Team Talk 4

All eyes are on Milan San Remo this weekend, the first major classic of the 2008 season and which has attracted a quality entry.

The teams are naturallly focussed on Milan San Remo, but not Astana who were not invited to compete, and thus have to cast their net over a number of other Easter Races.

Many teams used Paris Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico to get themselves set for Milan San Remo. We reported Team and Rider reaction to both races earlier in the week. Most came through unscathed and were looking forward to Milan San Remo.

Milan San Remo list of riders

Barloworld

The three team leaders Hunter, Cooke and Gasparotto will all have a guardian angel for Milan San Remo, while Mauricio Soler will have a special role.

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This year there the added unknown of the new finish. The Legendary Via Roma is no more due to road works and so the finish has been moved to the Italo Calvino seafront, adding an extra 500 meters and two more corners to the race. Will it affect the race? Who knows?

“We’re relaxed but confident because we know we’ve worked hard and that our riders are in great shape,” directeur sportif Alberto Volpi reveals.

Claudio Corti’s team confirmed its growing reputation for excellent organization by even studying every detail of the new Milan-Sanremo finish. “Gasparotto saw a video of the new finish of the race and we’ll also make sure Hunter sees the video. Cooke even went to see the finish in person a few days before Tirreno-Adriatico,” Corti said.

“Sanremo is decided in a flash, nobody can guess what move will decide the race and even the weather can play a decisive role. We’ve got three leaders who are all potential winners and so we’ve already decided our race tactics so that each one gets a chance,” Volpi says.

“We’ve given carte blanche to Baden Cooke for the Cipressa. He’s experienced and fast but also climbs well, so is ideal for an attack on the Cipressa. If the race is not decided on the climb, Gasparotto will get his chance on the Poggio. He showed his ability at Tirreno-Adriatico and could do it again on Saturday. If the attacks on the Poggio are caught it will be Hunter’s turn. He is the fastest sprinter at Team Barloworld, as he proved by winning a stage in last year’s Tour de France.”

“Mauricio Soler hasn’t the fitness to be a contender at Milan-Sanremo but he’s not afraid of the distance and if possible he’ll try and show his climbing skills on the Poggio. Of course, his biggest objective will be to do as well as possible without taking any risks.”

Liquigas

The Milan San Remo is the first great season goal of the Liquigas Team, besides Pozzato, winner of the 2006 Sanremo, other three riders who are candidate to play a key role: Manuel Quinziato, Franco Pellizotti and Murilo Fischer.

"With Pippo, there will be a great squad, who have demonstrated during the Parigi-Nizza and the Tirreno-Adriatico that the condition is excellent – says Liquigas team manager, Roberto Amadio –. Our strength will be to play different aces in base of the race course». Amadio, that will lead the team assisted by Stefano Zanatta and Mario Scirea, doesn’t hide that «the more race will be hard, the more Pozzato will have chances".

The rider from Vicenza is confident: "The Tirreno gave me the answers I hoped. Even if I’ve not get the victory I’m serene – confesses Pozzato – it’s the demonstration that the condition is ok. Two podium obtained at the Tirreno represent an incentive to get the win, I hope in the major occasion…"

Quickstep

Wouter Weylandt won the Nokere Koerse in Belgium on March 19 and the team won stages and the team prize at Paris Nice. Boonen and Bettini also found time to check out the 2008 World's course.

The team ride for Milan San Remo with Carlos Barredo, Paolo Bettini, Tom Boonen, Wilfried Cretskens, Gert Steegmans, Andrea Tonti, Matteo Tosatto, Giovanni Visconti. D.S.: Wilfried Peeters

Later over Easter they race the Campina Ronde Van Groen Hart on March 23 with riders: Steven De Jongh, Ad Engels, Kevin Hulsmans, Sebastien Rosseler, Hubert Schwab, Kevin Van Impe, Davide Viganò, Wouter Weylandt. D.S.: Rik Van Slycke

Astana

With no entry to Milan San Remo the team have seemingly gone to the four corners of Europe to find races.

Vladimir Gusev, who broke his right collar bone in the 6th stage of the Tour of California (February 24th), returns to competition in the Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale.

The team line-up for the next races are:
Ronde van het Groene Hart (Hol) on March 23 Riders: Koen de Kort, René Haselbacher, Sergei Ivanov, Benoît Joachim, Aaron Kemps, Berik Kupeshov, Michael Schär, Tomas Vaitkus. D.S.: Viatcheslav Ekimov

Rund um Köln (Ger) on March 24
Riders: Koen de Kort, René Haselbacher, Sergei Ivanov, Benoît Joachim, Aaron Kemps, Berik Kupeshov, Michael Schär, Tomas Vaitkus. D.S.: Viatcheslav Ekimov

Vuelta Ciclista Castilla y Leon (Esp) - March 24/28
Riders fro this Spnaish stage race are Alberto Contador, Chris Horner, Andreas Klöden, Levi Leipheimer, Daniel Navarro, Benjamin Noval, Sergio Paulinho and José Luis Rubiera. Britain's Sean Yates is DS.

Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale (Ita) - March 25/29
Riders: Jani Brajkovic, Thomas Frei, Vladimir Gusev, Roman Kireyev, Julien Mazet, Andrej Mizurov, Steve Morabito, Andrey Zeits. D.S.: Alexandr Shefer & Andrey Teteryuk

Team Milram

The first big highlight of the season for Team Milram will be the classic race Milan San Remo this Saturday. Sprinters Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi will lead the team in its 99th edition. The two captains of the German ProTour team will put their trust in the nearly 300km in Lombardia on the practiced train of the three Italians Albert Ongarato, Fabio Sabatini and Marco Velo. The team will also feature the two Germans Christian Knees and Martin Müller, as well as the young Dutchman Niki Terpstra.

