First Edition Cycling News for January 7, 2004

Edited by Jeff Jones

Van Petegem trains in Athens

Belgian one day specialist Peter Van Petegem has been scoping out the Olympic road course in Athens this week. On Tuesday, Van Petegem did a few laps of the circuit in the pouring rain, and gave it the thumbs up. "After a couple of corners there's a long section where I can force it a bit," Van Petegem told VTM television. "It's the last time that I can start in the Games. It will become a serious goal for me."

Belgian coach Jose De Cauwer commented that, "Van Petegem agreed immediately that the parcours suited him. I have the impression that the Olympic Games are really important to him."

Vandevelde to Liberty Seguros

27 year old Christian Vandevelde will follow his U.S. Postal teammate Roberto Heras to Liberty Seguros this season, according to reports in the Spanish press. Vandevelde has been a professional since 1998, and has ridden the Tour de France as part of Lance Armstrong's successful team, however the past few years have seen him miss a lot of racing due to injury. He is a handy time trialist who rides well in the mountains and will be the team's 19th rider.

U.S. Cyclocross Worlds team named

USA Cycling has announced its complete list of representatives to the Cyclocross World Championships in Pont-Château, France from January 31-February 1, 2004. Automatic qualifiers, based on performances at the recent Cyclocross National Championships or by virtue of UCI Rankings, were announced in December. Those included Jonathan Page and Alison Dunlap in the Elite Categories, Jesse Anthony and Jeremy Powers in U23 Mens Category, and Jamey Driscoll and Tucker Thomas in the Junior Men's Category.

Full roster

Elite Men

Jonathan Page
Jackson Stewart
Andy Jacques-Maynes

Elite Women

Alison Dunlap
Carmen D'Alusio
Gina Hall
Ann Knapp
Rachel Lloyd

U23 Men

Jesse Anthony
Jeremy Powers
Alan Obye
Matt White
Michael Cody

Junior Men

Tucker Thomas
Jamey Driscoll
Konrad Lebas
Adam Switters
Andy Brooks

Belgian federation to meet with Steels' team

The Belgian cycling federation will meet this Thursday with the management of Landbouwkrediet-Colnago to discuss Tom Steels' participation in the Athens Olympic Games. Steels has expressed an interest in riding the track at the Olympics, and has recently been training with top Belgian Matthew Gilmore. In the meantime, Steels will take part in the Six Days of Bremen which takes place between January 8-13.

AIS probe to wind up at end of month

Sun Tour rider with "irregular sample" still pending

An investigation by the Australian Sports Commission, Australian Institute of Sport and Cycling Australia into a case of drug possession by an AIS rider is expected to take up to three weeks to complete, according to a Cycling Australia spokesperson. The cyclist was found in possession of the drugs in early December at the national training facility in Adelaide, which may be used by any AIS rider. If there is a case, then there will be a hearing and the cyclist will receive a penalty.

CA also clarified the situation of the rider who returned an irregular sample during last year's Herald Sun Tour. The UCI is currently handling the affair, which does not involve an Australian rider. At the moment, the UCI is awaiting the results of the rider's B sample before it declares the rider either positive or negative.

Carrigan and Day looking to retain Aussie titles

Queensland cyclists Sara Carrigan and Ben Day have their sights firmly set on winning back to back Australian Time Trial titles, which will be conducted at Buninyong from Thursday, January 15.

For Carrigan, who also won the title in 2002, the win was one of many highlights in an amazing year. She followed the Australian title with wins in the inaugural Women's World Cup in Geelong and the Geelong Bellarine Tour, along with two stage wins in the Tour de l'Aude.

Day, 25, also had a very successful 2003, following his win over hot favourite Michael Rogers. Both Day and Rogers contested the time trial at the World Championships in Canada, finishing 11th and 2nd respectively. Whilst Rogers is not expected to line up in Buninyong due to international team commitments, Day knows his task will not be an easy one against 2001 title holder Nathan O'Neill and a strong contingent of Australia's best.

Both Carrigan and Day see their results in the Australian Championships playing a major role in their efforts to qualify for the Australian team to contest the Athens Olympics. With limited spots available in the Australia team, expected to be announced late May, both know early season wins are essential.

