First Edition Cycling News for November 14, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Michael Barry: "I'm going to talk to Johan and make a plan"

By Anthony Tan

Michael Barry at the Four Days of Dunkirk
Photo: © Peter Geyer

Brimming with confidence after his recent performance at this year's World Cycling Road Championships where he placed seventh in the men's road race, US Postal presented by Berry Floor rider Michael Barry is eager to sit down with his Belgian directeurs-sportif Johan Bruyneel and Dirk Demol with the intention of stepping up to the next level in his cycling career.

"I'm going to talk to Johan and Dirk at our training camp in January, go over everything and make a plan," said Barry in an interview with Cyclingnews, speaking from his home in Colorado. "Y'know there are a lot of great races during the year, so there's a lot to pick and choose from.

A relatively anonymous figure in the peloton until October this year, this season is in fact Barry's fifth as a professional. Originally from Toronto, the lanky but powerful 27 year-old began his career at Saturn midway though 1998 after a solid ride at the Tour de l'Avenir the year prior caught the attention of a number of European and American teams, with his best results at Saturn being second place at the Canadian Road Championships and San Francisco Grand Prix in 2001. The following year, Barry earned a ride at the Vuelta a España in support of Roberto Heras before a bad crash in the first week ended his hopes of finishing his first Grand Tour.

This year, however, fortune and good form have swung the Canadian's way with a string of top 10 finishes - most notably his surprise second place at the Volta ao Algarve in February, fourth overall at the Tour of Georgia, second in the team time trial at the Vuelta a España as well consistent riding throughout to give Heras his second Vuelta win and US Postal's second Grand Tour victory, and, of course, Barry's superb ride in Hamilton.

"More than anything, it's [his ride at the World's] given me more confidence going into next season and definitely more motivated," Barry said. "I hope I get a chance at some of the Classics at the start of the year; I'd like to do Flèche [Wallonne] and Liège [Bastogne-Liège] and maybe Tour of Flanders - not necessarily for myself or whatever, but just to help out my team-mates like George [Hincapie], and I think I can do well in those races... those races always do me well.

Barry is also pumped to have another crack at the World's in Verona as well as the Athens Olympic Games, a course that his wife and T-Mobile rider Dede-Demet Barry recently reconnoitred: "Dede said it's a great course and that will be a super setting to do the Olympics; it will be an exciting race, because the course is one of attrition and selective," he said.

And, as is the case with almost every aspiring profesional rider, a place on the Tour team would be icing on the cake. "It would be a dream to make the Tour team - that's a long shot because there's so much depth - but I'm progressing and I'm just taking it race by race, so I hope I can be competitive at that level in those bigger races."

Look out for the full interview with Michael Barry to be published soon.

Llorente suspended for 18 months

Spanish rider Javier Pascual Llorente (Kelme), who tested positive for EPO in stage 12 of this year's Tour de France, has been suspended by the Spanish federation for 18 months. Llorente was the only positive case in this year's Tour, and both his A and B samples showed traces of the banned blood boosting drug. He is appealing his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and for the time being remains a member of the Kelme-Costa Blanca team until the CAS hands down its decision.

Llorente won the Vuelta a Andalucia and Vuelta a Murcia early this season, beating Lance Armstrong in the final stage of Murcia, an individual time trial.

Cassani suspended until July 2004

Italian Enrico Cassani, who tested positive in Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo this year, will remain out of action until July, 2004, according to reports in the Belgian press. Cassani was given a one year suspension by the Italian federation starting from July 11, 2003 and finishing on July 10, 2004.

Atlas takes over CCC

Polish shoe manufacturer CCC is stopping its sponsorship of the Division I CCC-Polsat team after three years of involvement. However team director Andrzej Sypytkowski has found two new sponsors - Atlas (a leading Polish building company and sponsor of a cycling team two years ago) and Hoop (drink manufacturer). Pay TV channel Polsat will stay as a co-sponsor.

Team Atlas-Hoop-Polsat has signed 10 Polish riders for 2004: Lukasz Bodnar, Marek Galinski (also an MTB rider), Seweryn Kohut, Slawomir Kohut, Jacek Mickiewicz, Polish champion Piotr Przydzial, Radoslaw Romanik, Dariusz Skoczylas, Arkadiusz Wojtas and Jaroslaw Zarebski.

Leaving the team are: Piotr Chmielewski (Pol), Bogdan Bondariew (Ukr), Tomasz Brozyna (Pol, to Action nVdia-Mroz), Andris Nauduzs (Lat, to Domina Vacanze), Ondrej Sosenka (Cze, to Aqua e Sapone), Lukasz Podolski (Pol), Krzysztof Szafranski (Pol) and Marc Weisshaupt (Ger).

