Latest Cycling News for May 14, 2004

Edited by Jeff Jones

Petacchi on Stage 5

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)
Photo ©: Olympia

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) was surprisingly not a factor in the sprint to decide Stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia in Spoleto. The winner of two stages already, Petacchi found himself squeezed against the barriers with 500m to go by his own teammate.

"I really risked finishing up on the ground today," he commented. "I was behind while my teammate Matteo Tosatto was pulling, and when he moved from the front of the bunch, I was coming up from behind, thus risking a crash. I'm really sorry that I couldn't finish the work done by my team. On the other hand, I felt really good on the climb despite the fast pace."

Stage 5 was won by Robbie McEwen ahead of Olaf Pollack and Marco Zanotti. Petacchi will get another chance in today's sixth stage from Spoleto to Valmontone over 164 km.

Cipo still wants a stage win

Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Mario Cipollini, the all time record holder of stage wins in the Giro d'Italia, is determined to remain in the Giro for as long as possible in order to try for another stage win. The Domina Vacanze captain was badly banged up in a crash in Stage 4, which left him with 10 stitches in his shin and 4 in his elbow. He managed to survive the fifth stage (although he didn't contest the finale) and is looking forward to a new opportunity to win in Stage 6.

"My objective is to win at least a stage, it's not possible to abandon without succeeding," Cipollini told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Team director Antonio Salutini said that, "Mario slept well enough [Thursday night], while the other night he could not close his eyes. The first day after a fall is always the most critical. Now I am hopeful for the rest of the race. It won't be a stroll, but he should go better than yesterday."

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Pantani death: Four arrested

Italian police have arrested four people suspected of selling drugs to Marco Pantani, who died in a hotel room in Rimini, Italy on February 14 of a cocaine overdose. Police in Rimini are searching the homes of those arrested, as well as those of several other suspects in the case.

The coroner's report ruled that Pantani's death was from a "acute cocaine poisoning", however suicide was deemed unlikely. An investigation was opened shortly after he died.

USPRO Championships gearing up for 20th anniversary

By Cyclingnews staff

June 6 will mark the 20th anniversary of the USPRO Championship road race in Philadelphia, PA. The 156 mile/251 km race will take place over laps of a 14.4 mile/23 km circuit, including the tough climb of the 17% Manayunk Wall each lap. In a USPRO conference call, the CEO of promoting body Threshold Sports, Dave Chauner, said that the 20th anniversary of the race will be the "biggest year yet...We have a lot of activities planned to celebrate the 20 year anniversary. We are bringing back many of the past winners of the race as well as other cycling greats, and they will participate in the legends ride which will start at the Lehigh Valley velodrome and travel the 65 miles to the start line of the USPRO Championships. Phil Liggett will be here and will join in. For the Sunday we will have one of the biggest fields ever."

The race serves as the US national championships for professional riders, however, it is one of the few national championships that allows foreign riders to compete which leads to situations such as last year, when the US national champion did not actually win the race. But Chauner maintains that, "This will always be an international race. We certainly hope that it will also continue to be the USPRO championships as well."

Chauner explained further, "The thing is, 20 years ago, there was no USPRO championship, and we thought it would elevate the sport of cycling to have one. When we started the race, pro and amateur cycling was very different structurally. Pros were not even allowed to race in the Olympics. Instead of have a USPRO championships with only seven licensed US pro's, we thought we'd bring the foreigners over.

"Now that is all changing. Now we have 14 American Pro teams. The question is 'How can we continue the success of the pro championships and continue the good relationships with USA Cycling?' We are in discussions with USA Cycling about how it should work."

The CEO of USA Cycling, Gerard Bisceglia, commented that, "We should definitely have a situation where the winner of the race is recognized for accomplishing an extraordinary thing. We don't want to have one eclipse the other."

US cycling is about to lose its biggest sponsor at the end of the season with the withdrawal of the US Postal Service, but Dave Chauner doesn't see this in a negative way. "A lot of people think that a big sponsor like that leaving will be the demise of the sport. But we are seeing a lot of new teams with a lot of new sponsors in the sport. A number of companies are very interested. It's a cyclical expected situation. The fact that USPS was involved for so long is a great tribute to the sport."

