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Wednesday's EuroFile: Landis to Phonak? No Vuelta for Casero; Brandt cleared
Whispers that U.S. Postal Service strongman Floyd Landis is leaving theblue train took on more weight Wednesday when sport director Johan Bruyneelconfirmed reports that Landis is poised to join former teammate Tyler Hamiltonat Phonak.In an interview with the Spanish daily MARCA, Bruyneel all butconfirmed Landis´s departure from Postal Service, where he rode thepast three years alongside Lance Armstrong en route to Tour de France victories.“We had an option to keep him and we were ready to equal the offer madeto Phonak, but at the same time we didn´t want him to force him tostay with us,” Bruyneel was quoted.With Armstrong´s future still uncertain and the team bringingon future Tour hope Yaroslav Popovych with a three-year contract, Landisobviously believes his future is elsewhere.Landis, meanwhile, is scheduled to race the Vuelta a España,which begins Sept. 4, alongside ‘Triki’ Beltrán and Max Van Heeswijk.MARCA also reported that Cofidis is interested in Spanish starOscar Sevilla, currently set to race the Vuelta alongside Tyler Hamiltonat Phonak.Phonak Hearing Systems Roster - Vuelta a España
Tyler Hamilton
Gonzalo Bayarri
Santos Gonzalez
Bert Grabsch
José Enrique Gutierrez
Nicolas Jalabert
Santi Perez
Oscar Sevilla
Tadej Valjavec
Casero likely to miss Vuelta
Angel Casero, the 2001 Vuelta a España champion, will likelymiss this year´s edition after failing to receive a racing licensefor the 2004 season. Casero and a handful of other riders on the troubledComunidad Valenciana-Kelme have not been able to race all season becausethe UCI has refused to issue licenses for the racers because the team hasbeen unable to meet conditions such as bank guarantees to cover the rider´ssalaries.“It´s going to be complicated before the Vuelta but I hope tobe back at some competitions sooner than later,” Casero told the Spanishdaily MARCA. “Pyschologically, it´s been very difficult.”Pollack goes T-Mobile
T-Mobile announced Wednesday it has signed Olaf Pollack, the veteranGerolsteiner sprinter, to a two-year contract. The former trackie heldthe pink leader´s jersey for one day in the 2004 Giro d´Italia.Two in row for Max
Flying Dutchman Max van Heeswijk delivered for the second day in arow for U.S. Postal Service after winning the second stage of the Tourof Holland on Wednesday. Just like in Tuesday´s opener, van Heeswijkwon a mass sprint in the 178km stage from Bolsward to Nijverdal.A breakaway went off early, but was reeled in with 15km to go to setup the mass gallop. A crash 300 meters to go sent riders tumbling to thetarmac, but van Heeswijk came through clean to score his 12th win on theseason. Italian sprinter ace Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), backin action since abandoning the Tour de France with injury, came thoughfifth.
On tap Thursday is a split stage with a 86km road stage from Kleveto Goch in the morning with an afternoon 21km time trial that will likelydecide the race. van Heeswijk will take a 14-second lead into Thursday´sdouble challenge.
44th ENECO Tour of Holland (NED 2.1)
Stage 2, Bolsward to Nijverdal, 178km
1. Max van Heeswijk (Ned), U.S. Postal Service 4 hours, 11 minutes,36 seconds
2. Alexandre Usov (Blr), Phonak
3. Stefan van Dijk (Ned), Lotto-Domo
4. Rudi Kemna (Ned), BankGiroLoterij
5. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita), Fassa Bortolo – all same time
Brandt Cleared
Belgian cyclist Christophe Brandt has been cleared by his national federation after testing positive for drugs in last month's Tour de France, sources told AFP Wednesday.
"The Belgian Cycling League gave a judgment in two parts: it firstly considered there were grounds to suspend Christophe Brandt for two years, then it cancelled the sanction because it was an unintentional act," said a source close to the case.
Brandt had two positive results for methadone, a legally available drug which is used to treat heroin addicts but banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), unless there is a medical justification.
The 27-year-old was taken out of the Tour de France by his Lotto team before the results were verified and before being officially excluded.
"Brandt had ordered dietary supplements of amino acids in capsules, these products are absolutely legal. But the methadone was used for another preparation and some methadone particles were found in the capsules taken by Brandt," the source said.
"The League considered that they could not punish somebody who didn't make a mistake."
Brandt, the only rider on the Tour to test positive, said he was relieved at the League's decision.
"I've been waiting for this news for a month and a half. The most important thing, to my mind, is that I can now talk to the teams about my availability," Brandt told the Belgian national news agency Belga.
"I can now finally do my job again," he added.
Brandt, who has always protested his innocence, turned professional in September 1999. He joined the Lotto team in 2001 and finished 14th in this year's Giro d’Italia. He was ranked 231 in the world before his expulsion from the Tour de France.
