First Edition News for July 3, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Garzelli under the weather

Stefano Garzelli
Photo: © Sirotti

Vini Caldirola's top rider Stefano Garzelli, has not had an ideal run into the Tour. The second place getter in the Giro has been suffering from an inflamed throat, and has been taking antibiotics to try and get over it before the Tour starts on Saturday.

Maier looking forward to Tour start

Austrian skier Herman Maier has just a couple of days wait before he "fulfills a dream" and opens the Centenary Tour de France by being the first rider off in the 6.5 kilometre prologue in Paris. "We've been asking about it for a long time," he told DPA. "It surprised us that it came off for the 100th birthday of the Tour."

Maier has been training every day on the bike, although he admits he's had some problems with his time trial bike. "I had to get out the hacksaw and cut a bit off," he said. However he is looking forward to "meeting other athletes" at the Tour, as normally "you don't have the opportunity to do this."

"I wasn't really able to prepare correctly. It is simply a big honour for me to be here," said Maier, who also doesn't want to embarrass himself against the world's best riders. "But I think I will do the time trial in a better way than Lance Armstrong would complete the 'Streif (a downhill in Kitzbühel)."

Oldest starters: Udo Bölts & Viatcheslav Ekimov

The oldest starters in this year's Tour are German Udo Bölts (Gerolsteiner) and evergreen Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov (US Postal). Bölts will turn 37 in August, while Ekimov celebrated his 37th birthday in February. Bölts is in his 14th season as a pro, which will also be his last as he has announced his retirement at the end of the season. Ekimov turned pro in 1990 and retired at the end of 2001, only to be enticed back to US Postal in the middle of 2002.

Paris prepares

Lighten up
Photo: © Alain Quenderf

With two days to go, the square in front of the Paris Town Hall looks to be well ready for the teams' presentation that will usher in the Centenary Tour de France on July 4.

As you can see in these images from Alain Quenderf, lighting towers and video screens are in place. We wonder what's more nerve-wracking for the riders: the ramp up to the stage or the start ramp for the podium!

Images by Alain Quenderf

• The Tour kicks off on July 4 with a presentation of the riders here in the square of the Paris Town Hall.
• Riding that ramp is probably scarier than taking off down the prologue ramp.
• By July 2 preparations were well advanced for the presentations with video screens in place.
• Not quite the 2003 peloton in miniature.

Desgrange honoured on Maillot Jaune

The founder of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange, will be honoured in a special way in this year's historic race. The letters "H.D." will be initialed on the Maillot Jaune (leader's yellow jersey), as they were back when the race started.

Casagrande and Popovych to Brixia Tour

Casa and Popo
Photo: © Sirotti

The organisers of the Brixia Tour, which takes place between July 25-27, have confirmed the presence of Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) and Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) in their three day stage race. the race will feature 17 teams, including all the major Italian squads save for Fassa Bortolo. For the classics riders who aren't racing the Tour de France, the Brixia Tour serves as preparation for the August classics.

German rider seriously hurt in Transalp

An 56 year old German rider has been seriously injured in the Transalp Challenge, a mountain bike stage race through Germany, Austria and Italy. The accident happened between Campolongo and Corvara, when the rider crashed into a truck after he lost control of his bike on a descent. He was taken to hospital in Bolzano, where he is now recovering.

New Pro Cycling Tour event in Vail

The Threshold Sports owned and operated Pro Cycling Tour, together with the Vail Valley Chamber & Tourism Bureau (VVCTB) have announced the 2004 PCT Rocky Mountain Classic at Vail, Colorado. The first event will take place between September 3-5, 2004, a week before the T-Mobile International presented by BMC Software, on September 12, 2004 in San Francisco, the last stop on the PCT.

On September 4 and 5 will be two one day circuit road races through Vail Village and Beaver Creek, as well as a shorter criterium, which will probably be held in Vail Village. A large recreational ride is being planned for September 3. The courses and additional events are still being planned, but are expected to be announced early in 2004.

"With Vail and San Francisco back-to-back, we offer an ideal reason for cycling fans around the globe to come to the U.S. to witness our world-class cycling - American style," said Threshold Sports CEO, Dave Chauner about the new event.

The Vail Valley Chamber & Tourism Bureau believe that the three day event "will generate tremendous visibility for the Vail Valley, especially in our key markets," said Rick Chastain, VVCTB's Director of Event Marketing. "With a strong field of riders, we are positive this event will become a great annual competition showcasing the beauty of summertime in the Vail Valley to an international audience."

Vail has also been named as the Official Resort of the Pro Cycling Tour, and the VVCTB hopes to increase tourism to the valley all year round. The goal for the event itself is to attract 20,000 visitors to the Vail Valley for an average stay of four nights, representing a projected revenue generation of over seven million dollars.

