Contador says he won't be a factor in San Luis
(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-says-he-wont-be-a-factor-in-san-luis)
Alberto Contador may be the star of the show at the Tour of San Luis in Argentina, but don't expect him to claim the overall at the end of the race. The Spaniard says he is still losing the weight he put on after this year's Tour de France, and won't play a role in the overall rankings.
“It is difficult now to go up against such well-trained men as Levi Leipheimer and Vincenzo Nibali,” he told Het Nieuwsblad. Nibali, with Liquigas, won the race in 2010.
“After the Tour I did nothing,” Contador said. “I gained 7.5 kilograms. I have already lost four at the Saxo Bank training camp in Mallorca, but to be able to climb fast, you should be at your ideal weight. “
Still, Team Saxo Bank hoped to see him do well in the mountains,although the team is looking to brothers JJ and Sebastian Haedo to do well in the sprints in their homeland tour.
“We've put together a very versatile and powerful line-up. For the sprints we have both Haedo brothers and of course they're extremely motivated to perform on home ground and JJ seems very slim and focused,” said sports director Philippe Mauduit on the team's website.
“Even though it's early in the season, we can't hide the probability of seeing Alberto (Contador) do well on the climbs and on the time trial halfway through the race. Personally, I'm looking forward to be following our two debutants, Troels (Vinther) and Chris (Juul-Jensen) while Matteo (Tosatto) will be leading the battle on the road. The main goal is simply getting a stage win.”
The Tour of San Luis starts today and runs seven stages through January 29.
Boonen's desire to make sprint impact
(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boonens-desire-to-make-sprint-impact)
Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) may have appeared to rein in his sprinting ambitions in the last number of years, but the Belgian believes that he can make an impact in bunch finishes again now that his recovery from injury is complete.
Speaking at the launch of his revamped team in Vilvoorde on Friday, Boonen insisted that his injury woes are now behind him, and revealed that he had hoped to attract Bernhard Eisel to the revamped Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad following the collapse of HTC-Highroad. The Austrian ultimately followed his leader Mark Cavendish to Sky.
“For the sprints, I still believe it,” Boonen told reporters after the lights had gone up on the presentation. “Now we’re is back on the track, we have a good train and a good quality of riders in the team.”
Boonen’s two victories in 2011 both came in bunch sprints, at the Tour of Qatar and Gent-Wevelgem. With his wounded knee now back to full strength, the man from Mol is looking forward to testing himself in the sprints, even if he admitted that his lead-out train was still short of a conductor.
“We’re only missing one guy. We should have a guy like Tosatto or De Jongh who we had before, a guy with experience who can really show these young guys how to do it,” Boonen said. “I was trying to get Bernie Eisel in the team but he didn’t go. That would have been perfect.”
The former world champion also hinted at problems with his equipment in recent years, and 2012 sees Patrick Lefevere’s team returned to riding Specialized bikes after two years on Eddy Merckx. “The material is back on track, we have really good bikes now, so it will be a lot easier than it was last year,” Boonen said.
Boonen has not won a stage at the Tour de France since 2007, of course, and while injury and suspension have limited his appearances and performance since then, the sprinting landscape has altered radically in the meantime with the emergence of Mark Cavendish. He acknowledged that beating the world champion when he is on form is nigh on impossible, but he warned that it might take time for Cavendish and Sky to repeat the kind of lead-out he enjoyed at Highroad.
“I can’t beat him when he’s at his best, but when Cavendish is doing a perfect sprint with a perfect lead-out, it’s almost impossible to beat him,” Boonen said. “But that’s the same for every sprinter – if everything goes perfect, it’s not that hard, it’s just getting there is what’s hard.
“And getting the team to make it as easy for you as possible, that’s what’s hard, and that’s where all the work goes. I think Mark will experience that it’s not a thing you just buy or go into. He’s at Sky and he has the quality, but it’s still going to take time to get everything the way it was like at Highroad. It’s the same for everyone.”
Sorensen willing to skip Giro d'Italia for Tour de France
(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sorensen-willing-to-skip-giro-ditalia-for-tour-de-france)
With the Giro d'Italia starting in Denmark in 2012, it is a natural magnet for Danish riders. Nicki Sorensen would like to ride it, too, but he is wiling to pass it up in favour of the Tour de France, where he wants to help Saxo Bank teammate Alberto Contador again claim the title.
“As I see it, it is very difficult – if not impossible – to ride a good Giro and a good Tour,” he told feltet.dk. “Matto Tossato did well this year, but most people looking to try it, things go damn bad in the Tour.
“I also know from experience that it is not much fun to be at the start of the Tour if you are not 100 percent prepared for it.”
And the Tour is his major goal. “I'd love to ride the Tour again. Especially because I'd like to try to win it with Alberto, who will be really great. So it is surely the season's big goal.”
Since the team will be focussed on supporting Contador, “the team that rides the Tour de France needs to ride together a lot before the Tour. This will help the team ride together and so avoid errors in the Tour. The riders get to know each other much beer and you know exactly how to respond in difficult situations. "
The 36-year-old rode both the Tour and the Vuelta a Espana this year.