"Milano-Sanremo is my favorite race,“ said Zabel. "It is always the first big highlight of the season and therefore something special. The long race with the wonderful panorama makes the race absolutely fascniating.“ His teammate Petacchi also has special associations with the Easter Saturday race. "When I was a little boy, my father always brought me to the race. With my win in 2005 I was able to fulfill a childhood dream. The race is good for me. Erik and I will arrive with a strong team and together we will win."

Both riders have good memories of the race. Zabel is, next to Rudi Altig (1968), the only German to have won the race. The rider from Unna has even won it four times (1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001), and is third on the all-time list of winners, behind the Italians Costante Girardengo and Gino Bartoli. Zabel's Italian teammate Petacchi won the Classic in 2005 and finished second the next year.

The longest one-day race in pro cycling runs over 298 km from downtown Milano to the coastal city of Sanremo. Spectacular passages along the Riviera are especially characteristic for the race. Although most of the race is flat, there are two decisive climbs near the end. The Cipressa, 20 km before the finish, and the Poggio de San Remo, 8 km before the finish, have been known to "make or break“ the race. Despite the two climbs, also known as "Capi“, the race almost always ends in a mass finish, giving the sprinters their chance.

Two days after the Italian classic Milan San Remo, the squad will be at the 100th birthday of Rund um Köln (UCI 1.HC) on Easter Monday. Milram will bring a balanced team to the start of the first German highlight of the year. A total of five riders come from the immediate area around the traditional race along the Rhine River. The team includes two former winners of the race, Erik Zabel (1996 and 2004) and Christian Knees (2006). Italian Alessandro Petacchi sprinted to a third place finish last year on the banks of the Rhine.

Ralf Grabsch, who has ridden the race ten times already. The allrounder, who lives in Hürth, a suburb of Cologne, will be at the start with his teammates who are also his training partners: Domink Roels of Cologne, Artur Gajek of Bergish Gladbach, and Christian Knees. Knees, born in nearby Bonn, won the race in 2006 and will travel directly from Milan San remo directly to the Rhine, along with Zabel, Petacchi and Italian teammate Marco Velo. Making his debut in the race for Milram will be Classics specialist Markus Eichler. He is from Mönchengladbach, making him the fifth Rhinelander on the team.

"I am really looking forward to my home race,“ said Grabsch "This year the course will also be good for allrounders." Christian Knees also has good memories of his home race. "As a young cyclist I dreamed of this race. Just to be at the start is a great feeling, but to lead it at the end and then to win it, is simply the best“

One of the highlights of the race is the cobblestone climb up to Schloss Bensberg.

Team also start in Ronde van het Groene Hart. Tucked in betwen two traditional races is the young Dutch race Ronde van het Groene Hart (UCI 1.1). While the sprinters will be at the start of Milan San Remo the day before and the Classics faction will be at Rund um Köln on Easter Monday, Milram will send a third team to the Netherlands on Easter day.

"I expect a real Dutch spring race with everything that belongs to it: rain, snow, wind, and lots of attacks out of the peloton,“ said Directeur Sportif Raoul Liegbregts. "We will ride attentively and try to show ourselves in escape groups. If it should come down to a mass finish, then we have Elia Rigotto ready to sprint for us.“

The second edition of the race begins in Zoetermeer in the province of South Holland and ends 205 km later in Woereden in the province of Utrecht.

Team is; Christian Kux (GER/Chemnitz), Elia Rigotto (ITA), Markus Eichler (GER/Mönchengladbach), Matej Jurco (SVK), Dennis Haueisen (GER/Gera), Martin Velits (SVK), Björn Schröder (GER/Berlin), Sebastian Schwager (GER/Ansbach). Directeur Sportif: Raoul Liebregts (NED)

Lampre

Baldato, Ballan, Bruseghin, Bossoni, Lorenzetto, Napolitano, Murro and Vila: are the 8 riders that, supported by sport director Guido Bontempi, will line up for Lampre in Milan San Remo

"Team is competitive and it could be protagonist in a sprint end or in a tougher race", sport director Guido Bontempi explained. "The riders are in a good condition: Ballan's condition is increasing, we hope he won't suffer for the fall occurred in San Benedetto; Napolitano and Lorenzetto could be a good alternative to Ballan if the race will end with a sprint. Other riders are reliable and they will help in the best way the leaders in the heat parts of the race. We're curious to discover the effect of the climb Le Manie".

Team CSC

Frank Schleck is ready for Milan San Remo despite the team having a tough Paris Nice where several riders suffered crashes including Fränk.

Schleck says on the team website that he will be ready for Milan San Remo in spite of the injuries. "I'm okay. I had a day off yesterday and today I will se a chiropractor to see, what he can do. I'm still not feeling 100 %, but I will go for a long training ride tomorrow for 4-5-6 hours and 3-4 hours today and then three hours Thursday. So, I will be ready for Milan San Remo," .

Fabian Cancellera, the winner of Tirreno-Adriatico and he said "I didn't actually come to Tirreno expecting to win the race, but when the opportunity came along of course I went for it. It's an important victory in itself and it's a great result for both me and the team," He also comments on Milan San Remo; "I don't consider myself a favorite for this race – after all it almost always ends up being a sprinter's finish. But of course should the opportunity arise we'll play our cards as best we can," Nonetheless Cancellera starts as a possible 'dark horse' winner.