worlds view challenge - riders announce

[cyclenut]

straight from http://www.supersport.co.za/cycling/article.aspx?id=240132&headline=Riders%20announced so accept no responsibility for the mis-spelling of some riders' names...

 

Teams of international cyclists who will be descending on Pietermaritzburg for the inaugural international cycling event, the Intaka Tech World?s View Challenge that will take place in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands from 2 ? 7 February, have been announced.

Three confirmed UCI teams, Team Barloworld, Liquigas and Milram, will be travelling to compete for both points towards the UCI leader board and prize money to the value of R650,000. Teams that have performed in the International Cycling Union (UCI) tours such as the Tour de France and the Tour de Suisse will be cycling in the picturesque city of Pietermaritzburg and surrounds.

Joining the big three names at the starting line are three teams from the African continent: Zambia; Libya and Namibia and they will be cycling alongside local teams: MTN; Konica Minolta; Neotel; a South African National Team and the Intaka Tech Development Team

Barloworld team riders are: Robert Hunter (RSA); Daryl Impey (RSA); Christopher Froome (Kenya); Enrico Gasparotto (Ita); Baden Cooke (Aus); Patrick Calcagni (Swi) and Christian Pfannberger (Austria).

Liquigas team riders are: Daniele Bennati (Ita); Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita); Dario Cataldo (Ita); Claudio Corioni (Ita); Roman Kreuzinger (Ita); Vincenzo Nibali (Ita); Franco Pellizotti (Ita); Filippo Pozzato (Ita); Manuel Quinziato (Ita); Frederik Willerns (Ita) and Alessandro Vanotti (Ita).

Milram team riders are: Luca Barla (Ita) ; Markus Eichler (Ger) ; Artur Gajek (Ger) ; Andriy Grivko (Oek) ; Christian Kux (Ger) ; Dominik Roels (Ger) ; Bjorne Schroder (Ger) ; Sebastian Schwager (Ger) ; Martin Veltis (Svk) ; Peter Veltis (Svk)

Routes for the prestigious races are as follows:

Race one starts at 11h30 on 2 February and the distance is 111.6 km with the route going from PMB ? Richmond ? Camperdown - PMB

Race two starts at 09h30 on 3 February and the distance is 113.4km with the route going from PMB ? Thornville - Polyshorts Circuit - PMB

Race three starts at 09h30 on 4 February and the distance is 108km with the route going from PMB - New Hanover ? Wartburg - PMB

Race four starts at 09h30 on 6 February and the distance is 133.5km with the route going from PMB ? Camperdown ? Thornville ? Richmond ? Camperdown ?Thornville - PMB

Race five starts at 09h30 on 7 February and the distance is 108km with the route going from PMB ? Edendale - Taylors Holt ? Cedara ? PMB

An inclusion in the Intaka Tech World?s View Challenge is a series for veteran men. This will run on a points system over the five individual races.

Event Director, Alec Lenferna explained, ?This too will be a first for SA for the veteran men?s racing with the winner of day one wearing the leader?s jersey on day two and depending on the points accumulated on each race, this jersey will change hands and be defended throughout the week. At the end of the last day?s racing, we will be able to determine who the overall winner of the series is.?

Lenferna continued to say, ?The pro group will be first across the start line on each day followed by the racing vets group ten minutes later and ten minutes after them, ?A? group of the recreational riders will begin their ride, followed by ?B? group and so on.?

Entries to this prestigious event is still open to the general public and will be on a strict first come, first served basis. Competitors that cycle in the Intaka Tech World?s View Challenge will also have first option to cycle in future World?s View Challenges.

[AndreZA]

An UCI race and the longest distance is 133.5km. I guess they had to cut it short so that the SA teams could actually finish a stage.

 

Oh, there's my coat.

 

 

[skelmpie]

teams listed so far on the worldsviewchallenge.co.za website Barloworld
ITA Manager: Claudio Corti
Robert Hunter Daryl Impey Christopher Froome Enrico Gasparotto Baden Cooke Patrick Calcagni Christian Pfannberger

Liquigas
ITA Manager: Mario Scirea
Daniele Bennati Leonardo Bertagnolli Dario cataldo Claudio Corioni Roman Kreuzinger Vincenzo Nibali Franco Pellizotti Filippo Pozzato Manuel Quinziato Frederik Willems Alessandro Vanotti

South African National Team
RSA Manager: Tony Harding
Chris Willemse Garth Thomas Gadi Chait Dean Edwards Michael Pepper Gary Rabie Michael Sowerby Jean-Paul Pearton

Neotel
RSA Manager: Barry Austin
James Perry Jeremy Maertens Nolan Hoffmann Johan Rabie Jaco Venter Prince Maluleke Siphiwe Sowela Petrus Loto

Intaka Tech South African Developement Team
RSA Manager: Riaan Koegelenberg
Hendri Whitehead Lawrence Mashlango Stanley Namanayna Verdi Farao Michael Robinson Duncan Viljoen Michael Van Staden Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg

Libyan Cycling Federation
LIB Manager: Aziz Mahadi
Hoh Ali Ahmed A Ali El Kelani Amin Ahmed A Tunsi Fatmi Youssef Belgasem Ahmed Shaban Al-Sharaa Faysal Elmendi Abdunnaser Guma El Bahbaiy Zeiad A Hadi Sghewir Ali Eldin Elgahwaji Bader Ahmed Ben F

MTN Cycling Team
RSA Manager: Jacques Fullard
Malcolm Lange Nic White David George Ian Mcleod Waylon Woolcock Neil McDonald Juan van Reerden Jay Thompson Jonathan Kinnear Bradley Potgieter

[Racing Hart]

Ireland's Pezula debuts

By Gerard Cromwell

New Irish UCI continental cycling team Pezula will make their international road debut in South Africa in February, manager David McQuaid confirmed.

