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Tuesday's EuroFile: Contador on the market; No Stuttgart for Zabel?

Published: Aug. 14, 2007
Contador faced Puerto questions last week.
Contador faced Puerto questions last week.
Photo: Agence France Presse - 2007

Alberto Contador is on vacation this week, but he’ll probably be spending more time than he would like working the phone after last week’s news that his Discovery Channel team is disbanding at the end of the season.

The standing Tour de France champion is without a secure future – not to mention most of the other riders and staff on the Discovery Channel payroll.

Where Contador could likely end up depends on what kind of reception his new manager, Tony Rominger, receives from prospective ProTour teams.

Doubts over Contador’s alleged links to the Operación Puerto investigation could seriously handicap his quest, especially among French teams and other teams who’ve already agreed not to sign tainted riders. Although UCI and Spanish authorities have cleared Contador, some insist that the Spanish climber hasn’t told the full story.

While Contador hasn’t publicly revealed where he’d like to sign, he might have trouble finding a place on a Spanish team.

First off, he won’t be picked up by Euskaltel-Euskadi, because Contador isn’t Basque. That team operates on a policy of signing only riders with strong roots in the enclave of northern Spain.

Saunier Duval-Prodir, with its limited budget, might not be able to afford Contador, but the team could have some room on its payroll following the departures of David Millar and Gilberto Simoni.

That would leave Caisse d’Epargne – the French-sponsored Spanish squad – as a natural selection, except that the team is already committed to building its future around Alejandro Valverde, who’s already earning an estimated 2 million euros per season.

One team that might be looking for a captain is Rabobank, but following the scandalous departure of Michael Rasmussen from this year’s Tour, the Dutch outfit might be cautious about signing riders with even a hint of doubt.

In the meantime, Contador’s post-Tour racing schedule is fairly light. He’s already said he won’t be racing in the Vuelta a España. Instead, he’ll compete in the Tour of Missouri as part of an all-star Discovery Channel team in mid-September and then race the Race of Champions million-dollar race in Abu Dhabi in November.

Zabel not welcome at world’s
Milram sprint ace Erik Zabel is not welcome to compete at next month's world road race championships here after admitting to doping, organizing committee president Susanne Eisenmann said on Tuesday.

Zabel recently confessed to using the banned blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO) for a brief spell in his career in 1996, the year he won the first of his six consecutive green jerseys at the Tour de France.

"The participation of certain riders would not be in line with our commitment to clean cycling," Eisenmann told the daily Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

"It wouldn't be going in the direction that we have chosen," she added in reaction to Zabel's statement Monday that his main objective was the world championships from September 26-30.

A decision on whether the 2006 world silver medalist will be selected will be made by the German Cycling Federation (BDR) on August 29.

The event will have a strict program of anti-doping tests drawn up in accordance with the German anti-doping agency (NADA) and the world anti-doping agency (AMA).

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble had warned last month that the event could be cancelled if the International Cycling Union (UCI) and German Cycling Federation (BDR) did not go along with the program.

The anti-doping measures include stepping up random pre-competition tests, doubling the number of blood and urine tests during the events and officials accompanying riders to control stations after their finish.
By Agence France Presse

McEwen to Vuelta
Robbie McEwen – the Aussie pocket rocket who was forced out of the Tour de France with injuries suffered from a stage 1 crash – confirmed he will race the Vuelta a España next month.

The Predictor-Lotto sprinter will start his third grand tour of the 2007 season, after racing in both the Giro d’Italia and Tour this year. Last year, McEwen also started all three grand tours, winning three stages at each of the Giro and Tour.

McEwen, 35, has raced four Vueltas in his career, but surprisingly has never won a stage at the Spanish tour. This year, he’s won stages at both the Giro and Tour, and will be aiming for the treble if he can score a win at the Vuelta. Alessandro Petacchi was the last rider to win stages in each grand tour in a single year. Indeed, in 2003, Ale Jet won three stages in each of the three-week events.

McEwen’s chances of claiming the Vuelta’s golden jersey are slim, however, because the Vuelta opens with a team time trial that will likely push him out of contention for the overall lead. He wore the maillot jaune in the 2004 Tour and the maglia rosa in the 2005 Giro.

Di Luca gets world’s boost
Danilo Di Luca’s candidacy as the top man for the Italian team at next month’s world championships got a big boost this weekend.

Italian national coach Franco Ballerini told Di Luca at this weekend Trofeo Matteotti that the azzurri team will be working for the Giro d’Italia champion.

