First Edition News for August 30, 2003

Edited by Chris Henry & Jeff Jones

Women's World Cup Round 8: Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt

Ullrich, Zabel and McEwen to battle it out in men's 1.3 event

By Jeff Jones

This Sunday will see the penultimate round of the Women's World Cup held in Nürnberg, Germany. The "Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt" will be the last chance for anyone with World Cup ambitions to try and dethrone Nicole Cooke (Ausra Gruodis), who has won three races this year and sits at the top of the table with 282 points. Three riders: Sara Carrigan (Powerplate Bik, 164 pts), Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites-Hartol, 159 pts) and Judith Arndt (Nürnberger, 157 pts) are capable of bridging the gap to Cooke with good results this weekend and next weekend in Rotterdam. However with only 75 points for a win, it will take a very good effort from one of these riders to catch the young Welsh woman.

The race starts at 9:30am and takes place over 9 laps of a 13 kilometre circuit for a total of 117 kilometres. The circuit loops around the city of Nürnberg, taking in some of its main attractions, and a large crowd is expected to be in attendance. There is a short (600m) climb each lap which will certainly sap the energy out of a few legs.

After the women finish at approximately 12:30, there will be an Elite Men's UCI 1.3 race run over 180 kilometres, using the same circuit. Division I teams Telekom (Erik Zabel), Bianchi (Jan Ullrich), Gerolsteiner (Olaf Pollack) and Lotto-Domo (Robbie McEwen) should have a strong showing, although Division II teams Wiesenhof (Heppner) and De Nardi (Gontchar) will try to steal the limelight.

Hamilton calls it a season

With the revelation that Tyler Hamilton has suffered a hairline fracture of his upper right femur, Team CSC announced that the American has effectively ended his season. Hamilton restarted training after crashing and breaking a finger in the ENECO Ronde van Nederland (Tour of Holland), but pain in his right leg prompted him to check for further damage. Initially scheduled to compete through September, Hamilton will now look forward to recovering and rebuilding for 2004.

"I've had two bad crashes and it seems that every time I go down something goes seriously wrong," Hamilton said in a Reuters report.

"When I crashed in Holland I was in a lot of pain but thought it was a muscle injury. When the pain didn't ease I went for a scan and they discovered the hairline fracture. My season is over."

Jaksche reconsiders

Jaksche still shopping
Photo: © C.Henry/CN

ONCE-Eroski's Jörg Jaksche has revoked his decision to sign with the Gerolsteiner team for 2004. Jaksche, 27, had given a verbal agreement to the German team, but has apparently left his options open and will not finalise the arrangement.

Jaksche's reasons were not made clear, although the move is clearly a disappointment for the Gerolsteiner management, which felt it had secured the talented rider. Team CSC and Bianchi have each been mentioned as possibilities now that Gerolsteiner is off the table.

Kelme's Vuelta team

The Spanish Kelme-Costa Blanca team, winner of the 2002 Vuelta a España with Aitor Gonzalez (now Fassa Bortolo), has presented its team for its national tour. Oscar Sevilla, who has been out of competition for much of 2003, will serve as an untested team leader this year. Short on racing form but motivated for a good result, Sevilla will try to challenge the likes of Gonzalez, Roberto Heras (US Postal), and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski), whom he considers favourites for the overall honours.

Sevilla has also declared himself satisfied with Kelme and expects to carry on next year. "It's up to me to repay the confidence Kelme has had in me, and if there are no problems, I expect to extend the contract," Sevilla commented in the Spanish press. "I feel good here."

Kelme's line up for the Vuelta includes Sevilla, Francisco Cabello, Carlos Garcia Quesada, Adolfo Garcia Quesada, José Enrique Gutiérrez, David Latasa, Jesus Manzano, Toni Tauler, Alejandro Valverde, and Constantino Zaballa.

Vuelta festivities set

Presentations and festivities for the 58th edition of the Vuelta a España will kick off next week. The race begins Saturday, September 6, and on Thursday the teams for this year's race will be presented at the Molinón Stadium in the start city of Gijon. During the presentation the baton of the Vuelta will be passed to the mayor of León, the start town for 2004. On Saturday, the race's opening day, a public race will be held in the morning prior to the start of the team time trial and festivities will continue into the evening with what organisers are calling the world's biggest puppet show, as well as musical entertainment and regional food and drink specialties.

