42nd Amstel Gold - Team Announcements
Team rosters and comments leading up to the Ardennes Classics. Lampre/Fondital - Ballan and Strangelj Out, Shil/Shimano - Riders Debut, T-Mobile - Rogers Back

Lampre/Fondital
No Ballan or Strangelj due to injury
Lampre-Fondital will come back to North in order to take part in Ardenne Classics. Blue-fucsia cyclists will first take part in Amstel Gold Race, directed by Fabrizio Bontempi; in the team there will be Baldato, Bono, Caruso, Corioni, Franzoi, Loosli and Righi.

In the staff will be: Dr. Guardascione, mechanics Borselli, Cambiè and Tosello and masseurs Borgognoni, Pallini and Pizzini.

In the team will not have some of the classics rider: Ballan was stopped by the late fall in Roubaix and an illness this week; while Stangelj suffered a micro-fracture of the collarbone caused by an accident during training. Caruso too is not at the top because of the accident occurred in Pais Vasco, but he will start the race.

“We lost the riders for whom we had planned the race - Fabrizio Bontempi commented - However we can obtain good performances thanks to Franzoi and Baldato, great in the first part of North classics, with Bono, Loosli, Corioni and Righi”.

T-Mobile Team
Sunday’s 42nd Amstel Gold Race
A week after Paris-Roubaix, the ProTour carnival moves north to the Netherlands this weekend for the 42nd running of the Amstel Gold Race (April 22), the 251 kilometre race that disproves the notion that the Netherlands are entirely flat. For the hilly classic, the first in the Ardennes Classics trilogy, the T-Mobile Team has nominated a solid and experienced line-up of classics' specialists and all-rounders.

"We are bringing a well-balanced team with a lot of potential to be right up there at the business-end of the race," says sporting director Valerio Piva, who believes Michael Rogers, Patrik Sinkewitz and Kim Kirchen give the team options no matter how the race unfolds. Piva will be looking to the inform Kirchen in particular. "Kim impressed with his performances and podium places at Tirreno Adriatico and the Brabantse Pijl. Michael also rode solidly at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali," says Piva.

Michael Rogers fit again after knee problems
Rogers suffered minor knee problems when he crashed at last week's Tour of the Basque Country, but after testing the knee in training he’s been giving the all-clear to start on Sunday: "It is still hurting me, but it won’t hold me back. I am fit and ready," says the Aussie.

The leg-breaking opener to the Ardennes Trilogy
Patrik Sinkewitz is also bullish ahead of the season’s eight ProTour race. The German lightweight (63 kg) showed with his fifth place at last year's race that he has the right mix of climber and rouleur to thrive at the Ardennes Classics. ‘Sinki’ is eyeballing a podium place at his third start in Maastricht: "Though the race is relatively easy to read, it’s a real leg-breaker," says Sinkewitz. "It doesn’t matter if you’ve already raced here 100 times, it won't help you unless you've got really good legs."

Rounding out the eight-man roster in South Limburg are the all-rounders Michael Barry and Thomas Ziegler, and the cobbled specialists Marcus Burghardt, Andreas Klier and Lorenzo Bernucci.

Killer climbs
Amstel Gold Race doesn't have the cobbled mystique of the other Northern Classics, but what it lacks in cobbles it makes up for in short killer climbs. It is the cumulative effect of 31 small ascents, none longer than 2.1 kilometres and none with a gradient steeper than one in seven, which dictates the pattern of the race. Unsurprising, the Amstel Gold Race is usually won by an all-rounder who outlasts his fellow breakaways on the final series of poisonous climbs, culminating in the Cauberg.

Team Skil-Shimano for Amstel Gold Race
Five Dutch riders will start for the Skil-Shimano professional cyclingteam in the Amstel Gold Race, the major Dutch classic.