The four-day carnival begins with the women's time trial on Thursday, January 15. All races will start at 11am, near the corner of Warrenheip and Eyre Streets, Buninyong.

Thursday, January 15 - Women's Time Trial, 28 km
Friday, January 16 - Men's Time Trial, 39 km
Saturday, January 17 - Women's Road Race, 100 km
Sunday, January 18 - Men's Road Race, 180 km

The Meilleur Motard

You've seen the great photos of cycling's top events, catching riders in the midst of their struggles to get the better of one another, battling the elements, and capturing the drama that make the highs and lows of the sport so exciting. Perhaps you haven't seen the motorcycle drivers who carry these photographers and make it all possible. Cyclingnews' Chris Henry decides it's time to introduce one of the men who helps bring the images of cycling to computer screens and magazines: l'Equipe moto driver Marc Meilleur.

I was somewhat surprised when Marc told me he has only been working as a motard for three years. Naturally I had assumed that working in the Tour and major events on the UCI calendar meant years and years of experience, which I now see as a testament to his skills and his passion for the job. In fact, Marc's first race on the job was the 2000 edition of Het Volk, a major one day race in Belgium which heralds the start of another classics season. Not a bad start, I thought, so I asked him how the experience went. Was he nervous?

"I wasn't nervous in the way you'd expect, about being on the motorcycle or in the race," he explained. "I was a pro, and I'd done races like the Four Days of Dunkerque, so I knew what to expect. I was more nervous about how well I was doing my job for the photographer."

That statement sums up Marc's dedication to the job. He knows all too well how much is involved for a photographer to get the perfect shot, and working for a paper as big as l'Equipe carries big expectations.

"L'Equipe wants the key moment," he said, thinking of races like the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. "When Van Petegem attacks and drops everybody... That's what they want in the paper the next day."

Click here for the full interview.

Selle Italia aim high in Langkawi

Although Hernan Dario Munoz, the 2002 Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi (TMLTdL) champion and last year's runner-up, is missing from Selle Italia roster now, the team remains as one of the top contenders in next month's race due to its strength in the mountains.

Munoz, who twice won the battle in Genting in 2002 and last year, has moved to 05 Orbitel. But the Colombian, along with other notable climbers in the team, has been instrumental in putting Colombia Selle Italia at the top in the Tour in 2002 and 2003. Munoz and Danielson were locked in a nail-biting battle in Genting last year with the former finally taking the stage but the letter winning the overall honours.

The past three years has seen Selle Italia performing consistently in the team competition - fourth overall in 2001, third in 2002 before finally taking the overall team champion's trophy last year. This year, with four riders from the 2003 line up forming the core of the team, Selle Italia will again be a team to watch with Climbers Fredy Gonzalez, Ruber Alveiro Marin and Jose Rujano favourites for the overall title.

Team manager Gianni Savio is putting Fredy Gonzalez, third overall behind Danielson and Munoz last year, as the lead man. Gonzalez is an accomplished rider and his long list of victories include the mountains competition in the 2001 and 2003 Giro d'Italia. The 29 year old also won the combativity competition in last year's Giro.

Gonzalez will join with seasoned campaigner and former TMLTdL King of Mountains (KOM) Ruber Alveiro Marin, who is making his third appearance in the Tour. Marin won the KOM title in 2002 and was ninth in the general classification. New to the team is former Orbitel rider Marlon Perez, who has notched stage wins in the Classico RCN and Vuelta a Colombia. The 28 year-old rider could pull off some surprises when the Tour heads for Genting on Feb 14.

Uberlino Mesa and Venezuelan Jose Rujano are the two other riders from last year's line up while Libardo Leyton joins the team for the first time.

Team roster: Fredy Gonzalez Col), Uberlino Mesa (Col), Marlon Perez (Col), Ruber Alveiro Marin (Col), Jose Rujano (Ven), Libardo Leyton (Col).

Matthew Yates to defend in Trust House Classic

2003 Trust House Cycle Classic (Tour of Wellington) winner Matthew Yates has entered one of the strongest teams yet, the Subway team, in the 2004 race in a bid to retain the title he won last year. Yates recently won the Lake Taupo Challenge and is hoping to become only the second rider in 17 editions of the tour to win back to back. The race starts on Wednesday, January 28 and finishes on Sunday, February 1.

