Latest Cycling News for June 1, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones

Fassa favourites for Luxembourg

With Luxembourg national champion Kim Kirchen, as well as Dario Frigo and Fabian Cancellara, Fassa Bortolo will line up in the Tour de Luxembourg (June 2-5) as one of the top teams. The race will be run over five stages and 625 km, and include a 10.8 km time trial in Bettembourg on Saturday.

In addition to Kirchen, who has won several races already this season, the field contains last year's winner Maxime Monfort (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago), Lithuanian powerhouse Tomas Vaitkus (Ag2r), who will be a very useful leadout man for his sprinter Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r), Damien Nazon (Crédit Agricole), Jimmy Casper (Cofidis), Jeremy Hunt (MrBookmaker.com), David Kopp (Wiesenhof), Karsten Kroon (Rabobank), Andreas Klier and Serguei Ivanov (T-Mobile).

The stages

Stage 1 - June 2: Luxembourg-Mondorf, 176,1 km
Stage 2 - June 3: Colmar-Berg-Leudelange, 187,6 km
Stage 3a - June 4: Mersch-Luxembourg, 95,5 km
Stage 3b - June 4: Bettembourg ITT, 10,8 km
Stage 4 - June 5: Wiltz-Diekirch, 155 km

The Teams

Landbouwkrediet, Ag2r-Prevoyance, Cofidis, Crédit Agricole, Ed'System-Zvvz, Fassa Bortolo, MrBookmaker, Rabobank, Barloworld, Shimano-Memory Corp, Wiesenhof, T-Mobile.

Lampre-Caffita for Dauphiné Libéré

The Lampre-Caffitta team to contest the 57th Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré will be made up of the following riders: Giosuè Bonomi, GianLuca Bortolami, Juan Fuentes Angullo, Enrico Franzoi, Eddy Mazzoleni, Olexandr Kvachuk, Michele Scotto d'Abusco and Alessandro Spezialetti, with sports directors Maurizio Piovani and Guido Bontempi.

The race, which is part of the ProTour, starts on June 5 in the town of Aix-Les-Bains and finishes on June 12 in the town of Sallanches, a total of 1070km.

The Stages

Prologue - Sunday, June 5: Aix-les-Bains ITT, 7.9 km
Stage 1 - Monday, June 6: Aix-les-Bains-Givors, 224 km
Stage 2 - Tuesday, June 7: Givors - Chauffailles, 187 km
Stage 3 - Wednesday, June 8: Roanne - Roanne ITT, 46,5 km
Stage 4 - Thursday, June 9: Tournon-sur-Rhône - Le Mont Ventoux, 182 km
Stage 5 - Friday, June 10: Vaison-la-Romaine - Grenoble, 219 km
Stage 6 - Saturday, June 11: Albertville - Morzine-Avoriaz, 155 km
Stage 7 - Sunday, June 12: Morzine-Avoriaz - Sallanches, 128 km

De Cauwer case postponed

Belgian national coach Jose De Cauwer's doping case has been postponed until October 4 by the court in Antwerp. De Cauwer is accused of supplying former rider Ronny Vansweevelt with amphetamines via De Cauwer's mailbox. His lawyer is arguing that since the events happened 10 years ago, the case should be dropped.

De Cauwer commented to VRT, "I would have preferred to have heard the pronouncement today rather than tomorrow. As long as there is no ruling, everything remains the same as it is now. I can continue working for the cycling federation with a clean conscience." He added that he hoped to be cleared when the case finally concludes.

Sestili to Naturino

21 year-old Italian talent Luigi Sestili, recent winner of the Giro delle Regioni, has signed a three year contract with the Naturino Sapore di Mare team, reports tuttobiciweb.net. In addition to a stage and the overall in Regioni, Sestili also won the Castiglion Fibocchi classic in Italy. Last year, he was a reserve member of the Italian U23 World's squad.

Fothen in LuK-Challenge

23 year-old rising German star Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) is down to compete in the LuK-Challenge paired time trial in Bühl, Germany, on July 30. Fothen recently finished 12th in the Giro d'Italia, an impressive result in his first grand tour. He will be riding the 74.2 km event with his teammate Sebastian Lang, and the pair should be among the front runners. However, their greatest competition may come from within their team, as Michael Rich will be lining up with Uwe Peschel to form a very strong combination. Rich just won the Bayern Rundfahrt and still a very formidable competitor.

