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Friday's EuroFile: Raisin's road to recovery; Valverde vigorous; Landaluze legal
Raisin recovery could take a year
Saul Raisin’s road to recovery continues in a rehabilitation center in Atlanta, but according to postings on his personal web page, his complete recuperation could take between nine months to a year.
Raisin promised his parents he’d do it in “six months” as he works to regain full strength after his life-threatening crash in early April.
“Every day I see lots of improvement. It is going to be a long hard road. For the most part I find myself eating candy and chocolate to keep my head happy,” Raisin wrote. “I am getting better, but I am still far away from being well. This head injury is the harder than any broken bones. It is almost surreal when you need as much help to get well.”
Raisin crashed in the first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in France in early April and suffered a cerebral edema 48 hours later that put his life in danger. French doctors performed two surgeries to relieve pressure on his brain and he pulled out of a coma less than two weeks later.
He returned to the United States in early May and is currently in the Shepherd Center in Atlanta undergoing rehabilitation. According to reports on his web page, Raisin is now able to walk by himself, slowly regaining strength and is “eating up a storm.”
“I went swimming and scared the therapist by holding my breath underwater for a long time,” Raisin wrote. “It will not be long before I am back winning the Tour de France (I hope).”
His parents cautioned that the healing process will be slow, but sounded hopeful that Raisin will be able to have a complete recovery.
“With brain injury the healing process takes nine months to one year to know the outcome,” his parents wrote. “Saul says he will do it in six months. We will tell you Saul is working very hard and we have no doubt that if anyone can do it, Saul can.”
Valverde feeling confident
Alejandro Valverde said he’s feeling confident going into this year’s Tour de France and counts himself among the favorites for overall victory.
“I hope to be among the top six or seven in the overall standings and win a stage,” Valverde told the Spanish wires, admitting he feels the mounting pressure. “There is more pressure, but I also put pressure on myself to make a good race.”
Valverde’s success is raising expectations in Spain after a string of frustrated riders have been unable to rise to the occasion in the Tour. In his debut last year, Valverde won a climbing stage to Courchevel, but later pulled out with a knee injury.
“I experienced 13 days of the Tour and I still need eight more to finish the race, something I hope to do this year,” he said after an awards ceremony in Spain. “I am in a little better form than I was a year ago and I see myself stronger and mentally better than in 2005.”
Valverde, currently leading the ProTour standings after recent victories at Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, won’t race again until the Dauphiné Libéré (June 4-11) and will later line up in the Spanish national championships in late June.
Concerning the Tour 2006, Valverde admits the long, flat time trials aren’t to his liking.
“What I like least are the two long, flat time trials of 50km, a specialty that I’ve improved in, but there are enough hard stages where I recover any time I lose in the time trials,” he said.
All of Spain is hoping so.
Landaluze ban lifted
In a surprise ruling, Spanish officials have dropped a likely racing ban against last year’s Dauphiné Libéré winner Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi), clearing the way for the rider’s return to competition, the Spanish wires reported Thursday.
Tests taken in last year’s Dauphiné revealed high levels of testosterone in the Basque rider who held on to take a surprise win ahead of Santiago Botero (Phonak). Landaluze originally argued that naturally produces high levels of the hormone, a contention apparently refuted by follow-up test results.
Nonetheless, Landaluze’s attorneys insisted that the test results were incomplete and that they didn’t meet required anti-doping protocol, a point upon which Spanish sports officials agreed. There’s still a possibility that the UCI will challenge the case to the Court of Arbitration in Sport.
In the meantime, Landaluze, who hasn’t raced since September, has the green light to return to competition and could start Monday’s Volta a Cataluyna in Spain. Picardie opens in France
French teams will dominate the peloton for the Tour de Picardie, which starts Friday in Creil in northern France.
Sprinters should hold sway on the mostly flat, four-stage in the Picardie region. Among the names lining up are Jean-Patrick Nazon, Samuel Dumoulin, Jimmy Casper, Nico Eeckhout and Gert Steegmans.
Tour de PicardieStage 1: Creil to Péronne, 186.5kmStage 2: Nesles to Marle, 186.5kmStage 3: Saint-Gobain to Nogent-sur-Oise, 98.5kmStage 4: Villers-Saint Paul to Creil, 86.5km
