First Edition Cycling News for April 29, 2004

Edited by John Stevenson

Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme out of Giro

Organisers of the Giro d'Italia have told the management of Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme that the team will not be invited to ride this year's Giro, which starts May 8. The decision is part of the ongoing fall-out from former Kelme rider Jesus Manzano's allegations that he was systematically doped while riding for the team in 2001-2003.

According to Spanish sports paper As, which carried the original interviews in which Manzano accused the team, Giro administrator Ennio Mazzei delivered the news yesterday afternoon to José Emilio Cervera, secretary of the team's main sponsor, the government of the Valencia region, and team representative José Luis Aznar.

Cervera and Aznar had traveled to Milan to attempt to negotiate with Giro authorities, but were met with a flat announcement that the team would not be taking part. Cervera attempted to convince Mazzei that the Comunidad Valenciana is a serious and new sponsor, with no links to the team's past, and that it was guaranteeing to "clean" the team. He also pointed out that the Manzano case was still being investigated and that no verdict had been reached about the truth of Manzano's claims.

Nevertheless, Mazzei and the Giro organisers would not be persuaded, as the decision had already been taken. The key factor was not Manzano's initial claims, but the evidence he gave to investigating magistrate Rafaelle Guariniello in Turin, in which he claimed he had been doped during his participation in the Giro in 2001 and 2002.

While the decision to exclude Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme goes against the initial statements of race director Carmine Castellano, it seems likely that Giro organisers have decided not to hand Italian police a perfect excuse to repeat the raid that disrupted the 2001 race.

Armstrong considers future, says scandals "bad for cycling"

Lance Armstrong
Photo: © AFP

In an interview with French daily l'Equipe published yesterday, Lance Armstrong has revealed that he might decide to bow out of the sport if his team is unable to continue after the loss of major sponsor US Postal whose involvement finishes at the end of this year.

"I am free to choose what suits me best, for myself, my family and for the team," he said. "If the team continues under another name with a new structure and a squad as competitive, it's sure I'll be riding. Otherwise, I'll stop." He credited the US Postal Service with contributing in large part to his success in the last few years. "Without them I might not have won one Tour. They were the perfect sponsors," he said.

"Now we need to find a replacement and we are working hard for that, we have several leads and I hope that we can succeed. But nothing is certain."

It's rare for the highly-focused Armstrong to admit to looking beyond the immediate future, and as usual, he says his main focus is on this year's Tour de France and the target of a sixth straight victory. "I haven't looked at [the UCI's proposed Pro Tour structure for] 2005 because I don't know what I'll be doing then," he said. "It's April and the only thing that matters is who's going to win the Tour de France."

Inevitably, the interview touched on the subject of doping, and its effect on cycling's image and reputation. Armstrong said he believes the sport "won't die out" despite its troubles. The last few months have been particularly bad, with the death of Marco Pantani from a cocaine overdose, Jesus Manzano's allegations about the Kelme team, and the French investigation into members of the Cofidis team.

"These cases are of course bad for cycling," said Armstrong. "But cycling isn't going to die. And I still love it."

The Cofidis and Manzano cases particularly surprised Armstrong. "It was a real shock," he said. "In this specific case, I hope a trial will determine the truth. For now, it's only words, no proof."

US velodrome nears completion

Carpenters today begin laying the boards for what will be the USA's only indoor velodrome (and the second of only two in North America, along with Canada's Burnaby Velodrome), at the ADT Event Center at The Home Depot Center, Carson, California. Construction started 13 months ago on the $15 million project, the fourth sports facility to be built on the 125-acre Home Depot Center site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. The complex already includes a soccer stadium, tennis stadium and track & field facility.

Laying the track will involve 250,000 nails and about 35 miles of Siberian pine planks for the 250 metre oval. The venue's first competition will be the US national junior championships on June 30, followed by the junior world championships, July 28 - August 1.

