Latest News for October 29, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Dean heads classy field for Tour of Southland

By Alan Messenger

Julian Dean in the Tour de la Region Wallonne
Photo: © AFP

The PowerNet Tour of Southland gets under way on Monday November 3 with one of the classiest fields in its 47 year history. Expat Kiwi Julian Dean heads the ninety strong field and he'll be out to show good form for his new bosses at Credit Agricole.

Dean comes into the six day Tour with good form. He missed a start with CSC Tiscali in the Tour de France, but won the USPRO Wachovia Classic in Trenton, New Jersey in June and in August the five stage Tour de la Region Wallonne in Belgium. More recently, the Kiwi sprinter beat Robbie McEwen in a stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge and finished second to the Aussie in another stage.

At Invercargill, Dean will line up with Gordon McCauley, Jeremy and Matt Yates and Heath Blackgrove in the Zookeepers Café team. McCauley is a previous winner of the Tour and is a three times winner of the New Zealand Road Championship. Jeremy Yates is a former World Junior Road Champion while Blackgrove is a major contender in his own right. Following on from a good season in Europe he won the National Road Championship last Sunday.

McCauley spelled out how he would feel about working for Dean in the Tour. "I'll be quite happy to put my body on the line for Jules down there," he said.

There will be plenty of riders in the international field keen to spoil the after tour party at the Zookeepers Café. Hayden Roulston is highly regarded as a young pro in Europe and his Winton Middle Pub team includes track star Greg Henderson and master tactician and eight times winner of the Tour Brian Fowler. Also in the field are two other previous winners, Scott Guyton and Glen Mitchell. Guyton won the final stage of the Sun Tour and Mitchell finished second in the National Road Race.

Last year's Tour was won by won by an American visitor John Lieswyn, and although he's not in the field this year, there will be an American team headed by seasoned pro Josh Horowitz. Also adding to the international flavour are two teams from Australia and a handful of overseas riders competing in composite teams.

The Tour has been one of New Zealand's major sporting events for many years and was first held in 1956. It began when a group of local cycling enthusiasts decided to stage a race as a "one off" to mark the Province Centennial. It's still going strong and over the years it has been won by most of the sports NZ big names including Warwick Dalton, Tino Tabak, Eric McKenzie, Brian Fowler, Jack Swart and Graeme Miller.

This year the Tour of Southland will cover 870km with 10 stages over the six days. It starts from Invercargill on Monday November 3 and finishes back in the city the following Saturday, November 8.

12th Tour de China

The 12th edition of the Toyota Cup Tour de China, a UCI 2.5 classed stage race, will take place between October 30 and November 2. Held around the city of Beijing over four stages and 600 kilometres, the race will feature 15 teams of six riders each. Included in the field are the trade teams Vlaanderen-T Interim, Giant Asia Racing Team, Marco Polo, Shimano Racing team and Team Velogistic. There will also be a number of national teams as well as three amateur teams. Riders to watch include Nico Sijmens (Vlaanderen), Glen Chadwick (Giant Asia), Jamsran Ulzii-Orshikh (Marco Polo), Hidenori Nodera (Shimano), Timo Scholz (Velogistic), Vadim Kravchenko (Kazakhstan), Koji Fukushima (Japan) and Hilton McMurdo (City of Perth).

Each stage starts and finishes in the region of Beijing, with the longest and toughest stage being Stage 2 from the Huairou Intl. Conference center to Liulimiao, taking in two long climbs of 800+ metres.

Trade Teams

Vlaanderen - T Interim
Giant Asia Racing Team
Marco Polo Cycling Team
Shimano Racing Team
Team Velogistic

National Teams

Kazakhstan National Team
Japan National Team
Korea National Team
Mongolia National Team
Hong Kong Team
Beijing Team
Chinese P.L.A. Team

Amateur/Elite Teams

City of Perth Cycling Team (Aus)
The MP Adventure Team (Ned)
The Indonesian Wismilak team (Ina)

The stages

Stage 1 - October 30: Huairou Intl. Conference Center, 140 km
Stage 2 - October 31: Huairou Intl. Conference center - Liulimiao, 210 km
Stage 3 - November 1: Miyun Sports Park Circuit, 122 km
Stage 4 - November 2: Fifth Ring Road Circuit, 98.0 km

Belgians to train in Athens

Belgian coach José De Cauwer wants to take a handful of riders with him to Athens this winter, in order to assess the Olympic Games course. "I've already spoken with Peter Van Petegem," said De Cauwer to Het Nieuwsblad. "He sees the point in it. I also certainly want to take Filip Meirhaeghe and Marc Wauters with me to Greece in December."

