Levi Leipheimer, Tom Boonen, Sylvan Chavanel and Vincenzo Nibali all begin their season in Argentinean stage race
With its international stature growing, many teams are sending their biggest names to Argentina to start their seasons at the Tour de San Luis, and Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Liquigas-Cannondale are no exceptions.
Belgian team Omega Pharma-Quick Step is sending four of its stars, two of whom joined the team in the end-of-season transfers. New signing Levi Leipheimer missed out on the team’s Spanish training camp and team presentation to stay in California and prepare for San Luis, and so will be targeting the overall classification. Former Belgian and World champion Tom Boonen is kicking off what he hopes will be a better season than the last two a little earlier than usual, having started at the Tour of Qatar every year since 2004; he will be hunting stage wins, along with Italian sprinter Francesco Chicchi and French champion Sylvain Chavanel.
Like Leipheimer, German time trial champion Bert Grabsch will be targeting the 19.5km against the clock on stage four.
“Overall the trip went well,” explained directeur sportif Davide Bramati on arrival in Argentina. “We’re facing 7 stages for a total of 1,051 km, 19.5 of which will be time trials. The squad is in good shape and can defend itself on any terrain. For the sprints we can count on the skills of Boonen and Chicchi while for the more challenging stages the team will pull together around Levi Leipheimer, who could also do well in the 4th time trial stage with Bert Grabsch.
“The route is demanding and the starting line up is world class,” he concluded. “However we are ready to take on the race. Our goal is to capture a stage and to figure well in the general classification.”
Liquigas-Cannondale’s six-man line-up will be headed by 2010 race winner Vincenzo Nibali, who will doubtless hope that the race brings his season similar luck to that year, when he also finished third in the Giro d’Italia and won the Vuelta a España. The Sicilian ‘Shark’ is aiming his Grand Tour ambitions at the Tour de France this season but, after a strong winter, he is raring to get started now.
“I really want to pin a number on my back and get this season started,” said Nibali. “Obviously I'd like to start with a victory as I did in 2010 but, for a cyclist, January is not the ideal month to make proclamations of victory.
“This winter I started riding early and my initial condition, compared to last year, is better,” he added. “The brightness and changes of pace, however, are a little lacking. Here in Argentina, the goal is to work, to suffer, and to return to Italy with a better athletic condition. A good result would be the icing on the cake.”
In contrast to the two ProTeams, Colnago-CSF Bardiani is sending a very young team, three of which will be making their professional debut. Sonny Colbrelli Christian Delle Stelle both joined the Professional Continental squad as stagiaires at the end of last summer, while Marco Coledan signed on as a neo-pro this year.
While he recognises the youth and inexperience of his riders, directeur sportif Mirko Rossato is confident that the small, blue and white team will make its mark as usual.
"I looked into the boys’ eyes before leaving for Argentina and in I noticed looks of great enthusiasm in these hours before our first race of 2012,” he said. “We’ve worked hard and well to be ready for the beginning of a new season.”
The Tour de San Luis will begin on Monday, January 23rd, with a 188km stage between San Luis and Villa Mercedes. Last year’s race was won by Chilean Marco Arriagada, who tested positive for stanozolol in the Tour of Chile just a few weeks later; his two year ban – reduced from an original four years – means that he will not be defending his title.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the Tour de San Luis
Tom Boonen, Sylvain Chavanel, Francesco Chicchi, Bert Grabsch, Levi Leipheimer and Frantisek Rabon
Liquigas-Cannondale for the Tour de San Luis
Tiziano Dall’Antonia, Timmy Duggan, Ted King, Vincenzo Nibali, Josè Sarmiento and Elia Viviani
Colnago-CSF Bardiani for the Tour de San Luis
Sonny Colbrelli, Marco Coledan, Paolo Locatelli, Christian Delle Stelle, Angelo Pagani and Filippo Savini