British Olympic Track Cycling Trials

The British Track Cycling Team will take the first step on the road to Athens at the Manchester Velodrome between August 21-23 with the Olympic Cycling Trials, which will be held in conjunction with the National Championships. The cream of British Cycling, including all the medal winners from Sydney, will be battling it out for national glory and the opportunity to represent their country in Athens.

Although not the final selection for Athens, the trials will serve as an important marker for who will ride in the Games, and more importantly a win guarantees the rider not only a National Champion's jersey but also a place on the Olympic long team.

The trials kick off with the 1000m Time Trial, with new boy Jamie Staff taking on Chris Hoy, who won Gold in this discipline at the Commonwealth Games, and the ubiquitous Olympic Gold Medallist Jason Queally. All three will be fighting it out to take the National Title and more importantly to set out who should get the two places on the start line in Athens. The trials will also feature the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Rob Hayles in the pursuit, and Chris Newton chasing down the competition in the points.

For more information about the selection process, the trials or the riders taking part please see www.olympiccyclingtrials.co.uk. Tickets are available online or by calling 0700 594 2627.

Danielson helps collegiate cycling

Saturn's Tom Danielson's recent victory in the Iron Horse Classic in Durango has also turned into a victory for Fort Lewis College and collegiate cycling in general. After finishing almost three minutes ahead of the field, Danielson won a $2000 prize for breaking the seven year-old record set by Jonathan Vaughters in 1996. Tom donated his winnings to his alma mater to start a scholarship fund for prospective Fort Lewis riders. Durango residents Ed Zink, Don Mapel, Bob Dolphin and other local businesses contributed to the fund, bringing the total to nearly $10,000. These donations have created an incentive for prospective collegiate cyclists attending Fort Lewis College, one of the USA's top developmental cycling programs.

Danielson raced for Fort Lewis throughout his years in college and attributes much of his success to the school's cycling program and its coach, Rick Crawford. "This was my chance to give back to what made me successful," said Danielson. He is extremely passionate about using collegiate cycling programs like the ones that exist at Fort Lewis College and many other schools throughout the country as development programs.

Collegiate cycling programs provide novice and experienced riders alike with the opportunity to race and develop in a competitive atmosphere. "It is these programs that will be responsible for finding and developing the high calibre cyclists necessary for America's Olympic and professional cycling teams," maintains Nathan Drake, collegiate cycling committee member.

Danielson's and his friends' contributions have been applauded by CEO of USA Cycling, Gerard Bisceglia, who commented "It is always gratifying to see an athlete give back to their sport. Tom has a beautiful career ahead of him and his commitment to his roots just shows he's a class guy and a credit to collegiate cycling and Fort Lewis College. We hope that others seize the initiative to get involved with their local college program to facilitate the growth of cycling."

For more information on collegiate cycling programs in the U.S., please contact Natalie Mik (Tel.) 719 866 4303 (E-mail) nmik@usacycling.org.

Ghent Six secure for five more years

The Six Days of Ghent, held in Het Kuipke in the month of November each year, has a future until at least the end of 2007. The popular track event has recently been taken over by Octagon Cis, with Six Day legend Patrick Sercu in charge. Sercu has guaranteed to organise it for at least the next five years.

Speedplay makes its full debut at the TdF - and joins the Fantasy Game

Zero prizes!
Photo: © Speedplay

Making its Tour de France debut this year as full team equipment on the Team CSC bikes are the lightweight Zero pedals from US manufacturer Speedplay. Although Speedplays have been used in the TdF by riders such as Jonathan Vaughters - as he used the American pedals over the team's standard equipment - 2003 is a significant milestone for the California-based firm.

To mark the occasion, Speedplay has joined the roster of prize sponsors for the Cyclingnews 2003 TdF Fantasy Game and these lightweight, adjustable float pedals will also be on offer as prizes in the fantasy game. To play, entrants select their own dream team with the aim of accumulating as many points as possible throughout the TdF.

The Major Prize on offer is a limited-edition, Giant TCR 100 composite beauty with full Campagnolo Record groupset, 2003 Campagnolo Bora wheels, Nokon cables and a host of lightweight goodies that will result in a machine coming in well under the 7kg in weight and worth 10,000 euros. In addition, there's an autographed ONCE jersey from the TdF team, as well as a Giro helmet.

We're also offering great supplementary prizes, such as a full Veloce groupset from Campagnolo, team issue helmets from Giro and Bell, as well as the latest Arione saddle from fi'zi:k, with even more to come.

For your chance to win and for full details on all the prizes on offer in the 2003 Tour de France Fantasy Game, please visit the Fantasy Game section and register to enter your dream team. The teams list is now updated with what is likely to be the final start list.

All teams already entered into the 2003 TdF Fantasy Game are automatically eligible for the prizes.

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