Team Talk 5

Dwars door Vlaandren, the Ardennes Classics and the Giro are on the teams mind. Dan Fleeman to ride after health scare.

Team Milram

Milram is sending its young riders to the 63rd Dwars door Vlaanderen (UCI 1.1). The young Milram riders, with an average age of 24,5 years, will be led on the 200 kilometres by Classics specialist Markus Eichler. Directeur Sportif Jochen Hahn will be able to count on not only the 26 year-old but also on Artur Gajek, Sebastian Schwager and Dennis Haueisen.

In addition to the four Germans, the team will feature Italian Elia Rigotto, Slovakians Martin Velits and Matej Jurco, and the Netherlander Niki Terpstra.

" After the cancellation of Rund um Köln, our youngsters had a long weekend and are eager to race again,“ said Hahn. "I expect a typical Belgian one-day race with lost of attacks in wild wind and weather.“

Along the way from Roeselare to Waregem, the peloton will meet 12 short but nasty climbs. The most challenging portion of the race is the 365 meter long climb up the Patersburg, with a maximal gradient of up to 20 percent. The last 30 kilometres of the day will be on two 15 km long laps around Waregem.

Dan Fleeman

Dan Fleeman

After completing 170 km of the Nokere Koerse in Belgium, British professional Dan Fleeman (AnPost-Sean Kelly Team) finally called in the help of a doctor after some weeks of breathing difficulties.

Fleeman was diagnosed with Asthma brought on by a virus after dropping out of the tough Belgian race.

"I haven't felt on top form since the Tour of the Algarve and my period of training down there. In the Nokere Koerse, I could just feel something wasn't right, so I pulled out and went to see a doctor."

Doctors in Belgium are used to quickly diagnosing riders and Fleeman was prescribed a course of antibiotics to help sort out the problem and get him back racing as quickly as possible.

"I'm happy to finally know that something was actually wrong and seem to have caught it at the right time before it developed further. My lungs were only working at about 80% so that makes me feel better. I was told it should clear up within 7 days" He concluded.

He will rest before rejoining the Irish Pro team for Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Brabantse Pijl, before heading to the Tour of Majorca and then the Pino Cerami.

Quickstep

World Champion Paolo Bettini, together with the team’s technical staff, has decided to change the plan of attack for the Ardennes Classics.

“I won’t race in E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen race - says Bettini -, who at the moment is training in Tuscany in a mini training camp with other team mates Grabovskyy, Scarselli, Tonti and Viganò, under the guidance of Sports Director Davide Bramati. “It’s a difficult decision, and everyone knows how much these classic races mean to me. I talked with team manager Patrick Lefevere and he supports my decision. To be competitive on these types of very demanding races, you need to be at 100%. At this time I cannot give this kind of guarantee to my team, and for this reason I’m ceding my place to somebody else who can be more effective for the team.”

Bettini’s decision is however tied to his desire to be competitive in the so called Ardennes week, which foresees the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the races more suited to the World Champion.

“I’m giving up Flanders with the aim of being more competitive in the Ardennes classics. My plan of approach with pass through Brabantse Pijl next Sunday and the race in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco scheduled from the 7th to the 12th of April. This last race should give me the right condition up to the Ardennes, like in 2002 when I won my second Liege-Bastogne-Liege”.

Giro Recon' for the squad
Quickstep begins a riders’ reconnaissance of the most important stages of the 2008 Giro d’ Itlalia. Sports Director Luca Guercilena will be guiding an explorative team along the roads covering the Giro. The team will include the Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate, winner of the 2006 San Pellegrino Pass stage and of the green jersey, the Swiss Hubert Schwab, who wore the white jersey twice during last year’s Giro, the promising young Belgian climber Kevin Seeldrayers, and the Russian Alexander Efimkin, who finished in the top ten in the recent Paris – Nice race.

“Hoping that the weather will be on our side - says Guercilena -, we’ll explore the most important mountain stages. Tomorrow and Thursday we’ll be on the Dolomites. First we’ll try the course of the 14th stage, which foresees the Manghen Pass and the arrival at Alpe di Pampeago. Then it will be time for the big stage from Arabba to Pordoi Pass with the inedited arrival at the Fedaia Pass. Next we’ll move on to Val Seriana on the Bergamascan Alps to test the course of the 19th stage with arrival at Monte Pora.”