Monday, September 24, 2007

Maratona Dles Dolomites on 29 June 2008


Next year's edition of the famous Maratona Delle Dolomiti will be held on Sunday, 29 June. In order to assign the entry tickets, a pre-registration phase will be organised between 18 October and 8 November 2007. The draw will be held roughly a week later.

Of course it will also be possible to buy a package tour that includes a starting ticket and accomodation as of November.

The maximum number of participants will once again be 8500, half of which will be Italian.

The Maratona will be organised next year to the benefit of a reforestation scheme in Ecuador.

All info can be found on the Maratona website.

Monday, September 17, 2007

T-Mobile Cycling Tour: Nürnberg

Nürnberg - The 103km event in Nürnberg was won by Thomas Wickles from Team RadioAktiv Racing. He outsprinted Team Strassacker's Nicko Wernicke and Team Lexxi's Alexander Bauer. Frankfurt-based Briton Gary Weir had his best T-Mobile result of the season with a 27th spot.

The women's long distance race went to Annika Grüber, who consolidated her 1st place in the T-Mobile ranking. She finished 4 minutes ahead of Judith Cramer and five of Martina Hausmann.

The next races are held next weekend, with a time trial in Tübingen and a tough race in Bad Dürrheim (RiderMan).

The finale will be held in Münster on 3 October.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Update: Elin's season over

With some reluctance Elin Amundsen has to allow six weeks of plastercast for her broken left hand to heal properly. Her season is now formally over, just when the desired third spot in the T-Mobile ranking is easily within her grasp (check the ranking, now updated with the Hamburg results).

Elin hopes to return to the scene in 2008, hopefully with support of an appropriate team structure.

The T-Mobile Cycling Tour continues this weekend with Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt, a flat race with a max distance of just over 100km. Close to a thousand riders have already signed up.

The final race of the season on 3 October in Münster, home of Team Agapedia, can expect already now more than 2000 participants according to latest reports.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Prestigio: Cinque Terre - Antonio Corradini wins solo

La Spezia - The final event of the Prestigio series this season was dominated by Mg.K Vis rider Antonio Corradini, who finished 3'15"ahead of Konstantin Klyuev and Gianni Fontana. Stefano Sala was alone in fourth nearly five minutes down.

In the final race of the Grand Trophée series in France, La Ronde Picarde, Jerome Minard outsprinted Benjamin Audoux and four others in a small group finish.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Interview with Elin on Challenge-Magazin

A lengthy and very fun to read interview with Elin Amundsen has been published on the website Challenge-Magazin.

The interview was taken after the race in Hamburg on 19 August. As reported yesterday, Elin broke three bones in her left hand last Sunday in a race - which she still won - in France. She has been advised to allow six to eight weeks for recovery. In any case, her participation in the upcoming races in Nürnberg, Tübingen and Bad Dürrheim is highly in doubt.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Les Ballons Vosgiens: Elin wins "Route des Crêtes" with broken hand!

GERARDMER - Despite a very heavy T-Mobile schedule in August and her nasty crash in the RegioTour last weekend, Elin Amundsen could not live without a week of competition and travelled to the French town of Gerardmèr in the Vosges for the cyclo Les Ballons Vosgiens. Equipped with her "old" LOOK-bike she raced on the 92km and 1500 Hm distance - nicked La Route des Crêtes - and took a smashing victory by nearly five minutes over her nearest rival! She finished in 2:56:01 (avs 29.31 km/h), beating a female field of 33 riders.
However, it didn't go all that smoothly. In the descent of the Schlucht, Elin missed a corner and went down for the second consecutive week... This time it's not so much the bike but the body that got hurt. After the race, doctor's diagnosed a few broken bones in her left hand. The healing process theoretically lasts six to eight weeks, so Elin's season might suddenly be over. Still, she is not giving up hope that she can at least start in the next T-Mobile events and defend her position in the rankings.

The men's 155km (3500hm) races was won by local matador Thomas Dietsch, bronze medalist in the MTB long-distance world championships, who outsprinted Cofidis-pro Nicholas Hartmann and Dutchman Michel Snel in 4:54:47 (avs 31.75 km/h). Oege Hiddema, winner in 2005, made his comeback after his big crash in the Transalp in June and finished sixth after being dropped in the descent.