News 2005/03

16. July, Tour of Qinghai Lake - Stage 1

I have never before experienced a bikerace like this one. This is the Tour de France of Asia. It started with an openingceremony wich one can normaly see at worldchampionships. The hills nearby were used as grandstands for 10'000 of people. The picture reminded me on a formula 1 race. The enthusiasm of the people is phantastic. They take pictures of us and are very happy whenever they can get an autograph. A giant celebration for the locals has began with this race. There were spectators all along the side of the road. I guess it must have been over 1'000'000! I did not feel too good during the race. It was very hot and the air in the town was very hard to breath. On top of that I had an increased pulserate because of the altitude. I got to the finish in the peleton.

12. July, Trip to China

This morning we landed in Peking. We will stay here in a hotel and tomorrow we will travel to Xining where we will take part in our next race. An adventure wich almost fell through for me. During my trainingcamp in Berninapass I had organized at home all the documents that were needed for a visa application to China. The only paper missing was the invitation from the organizer. My teammanager told me he will get all the visas in the Czech Republic, so he needed my passport immedeatly. It was sent from home by registered mail express. We soon found out that this was a big mistake. My passport never arrived. So on Sunday I had to report my passport as missing (and therefore invalid) at the local policestation. There I received a paper with wich I was able to fill in an application for a temporary passport at the local administration in Aadorf on Monday morning at 8am. From there I went straight to Frauenfeld to get my temporary passport. At 10am I had an appointment at the chinese embassy in Zürich to get my visa the same day. I stood arround there for a couple of hours and at noon I had my visa. I took the 1pm train from Zürich to arrive at the airport in Frankfurt just in time. This was real stress. When the plane took off, I was already fast asleep. But I think it was worth it, after all it is a rare opportunety to travel to China.

26. June, National Championships Roadrace

In the past few years there was always an early breakaway wich decided the race in the roadrace of the national championship. So therefore I was speculating that it would happen again this year. Of course there had to be a strong rider from the team Phonak in the break. In the 3rd of 14 laps I managed to get in to a breakaway wich looked very promising, with Moos from team Phonak wich I just mentioned and Strauss from team Gerolsteiner. My teammate Stalder and 2 amateurs were in the leading group as well. We were able to controll the gap to the peleton well, but our escape got longer and longer and we were losing strength as the race went on. When Elminger and Zberg came up to the front we got fresh wind in our sails and the time advantage to the peleton increased further. 3 laps from the finish Moos and Strauss attacked, and this was not a good constellation for Stalder and myself. We didn't have the strenght to go with those two. Now Elminger and Zberg didn't work anymore, because they each had a teammate in the leading group. So Stalder and myself had to do all the work now. One of the amateurs didn't want to do any work, and the other one was too weak to do anything else but suck wheels. When we reached the climb, Elminger and Moos attacked and Stalder and myself fell back further. To our surprise, the two amateurs wich didn't do any work in the group went with them. Stalder and myself had to do the last two laps alone and go as fast as possible, and we managed to get to the finish still in front of the peleton. Thanks to all the people who cheered me on during the race. I enjoyed the race and I hope you all had fun watching us as well. The next two weeks I will be in a traincamp up in the mountains. And if everything goes according to plan, I will travel to China on 11. July to take part in my next race.

24. June, National Championships Timetrail

I was afraid that I could not last the full distance in this long timetrail, but then the opposite happend. For the first half of the race I couldn't find the right rythm and the right gear. Only in the last of three laps I felt that I was going strong. It's a shame, some of the pro tour riders which were on the entrylist did not turn up for the race. I would have liked to compare my abilities with them. The start of the roadrace on sunday is at 11.00 hrs. With this temperatures it will be a hot race.

12. June, Tour of Slovenia - Stage 4

The final stage was once more very hard. We had to ride against a strong wind wich blew most the time from the side and the road was very narrow and hilly. The peleton kept breaking up in several parts, but most of the riders managed to get back on. I stayed in the leading group througout the race, but my legs didn't feel too good. We worked for Michael in the sprint, because Jan Svorada pulled out of the race today. We had a good position until the last kilometer, but then things didn't work out anymore. It's a shame, it would have been nice to get a better result for the team. After the race we had a shower, and at 18 hrs got in to the cars to travel through Austria and Germany back to Switzerland. This was my last race to prepare for the national championships. I hope to see lots of fans on Friday 24 and Sunday 26 of June by the side of the road in Cham to cheer me on.

11. June, Tour of Slovenia - Stage 3

The stage today ended with a 13 km climb with 1000m difference in altitude. I tried to get in to a breakaway group at the beginning of the stage, but the teams with the strong climbers controlled everything. Only 3 riders were able to get away. In the climb up to the finish I couln't keep up with the guys at the front. I had to ride my own rythm up the steep mountain. The stage tomorrow will suit me much more.

