Bettini & Freire To Face Off For Historic Rainbow Jersey Battle
by Justin Davis
VARESE, Italy, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - The chance of making history by
winning a third consecutive road race crown at cycling’s world championships
this week has been keeping Paolo Bettini dreaming all summer.
But at the men’s road race on September 28, the energetic little rider
known as the ‘Cricket’ will need to out muscle, and outfox, at least three
potential rival teams aiming to bring home the coveted rainbow jersey.
And one rider in particular, Oscar Freire, who has arguably more reason
than the Italian to push his legs that extra mile.
The annual world championships are the only time during the cycling
calendar, barring the Olympics, that the peloton’s trade teams make way for
national colors.
And when it comes to collective national strength, Italy, Spain, Belgium,
Australia and Germany are usually ahead of the pack, arguably in that order.
Bettini has won the world title the past two years, allowing the diminutive
Italian to sport the rainbow stripes on his shirt, shoes, helmet and ….
wherever he likes really, handlebars included.
But as Italy hope to cap their hosting of the six-day championships with a
home win, it cannot be denied that Bettini has suffered a few morale-sapping
blows this season.
First, he lost his Olympic title to Spaniard Samuel Sanchez in Beijing.
Then a week ago he was told by his Quick Step team bosses they would not
entertain his demands for a bumper, last-season pay deal.
How those incidents influence Bettini’s bid remains to be seen, but he has
shown recently - with two stage wins at the Tour of Spain - that the legs are
turning nicely.
Bettini brushed off Quick Step’s increased pay snub last week by saying: “I
don’t have any trouble sleeping at night. Cycling has given a lot to me and I
have given a lot to cycling.”
Already Italy’s most successful one-day rider of the last decade, a third
rainbow jersey would allow Bettini a wry smile behind the backs of his team,
who have recently signed his German rival Stefan Schumacher.
But the shadow of Freire, one of only four men - the others being Italian
Alfredo Binda and Belgians Eddy Merckx and Rik Van Steenbergen - to have won
the rainbow jersey three times, is looming.
While Bettini would become the first to win three in succession, Freire can
go one better and become the first ever cyclist to win four rainbow jerseys.
Although rich with the talents of 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto
Contador and all-rounder Alejandro Valverde, a look at the course has prompted
the Spanish team to designate Freire as their leader.
The profile of the 17.35km circuit that will be raced 15 times by the men
and eight by the women compare to a medium mountain stage on the Tour de
France.
The Montello climb comes at the start and is 1.15 km long with an average
gradient of 6.5 percent. The Ronchi climb is placed with 4 km to go and is
3.130 km at an average gradient of 4.5.
However a long, mainly flat stretch of road leading to the finish line at
the Varese hippodrome gives the likes of Freire, a wily sprinter who can climb
reasonably well, a huge chance of victory.
Freire claimed the last two of his world titles, in 2001 and 2004, from
winning bunch sprints, his maiden triumph in 1999 in Verona coming after a
cunning solo attack around 400 meters from the finish.
“Freire is always dangerous: I’ve been saying for the past two years he
could win here,” said Bettini who also admitted that Valverde, Luxembourg’s
Kim Kirchen and even Schumacher - a bronze medal winner last year - could be
rivals.
The six-day competition starts with the under-23 men’s time trial on
Tuesday and finishes with the blue ribbon event of the men’s 260.25km road
race Sunday.
On Wednesday, Nicole Cooke will have the strongest British team for years
at her disposal as she aims to add a maiden world crown from the 138.8 km road
race, after years of close runs, to her newly-acquired Olympic title.
Categories: Features, Races, World Road Championships
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