Matthew will be joined by his younger brother and past World Junior Champion Jeremy Yates. Jeremy has been given dispensation from his professional team to stay five extra days in New Zealand to ride in the Trust House Cycle Classic before going back to Europe. Jeremy is hoping the Trust House Cycle Classic will be the start of the road to the Athens Olympics later this year.

"Our first goal is to win the Yellow jersey and KOM with myself or Jeremy," said Matthew. "We have Jason Allen for stage wins, and with Jaaron [Poad] and Gordon [Bearman] they are more than capable of taking the sprint jersey. We are a team of five leaders who are 100 percent committed to riding for each other to give Subway to back to back victories in the tour."

Wildside MTB launched in Tasmania

One of Australia's highest profile mountain bike races, Wildside MTB, was officially launched in Deloraine, Tasmania on Tuesday by SBS sports presenter Michael Tomalaris, host of the Cycling Central television programme. "The event offers the true mountain biker a little bit of everything and from what I've seen so far, only the strongest and best riders survive," said Tomalaris.

Tomalaris added that mountain biking has reached a new audience around Australia and events like Wildside MTB go a long way in promoting this type of cycling discipline even further. "Wildside MTB was popular in 2003 and it looks to be even bigger this year," he added.

Wildside MTB 2004 will run from January 31 till February 3 and will include stages in Cradle Mountain, Que River, Stirling River, Montezuma Falls, Spray Tunnel, Granville Harbour and Hells Gates. The race has attracted a capacity field of 309 riders from Australian state and territory as well as riders from America and New Zealand. The event caters for open, veterans, masters and under 23 riders in both genders.

Dual (and defending) champion Sid Taberlay of Hobart heads the list of 134 men's open entrants, but he can expect tough opposition from three-time Australian champion Paul Rowney of NSW, 2002 World Junior Champion Trent Lowe of Victoria and the reigning Oceania Under 23 champion Shaun Lewis of Sydney.

Other high profile entrants that will compete in Wildside MTB include Victorian Alistair Farley, winner of the 2003 Oceania Under 19 Championship, Queenslander Lisa Mathison, winner of two world junior championships and is the reigning Australian champion for elite women and Sydney's Niki Gudex, winner of the 2003 National Series.

The stages

Stage 1 - January 31: Cradle Mountain, 16 km
Stage 2 - January 31: Que River, 20 km
Stage 3 - February 1: Stirling Valley, 13 km
Stage 4 - February 1: Montezuma Falls, 27 km
Stage 5 - February 2: Spray Tunnel ITT, 5 km
Stage 6 - February 2: Granville Harbour, 22 km
Stage 7 - February 3: Hells Gates, 36 km

Past winners

Year Men                Women

2002 Sid Taberlay (Tas) Mary Grigson (ACT)
2003 Sid Taberlay (Tas) Eleanor Patterson (Tas)

More information: www.wildsidemtb.com

Cycling Ireland greets the New Year

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

Chris Boardman
Photo ©: Shane Stokes

Cycling Ireland started the 2004 off on a good footing with a well organised and presented pre-season meeting on Sunday at the ALSAA club near Dublin Airport. Olympic selection criteria, the international race programme for 2004 and the mentality necessary for success were just three of the many topics covered by the speakers which included former Olympic and world champion Chris Boardman and double world rowing champion Sam Lynch.

The session got underway with advice from Lynch about the approach needed for top level success. The 2001 and 2002 lightweight single sculls world champion said that three things were necessary for success; physical talent, a good support structure and also the mental approach adopted by the athlete. Of these, he pinpointed the latter as being the most important.

"I have seen guys who on paper didn't have all the talent but through application, they got there," he stated. "They were perhaps told that they didn't have all that was required but refused to accept that, working hard and going on to big things."

Lynch said that having the determination and drive to train day-in, day-out was a huge part of success. "Winning world championships and qualifying for the Olympics is really secondary to the mundane necessity of training," he said, pointing out that studies have shown that 10,000 hours of training is necessary to realise your potential, from the moment you take up a sport. "Working hard, day in and day out is what is needed to get the most out of yourself."