“If I see he’s engaged in the race, the others will work for him,” Ballerini told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I know that if he arrives at the world’s with the kind of form he had at Liège or the Giro, he will be the captain of the team.”

Spanish minister backs Contador
Spain’s sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky publicly endorsed beleaguered Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.

Despite being cleared of any links to the Operación Puerto investigation, Contador has seen his Tour victory come under attack from some quarters who question his performance.

Lissavetzky, however, said he believes Contador deserves the confidence and support from fans.

“The case of Contador is clear – he won the Tour and he’s a clean rider,” Lissavetzky told the Spanish sports daily AS. “The (sports ministry) supports that he’s clean because he’s passed 20 controls in two months and he never gave a positive. He’s also declared that he’s never doped and we confide in his word so long as it’s not demonstrated to the contrary. We are for zero tolerance in sport, but at the same time, we cannot have an Inquisition.”

Speaking of the unknown status Oscar Pereiro, last year’s Tour runner-up who could inherit the 2006 Tour victory if Floyd Landis fails in his bid to clear his name, Lissavetzky said he believes Pereiro will eventually be recognized as the victor.

“We cannot forget Oscar Pereiro, but his case is different,” he continued. “Landis, the first Tour winner to give a positive, has gone through the justice system to defend himself and that’s why it’s taking so long for the verdict, but (Pereiro) will be recognized as the winner.”

Rogers heading to China
Three-time road time trial world champion, Michael Rogers, has confirmed he will join the Australian team for this week’s reconnaissance trip to Beijing to contest the Good Luck Beijing road events being staged on the 2008 Olympic road race and time trial courses on August 18 and 19, Cycling Australia reported in a press release.

Rogers had not originally planned to join the Beijing trip but after crashing out of the Tour de France his plans changed. Rogers injured his right shoulder when he rocketed into a metal barrier on a descent in the Alps during the eighth stage of the Tour.

‘If I had completed the Tour de France I probably wouldn't have gone but crashing out early meant I could reconsider,” Rogers told Gennie Sheer of Cycling Australia. “I've recovered well and probably have about 95 percent movement back.

“I'm in full training and suffering no pain on the bike although I'm still missing a little bit of movement when I raise my hand over my shoulder,” Rogers explained. “I'm not planning to do that on the bike though so it's not an issue.”

Rogers well knows the benefit that can be gained by surveying the Olympic course in advance having traveled to Athens the year prior to the 2004 Olympic Games where he finished fourth in the time trial, the event in which he won the world championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

“It was a big advantage for me to go to Athens because I got to study it in my mind for a year and it gave me a clear mental image,” said Rogers. “Definitely better than turning up three or four days before and trying to master the course.

“We'll study every meter of the course,” said Rogers who’ll be joined by Tour de France runner up Cadel Evans as the Australian starters for the time trial. “We're taking Dave Martin (AIS Sports Scientist) and some of the world's best physiologists so we can gain all the information we need to work out a strategic pacing plan plus I'll have a year to think about how to tackle it.”

Meantime Rogers, who had earlier indicated he’d be unavailable for the time trial at the world championships in September, isn’t ruling out contesting the time trial in Stuttgart.

“I'm looking into it at the moment,” said Rogers. “I'll do the first ten days of the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) and then it depends on the birth of our twins because they're due around the same day as the time trial.

“I suppose that's one positive for me out of my Tour de France crash," he said. “At least I got to spend some time with my wife (Alessia) who's been having a rough time of it but it's only a month to go now so we're on the downhill stretch and trying to get as much sleep stored up as possible.”

Rogers is also happy with the news T-Mobile will continue as the major sponsor of his professional team.

”It hasn't been the best month for us or cycling, which has been going through hell, but it's something that has to happen if we want to tackle the doping issue,” said Rogers. “I'm really happy T-Mobile has decided to stay in the sport and I'm looking forward to us moving on as a team and to fulfilling some of the goals we've set for ourselves.”

Joining Rogers and Evans in Beijing will be Matt White, Australian pursuit champion, Phil Thuaux and three time junior 2006 World Champion, Cameron Meyer. 2004 Olympic teams pursuit gold medallist, Peter Dawson has stepped aside to allow Rogers to make the trip. Athens Olympic road race champion, Sara Carrigan and two time World Cup Series winner, Oenone Wood, will also make the trip for reconnaissance purposes as only men's races are scheduled for the test event.
- By Cycling Australia