First Edition Cycling News for February 19, 2004Edited by John Stevenson Final addio for Pantani in Cesenatico"Goodbye Marco, goodbye baby, goodbye beautiful boy."By Tim Maloney, European Editor
After an all-night funeral procession and vigil Tuesday by his faithful tifosi, where thousands passed by his coffin in the church of San Giacomo, Marco Pantani was laid to rest Wednesday in his hometown of Cesenatico, Italy. An estimated twenty thousand mourners, with many arriving by bicycle and clad in Pantani's team wear, bid him a final farewell today. Pantani's funeral was held in the small portside church, where he wore a new blue suit and his trademark bandana in black. Bishop Antonio Lanfranchi of Cesenatico celebrated a private funeral mass for Pantani, while outside, the incredible press of Marco's most ardent tifosi rode an emotional roller-coaster as perhaps the last people's champion in the sport of cycling was put to rest. Among those present besides Pantani's mother Tonina, father Fernado and sisters were his good friend and manager Manuela Ronchi, skier Alberto Tomba, Pantani's confidant and former sports director Giuseppe Martinelli, former teammate, world champion Igor Astarloa, Davide Cassani, Gianni Bugno, Francesco Moser, Marco Velo, Michele Bartoli and his good friend Tour de France winner Charly Gaul were among the sport and political figures who came to honour the memory of Marco Pantani today. Bishop Lanfranchi invoked a blessing of godspeed for Pantani, saying "God, give [Pantani] the strength to cross the finish line of his most important race, to get to heaven." Amid the tears, Mamma Tonina Pantani hugged Marco's coffin and poignantly wished her son farewell on his final journey, saying "goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Marco, goodbye baby, goodbye beautiful boy." As part of Pantani's eulogy, Manuela Ronchi read the former champion's bitter, cutting and confused declarations scribbled in the empty pages of his passport, illustrating the tortured state of mind that Pantani faced in his final days. "For four years, I've been in every court... I've lost my desire to be like other sportsmen. I've been humiliated for nothing, I want to be like the other sportsmen but I'm going through humiliation like all my colleagues. But cycling is paying for this because a lot of guys have lost any hope of justice. And I'm suffering with this declaration of truth, writing in my passport-because the world has to decide whether all my fellow cyclists have gone through humiliation, in their rooms with hidden cameras that will destroy families. I don't know why I stopped myself in these moments of anger. If I made mistakes I'd like to know that there is proof, but when my sporting life and above all my private life was violated... I lost a lot. "Hasta la victoria is a great motto for a sportsman, but it's much harder to give your whole heart for a sport. I hope my story is an example even for other sports; the rules should be the same for everybody. I was always afraid of being spied on at home, in hotels and by TV cameras. I ended up hurting myself to not give up my intimacy, the intimacy of my girlfriend and of other colleagues who also lost, of other families who like me were attacked. Take a look what a cyclist is... they can't hurt the families of the athletes. Someone's dreams can end up shattered by drugs, but only after (ones) sporting life. If some humanity helps us understand and asks what makes us hope, when you make a real mistake you understand and you fight with your heart. "This document is the truth. My hope is that real men or women can read it and defend equal rules in sport for everybody. I'm not a liar, I feel hurt and everybody who believed in me has to speak out." Pantani's coffin finally emerged from the church into the cold, raw afternoon just before 4pm at the end of an emotional funeral procession of elaborate bouquets of flower tributes and framed jerseys from Pantani's career, including his maglia azzuro from his bronze medal ride in the 1995 world championships in Colombia as well as maglie rosa from his Giro wins and the maillot jaune from his historic 1998 Tour de France victory. For Pantani's final journey, his solemn funeral cortege traveled two kilometers to the Cesenatico cemetery, with the way lined by thousands of mourners paying final respects to Magico Pantani, Il Pirata, Marco Pantani. More photos from Marco Pantani's funeral. Moncoutié takes a tumbleFrenchman David Moncoutié suffered a particularly painful fall in Tuesday's Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy. The Cofidis climber was part of a twenty man group before he ended up off the road and out of the race. Several hours in the hospital for x-rays and three stitches on the knee later, Moncoutié appears to have escaped without serious injury and could still start this weekend's Tour du Haut Var as planned. "One of the riders [in the break] misjudged a turn and sent him over the edge," Cofidis directeur sportif Alain Deloeuil explained in Wednesday's l'Equipe. "He plunged down a ravine and his fall was stopped by the underbrush. He was completely scratched up and his helmet exploded." Moncoutié's teammate Cédric Vasseur was also forced to abandon in Laigueglia, suffering from gastro-intestinal woes. Easy start for ArmstrongLance Armstrong started his 2004 season a few days early yesterday at the Volta a Algarve, finishing with the main bunch, along with all his US Postal-Berry Floor team-mates. "Armstrong isn't here to win," USPS directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel told the Associated Press after the stage. "We need to get up to speed, get some competitive miles behind us. The Algarve is ideal because it's not too hard for this early part of the season. For the first day of racing, it went OK. [Armstrong] is feeling fine, there were no problems." Top women head to Australia for Geelong World Cup & TourA world class field will assemble in Australia this weekend to contest the Geelong Tour ahead of the Geelong World Cup, the opening round of the UCI (International Cycling Union) Women's Road World Cup Series. The Geelong World Cup will be raced on Sunday February 29 and the Geelong Women's Tour from February 22 to 25. It is the second time the World Cup has been staged in Geelong and the