Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Cervélo TestTeam race preview

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Monday, 22 March 2010 17:19

Written by Marcella Crisanti

Cervélo TestTeam has a busy race schedule this week on both the men and women’s teams.

Volta a Catalunya

The men’s team begins the Volta a Catalunya today with a 3.6 km prologue. The race, part of the UCI ProTour, has moved in 2010 from May to March. Last year Cervélo TestTeam did very well at this race with 2 stage wins by Thor Hushovd.

“There is one roster change prior to the start of Catalunya. Davide Appollonio (ITA) had a knee injury last Saturday while training and Stefan Denifl (AUT) will be replacing him,” said Alex Sans Vega. “Without Appollonio, we lost a man for the sprints but on the other side with Denifl we have increased our reinforcements for the mountains. We are bringing a strong team for the mountain stages in this race to protect Xavier Tondo (ESP) and help him achieve a good result. After what we saw Tondo accomplish in Paris-Nice we know that his form is good and he will be racing in his home country. This race will be hard because without a final stage in a climb, the times between the top ten for the overall GC will be very close and all stages will make a big difference for the final GC. This will make the race quite open and interesting right up until last day. We will have to be ready in any stage.”

For Carlos Sastre it will be his first race since the Tour de France 2009, 8 months ago. After a long period of competitive inactivity, the Volta a Catalunya will be an important test for him. "It is the only round I'm going to run before the Giro d'Italia. It will give me a good opportunity to see how my training is working in order to be in top condition for the Giro. So for me it is a very important test, because I can see everything I've done well or what I need to do, to be a hundred percent at the right time.”

Classics races

On Wednesday, March 24 the classics team will participate in Dwars door Vlaanderen, that is traditionally the start of the Flemish cycling week. Thor Hushovd (NOR) will join the team on Saturday for the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, a semi classics race that’s over 203 km. Thor finished fourth in this race in 2009. On Sunday, March 28 the team will participate in Gent-Wevelgem, often called the sprinters' classic due to its flat finishing terrain.

Sports Director Jean-Paul van Poppel is looking forward to this week. “We have three crucial weeks on the program, and it all starts this week with these three races. In numbers the team is looking very strong. For Wednesday and Sunday we are missing the ace on the team, and that will open opportunities up for other riders. For the Saturday race Thor will be our man.”

Women’s Team

Sunday is the start of the World Cup calendar with the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, located in province of Varese. The field of riders will compete by riding a 15.5 km circuit eight times to determine the winner. “In this race we have Emma Pooley (GBR), who was the winner two years ago with a solo attack from 40 km. We also have Kirsten Wild (GBR) who we will protect during the race. Kirsten was third in last year’s race and we can count on her for the final sprint.”

Also on Sunday another part of the team will be participating in the Dolmans Classic. The riders will be competing in the Valkenburg region and will pass the famous Cauberg. In this race the team will be lead by Sarah Düster (GER) and Mirjam Melchers (NED), who are in preparation for the Ronde van Vlaanderen next weekend.

22-03 – 28-03 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (ESP) UPT

Riders  João Correia (POR)

Stefan Denifl (AUT)

Iñigo Cuesta (ESP)

Philip Deignan (IRL)

Oscar Pujol (ESP)

Carlos Sastre (ESP)

Xavier Tondo (ESP)

Marcel Wyss (SUI) 

Sports Director Alex Sans Vega (ESP)

Marcello Albasini (SUI)

Stages   

22.03.10 Stage 1 Lloret de Mar 3.6 km

23.03.10 Stage 2 Salt - Banyoles 181.2 km

24.03.10 Stage 3 La Vall d'en Bas - La Seu d'Urgell 182.6 km

25.03.10 Stage 4 Oliana - Ascó 209.7 km

26.03.10 Stage 5 Ascó - Cabacés 181.2 km

27.03.10 Stage 6 El Vendrell - Barcelona 161.9 km

28.03.10 Stage 7 EsportParc/CAR Sant Cugat - Circuit de Catalunya 117.8 km

24-03 Dwars door Vlaanderen (BEL) 1.1

Riders  Roger Hammond (GBR)

Jeremy Hunt (GBR)

Andreas Klier (GER)

Brett Lancaster (AUS)

Daniel Lloyd (GBR)

Gabriel Rasch (NOR)

Martin Reimer (GER)

Dominique Rollin (CAN) 

Sports Director Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)

Length 204 km

Start 11:40h

Finish ±16:30h

27-03 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen (BEL) 1.HC

Riders

8 riders out of 9  Roger Hammond (GBR)

Jeremy Hunt (GBR)

Thor Hushovd (NOR)

Andreas Klier (GER)

Brett Lancaster (AUS)

Daniel Lloyd (GBR)

Gabriel Rasch (NOR)

Martin Reimer (GER)

Dominique Rollin (CAN) 

Sports Director Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)

Length 203 km

Start 12:00h

Finish ±16:35h

28-03 Gent Wevelgem (BEL) UPT

Riders  Theo Bos (NED)

Roger Hammond (GBR)

Jeremy Hunt (GBR)

Andreas Klier (GER)

Brett Lancaster (AUS)

Daniel Lloyd (GBR)

Gabriel Rasch (NOR)

Martin Reimer (GER) 

Sports Director Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)

Length 219 km

Start 11:25h

Finish ±16:30h

28-03 Trofeo Alfredo Binda (ITA) 1.1

Riders  Regina Bruins (NED)

Sharon Laws (GBR)

Emma Pooley (GBR)

Patricia Schwager (SUI)

Iris Slappendel (NED)

Kirsten Wild (NED) 

Sports Director Egon van Kessel (NED)

Length 129.8 km

Start 13:30h

Finish ±17:00h

28-03 Dolmans Classic (NED) Nat.

Riders  Emilie Aubry (SUI)

Sarah Düster (GER)

Lieselot Decroix (BEL)

Mirjam Melchers (NED) 

Sports Director Angela van Smoorenburg (NED)

Length 103.6 km

Start 13:00h

Finish ±16:10h