The USPRO Championship is run in conjunction with the women's Liberty Classic, which was once on the UCI's women's World Cup calendar. Chauner is doubtful whether it will be run as a World Cup again. "Being a world cup has certain requirements: One being fitting into the UCI World Cup calendar," he said. "It is a larger financial commitment. The distance also has to be longer which is a problem for us. We are happy with the race now and we still get international teams showing up. The fact that the race is shorter makes it more competitive and good for the development of women's teams in the US. This year the women's race is the biggest ever. There are 150 registered riders from 28 teams. Eight of those teams are foreign."

Nally for FBD Milk Ras

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

FBD Milk Ras race director Dermot Dignam today released the start list for this year's race, with a field of 144 riders confirmed to take part. A surprise addition to the field is Paternina-Costa de Almeria professional Dermot Nally, who will line out as part of the Galway team for the race.

The 2002 Irish Under 23 champion has been taking part in many big one day events and tours since turning pro last season. He seldom returns home to race in Ireland but given the level he has been competing at in Europe, should be in a position to really make his trip worthwhile. The overall classification and stage wins will both be a realistic target for the Spanish-based Corkman.

Also likely to figure will be the Thornton's Recycling Team Ireland squad of David O'Loughlin, David McCann, Tommy Evans, Denis Lynch and Eugene Moriarty. O'Loughlin and McCann showed their good form by taking first and sixth in the Lincoln Grand Prix last Sunday.

A total of sixteen foreign teams will line out in the race, over half the field. These teams are Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Wales Stena Line, Scandinavia Team Bianchi Nordic, Slovenia Team Perutnina Ptuj, Germany Team Comnet Senges, Germany Team Stevens Von Hacht, USA Team Stelvio Teamwear-Orbis Prop, USA Team CRCA/Sakonnet Technology, USA/Britain, Liverpool Century, North Wales Team Energycycles/Principia RT, North East England, Yorkshire Team Murphy and Gunn and Surrey Racing League. This array of good squads shows the task facing the home riders aiming for success in the race.

Amongst the Irish riders lining out on May 23 will be the in-form Cycleways riders Phil and Mark Cassidy, first and third in last weekend's Noel Hammond Memorial in Ballyboghil. Phil Cassidy, who won the FBD Milk Rás in 1983 and 1999, had previously declared that his 2002 participation would be his last. However, the chance to compete alongside his son and impart some of his experience was too good to miss. Cassidy senior's change of mind will see the first ever father-son participation in the event and provides another unique angle to the race.

Those studying the start list will notice the space left beside number 94. This place was due to be occupied by Brian Lennon, the Dundrum rider to guest with the Orwell-Dundrum Shopping Centre squad for the duration of the event. However Lennon passed away suddenly last week.

"When we were drawing up the final start list I wasn't sure if Orwell were planning on drafting in a last minute replacement or not," said race organiser Dermot Dignam. "However even if they had, as a tribute to Brian we had decided to retire the number 94 for this year's race. If a fifth rider had come in we would have given them another number instead. Brian's loss is a big shock to all in cycling."

Thomas Dekker to Rabobank's top team

U23 Rabobank rider Thomas Dekker will make his debut in the pro team next season, signing a two year contract this week. The talented 19 year old finished third in the GP Pino Cerami (1.3) and rode well in the Volta ao Algarve (2.3) earlier this season, making a good impression on the team management.

"It's great for Dutch cycling that we have been able to keep Thomas on the Rabobank Cycling Team," said Rabobank's cycling CEO Theo de Rooij. "A rider that was been doing as great as Thomas over the last months is drawing lots of attention. Thomas is highly talented. I think Thomas has all the skills to perform as a professional as well."

In 2002, Dekker made his debut in the Rabobank junior team. In his first year, he was national time trial champion and won the overall standings in both the Heuvelland Tweedaagse and the Drei Etappen Rundfahrt. In his first year for Rabobank's Trade Team 3 (2003) he was a dual Dutch champion in both the road race and the individual time trial. At the World Championships in Hamilton, Canada, Dekker won the bronze medal in the road race.

This season, the TT3 directed by Nico Verhoeven is practically unbeatable. Dekker, who most often has to compete with his team members, has won six races so far: A stage win and the overall in the Tour de Normandie, Triptyque des Monts et Chateau and the Thüringen Rundfahrt.

Thomas Dekker was born on September 6, 1984 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and now lives in Dirkshorn. He is 1.88m tall and weighs 69 kilograms.

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