Andrzej Sypytkowski is still looking for some foreign riders, perhaps from Spain or Russia. "We want to build a team around Polish riders who raced for the CCC Polsat team this year," said TV Polsat's main coordinator Henryk Sobierajski.

Bianchi stops?

According to Gazet van Antwerpen, Team Bianchi will not continue next season. The team lost its top rider Jan Ullrich to T-Mobile last month, and a number of other riders have already left the ship. Bianchi will continue to sponsor cycling teams, and GvA reports that Italian team Alessio will ride Bianchis next season.

More contract news

More fakta riders to Alessio

According to Danish site feltet.dk, Team fakta's manager Peter Sejer has confirmed the deal with Allan Bo Andresen, Rene Jørgensen (ex-fakta) and Marcus Ljungqvist (ex-Credit Agricole) to Alessio for next season. Sejer also wished to clarify that neither Team fakta nor Team Alessio had ever negotiated with Joseba Beloki, despite rumours to the contrary.

Sabido to Milaneza

Portuguese rider Hugo Sabido will ride for Milaneza-MSS in 2004, leaving his current team Barbot-Torié.

Tim Johnson to Colavita-Bolla

Tim Johnson
Photo: © Shane Goss

The recent winner of the Vic Roads Herald Sun Tour, Tim Johnson (ex-Saturn) will join team Colavita-Bolla for 2004. Johnson's addition means that the team has completed its roster for the coming season. "I feel really great to be joining a team like Colavita-Bolla," noted Johnson. "I learned a lot at Saturn, and now I can help this rising team with my knowledge. I really want to thank everyone who has supported me in my career. The list is too long to mention, but certainly my sponsors, family, friends, teammates and managers."

Johnson, a New England native, is considered one of the most talented young professionals in North American cycling. In 1999 he won the bronze medal at the U23 World Cyclocross Championships, and this year won the Herald Sun Tour as well as the tough 260km Classique Montréal-Québec and the Mount Washington Hill Climb.

The complete Colavita-Bolla team for 2004 is as follows:

Returning riders: Sebastian Alexandre (Arg), Gustavo Artacho (Arg), Juan Jose Haedo (Arg), Tyler Wren (USA)

New riders: Thad Dulin (USA, Colavita-Bolla elite amateur team), Todd Herriott (USA, Health Net), Mark McCormack (USA, Team Saturn), Ivan Dominguez (Cub, Team Saturn), and Tim Johnson (USA, Team Saturn).

Wooldridge to ComNet

Australian Stephen Wooldridge will join his compatriot and team pursuit teammate Luke Roberts in the German Division III team ComNet next season, according to Radsport-news.com. The squad will allow the pair to specifically prepare for the track events in the World Championships and Olympic Games. "Here they will find the best conditions to prepare for these events," said team director Markus Ganser to Radsport-news. "In a "big" team they would not be given the necessary freedom in order to shine on the track."

Ganser added that ComNet will sign two more riders for 2004, and the team will be able to operate on a bigger budget.

David Kopp to Lamonta

24 year old German David Kopp will leave Team Telekom at the end of this season to ride for the Lamonta team, which is aiming for promotion to Division II. Kopp said that he is looking forward to joining the team and hopes to win a few races, as he has had little success riding in the top division.

Other transfers to Lamonta include Stefan Kupfernagel (Phonak), Steffen Weigold (Gerolsteiner) and Christoph von Kleinsorgen (Bianchi). Björn Glasner (team captain) will remain with the team in 2004.

Bertolini and Ratti to Flanders

Italian riders Denis Bertolini (ex-Phonak) and Eddy Ratti (ex-Lampre) will sign contracts in the next few days with Belgian Division II team Flanders, which will be supported by a new Italian sponsor, Afin.

LPR signs Masolino

A new Italian professional team called LPR has signed 24 year old neo-professional Daniele Masolino to its squad for 2004. Regarded as a strong time trialist and climber, Masolino finished third overall in the U26 Giro d'Italia this year, as well as winning five other races. Team LPR has 13 riders so far, including Dmitri Konyshev and Angelo Lopeboselli.

2004 German championships in Freiburg

The 2004 German road championships will take place in Freiburg on June 26-27. The circuit will be a 21.5 km course starting and finishing in front of Freiburg's concert hall, travelling via Schnewlinstrasse, Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse, Basler Strasse, Lörracher Strasse, Andreas-Hofer-Strasse, Basler Strasse (again), over the Leutersberg, Schallstadt-Wolfenweiler to Ebringen, Wittnau, Au, Merzhausen and back to the concert hall. The women will race over the course five times and the men will do it nine times.

