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Friday's EuroFile: Landis to use Giro as Tour prep; O'Grady to CSC; Mirabella's medal

By VeloNews Interactive, With wire services
Published: Oct. 28, 2005
Landis knows what challenges he'll be facing in next year's Tour
Landis knows what challenges he'll be facing in next year's Tour
Photo: Agence France Presse (file photo)

American Floyd Landis announced Friday that he will prepare for next year's Tour de France by competing in the Giro d’Italia in May for the first time.

"I hope that it will be a perfect warm-up for the Tour", said Landis, a leader on the Swiss-based Phonak team. "I'll begin my training in the United States and continue it in Europe from January. I'll check out the Tour (de France) route in June."

Landis’s announcement comes a day after the route of the 2006 Tour de France was announced in Paris and two weeks prior to the announcement of the Giro route. The American finished in ninth in the 2005 Tour.

CSC's Ivan Basso, also considered to be a favorite for the overall Tour title in 2006, has already announced that he will not take on next year's Giro.

Next year's Tour de France race, wide open after the retirement of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, will be held from July 1-23 and cover 3639 kilometers.
Agence Presse France

O'Grady joins CSC
CSC announced Thursday that the team has signed Australian Stuart O' Grady to a one-year.

O'Grady, 32, is currently wrapping up a contract with Cofidis and had been expected to join former Fassa Bortolo director Giancarlo Ferretti’ new Sony-Ericsson squad. O’Grady and a dozen other riders were left without contracts, however, when the Sony deal collapsed.

"It is a big addition for the squad," said CSC manager Bjarne Riis, who characterized O'Grady as a "fantastic rider."

Riis noted that "the contract did not take all that long to work out. He’s a talented rider and we’re happy to have a rider of his caliber on CSC.”

O'Grady turned professional in 1995 and spent the bulk of his career at French outfit Crédit Agricole. He left for Cofidis when it became clear that Norwegian Thor Hushovd's presence meant the team had too many sprinters.

He has won two stages of the Tour de France and has also finished in the top-three in several prestigious one-day classics, winning his first at Hamburg last year, only a few months after he placed second in the Milan-San Remo. O’Grady also earned an Olympic gold medal in the Madison at the Athens Games in 2004.

Boonen pleased with `06 Tour route
QuickStep’s Tom Boonen said he followed Thursday’s presentation of the Tour de France route “with great interest.” “It will be a classic Tour,” the reigning world champion said. “This is a Tour that is very much suited to my style of racing. There will be nine flat stages, which is ideal for riders with my characteristics.” “The timed prologue won’t be as long as last year’s,” he noted. “In normal conditions, I believe I’ll be able to finish among the top 25 and above all I don’t think I’ll lose many seconds. At that point, I could even fight for the yellow jersey during the first stages that are suited to my way of racing.” Boonen also has a few thoughts on the points classifications. “The green jersey is one of my objectives,” he said “After this year’s fall and subsequent pulling out of the race I wasn’t able to battle right up to Paris. I’ll certainly be trying again next year hoping to have a bit more luck than last year. Stage wins remain and are always a priority.” “I’m also happy that there won’t be a Team Time Trial. My teammates will have to work hard, just as they did this year, in preparation for the sprints. The fact that there won’t be a TTT means one less big effort, giving us that extra chance at winning another stage.” As to who might win the overall title, Boonen said that the 2006 Tour will be wide open.

“Lance Armstrong’s absence from the race means there is a vacancy for a new title holder,” Boonen said. “We’ll just have to wait and see who has the strength.”

Mirabella will return medal - if asked
Miami (AP) - American Erin Mirabella is ready to give back the cycling bronze medal she won after a Colombian athlete was disqualified at the Athens Games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled last week that Maria Luisa Calle should be reinstated as the bronze medalist in the points race. She was disqualified after testing positive for a banned stimulant, but that result was found to be erroneous.

“I still feel like I need some time to absorb everything and get a better understanding of the decision,” Mirabella said Wednesday. “But if the IOC asks, it's only fair to give the medal back.”

Mirabella said she's gone through a whole range of emotions in arriving at the decision.

“What it kept coming back to for me and my husband was that I wanted things to be right and be fair,” she said. “As difficult as this situation is, that's what I want.”

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel called her decision “a remarkable gesture of sportsmanship by a champion athlete.”

Mirabella, however, wasn't happy with the way she found out about the CAS decision - in an e-mail from a friend.

Even USA Cycling and the USOC hadn't been told of the decision. And as of Wednesday, Mirabella said she personally still hadn't spoken with anyone from the IOC about it.

“I want people to know that I want what's fair to happen,” said Mirabella, who flies to Moscow to open the 2005-06 international season this weekend. “For 14 months, I've conducted myself as the Olympic bronze medalist based on official results. I've spoken to schools. I've played the role as an Olympian and a medalist.

“To change that after a year, it's definitely difficult. No other athlete should ever go through this again.”

The USOC has issues, too.

“Our concerns would lie in two areas,” Seibel said. “One, the lack of communication with an athlete who ultimately will be affected by the outcome of an arbitration, and two, lawyers arguing over medals 14 months after the games are concluded is not good for the Olympic movement.”

If Mirabella loses the medal, the U.S. cycling total from Athens would fall to three, matching what American riders earned in Atlanta in 1996 and in Sydney's 2000 Games. Mirabella's was the only U.S. medal from a track race; the others were won by Tyler Hamilton (gold), Dede Barry (silver), and Bobby Julich (bronze) in road race time trials.