sixth time Australia has hosted a round of the international World Cup series. Thirt-year-old Olivia Gollan from Newcastle, NSW, Australia will be out to defend her Geelong Tour crown but will face tough opposition from international and Australian riders including recently crowned dual Australian champion (road race and time trial) Oenone Wood, 23, (ACT), last year's runner up Victorian Katie Mactier, 28, reigning German time trial champion and world ranked number three, Judith Arndt, 27, world number two Mirjam Melchers, 28, (Netherlands) and Queensland's Sara Carrigan, 23. This year the Geelong Tour kicks off with an 8km individual time trial, a move welcomed by Gollan. "I think it's a really great way to start a tour because it puts the strongest person in the lead from day one," said Gollan who last year staged an audacious solo breakaway on the opening criterium stage to take the Tour lead. "It's a race of truth and gives the person with the best legs the opportunity to at least put themselves in the race. "I'm looking forward to it and to the rest of the tour as well." But Gollan is not looking forward to the climb on Stage 4 which proved a real test for the women last year. "Just the thought of it makes me cringe," said Gollan. "The hill may well be the deciding factor but whoever is good in the time trial will get over the hill as well." 2003 Geelong World Cup winner Carrigan is also looking for back-to-back wins and to clinch a result in the Geelong Tour. She says she was disappointed to finish second in the time trial and third in the road race at the BMC Software Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat in January. "I didn't get a win in Ballarat or in Adelaide [at the Australian Criterium Championship] so I reckon a win is coming up somewhere in the Geelong Tour or the World Cup," said Carrigan who will ride for the Queensland Academy of Sport team in Geelong before heading to Europe to rejoin her Dutch-based professional team. "The World Cup will be a heavily sought after win for riders trying for Olympic [qualifying] points," said Carrigan. "There will be a lot of hungry girls out there so it should be a tough race." But world number ten Carrigan is keen to defend her crown. "My win last year made my season," she said. "It was an unbelievable feeling to win in front of an Australian crowd and I will always treasure my win in Geelong. The feeling of winning my first World Cup will be with me forever." Carrigan held the World Cup leader's jersey until the fifth of the nine rounds and ended the World Cup series ranked fourth. She says the international riders particularly enjoyed heading to Geelong for the early season training and racing. "Every rider in the peloton seems to want the opportunity to experience our hot summers and relaxed lifestyle, not to mention the kangaroos," she laughed. "They have also experienced first hand how well our summer training and racing prepares us for the season. But the major attraction is the World Cup. "The World Cup proves who is consistently the best rider in the world and to begin the season as the leader brings many expectations and pressure but is a wonderful way to begin the quest of being the World's best," Carrigan said. The two events also provide an ideal opportunity for Australian competitors to mix it with the world's best. "The Geelong Tour and World Cup in Australia provides a valuable block of international racing, which inevitably grants a wonderful head start for us for the season," said Carrigan. "This head start breeds confidence, which then snowballs from one result to the next and it's saw six Australian women ranked in the world's top 30 at the end of the 2003 season." The Geelong Tour will be staged in and around Geelong, the picturesque Bellarine Peninsula and the You Yangs Regional Park. Geelong Tour stagesStage 1 - February 22: Portarlington Time Trial, 5.30pm, 8km The Geelong World Cup will get underway at 10.00am on Sunday February 29th. The riders will contest 119.2km, 8 laps of a testing 14.9km circuit with the start / finish on Brougham St near the Geelong Waterfront. Racing action will be broadcast to a big screen near the finish line to keep spectators up to date with the racing action. Race information, course maps and start lists are available via the Geelong World Cup website at www.geelongworldcup.com. CapTech Classic adds sponsorsOrgaisers of the CapTech Classic in Richmond, Virginia on May 8, have announced the addition of Bank of America and UnitedHealthcare to the list of sponsors for this year's event. They join ECPI Technical College, sponsor of the men's invitational race, and the Virginia Department of Health, sponsor of the junior races, as presenting sponsors for the race to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond. As well as expressing their gratitude to all the events sponsors, CapTech organisers also announced that the event's junior races, including categories for boys and girls ages 15 to 18, have received the Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Series (LAJORS) designation from USA Cycling. LAJORS events, the premier junior races in the country, provide young athletes the opportunity to qualify for USA Cycling regional development camps, consideration for the U.S. National team, and ultimately and opportunity to compete in future Olympic Games. The races will be sponsored by the Virginia Department of Health's Center for Injury and Violence Prevention (CIVP), the sponsor of last year's women's race. Steamer racing 2004After a successful freshman year on the BC and Northwest racing circuit, Steamer Racing has made some exciting additions for 2004. Rocky Mountain Bicycles returns as frame sponsor to launch their new line of Solo road bikes. Full Steamer Racing team roster FIAC announces 2004 seriesThe Federation of Independent Associations for Cycling (FIAC) has announced its 2004 National Points Series that will include seven race meets from Illinois to the West Coast. There will be separate points competitions for elite women, elite men, junior men and master 35+ men, though not all of these classes will compete in every race meet. 2004 FIAC seriesRace 1 - May 8: Monsters of the Midway Criterium; Chicago, IL For more information see www.fiac.us
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