2004 Canadian 'cross champs announced

This year's Canadian national cyclo-cross championships will take place at Saint-Anselme Park, Dieppe, New Brunswick on November 6. The event is being hosted thanks in part to a $3,000 grant from the city of Dieppe.

Reigning Canadian national champion Peter Wedge, who hails from Fredericton, New Brunswick, said he was happy to see the championships come to his home province.

Prize money boost at UK criterium nationals

The British National Criterium Championship, Hillingdon, May 23, will have a £2,000 prize list thanks to new support from the Premier Purchase Card company. Organisers say the support of the affiliated purchase card scheme has enabled them to double the prize list over the national series event held at this venue last year.

The National Criterium Championship is the first men's senior national championship to be held at the circuit. A field of over 60 of the top short distance riders in the country is expected to be contesting the 80km event over 54 laps. The championship will be at 2pm as the finale to a full day of competition for other categories.

Chocolade Jacques for upcoming races

The Chocolade Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf team has announced the riders who will represent it in several forthcoming races.

Rund um den Henninger Turm Frankfurt, Germany, May 1: Igor Abakoumov (currently ill) or Andy Capelle, Raivis Belohvosciks, Bert Hiemstra, Rik Reinerink, Christophe Stevens, Jan Van Velzen, Jurgen Vandewalle and Cezary Zamana

Four days of Dunkirk, France, May 5-9: Igor Abakoumov, Raivis Belohvosciks, Andy Capelle, Jans Koerts, Rik Reinerink, Christophe Stevens, Bart Voskamp and Cezary Zamana.

Giro d'Italia, Italy, May 8-30: Andoni Aranga, Mauricio Ardila, Florent Brard, Denys Kostyuk, Zbigniew Piatek, Maxim Rudenko, Jan Van Velzen, Jurgen Vandewalle and Geert Verheyen. Reserves: Andy Capelle, John Gadret and Christophe Stevens.

Ceramiche Panaria for Giro

The Ceramiche Panaria team has announced its line-up for the Giro d'Italia. The team will field Giuliano Figueras, Luca Mazzanti, Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio, Paolo Lanfranchi, Fortunato Baliani, Emanuele Sella, Alejandro Borrajo, Brett Lancaster, and Scott Davis.

Landbouwkrediet-Colnago for Rund um den Henninger Turm

The Landbouwkrediet-Colnago team will field the following riders at the Rund um den Henninger Turm Frankfurt, May 1: Nico Sijmens, Maxime Monfort, Geert Van Bondt, Marc Streel, MIkhail Timochine, Tomas Vaitkus, Sergey Lagutin and Yuri Metlushenko.

Cocktails for cancer

The Society for Cancer Awareness (S4CA) has announced the second annual Cocktails for Cancer fundraiser to be held at the Manayunk Brewery, Manayunk, Pennsylvania, June 4, 2004. Proceeds of the fundraiser ticket sales and raffle will be donated to Planet Cancer, a Lance Armstrong Foundation Community Participant and The Neil 'Skip' Hamsher Memorial Scholarship Fund. This year's event will feature live painting by local artist extraordinaire, Todd Marrone.

The event runs 6-9pm, June 4, 2004 at the Manayunk Brewery, 4120 Main Street, Manayunk, PA and costs $30. For more information see www.cancer-awareness.com

USA Cycling coaching deals

USA Cycling has announced deals with CyclingPeaks Software and CoachingBible.com which will allow USA Cycling certified coaches to get a discount on buying the CyclingPeaks application and using the services at CoachingBible.com. CyclingPeaks enables riders and coaches to download and plot data from power meters, providing a tool for monitoring and tuning a rider's training program, while coachinbible.com provides tools for riders and coaches to manage athlete data such as training plans and riding logs.

Hunter Allen, one of the developers of CyclingPeaks will be offering seminars in 2004 and 2005 on using the software, and CoachingBible.com and USA Cycling plan to provide training seminars on how to get the most out of the site.

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