29th Giro del Friuli

Casagrande on a roll
Photo: © Sirotti

The top Italians will line up for another late summer single day classic Saturday with the running of the 29th Giro del Friuli. The race begins in Buttrio and finishes in Gorizia after a tough parcours of 197.5 kilometres. Included in the route are five laps of a 16.8km circuit in San Floriano, which features a 4.3km climb averaging 7%, with portions as steep as 14%.

The usual suspects of the Italian calendar will be on hand, including the in-form Francesco Casagrande (Lampre), winner of the Trofeo Melinda and Coppa Agostoni, as well as the ever-present Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), a previous winner of the Giro del Friuli. Challenging will be Fassa Bortolo's young talent Filippo Pozzato, as well as Gianni Faresin, Giuliano Figueras, Salvatore Commesso, and Italian-based Romans Vainsteins and Yaroslav Popovych.

Last year's race was won by Franco Pellizotti (Alessio) ahead of Rebellin and Gilberto Simoni.

Valencia to host European track championships

Valencia, Spain will host the 2004 European Track Championships, to be held from July 14-18. The event is open to European U23 riders and juniors. This year's European championships are in Moscow, Russia, from September 3-7.

British Cycling Open Talent tests

As part of its Go-Ride program, which brings cycling to schools and clubs throughout England, British Cycling is running a series of "Stage 1 Talent Team Tests" aimed at finding talented young cyclists with the ambition to become the champions of tomorrow. The "Talent Team Tests" are simple sprint and endurance tests which identify young riders with the basic physiological talent to become excellent cyclists.

The tests are open to anyone, male or female, in the age range 12 to 18, though the final selections are likely to be limited to school year 8 and 9. Some of the better riders are then invited back for further tests and may eventually be invited to join the Talent Team's coaching and tracking program.

For more details of the tests and the coaching program available to successful riders, visit www.goride.org.uk.

Manchester Velodrome winter training days

The Manchester (England) Velodrome is running a series of winter training days on Saturdays starting in October. Riders do not necessarily need accreditation for these sessions as full tuition will be given for those that require it. More new additions to the program this year are two sessions for aspiring World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) U23 riders. Other sessions are included for riders with disabilities, sponsored by Access for All project [also open to visually impaired riders as tandems will be available], and a women's session.

Top kilo rider, sports scientist, and coach Jon Norfolk will also be taking a day for aspiring sprinters.

For more information on any of these sessions, or to book a place, please call the Manchester Velodrome on 0161 223 2244 or e-mail the track development officer on tdo@manchestervelodrome.com.

Tour of Hope needs volunteers

Volunteers are sought for the upcoming Tour de Hope, a ride 3,000+ mile ride across the United States to benefit cancer research. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope, run in partnership with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, will begin in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 11 at 8am at the Universal CityWalk. Volunteers are needed for the 62.5 mile kickoff ride, to help serve as road marshals, registration assistants, aid-station help, and more. Additional help is also needed for the event's final ride in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 18.

If you'd like to volunteer for either event, please visit www.tourofhope.org and sign up to volunteer or e-mail jhanscom@thresholdsports.com.

Fairy tales do come through... For some!

By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent

In many walks of life, people become an overnight success, but it was one long journey for Aidan Crowley. Aidan, deservedly received recognition after years of hard endeavour with his first Irish jersey this weekend. He is off to race in the Ronde van Zuid Oost Vlaanderen (UCI 2.6) in Belguim. From Midleton, Co. Cork, Aidan started in cycling 15 years ago as an under-12 with Eugene Moriarty from Listowel. Both went up through the ranks, whilst Moriarty gained recognition for his exploits on the bike, Crowley was still in limbo up to this weekend.

Down the years, the records show that Aidan always had a win under his belt, but the elusive green singlet was, to him, always in the next parish. This season was likened to any season that had gone before him. But, on this occasion he had trained specifically for the FBD Milk Ras and was a member of the Lee Strand-Cycleways team that won the county award in the event.

Since that triumph back in May, his progress has been steady and he has accumulated six victories. His biggest win was the Gene Moriarty event in Listowel, which was a counter in the Cycling Ireland Classic League at the beginning of August.

"You have heard of overnight success, but mine has been a long time coming, said Aidan. "I was beginning to feel that I had missed any chance of recognition, but the Moriarty race in Co. Kerry evidently has been the turning point. This race in Belgium is a three-stage race over two days. Who knows what the future holds for me now. Maybe, and only maybe, I'll base myself in France next year. I'd enjoy having a go at the criteriums which are all the rage in parts of France,” said Aidan.

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