Maratona - Negrini back on top of the game

CORVARA - After a number of defeats in his favoured mountain events last year, 34-year-old Emmanuele Negrini has struck back and added another Maratona title to his tally. Negrini arrived solo in Corvara after 140km and 4300 Hm in 4:29:05. It was the fifth victory in Alta Badia for the climbing specialist from Bologna in six years. Antonio Corradini and Jamie Burrow completed the podium more than 4 minutes back. Fabio Bulgarelli finished fourth, and Dutchman Michel Snel, second in Les 3 Ballons two weeks ago, made an impressive debut with fifth place in 4:40:22.

Current German Cycling Cup leader Michael McManus came in 57th in 5:14:57.

The women's long race was won by Monica Gallucci ahead of Barbara Lancioni in 5:15:54.

GF Marco Pantani: Victory for Bazhenov

APRICA - The fourth edition of the very tough Granfondo Marco Pantani in Aprica (Valtellina) has been won by Alexandre Bazhenov, this year also winner of e.g. the GF Selle Italia. Bazhenov beat Fontana (+2'41") and former winner Negrini (+5'36"). The trio reached the top of the Mortirolo together, but the younger Bazhenov proved to be the fittest on the Valico di Santa Cristina and took his first victory in Aprica.

In Nauders, Austria, the Dreiländergiro - which includes the Passo Stelvio - went to Austrian rider Andreas Traxl, ahead of Germans Stefan Misstler and Marc Lipowitz. A report on that event will be posted on my personal blog in due course.

Les 3 Ballons: Volkmann faster than Snel

LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES - The French classic Les 3 Ballons went to German cyclo specialist Jens Volkmann last Saturday. On the final steep climb to La Planche he dropped Dutchman Michel Snel, who had also finished second last year. Volkmann's time: 6:28:24 after 205km and 4300 Hm. Frenchman Jonathan Denis completed the podium in third place almost seven minutes back.

Also Les 3 Ballons keeps growing. This year Sportcommunication announced that more than 2000 riders registered for the event, which was held in mild but dry conditions.

A more detailed report on Les 3 Ballons can be read on my personal blog soon. Meanwhile, Dutch speakers can also check the blog of Michel Snel.

Prestigio - GF Campagnolo: Bazhenov beats Negrini

FELTRE - Close to 4000 participants this year for the Granfondo Campagnolo in Feltre this year: a new record. The victory on the long distance of 216km went to Alexander Bazhenov (Park Pre Selle Italia) who together with Jaimie Burrow used team tactics to beat Emmanuele Negrini (Team Salieri), who attacked on the last climb but was taken back by Burrow in the final kilometres. Negrini could not respond to Bazhenov's ultimate move towards the finish. The women's race went to 43-year-old Monica Bandini, who was particularly delighted with the win. Interestingly, second place went to another veteran on the scene, Anna Corona. The weather was quite bad with snowfall on the Valles...

German Cycling Cup: McManus & Haverkamp lead after five events

ERLANGEN - The German Cycling Cup, successor of the T-Mobile Cycling Tour, is running pretty well after the Rund um Köln anti-climax. The events in Göttingen, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Erlangen overall saw an even large number of participants compared to 2007 and the "yellow jersey" is heavily contested- at least in the men's category. Team Lexxi's Manuela Haverkamp on the other hand seems to have taken over Annika Grüber's position of the past years and so far has been ruling the women's circuit. Katharina Reitmayer is already over a hundred points back in second place.

In the men's Michael McManus (Team Adidas) grabbed the top spot after a splendid solo win in Erlangen last weekend. In the last lap he managed to get a 35 second lead over a first group of about 40 riders. The sprint of that group was affected by a spectacular crash some 150 metres before the finishline, which included, amongst others, the defending Cup leader Andreas Bollessen and myself. As far as I know, nobody got seriously hurt and the damage was limited to bumps and bruises of various proportions. Bollessen is now second in the ranking, fifty points behind McManus. Team Strassacker's Nico Wernicke, victim of a chain rupture and a tyre puncture in Frankfurt and Leipzig respectively, moved up to third place in the ranking, trailing McManus by 75 points.

The next race of the German Cycling Cup will be held in Bochum on 3 August.

My experiences during the GCC events can be read about on my personal blog.

Prestigio - Le Nove Colli: former Pantani teammate victorious

CESENATICO - The 2008 edition of the biggest Italian granfondo of the season, Le Nove Colli in Cesenatico, has been won by Sergio Barbero, who outgunned Jaimie Burrow at the finish. Barbero is a former pro, who used to ride for Mercatone Uno and Carrera alongside the late Marco Pantani. During his pro career (1993-2006) he also wore the jersey of Lampre for several years. He retired in 2006 and is apparently now enjoying himself in the granfondo circuit. Third spot on the podium of the semi-wet edition of Le Nove Colli went to Alex Pauliokovich. Corradini was fifth, Bazhenov - winner of the Selle Italia this season - sixth, and Negrini seventh.

There were also a few riders from the Frankfurt area at the Adriatic coast for the weekend. A report can be read on Challenge Magazin.