Latest Cycling News for February 13, 2004

Edited by Jeff Jones

Virenque close to home victory in Med

Richard Virenque (Quick.Step)
Photo ©: Lars Rønbøg

In yesterday's second stage of the Tour Méditerranéen, Richard Virenque (Quick.Step-Davitamon) came within just a few hundred metres of claiming a victory on home soil. The stage was run between Le Londes and Hyères in the department of Var, where Virenque lives, and he was clearly eager to take home the win. Together with Frederic Bessy (Cofidis), Virenque attacked on the Col de Fourches with 67 km to go, building up a lead of 4 minutes until the Rabobank and Ag2r teams started to chase. The pair were caught by Jörg Jaksche (CSC) with 20 km to go, but by then the peloton was getting too close. The break lasted inside the final kilometre, but Virenque had to watch as his teammate Paolo Bettini flew by to take the stage win.

"I am disappointed, because I thought I would finally have the opportunity to win at home, but there is still a gap in form between the riders," Virenque was quoted by Reuters. "Me, I only had four stages of the Mallorca Challenge in the legs, this was without a doubt not enough.

Tour of Med: six riders delayed 36 minutes

Starting the first stage of the Tour Méditerranéen an hour early turned out to be a good idea for six riders, who were led off the parcours by a policeman in Nice. Scott Sunderland (Alessio Bianchi), Jean-Patrick Nazon (AG2r Prévoyance), Bradley Wiggins (Credit Agricole), Michael Blanchy (Chocolade Jacques), David Dumont and Jean Michel Tessier (Oktos) finished nearly 36 minutes down as a result, and were in fact outside the time cut for the stage. However they were allowed to start again in stage 2 after the organisers ruled that it was not the riders' fault.

Roger de Vlaeminck stops with Saey-Deschacht

Roger de Vlaeminck has decided to quit his job as the trainer for the John Saey-Deschacht cyclo-cross team. The four time Paris-Roubaix winner wants to spend more time with his family, and will also take up a job with Noël Demeulenaere.

De Vlaeminck was the personal trainer of Ben Berden, but the two had a falling out after the World Championships when Berden criticised him for not being there. De Vlaeminck was looking after his sick mother at the time and Berden did not realise this. "My full understanding for his situation, I didn't know that it was so bad," commented Berden in Het Laatste Nieuws. "The seriousness of the situation was not clear to me before. Now I've read about it, I can assess it better. It's disappointing that it had to happen this way."

De Vlaeminck said that Berden's comment was the straw that broke the camel's back. "In any case I planned to spend more time with my family," he said.

Teams and riders for Giro Della Liguria

The fourth edition of the Giro Della Liguria takes place between Friday, February 13 and Sunday, February 15 in the Italian provinces of Imperia, Savona and Genova. The race consists of three stages, varying between 133 and 155 km in length. The following teams and riders have been confirmed as starters:

Fassa Bortolo (Pozzato, Vandenbroucke)
Lampre (Vainsteins)
Tenax (Klemencic, Loda)
Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' (Di Grande)
Alessio Bianchi (Lunghi, Noè)
Domina Vacanze (Scarponi, Simeoni)
Acqua & Sapone-Caffe' Mokambo (Rodriguez, Ferrigato, Nocentini)
LPR Brakers (Konyshev, Aggiano)
Miche (d'Aniello)
Amore & Vita-Beretta (Carlstrom)
Gerolsteiner (Faresin, Hondo, Markus and Beat Zberg)
Lotto - Domo (Moerenhout)
Cofidis (Casper, Lelli)
Landbouwkrediet - Colnago (Popovych)
Navigators Insurance (Davidenko, McKenzie)
Nippon Corporation (Guerini)
Icet - Buca Del Gatto (Khalilov, Gainidtinov)

The stages

Stage 1 - February 13: Castellaro-Castellaro, 155km
Stage 2 - February 14: Andora-Pietra Ligure, 147km
Stage 3 - February 15: Mignanego-Arenzano, 133km

Rona begins its fourth season

Canadian women's team Rona will begin its fourth season today with the Valley of the Sun Stage Race, a three stage race that has become the traditional launch of the cycling season in North America. The team for the event will consist of: Kathryn Curi (USA), Katrina Grove (USA), Andrea Hannos (Can), Geneviève Jeanson (Can), Anna Milkowski (USA) and Émilie Roy (Can).