T-Mobile has also named two of its star riders, Andreas Klöden and Alexandre Vinokourov, to race in the LuK-Challenge. These two have their sights set on the Tour de France, which finishes a week prior to the LuK-Challenge.

USC Chirio back in action

After missing a Sunday of racing, the USC Chirio-Forno d'Asolo women's team will be back in action on Thursday, June 2, in the Aiello del Friuli, which forms part of the 19th Giro del Friuli. The race consists of five laps of a flat 23.2 km circuit for a total of 116 km. USC Chirio will be represented by Giorgia Bronzini, Clemilda Fernandes Silva, Lorenza Morfin and Valerius Pintos.

The same riders will contest the Gran Premio Bon Prix-Trofeo Gruppo Amici Sportivi on Sunday, June 5, a 105 km race in Valdengo, which will be held over 14 laps of a 7.5 km circuit.

Colorado cyclist killed

Scott Kornfield, a 28 year-old cyclist from Thornton, CO, USA, was killed on May 30 after being hit head on by a teenager driving a Ford Explorer. According to local Colorado news sources, the 17 year-old driver Chandler Thorpe had apparently fallen asleep at the wheel, and drifted into the northbound lane of U.S. 36, where Kornfield was riding with his friend Nate Llerandi. The SUV continued veering towards the cyclists, and only Llerandi was able to avoid it, escaping injury. Unfortunately, Kornfield went straight over the top and was killed instantly. The vehicle eventually stopped when it drove into an embankment on the eastern side of the road. The driver also escaped injury.

Friend Ben Pryhoda wrote to Cyclingnews, "Scott Kornfield was a Cat. 3 racer on the road. Prior to taking up road racing in Colorado he was an accomplished semi-pro mountain biker in the New England area. He loved to go uphill and Boulder gave him a lot of opportunities to do just that. Riding with Scott made all of us faster."

Cyclingnews extends its condolences to the friends and family of Scott Kornfield.

USA MTB National's at Mammoth

This year's USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championship will be held at Mammoth Mountain, CA, between September 15-18. The four days of competition will take place at Canyon Lodge, and will 2,000 riders competing in various categories.

Riders must qualify in order to compete for the national championship titles in Cross Country, Short Track, Downhill and Mountain Cross. But even if they have not qualified for the titles, there are still plenty of opportunities to race in national championship and other events throughout the weekend, including the Marathon, Mini-Marathon, and Super D.

BikeNZ gets a $5 million boost

The New Zealand cycling federation, BikeNZ, will receive a $5 million high performance investment from Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) over the next four years leading up to the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. As an incentive, BikeNZ is also eligible for a further $1.15 million if cycling meets key targets at the 2005, 2006 and 2007 World Championships, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 and the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. In addition, SPARC is investing $1.4 million in BikeNZ's talent development program aimed towards creating future champions for the 2012 Olympic Games.

"This is very positive news for New Zealand cycling and sends a signal that SPARC is confident in the new BikeNZ structure and the medal potential that exists within road, track, mountain bike and BMX," said Rodger Thompson, BikeNZ Chief Executive. "It has been a period of major structural change over the last 18 months in bringing together the various national cycling bodies to work together, however this increased level of support from SPARC clearly reinforces the potential of the new structure.

"BikeNZ will be ensuring we recruit the best people and that our organisational structure is robust. The investment is confirmed and it is now all about delivering. As a new body we've already starting delivering a track record that supporters are recognising."

SPARC's General Manager Performance, Katie Sadleir, said, "We believe that the level of investment we have committed to BikeNZ will not only allow them to win multiple medals at the Beijing Olympics, but that it will also ensure they can develop a group of athletes to win even more medals in 2012."

'Hell' rolls into Brisbane and Perth

Erik Zabel
Photo ©: Aztec International

Due to demand in Australia, the strictly limited theatrical season for the cycling film "Hell on Wheels" has been extended to the cities of Brisbane and Perth.

Australian distributors, Aztec International, advises that the film can be seen in Brisbane from June 9 onwards at the Schonell Twin Theatres on Union Road, at the University of Queensland campus, as well as in Perth from June 16 onwards, at the Luna Leederville cinema. Please check the respective theatres' sites for sessions times.

Check out the Cyclingnews review of the film, rated a "must see".

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