Source: Radsport-news.com

Verge NECCS resumes in Northampton, MA

The third round of the Verge NECCS takes place on Sunday, November 16 with the Cycle-Smart International (UCI Cat. 2) in Northampton, MA, USA. Most of the top riders in the US will be on hand to battle for the series leader's jersey and UCI points.

In the men's elite event, defending Verge NECCS overall winner Marc Gullickson (Redline) is on the ropes after a difficult race at Round 2, the Clif Bar/ECV Cyclo-Cross. Following that race, he is tied for the leader's jersey with US Pro Road Champion Mark McCormack (Saturn), who is still on the hunt for his first series victory.

While this race within a race will be key to watch, the race for the victory will come down to a handful of some of the best riders in US cyclo-cross today. Ryan Trebon (CCA) has been dominant recently, winning three UCI races on the East Coast, and finishing second in two others. Alongside him will be Todd Wells (Mongoose/Hyundai), who finished second to Trebon each time he won, and has himself won multiple UCI events this season. The Clif Bar duo of Jackson Stewart and Andy Jacques-Maynes will be right up in the mix, as will reigning under-23 National Champion Adam Craig (Giant). The unknown element will be the impact of Belgian cyclo-cross and mountain bike rider Ronny Poelvoorde (Duratec), who will be traveling to the US specifically for this race. Other favourites for the podium will be Jeremy Powers (NCC/BikeReg.com), the leading ranked under-23 rider in the US, Ben Turner (7-UP/Maxxis), current Junior National Champion Jesse Anthony (Hot Tubes), and 5-time Canadian National Champion Peter Wedge (Kona).

The women's elite event will again see some of the best East Coast competition squaring off against some of the best from the West Coast. Gina Hall and Carmen D'Aluisio (Clif Bar) both have been winning races left and right this season, but will be hard pressed by Verge NECCS leader, and reigning champ, Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles). Other riders to watch will be Marianne Stover (SpinArts/Gearworks), winner of the Saturn Classic Cyclo-Cross race last Saturday; Anna Milkowski (SpinArts/Gearworks), and Sarah Uhl (Saturn).

Current Verge NECCS overall leaders in the other categories are John Verheul (Cycle-Smart) in the Masters 35+, Paul Curley (SpinArts/Gearworks) in the Masters 45+, Jamey Driscoll (GMBC/Invensys) in the Junior category, and Steve Rescigno (Bethel Cycle) in the Amateur Men.

The Verge NECCS has also made changes to the day's racing schedule. The "C" race at 9 am will now be a 40-minute event, and include a B Masters category that tracks 35+, 45+ and 55+ age groups, as well as the normal C Men and B Women classes.

Following the Cycle-Smart International, the Verge NECCS will continue with the Chainbiter 5.0 Cyclo-Cross race in Farmington, Conn. on November 30th.

Bann-Lavery appointed to Ulster YDO position

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

Cycling Ireland announced today that John Bann-Lavery has been appointed to the position of youth development officer for the Ulster region. Taking over from Barry Monaghan, Bann-Lavery’s role will see him promote cycling in schools and colleges and feed the young riders into local clubs, thus helping secure the future growth of the sport.

Bann-Lavery has been involved in the sport for the past decade. Since graduating from the University of Ulster with an honours degree in International Business Studies, the 23 year old spent time in France in a promotional role for Irish Distillers. This background is one which Cycling Ireland CEO Stuart Hallam feels will be a successful basis for Bann-Lavery's work as YDO.

"John's targets with Cycling Ireland will be based around the promotion of cycling in schools and colleges and his youthful energy will be a great asset," Hallam said. "His proven flair in promoting the whiskey brand will have been a sound training ground for his new role."

Bann Lavery will visit schools and colleges within Ulster, seeking to promote cycling as a past-time and sport. He will channel interested young riders into the club and coaching scene, with the aim of achieving a growth in numbers in the short term and, ultimately, a better level of athletic performance for Irish riders due to the resulting larger pool of talent.

Anthony Rappo Memorial moved to Eastern Creek

The Marconi Cycling Club in Sydney, Australia will again be running the Annual Anthony Rappo Memorial Criterium this Sunday, November 16 2003. This is open to all riders who currently hold a racing licence. But due to ongoing Police approval dramas in the Western Sydney area, the race has had to be moved to Eastern Creek Raceway.

The entry Fee is $15 and there will be no late entry fee. $5 from race entry goes to the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. The start time is 7:30 am (all grades) as all races must be finished prior to 9:00am. Riders must sign on prior to 7:15 am - the sign-on table is behind the main grandstand, entry via Gate 1 at the end of Brabham Drive. Competitors and spectators can still enter via Gate 7 and park at the back of the pits, but they will have to go around to Gate 1 after racing for the presentations.

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