News 2006/02

25. June, National Championship Roadrace

Today I never got going again. I need to take a break and recover....

23. June, National Championship Timetrail

I never got up to a good pace. The strength to ride fast just wasn't there. I am not sure if I just had a bad day or if I still haven't got over the problems with my digestive system which I contracted during the Tour de Suisse. I will find out on sunday.

16. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage7

The Tour de Suisse ended for me already. After a sleepless night, I had to vomit several times in the morning. On top of that I had diarrhoea as well. I felt weak, not recovered, and didn't feel like eating at all. To continue racing was impossible. What a shame, yesterday I still felt great. My teammates had the same symptoms. Only one of them was able to continue. A real debacle for Team LPR!

15. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage 6

I rode this very tough stage in a break for a while. Not long after the start 6 riders escaped. I followed them in a group of four some 30 seconds behind. Unfortunatly we couldn't close the gap. So we rode over the Susten- and most of the Oberalppass between the leaders and the peloton. But the gap to the leading group got bigger and bigger. So about 1 km from the top of the Oberalp we slowed down and continued riding in the bunch. When we got to the Albulapass the big guns started their fireworks. I suffered like hell until we had the climb of 4500 m of altitude completed. It was a tough but nice day. I don't get to the top of the Furka in 7 th position too often ;-)

14. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage 5

A long stage, but the course wasn't too difficult. I just wanted to get to the finish as easy as possible. I havn't got over yesterdays stage yet and tomorrow we will have the hardest stage of the tour.

13. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage 4

Todays stage was my best performance so far. I was again very activ and managed to get in to a breakaway with 22 riders. We had some of the favorites for the overall classification like Ullrich, Zberg..with us. Then in the first big climb our group broke up into two parts. 10 riders remained at the front, and the rest of the group including myself got swallowed up by the peloton. Even after the climb I had to give everything to stay with the chasing bunch. We raced through the Jura with 60 km/h in a long strechted out line until the leaders got caught. In the last climb the peloton once more split up into several groups. But by now my tank was empty. The same happend to lots of others too. So during the last few kilometers I had some time to eat and drink a little....

12. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage 3

Today was really tough. I used up a lot of energy to get into a break without success. The course of the stage was very nervous. Up and down, left and right all the time on very narrow roads. My strength melted away in the heat. I finished the stage in the gruppetto.

11. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage 2

A big win for the small Team LPR! I was in the first break of the stage. After several tries the three of us got away. But after a few kilometers it was Bettini himself who chased us down and closed the gap in a small climb. Then the pace dropped right down, our Daniele Contrini attacked, got away, and wasn't to be seen again until the end of the stage! He deserved the win after a long solo break! What a success! The ride up the Töss Valley in the peloton was phantastic for me. Many fans cheered me on and I saw a lot of RMV Elgg club jerseys. Thank you very much!!!

10. June, Tour de Suisse, Stage 1

The start of the Tour de Suisse was fairly easy. It looks like I am not the only one with a lot of respect for the very difficult stages we will face in the next few days. As we didn't have a rider in the breakaway, we had to work very hard to chase and catch them again. But it didn't pay off in the end, because our sprinter lost contact with the leading group on the difficult circuits we had to do towards the finish. I am especially looking forward to tomorrows stage. The course will take us up the Töss Valley near my hometown. I hope for a lot of support from all my friends....

8. June, Tour de Suisse

A childhood dream has become true! This evening I received the final confirmation from my team LPR that I will be taking part in the Tour de Suisse. I hope to see some of you at the side of the road......

4. June, GP Gippingen

In this race the team allowed me to concentrate on the last part of the race, and that's what I wanted too. In the second of ten laps 22 riders escaped. All of the big teams had a least one man in the break and so their advantage grew very fast. We had no reason to react, because we had Maserati in the front group. We soon realized that this was the deciding break. I tried to bridge the gap to the leaders with a few other riders, but I didn't get enough support. In the end the fight for the race took place without me. I concentrated to much on the final of the race and missed the deciding early breakaway. I am very disappointed because I was allowed to ride my own race.....

28. Mai, Tour of Belgium, Stage 5

In the first few kilometers we had a climb in which I managed to get away with some strong riders. When we got to the top we went full power into the headwind. Behind us the peleton was stretched out and broken up, then a small group with all the favourites came up to us. It was a hard pursuit until most of the riders caught up with us again. Then, after riding at such a fast pace we all needed a bit of a break and the pace dropped right down. We even got some sunshine and I had time to have a look and enjoy Belgium. At the end another mass sprint in which I rode for our 2 sprinters. After a long break I got back into the racing rhythm in this tour. Even though we had a lot of bad weather, I got through without any problems, and I can't wait for the next races...

27. Mai, Tour of Belgium, Stage 4

I attacked 5 times without success to get in to a breakaway. Then just when I needed to recover for a moment - the right group went without me. But at least we had 3 riders from my team with them. During the last 50 km we had to ride over some hills . After all the training at high altitude I felt much better in the climbs then on the flat roads. So I supported Kalilov as good as I could. He improved a few places in the overall classification. The winner of the stage came out of the breakaway, it's a shame I wasn't there....

26. Mai, Tour of Belgium, Stages 3a + 3b

In the timetrail I went full power, but I lost a lot of time in the corners, because I didn't want to take any risks on the wet surface. The winner of the timetrail started directly behind me. The way he went past me was very impressiv. Then during the stage in the afternoon we had rain again. I managed to get into a good "Fuga". But after a few kilometers we were reeled back in by the peleton, because one of the riders in our group was from the front of the overall classification:-( In the "Finale" we all rode for Kalilov, who got a good result once more. Now I am looking forward to tomorrows stage, because we will have some climbs in the profile as well.