"I've already seen the parcours for the Games. There is one hill on the circuit. According to me this parcours will suit Peter Van Petegem better than what he'll get served at the World Championships in Verona."

De Clercq will find it tough, says De Bie

Mario De Clercq's return to the top level of cyclo-cross will be "difficult" according to Belgian coach Rudy De Bie. "In the 'crosses that he has ridden so far he was good, but also again not good enough," De Bie told Het Nieuwsblad. "The period of inactivity will not have done him much good."

De Bie has ruled De Clercq out of the Belgian team for the next World Cup on November 16 in St Wendel, Switzerland. "That will certainly be too early. Also the other riders will have to defend their classements."

Zanotti to Vini Caldirola-Sidermec

Marco Zanotti
Photo: © AFP

Italian sprinter Marco Zanotti, who has ridden for Fassa Bortolo for the past two years, will ride for the Vini Caldirola-Sidermec team next season. There he will join Giro d'Italia runner up Stefano Garzelli, and hopes to be able to challenge his former teammate Alessandro Petacchi in the bunch sprints. This year Zanotti won three races, including two stages in the Settimana Catalana (against Erik Zabel) and one in the Regio Tour (against Danilo Hondo).

Tour awards publicity caravan

The organisation of the Tour de France has awarded prizes to what it judged to be the best elements of the 2003 publicity caravan - the colourful cavalcade of vehicles that precedes the Tour by a couple of hours each day, throwing out advertising material ranging from keyrings to packets of dried sausage. In total there were 42 different brands represented in the publicity caravan in 2003. The award ceremony took place on Tuesday, October 28 at 12:00 noon in the offices of L'Equipe in the presence of Jean-Marie Leblanc, the patron of the Tour.

The major prize (Grand Prix de la caravane publicitaire 2003) was awarded to PMU, which sponsors the Tour's green jersey and is one of the four main partners of the Tour. In the "Grande Consommation" category, the jury also awarded its prize to PMU, while the public vote went to Nestlé Aquarel. In the Leisure & Services category, both the jury and the public's prize went to Terminator 3. Similarly, in the Institutional category, both awards went to Collectif Europe. The best vehicle prize was given to Gifi, while the prize for the best advertising object went to Haribo, the well known sweet manufacturer.

CapTech Classic bigger for 2004

The city of Richmond, Virginia will once again play host to the CapTech Classic in May next year. The race will be held on Saturday, May 8, in the heart of Downtown Richmond and will continue to be part of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar, featuring races for professional men and women, corporate teams, and bicycle-mounted police. New to the schedule will be a series of junior races (15-18 years old).

The racers will contest a new course in 2004 featuring considerable climbing throughout the downtown area. The professional men will be competing for $20,000, while the women will be racing for their share of $7,500. The course will start and finish adjacent to Kanawha Plaza, a park in the heart of the city that will serve as the centrepiece of the race venue. The park will host an expanded expo area, kid's events, various VIP hospitality elements, and a free concert at the conclusion of the featured men's race on Saturday night.

The race will continue to be sponsored by CapTech Ventures, Inc., the Richmond-based software consulting firm. "The event's success in its first year made it easy for us to choose to remain a sponsor in 2004," said the company's Co-Founder and CFO Slaughter Fitz-Hugh.

The CapTech Classic is operated by the CapTech Foundation, Inc., a non-profit foundation dedicated to giving back to the community through economic develop initiatives, charitable giving programs, and the promotion of active and healthy lifestyles. This year's race will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond.

More information: www.captechclassic.com

Phillipsburg Crit needs help

Russ Padgett, promoter of the Phillipsburg Criterium, is seeking help to stop the race being moved to another location. Phillipsburg merchants have a signed petition with 400 signatures to stop having the Phillipsburg Crit on South Main Street and to move it to another neighbourhood. They are planning on presenting this signed petition at the Town Council Meeting on November 10.

Russ would appreciate any support in the form of an email or your suggestions which he can take to the Town Council Meeting. If you had a positive experience at the Phillipsburg Crit or if you as a promoter have been faced with the same type of problem, please contact Russ at cyclefunattic@enter.net.

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