First Edition Cycling News for October 23, 2004

Edited by Jeff Jones

Wiggins wants three Olympic golds

After winning the gold medal in the Individual Pursuit at this year's Olympics in Athens, Britain's Brad Wiggins seems to have no intention of resting on his Olympic laurels. Instead of devoting the rest of his cycling career to road racing, Wiggins has said that he intends to be back in four years time in Beijing to defend his Olympic title...and beyond that in 2012 for a possible third gold medal.

With his abilities on the track, Wiggins would make a perfect prologue specialist, and that could see him take the yellow jersey in the Tour de France at some point in the future. But the 24 year-old Credit Agricole rider is undecided as to his plans for the road, telling BBC Sport that they depended on his motivation. "Cycling is a funny sport and there is so much I can do, but it's got to come from me and the drive has got to be there," said Wiggins. "I don't know if I've got what it takes to be on the continent every day of the year. I still haven't thought about that.

"All I know is that in four years I want to defend my Olympic title. The thing that has always driven me was winning Olympic gold. I thought it would disappear after I had done it once, but the desire is still there to win another one, and then another one hopefully. My long-term plan is to win three on the trot. That would be finishing at 32 in 2012 as three-times Olympic champion. That's my ultimate goal."

For the first time since he won in Athens, Wiggins will be in action this Saturday in the Revolution 5 meet in Manchester, Great Britain.

Ludewig to Domina

German Jörg Ludewig will leave Saeco for Domina Vacanze next season. "This is the biggest chance of my career," Ludewig told Radsport-News.com. "The Pro Tour is the Champions League of cycling. The fact that Domina Vacanze is part of it is a huge motivation. In 2005 I'll aim for the Belgian classics, the Tour of Germany and the Tour."

Quick.Step for the weekend

This weekend will see the Quick.Step-Davitamon team in action for the last time, riding the Firenze Pistoia time trial in Italy on Saturday and the Japan Cup on Sunday. Michael Rogers will be Quick.Step's sole representative in Firenze-Pistoia, while the team for the Japan Cup will be Davide Bramati, Kevin Hulsmans, Patrik Sinkewitz, Bram Tankink and Jurgen Van Goolen.

UCI doping news

The UCI has announced that the following riders have been sanctioned (or cleared) for doping offences:

Yoann Picard, cleared by the French Cycling Federation on July 5, 2004.
Karina Sorensen, sanctioned by the Danish Cycling Federation, disqualified from the Redlands Bicycle Classic (USA) on March 27, 2003, fined CHF500 and suspended 1 month from June 16-July 16, 2004.
Dave Bruylandts, sanctioned by the Belgian Cycling Federation, fined CHF10,000, suspended for 18 months with 30 months deferment from October 1, 2004 to March 31, 2006.
Jorge Luis Torre, sanctioned by the Portuguese Cycling Federation, fined CHF2,000.

Giro management changes

The organiser of the Giro d'Italia, RCS Sport, has announced changes to its management for 2005. Giro race director Carmine Castellano, who has been in that role since 1989, will become a technical consultant, while Angelo Zomegnan will take over as Director of Sporting Events and Matteo Pastore will be responsible for commerce and marketing. Zomegnan and Mauro Vegni will handle the operation and administration of the Giro.

Venezuela candidate for Junior World's

The president of the Venezuelan Cycling Federation (FVC), Artemio Leonett, has announced that Venezuela is a candidate to host the Junior World Track and Road Championships in 2006. Venezuela has already been confirmed as hosting the Junior Pan-Am Championships in 2006, and will meet with the UCI in St. Wendel next January to discuss its candidature for the Junior World's. Venezuela last hosted the World's in 1977, in San Cristóbal.

New direction for Irish women's racing

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

The recent AGM of Cycling Ireland's women's commission has brought about a number of changes to this wing of the sport. There has been a shift in direction for 2005 and beyond, which is hoped will help things to continue to progress. The women's commission has decided to work more closely with CI's other commissions, with the regional federations, and with the clubs in order to try to build on the gains of recent years vis-à-vis the amount of riders taking up the sport.

"We came up with a number of items at the meeting which were all voted on and agreed," Chairwoman Valerie Considine said yesterday. "First off, we have changed the focus to the development end of things. We want to ensure that the current batch of women stay in the sport while also doing what we can to try to get new people involved. The plan is to design a viable programme for next year and beyond. Working more closely with the other commissions such as track, mountain biking and underage is important, and so too to work with the regional federations and the clubs. The idea is that any women who are members will get channeled into becoming involved with the women's commission, and so this will bring everyone together."

One area that Considine feels needs to be addressed is that of selection for national and international events. She said that this was an area where some people expressed dissatisfaction and so, from now on, there will be clear selection criteria laid out.

"There will a performance-based ladder from next season onwards," she explained. "We will categorise races, in terms of what is required to gain selection. Riders will have to have satisfied certain criteria to go to top international races, while there will be different criteria for races such as the Danny Boy. Obviously riders won't have to achieve as much to be considered for teams for national events. The aim of all this is the make things a bit more transparent so people know exactly what they have to do."

In order to facilitate the goal of assisting development, the current Classic League will be replaced by a National League next year. Aside from the name change, the difference between the two is that the system will be run on a handicapped basis, helping those who are new to the sport to take part.

The women's commission will also be pushing to have a separate time slot for the national road race and time trial championships, a decision which was no doubt prompted by the confusion at this year's RR champs in Sligo. There, the elite men caught the women's group during their race, disrupting the flow of the contest and causing a potentially dangerous situation. Running the race a couple of hours in advance of the men's event - or even the day before - is seen as the logical choice.

Last Saturday's meeting produced another big change in that Mick and Dolores Usher, who have greatly helped the development of this wing of the sport, have stood down from their roles due to other commitments. Valerie Considine will remain on as chairwoman while Orla Hendron has undertaken to run the Boot Inn and National League events in 2005. Roisin Kennedy will continue to provide web coverage and will also act as the rider representative, while Tarja Owens and Louise Moriarty will be the reps for MTB and track.

Considine says that the commission will be working closely with CI's high performance group from now on. "We hope that the group will be able to come up with a replacement for Mick Usher - he was acting as manager so that role will have to be filled. We will be working with the group in relation to funding and the development of a good programme, and also in considering the possibility of getting in a dedicated women's coach."

Commission representatives will have a number of meetings shortly with the CI high performance group, deciding where money needs to be spent. They will make a submission on this area to the Irish Sports Council in November.

"Things are going to change quite a bit for next season," Considine said. "The approach will be more scientific, with tests to determine the level of ability of the riders. There will also be a greater input from the high performance group. They will decide if a team is to be sent away or not and if so, which riders will be best suited to the demands of a particular event. This year the women's commission and the high performance group were very separate but this will not be the case next year. There must be greater interaction from now on.'

Considine concluded by saying that a recommendation was made at the AGM for riders to try to spend more time abroad. "We will be encouraging women to use the Team Ireland house in Belgium. There is good racing on offer there and it will really help them to build fitness and experience by competing there."

New association to help French Club placement

Riders looking to race in France can benefit from a new association which will help them find a place with a club of the required level. Entitled "Sport Europe Solidarité', the association is aimed primarily at younger competitors. "We are looking for riders who will preferably have been born between 1983 and 1988," said Serge Pineau of Sport Europe Solidarité. "The idea is to help those who would like to race in France to find a place with a team at a level which suits their ability.'

More information can be obtained by emailing sergepineau@aol.com.

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