25. Mai, Tour of Belgium, Stage 2

I tried several times to get into a breakaway without success. Then, just as I wasn't watching, a small group went off the front. But the stage ended with a mass sprint anyway, which by the way was very dangerous!

24. Mai, Tour of Belgium, Stage 1

The stage was as any race in Belgium is, very hectic. In the first few kilometers with a strong crosswind, a group got away. We never saw them again until the finish. Behind them the peleton kept breaking apart into small echelons because of the strong wind. I did better today then in the 3 Days of de Panne! I finished the stage in the first group behind the leaders, which had about 70 riders.

14. Mai, Criterium Uzwil

For the last couple of weeks I spent the nights up on Mount Säntis at an altitude of 2500 m as a trainingcamp. I would like to get myself into topshape for the next few races. I enjoy the quiet and peaceful surroundings with a phantastic view over 6 countries. Yesterday I took part in a Criterium in Uzwil. By riding active and aggressive I found out that my form is pretty good. Just in time for mothersday I got some flowers wich I handed to my mother straight away;)

30. April, Tour de Romandie - Stage 5

In the timetrail I wanted to get a good result once more. I started very fast - too fast, during the last 5 km along the lake and up to the finish I just stoped. My engine was overheated, which was fatal in the steep climbs and I lost a lot of time :-( The Tour de Romandie was a phantastic experience, thanks to my super prolog. Now I will take it easy for a few days, then I will prepare for the next races to come.

29. April, Tour de Romandie - Stage 4

At last I was able to sleep well right through the night. But I still felt as if I needed a few more hours of rest. For todays stage I had one aim only, to arrive at the finish inside the time limit. The strong wind made things very difficult for us. The first climb was really steep. There the peleton got ripped apart and I fought to get into a good group. After the king of the mountain I managed to get into a nice little bunch. But then on the descend, a rider in front of me opend up a gap and there was only the 4 of us left chasing the main group. I really thought that was it, in this strong we were lost. But then in the second climb, to my surprise, a small group came up from behind. We rode at a good pace and I felt better and better. So in the end the time limit was no problem and tomorrow I can finish my first pro tour race.

28. April, Tour de Romandie - Stage 3

I didn't sleep well last night and felt tired at the start of the stage. But once we got going it wasn't too bad, better then yesterday anyway. We did the first few kilometers with over 50 km/h! I wasn't dangerous to anybody anymore as I have lost my good place in the overall classification. So I tried to escape a couple of times, but it didn't work out. Then 2 other riders got away. Things got very fast and hectic before we got to the final climb. I placed Carlos, our climber, at the front of the bunch. Then I rode in the gruppetto up to the finish.

27. April, Tour de Romandie - Stage 2

To ride a bikerace with a dizzy head is not easy. It was a very difficult day for me and I rode at the back of the peleton most of the time. But I didn't want to give away my good position in the overall classification without a fight. So over the last two climbs towards the finish I pulled myself together once more and gave everything I had left. But it wasn't good enough to stay with the first group. As a result of my good prolog I heard a lot of people cheering me on from the side of the road. Most of them I didn't even know. That's very nice and motivates me a lot.

26. April, Tour de Romandie - Stage 1

I had a quiete day unil about 20 km from the finish.... There must have been something on the road. It felt as if my frontwheel was suddenly blocked. I took off and did 3 or 4 somersaults. My sunglasses were gone and my helmet was broken :-( Thanks to my teammates I was able to get back in to the peleton and finish the stage without loosing time. I have got abrasions everywhere and a headache. I hope I can get some sleep tonight....

25. April, Tour de Romandie - Prolog

All the hard work has paid off today. I am prepared to suffer for moments like this. A good warm up, dry roads and full risk - the result, 9 th place in my first Pro Tour start. To see my name in the first ten of the classification amongst all those famous riders is still like a dream for me....

21. April, Giro del Trentino - Stage 4

The last stage ended with a mass sprint. I had orders to lead out the sprint for Gairo. From about 2 km to go we went along the left side, which was in the wind, up to the front. At the 400 m mark, in position 5, I had given everything and veered off to the side. But Gairo was gone. He lost my wheel with about 500 m to go.

20. April, Giro del Trentino - Stage 3

I had good legs in the climbs at last. On the highest point of the tour I only lost about one minute to the leaders and was able to get back to the front on the decend. Then we had to do 3 laps on a circuit of 15 km. We tried to close the gap to a breakaway of 8 riders. I gave everything I had. Then 4 km from the finish, in a climb I blew up and had to let them go. It's a shame, we couldn't catch the leaders, so all the hard work was for nothing.

19. April, Giro del Trentino - Stage 2

Again I tried to escape, but without success. Panaria with the leader controlled the race. When we got to the big climbs I couldn't find a good rhythm. So I got to the finish with the gruppetto.

18. April, Giro del Trentino - Stage 1

The first stage went for me the same way as the race last sunday. I got away twice from the peleton in a breakaway, and again team Lampre chased hard and until we got caught. One day things will work out for me ;-) I did what I could to place our mountaingoats at the front for the final climb. We tried, but it wasn't very constructive. It just started to rain and made conditions very difficult. Then my work was done and I was allowed to save energy for tomorrow.

16. April, Giro d'Oro

After the flat races in Belgium I found it difficult today to get up the climbs. In the first part of todays race I tried to get into a breakaway. We got away twice, but Team Lampre was in controll and closed the gap again. When we got towards the final climb we had to get the strongest riders of our team into a good position for the finale. I worked very hard until all my energy was used up. I hope to improve my condition further during the Giro del Trentino to be in top shape for the Tour de Romandie.