10. June, Tour of Slovenia - Stage 2

Todays route took us to Austria in to the mountains. Up until the last climb about 25 km from finish the race was fairly easy. But then the pace got really fast. The first hills were really steep, those towards the end were easier to climb. I had problems going up the mountains at first, but then felt better as the race went on. From the last king of the mountains we had a descend of 17 km to the finish. I tried to lead out the sprint for Petr. We went towards the front about 2 km from the stage finish. As I looked back at 1 km to go, Petr wasn't at my wheel anymore. So I went for it and tried to make the best out of my situation.

9. June, Tour of Slovenia - Stage 1

A strong wind and short but very steep climbs made the first stage difficult. There were a lot of attacks, but nobody really got away very far. Towards the end we had to do 3 laps on a circuit with a climb, about 5 km from the finish. I felt good, and in the last lap I went in to the climb right at the front of the peleton. At the top of the hill I got away with 4 other riders. A win seemed to be possible. But the escape ended about 2 km from the finish. We got caught by the peleton. I didn't see any teammates nearby, but I tried to compete in the sprint. A big crash about 1.5 km from the finish, in a lefthand corner, forced me to get off the bike. That was it, the chance was gone.....

7. June, Criterium Villingen

The weather was bad but the atmosphere was super at the criterium. The race through the shopping streets of the city went on right in to the night. A lightingsystem made this possible. I was able to gain a lap with a small group of riders, but otherwise didn't do too much. I didn't want to risk too much on the slippery roads. Today we will travel to Slovenia, my last race before the national championships.

5. June, GP Gippingen

It was fun to race back in Switzerland for a change. The atmosphere along the road was phantastic. Thanks a lot for cheering me on with 'Hopp'. The race went fairly well for me. In the beginning I had problems with my backwheel. A spoke came loose and the wheel got worse and worse. At first I didn't notice it and kept riding until another rider told me. After our teammechanic changed the wheel I had to stop once more, to adjust the brake. I was lucky because at that time the pace of the peleton was not fast. About halfway through the race a small group with some good riders got away in the climb. Unfortunately I couln't follow them. During the last few laps I felt that my form is good. I have not raced over such a long distance too many times, but I was able to ride near the front of the bunch until the end and managed to ride a good sprint. I would have liked to show myself a bit more, but in the end I am satisfied with my performence.

4. June, GP Schwarzwald

At last, my first race in 3 weeks. The engine did not run smooth yet, but I was concentrating on the race tomorrow in Gippingen already. After 4 of 7 laps I had enough and called it a day in the very steep climb of the race. The peleton had become very small at that time. Now I hope to have a good day tomorrow and I am looking forward to see as many fans as possible by the side of the road.

15. Mai, Tour of Rheinland-Pfalz - Stage 5

The last stage was relativ quiet. Very early a 10 man group got away. We had with Kamil a rider from our team in the breakaway. The team of the leader controlled the pace of the peleton. In the climbs up to the last two king of the mountains there were a few attacks, but the peleton more or less stayed together. Towards the end we had to make some pace to help reduce the time advantage of the leading group, otherwise the 9. place of Florian in the overall classification might have been in danger. Everything worked out fine.

14. Mai, Tour of Rheinland-Pfalz - Stages 4a + 4b

Why did it have to rain today, when we had 2 stages on the program? It was a long day....... In the mornings stage I did not feel too good. I had problems riding in the wind and did not compete in the sprint. In the afternoon we had a long timetrail over 25 km. In the first part I didn't find a good rythm, but then I felt better and better. In the end I lost almost 2 minutes to the winner. So the first test racing against some of the best riders was positiv. But the day was not over yet. The UCI decided that I had to do a drug-test. The last stage tomorrow is quiet long. We will try to defend Florian's 9. place in the overall classification and who knows, I may get another good result.

13. Mai, Tour of Rheinland-Pfalz - Stage 3

I achieved another topten result. In the climb up to the first mountain the peleton split up in two parts. I was placed too far back in the bunch and had to fight very hard to get back in to the leading group. I was pretty stuffed. My teammates made sure that nobody could get away, and I concentrated for the sprint. Vana from my team got me in a good position. With about 500 m to go some riders went past me on the left and on the right, wich got me boxed in for a moment and I lost some places - it's a shame!

12. Mai, Tour of Rheinland-Pfalz - Stage 2

The stage today wasn't only the longest, it was with the highest climb the roof of the tour. A very strong wind made things even more difficult. We tried to hold a frontposition in the bunch at all times, just in case it would splitup. Except for two riders who got away, but were caught not far from the finish, the whole bunch stayed together. In the sprint, about 1.5 km from the finish, I had to break very hard because I nearly crashed in to a traffic island. The chances of a good place in todays stage were gone.

11. Mai, Tour of Rheinland-Pfalz - Stage 1

Todays stage was very hectic. It was attack after attack. There were several breakaway groups, but none of them got very far. But about 40 km from the finish one group succeeded. Almost every team had at least one rider in it. So that was it. Our team had Florian Stalder in the leading group. He managed to get a very good place in todays stage. Now we will try to keep him in a good place in the overall classification.