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Monday's EuroFile: Euro' championships; Spanish protest; Caisse d'Epargne, Bouygues for Tour

Published: Jun. 26, 2006

It was a busy weekend in Europe as most nations held their respective national road championships. The main exception was in Spain, where riders refused to race after leaks concerning the doping investigation "Operación Puerto" were published Sunday in a national newspaper (see below).

In Italy, Paolo Bettini won his second national jersey since 2003 on a 231km course in Gorizia. The Quick Step rider beat Mirko Celestino (Milram) in a sprint of 10 riders after animating the race with an attack over the San Floriano climb.

"This is one of the most beautiful victories of my career," Bettini told reporters. "Now I will take a rest and get ready for the world championships in Salzburg."

Nico Eeckhout, a 35-year-old veteran on Chocolate Jacques, won the Belgian national title ahead of Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux) and Tom Boonen (Quick Step) on a 246km course around Antwerp. Defending champion Boonen seemed to lose his edge in the sprint after following attacks late in the race. Eeckhout made his late-charge stick in a solo move to finish a minute ahead of the bunch.

In Germany, semi-pro Dirk Müller surprised an elite field to win ahead of Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile) and Jens Voigt (CSC) while Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) won the Dutch national title for the third time.

Grégory Rast (Phonak) won in Switzerland on a 211km course in Aarau ahead of Marcel Strauss and Aurélian Clerc while Allan Johansen (CSC) won on a 192km course to grab the Danish national title.

In France, Florent Brard (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears) won on a challenging circuit in the Vendée region, soloing to victory ahead of Thomas Voeckler and Didier Rous (both Bouygues Telecom).

"It’s like a dream come true for me," Brard told L’Equipe. "All French riders dream someday of winning the national title."

Uncertainty reigns in Spain
Frustration and uncertainty descended on Spain following damning reports in Sunday’s edition of El País, leading riders in the national championship race to refuse to compete.

Riders were split on whether to race, but frustration and emotions spilled over to derail the national competition just a week ahead of Saturday’s start of the Tour de France. It appears Comunidad Valenciana sport director Vicente Belda encouraged riders to make some sort of stand against the media allegations.

"If someone is going to judge me, I want it to be in front of a judge, not some journalist or a media outlet," Belda said.

Not everyone was in agreement with the impromptu strike.

"I didn’t think it was a well-thought-out decision and I would have preferred to have raced, but I went along with the majority," Francisco Mancebo told AS. "It all happened very fast and was improvised. I believe it all happened without reflection and I don’t think this was the best way to deal with things."

Sunday’s story in El País quoted police and court sources in alleging that 58 cyclists are named in court documents, of which an alleged 15 are Astaná-Würth riders and more than 20 on Comunidad Valenciana.

Astaná-Würth has been in turmoil since Manolo Saíz was arrested along with four others on May 23 as part of a four-month police investigation into an alleged blood-doping ring while Comunidad Valenciana lost its Tour bid following the detention of its assistant sport director Ignacio Labarta.

Despite the latest allegations, Astaná-Würth team officials said the team is confident it will start the Tour de France on Saturday in Strasbourg.

"I prefer not to talk about this issue, but it’s obvious there’s been a lot of things said," said team manager Pablo Antón. "What’s clear is that we have a place in the Tour."

That could change in light of new material released, though Tour officials have yet to make any public comments concerning Astaná-Würth other than "recognizing" the UCI’s decision last week to renew the team’s ProTour license following the arrival of new sponsor Astaná to take over for the departure of Liberty Seguros.

Also Monday, Comunidad Valenciana riders were scheduled to undergo tests at a blood clinic in Spain in an effort to prove they are clean and that none of the blood samples allegedly taken in the drugs sting belong to the team’s riders.

On its web page Monday, the Spanish cycling federation said it didn’t support the rider boycott and asked judicial officials to start an inquiry into the media leaks.

Valverde will lead Caisse d’Epargne in Tour
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde will lead Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears in this year's Tour de France, the Spanish cycling team announced on Monday.

The 26-year-old challenger's supporting cast includes Russian Vladimir Karpets, 2004 Tour youth winner, French national champion Florent Brard, and Spaniard Oscar Pereiro, a stage winner last year who is competing in his third Grande Boucle. Eusebio Unzue is the team's sporting director for the race.

Valverde comes to the task buoyed by his victories in the Flèche-Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège classics in April.

Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears for the Tour: Alejandro Valverde, David Arroyo, Isaac Galvez, Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta, Oscar Pereiro and Xabier Zandio (Sp); Florent Brard and Nicolas Portal (F); Vladimir Karpets (Rus). —AFP

Bouygues brings same team as last year
Bouygues Telecom starts the Tour with the same team as last year after confirming Laurent Lefevre and Matthieu Sprick in the final two spots.

"We've decided to take the same team as last year. They are nine fighters without any hangups," said manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau, whose outfit is aiming for its first stage win.

"Everyone knows what to do. We are not going to compete in the overall classification or the green (sprint) jersey. We have nine riders who are identical in their ability to multiply breakaways and thus our chances of winning each stage."

Bouygues Telecom for the Tour: Walter Beneteau, Laurent Brochard, Pierrick Fedrigo, Anthony Geslin Laurent Lefevre, Jerome Pineau, Didier Rous, Matthieu Sprick and Thomas Voeckler (F).—AFP