Saturday, January 9, 2010

Menchov Will Not Defend Giro d'Italia Title


2009 Giro d'Italia champion Denis Menchov will not defend his title in the 2010 Giro d'Italia and will choose instead to train at altitude during the month of May in preparation for the Tour de France.

"The decision was made in consultation with the rider," said director Adri van Houwelingen in Ahoy. "We had already discussed it, but everything moved quickly when the route of the Giro was announced. The last week [of the Giro] is very difficult, and it is not good preparation for the Tour de France, which is the main objective," said Van Houwelingen.

Photo: Menchov in Rome after with the Centenario Giro d'Italia

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so that you can translate each page.

2 comments:

  1. Not cool. A pink jersey winner who does not return to defend his title?

    Especially given Menchov's performance in the second half of 2009, he might want to focus on the Giro again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nobody will miss Menchov, one of the most boring winners of the Giro in years. DiLuca tried to make him work for the win but he was doped -- so what are we to think of Menchov who spent so much time on Spanish teams in the past? It's a tough Corsa Rosa and we hope only for a close, exciting race contested by clean athletes -- we can dream can't we?

    ReplyDelete