seeking money from the troubled team ownership. Sáiz, of course, was among five people arrested last May as part of a police investigation dubbed Operación Puerto. The team has since lost its title sponsor as well as its spot in the ProTour league, though no legal actions have been initiated against the once-powerful Sáiz.
The seven riders - who claim they are due back pay from the final three months of last season – are the only riders who haven’t been able to find contracts with other teams for the 2007 season.
Spanish races in crisis over TV broadcast
Regional Spanish stage races such as the Vuelta a Burgos and the Vuelta a Murcia are fighting for their futures following Spanish television’s decision to end live coverage on free, over-the-air broadcasts this season.
RTVE said it would broadcast the final hour-and-a-half of midweek racing on its Teledeporte cable channel and only provide 30 minutes highlight shows on weekends for regional stage races this season.
Race organizers say the move could be the final blow for races already struggling to find sponsors and stay solvent.
“We need the direct [TV] and we are going to fight for it,” said Gregorio Moreno, the director of Spanish race organizers. “If we don’t get it, many of the sponsors will leave and this will be the end for many of these races.”
Moreno said the 2005 arrival of the ProTour, which limits regional races to just 50 percent of the elite teams, has spelled doom for many Spanish race organizers. Without the major teams and stars, Spanish television has seen its rating drop for regional race broadcasts.
Several races, such as the Tour of Aragon and Trofeo Luis Puig, have already folded as a result of the crisis. The Tour of Murcia, set for March this year, said it would likely suspend its 2007 edition because of the lack of live television coverage so important to sponsors.
“Because the ProTour teams have such a demanding race schedule they can’t even come to our races,” Gregorio said. “Without the big stars, the sponsors have drifted away, and if we don’t have live TV, it will be the final nail.”