The team has also released its preliminary calendar for the 2004 season:

Feb. 13-15: Valley of the Sun Stage Race, Phoenix, AZ
March 5-7: Tucson Bicycle Classic, Tucson, AZ
March 18-21: Pomona Valley Stage Race, San Dimas, CA
March 23-28: Redlands Bicycle Classic, Redlands, CA
April 17-18: European race (TBA),
Apr-21, Flèche Wallonne, Huy, Belgium
April 22-24: Australian National Track Championships*, Sydney, NSW
April 28-May 2: Tour of the Gila, Silver City, NM
May-23, Housatonic Classic, Connecticut
May-29, Montreal World Cup, Montreal, QC
May 31-June 3, Tour du Grand Montréal, Montreal, QC
Jun-06, Wachovia Liberty Classic, Philadelphia, PA
June 9-13: Nature Valley Grand Prix, Minnesota
June 16-19: American National Championships *, Redlands, CA
June 24-27: Canadian National Championships *, Kamloops, BC
July 2-5: Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic, Fitchburg, MA
July 16-18: Tour de Delta, Delta, B.C.
Jul-21, Tour de Gastown, Vancouver, CB
July 23-25: Tour de White Rock, White Rock, CB
July 26-Aug. 1: The International, Altoona, PA
Aug. 14-18: OG, road races *, Athens, Greece
Aug. 29-Sept. 1, Green Mountain Stage Race, Burlington, VT
Sept. 12: T Mobile Grand Prix, San Francisco, CA
Sept. 27-Oct. 3: World Championships *, Verona, Italy

Olympic Champions confirmed for Revolution 3

Reigning Olympic Team Sprint Champions Arnaud Tournant and Florian Rousseau together with compatriot Gregory Bauge have been confirmed for the Revolution 3 track meeting in Manchester on February 28. The trio will face off against the British team sprint squad in an important pre-Olympic test.

"We need to try and take a look at as many different options throughout this season as possible in racing opportunities so I think we'll be using 'Revolution 3' as an opportunity to test the team sprint against the French," commented British Sprint Coach Iain Dyer.

Tournant is a multiple World Champion in the Kilo and Sprint and holds the world record in the Kilo. Rousseau is the Olympic Keirin Champion as well as holding the Team Sprint title. The final member of the French squad, Gregory Bauge, is an unknown quantity but already has two Junior World Track titles to his name and is strongly tipped by the French Cycling Federation to be the next Tournant.

More information: www.cyclingrevolution.com

New formats for Sea Otter

The Hyundai Sea Otter Classic Cycling Festival returns to the Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, California, USA between April 15-18. The event caters for both the road and mountain biking disciplines, and plans to offer some new features this year.

To begin with, the first ever "Super XC" mountain bike race will be held as Stage 1 of the Pro/Elite MTB Stage Race. Based on motorcycling's Supermoto format, the Super XC course covers a 3 mile circuit that is 50% dirt, 50% pavement, and climbs to the top of Laguna Seca Raceway's famous "corkscrew". The new format is expected to challenge riders' fitness, bike handling, and tactical nerve.

Another change to the Sea Otter Classic will be the relocation of the Mountain Cross course, which will move from the outer rim of Laguna Seca to a new spot closer to the heart of the venue, just above the main start/finish line for the road races.

Also new are two extended recreational rides: an expanded Road Century and new 50 mile Mountain Bike Epic. The former will cover many of the roads used in Pro/Elite Road Stage Race's Carmel-Salinas Valley Road Race; the latter will feature brand new trails on recently opened portions of BLM lands.

Giant/Dark Horse Brewery MTB team

The newly formed Giant/Dark Horse Brewery Professional Mountain Bike Team is comprised of two professional, NORBA licensed cross-country riders based in the state of Michigan, USA: Susan Schubel and Alicia Mayer. For 2004 the team's goal is to be competitive in Michigan and key Mid-West races. The team will also be represented at each of the National Championship Series (NCS) events, where in the tradition of being the "Dark Horse", the team aims to post competitive results while remaining Michigan-based.

Click here for the full announcement.

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