The five riders are: Maarten den Bakker, Floris Goesinnen, Piet Rooijakkers, Maarten Tjallingii and Aart Vierhouten. The team will be completed by the German riders Christoph Meschenmoser and Paul Martens and the Japanese rider Yukihiro Doi who already performed well this season in Tour of Siam, Tour de Langkawi and Circuit Cycliste Sarthe.

Rider Debuts
The most experienced rider in the team is Maarten den Bakker. Maarten finished 2nd in the Amstel Gold Race in 1998 and 4th in 1999. Floris Goesinnen, this weekend first Dutch rider in Paris-Roubaix, and Christoph Meschenmoser will make their debuts in the major Dutch classic.

You can find more background information about these riders on our website: www.skilcyclingteam.com

Team Caisse d'Epargne for Ardennes Classics
Alejandro Valverde Leads
Alejandro Valverde will lead the team Caisse d’Epargne in the Classics which will take place in the Ardennes (Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège).

“These classics are the first big objective of my season”, explained this morning Alejandro Valverde. “I chose to prepare by taking part in the Tour of the Basque Country and I think it was the right choice. The race was very hard, with mountains every day, and long stages many riders wanted to win. The rhythm was also very high every day. I think it has been the ideal preparation in sights of the three difficult classics which are the Gold Race, the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I took advantage of this week to rest and recover. It will be very difficult to do as well as I did last year, but I will have a strong team at my side and I hope to be able to win of the three.”

Amstel Gold Race (22/04):
Riders Vicente García Acosta, David López, Fran Pérez, Joaquím Rodríguez, Luis León Sánchez, José Joaquín Rojas, Alejandro Valverde and Constantino Zaballa.
Director: Eusebio Unzúe.

Team Skil-Shimano voor Amstel Gold Race
Het Skil-Shimano team komt zondag met vijf Nederlanders aan de start in de Amstel Gold Race. Maarten den Bakker, Floris Goesinnen, Piet Rooijakkers, Maarten Tjallingii en Aart Vierhouten zorgen voor de Nederlandse inbreng. Het team wordt gecompleteerd door de Duitsers Christoph Meschenmoser en Paul Martens en de Japanner Yukihiro Doi (dit seizoen al goed op dreef in de Tour of Siam, Tour de Langkawi en Circuit Cycliste Sarthe).

De meest ervaren renner in het gezelschap is Maarten den Bakker. Hij finishte in 1998 als tweede in de Amstel Gold Race en in 1999 als vierde. Voor Floris Goesinnen, eerste Nederlander in Parijs-Roubaix, en Christoph Meschenmoser is het hun debuut in de grootste profklassieker van Nederland.
Kijk voor meer informatie op: www.skilcyclingteam.com

La Lampre-Fondital torna al Nord per le classiche delle Ardenne.
Il primo impegno per i corridori blu-fucsia sarà l’Amstel Gold Race, alla quale la squadra diretta da Fabrizio Bontempi parteciperà con i seguenti corridori: Baldato, Bono, Caruso, Corioni, Franzoi, Loosli e Righi.

Lo staff sarà composto dal dottor Guardascione, dai meccanici Borselli, Cambiè a Tosello e dai massaggiatori Borgognoni, Pallini e Pizzini.

La squadra dovrà far fronte alle assenze dell’ultimo momento dei suoi uomini di punta: Ballan è stato costretto a rinunciare alla trasferta per i postumi delle cadute della Roubaix e per un attacco febbrile, mentre Stangelj ha riportato una microfrattura alla clavicola in seguito a una caduta in allenamento. Anche Caruso non è al meglio per i postumi dell’incidente dei Paesi Baschi, ma sarà comunque al via.
“Abbiamo perso i corridori per i quali avevamo preparato la corsa - ha commentato il direttore sportivo Fabrizio Bontempi - Possiamo comunque ben figurare con Franzoi e Baldato, bravissimi nella prima parte delle classiche del Nord, con Bono, Loosli, Corioni e Righi”.