The recently launched squad, whose Galway based construction management sponsors borrowed their name from a South African holiday hotspot, will be registered both on the road and the track for 2008 with former Navigators Insurance duo David O'Loughlin and Ciar?n Power heading the Irish challenge.

Pezula will get its road campaign underway when they tackle the inaugural edition of the Worlds View Challenge in South Africa alongside top teams Milram, Liquigas and Barloworld as well as Professional Continental teams and some national squads from around the world. The five-day series, which begins on February 2, will be run as five separate 1.1 ranked UCI races, along the same lines as the traditional season opening Mallorca Challenge in Europe. Riders can pick and choose which races they will compete in over the five days, with points accumulated each day going towards a final general classification.

Originally intending to compete in the Tour de Langkawi in February, McQuaid feels the trip to South Africa will be more beneficial to the Pezula set up. "We had intended to ride the Tour of Langkawi, before heading to South Africa for the Giro Del Capo in early March," said the son of UCI president Pat McQuaid. "Now we will head to South Africa at the end of January, ride the World View Challenge series and stay for a three week training camp before riding the Giro del Capo. David O'Loughlin and some of our track guys would have missed Langkawi because it clashed with the Los Angeles round of the track world cup, but now he can ride some of the South African races and we can rotate some of the younger guys and give them valuable experience."

"I can't wait for the season to start," noted Power. "I have been training really hard and hope to make a big impact in the early season, to get some results and generate as much publicity as we can for Pezula. I have a good training programme worked out with my coach Paddy Doran and I've been working on my sprint a lot. I'm likely to get a lot more opportunity to race for myself with Pezula, so as well as doing team duties, hopefully I can take this opportunity and get some good results."

Power has his eyes firmly set on one of the two Irish places available in the road race in Beijing. "I originally tried to qualify via the track but I just couldn't transfer over the power I was putting out on the road. We decided early to stop trying, and to concentrate on the road. I don't see why I can't make one of those places. There are probably five guys out there who fit the bill and althoug

Racing Hart2008-01-09 14:08:21

[Racer X]

I live in Hilton, just above PMB, so I shall be at the side lines watching all the Liquigas riders big ring it up all the hills I have to granny.

[linnega]

Seems like Liquigas are taking it seriously and sending some of their biggest names and certainly their best classic riders. 

 

The stages are short for the benefit of the internationals who aren't really in race condition in February.

[gianni]

Ciaran Power is one to watch.  He comes from Waterford about 40min fomr me and he usually comes to train in the summer eveing races when everyone else is going flat out.

 

Anyway he placed 13th at the Olympics a few years ago and has had some impressive results e.g 2007 - 4th behind Petacchi in Rund um Koln, Irish Crit Champ, 2006 2 stages of the FBD Ras (bit like SA Giro).

 

Was with Navigators for a long time before coming back to Ireland & Pezula.

 

He's a very friendly approachable dude..he comes down to our club once a  year to give us plebs some advice on how to ride a bike faster than a tortoise  

[bobbie]

This is going to be great!!  For once some action in KZN!!

Cant wait

[Jason]

How tough are these stages? I checked the profiles and there's not such a great ascent on the climbs... or are they pretty tough and will it give these guys a good workout?

Also, why is John-Lee not in the Barloworld squad?

[Sean Badenhorst]

I lived in Pmb in the early 1990s for a while and rode all these routes. They're pretty tough in terms of being very hilly. But as you know, the pace of the race is what determines how tough it is, no matter how flat or hilly...

Euro pros are used to riding 'piano' for the first hour or two in many races and then putting the hammer down, but these short races are likely to be flat-out racing from the gun, so expect the South Africans to impress since that's what they're used to.

Liquigas has some really big guns in their line-up, in particular Bennati, Bertagnolli, Pellizotti and Pozzato. Google them for their palmares. Wish I could be there to watch!

 

 

 

[Cruxpearl]

John-Lee is still recovering from the Femur he broke falling in the TT in Tour of Portugal las year...

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

Cooke and Pallizoti, must be favourites.

[Chrispy]

John-Lee is still recovering from the Femur he broke falling in the TT in Tour of Portugal las year...

 

He is training flat-out in his hometown PE. He came to check the track racing out on Saturday on his bike.

[shade]

Pozzato & Pellizotti could take most wins, with TDF Champs Elyssees winner  Bennati taking the flat sprints..

damn.. i so much wanna be there..

 

[Sean Badenhorst]

Don't understimate the South Africans who have been training solidly for weeks through the summer weather, while the Europeans have been doing limited base miles in the freezing cold. In February, Maritzburg can get to over 35 deg C easily which will suit the local riders.

 

[Craven]

The stages are short so that the Euro pro's will come.

They want an opportunity to ride in the warm, good weather. Short racing distances and where they can add on miles before/after as they please and not kill themselves.

That is also why it is a bunch of one day events instead of a Tour.

 

Whatever the reasons though, it is a fantastic idea and should do a lot for SA cycling!