After Lynch's motivating contribution, former top cycling professional Chris Boardman gave his pointers to the riders present. Self depreciating at times, Boardman spoke of the obsessive tunnel vision which enabled him to become Olympic champion, Tour de France prologue winner and world hour record holder. "There are two types of riders," he suggested. "Those that want to win and those who need to win. The first group want to see how far they can go and are positively motivated. The second group is motivated by the fear of failure. I fell into this group but don't think it is a particularly healthy drive. In fact, I would almost say it (that attitude) is almost a form of mental illness."

"A lot of champions come from the second group. They are not necessarily well-rounded people but that is where their drive comes from. They need to win and this causes them to push themselves to their limits."

Highlighting the effect of his obsessive drive, Boardman spoke of an occasion when his wife was pregnant. "She went into labour and went into hospital. Nothing was happening so I drove across the country to check out a course for a time trial the next day. It probably wouldn't have made a huge different to my performance to see the course, but I did it anyway. I am not particularly proud of what I did, looking back, but it gives an insight into the mindset I had at the time."

Although Boardman clearly sees his previous focus as excessive - "thinking back, it is like looking at a different person," he said, he nevertheless stresses the importance of this area. "It is mental traits which make the difference (in achieving success). I don't really think that I was all that talented as a rider. But I had a huge level - maybe an unhealthy level - of application and that is what helped me achieve what I did."

Boardman stated that there are three factors of crucial importance. Self belief, motivation that is unaffected by failures and a willingness for the cyclist to dedicate themselves to an almost-unhealthy degree. The correct application of this mindset, he said, was also important. "A mindset can be defined as a systematic approach to the search for a solution to a given problem. In cycling terms, that means that you should identify a goal, work out if it is attainable and then figure out how you would move toward that goal."

Using his Olympic and Tour de France success as an example, he talked about how he built up for those major targets. There was some important advice, however: "You should have a maximum of three major goals in a given season. Any more than this means that you will not be able to get yourself up enough, mentally, for each one...It is also important to stay focussed on these big targets. There were times when I was going well and the team asked me to try to do something in a race. I had to say to them that continuing to build form for a major objective was more important. In other words, you shouldn't let yourself get distracted. It was not always easy saying that to the people who sign the cheques, but that is what I had to do."

Interestingly, Boardman gave an insight into the amount of pressure he was under in the run up to the Tour de France each season. "My career depended on eight minutes each year, really. The first stage of the Tour was crucially important. By and large I delivered on that, but the week before the race was absolutely horrendous in terms of stress."

"Whatever big goal you have set yourself, you will have to deal with this sort of pressure. You just have to accept that it is a normal feeling under the circumstances and keep focussed."

Photography

Images by Shane Stokes/irishcycling.com

• Double world rowing champion Sam Lynch was the first speaker, giving a good insight into the mentality necessary for excellence.
• Phil Collins of Cycling Ireland has injected considerable energy into the organisation of late.
• Attendance was good at the meeting with a healthy number of junior riders showing up
• Cycling Ireland brought former Olympic champion Chris Boardman across.
• Chris Boardman gave an entertaining and insightful talk, which revealed some of the pressures of the pro life
• A year ago Martin O'Loughlin was sidelined from racing with a broken collarbone. Twelve months on, he's back to international duty, but this time as Olympic team manager. He's got a busy year ahead.

Bottoli Artoni-Zoccorinese meet

Italian U23 team Bottoli Artoni-Zoccorinese will hold its first training camp of the new season. The squad, directed by Secondo Volpi, will base itself in Pietra Ligure until January 15. The team contains 15 riders, including Italian national team rider Aristide Ratti and the promising young Francesco Gavazzi.

CCB/Volkswagen 2004

CCB/Volkswagen has announced its roster for 2004. After a solid 2003, the team now has three women's national champions in Catherine Bearce, Louise Barriss and Mary Ann Martinez, while the Elite veterans had another great season in winning the overall masters point championship for the Massachusetts region. With the transfer of Tim Johnson to Saunier Duval in Spain and the continued excellence of Tyler Hamilton, CCB/Volkswagen is the home club of the only two New England riders ever to ride for Division I teams.

Click here for the full team roster.

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