Cycling News Extra for May 11, 2005Edited by John Stevenson Women's World Cup comes to UK
Welsh cycling star Nicole Cooke will get the chance to win a top-level race on her home turf on Saturday August 20 2005 when the Welsh town of Newport becomes the first ever British venue to host a round of the women's road World Cup. The race, the eighth round of the series, was officially launched yesterday by Alun Pugh AM, Minister for Culture, the Welsh Language and Sport at The Celtic Manor Resort. As part of the celebrations surrounding the race, there will also be BikeWales, a major bike ride open to the general public, taking place on Sunday August 21 . The 3 lap, 71 mile (114km) race will be broadcast live by BBC Grandstand, and over 30 professional teams are expected to take part. Nicole Cooke won the 2003 World Cup series, becoming the first British rider to take the title, and is currently 4th in this year's standings. She had a strong start to the series, winning first place ahead of the pack at La Fleche Wallonne in Belgium. Looking forward to extending her record of wins, she is delighted at the boost to British women's cycling that the Newport World Cup will mean: "I've competed twice before at the Celtic Manor and it will be a fantastic venue for the first International standard women's race in Britain for nearly a decade," said Cooke. Young Wisconsin rider dies after crashMatt Wittig, a 20-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and rider with the US amateur ISCorp team, has died in hospital after crashing during a Wisconsin Cup criterium race in Muskego County Park on Saturday May 6. According to event organizer Hans Higdon, quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wittig was attacking when his right foot slipped out of the pedal, his right knee hit the handle bars and he was flung over the bars on to the pavement. "It was basically a freak accident," said Higdon, who was 10 to 15 feet behind Wittig in the Cat 3 race at the time. Paramedics were called to the park and Wittig was taken to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa, where doctors operated in an attempt to safe his life. However, it was determined that Wittig had suffered severe brain damage and he was pronounced brain dead on Sunday. Cyclingnews understands that Wittig's parents planned to have his life support turned off so that his organs could be donated in accordance with his wishes, but at press time we were unable to ascertain if he had yet passed on. Wittig was a popular member of the University of Wisconsin Cycling Club, for which he performed the role of road season co-ordinator. Even before the news broke that Wittig would not recover, club president Steve Knurr described Wittig as "a very, very important part of the team and the UW cycling program. He's genuinely good and one of the most dedicated and honest people that we've had in our program." It is anticipated that the wake will be at the Schmidt and Bartlett Funeral Home in Mequon on Thursday evening and the service on Friday morning. Everyone at Cyclingnews extends our deepest condolences to Matt's family and friends. Landbouwkrediet-Colnago for upcoming racesThe Landbouwkrediet-Colnago team has announced its line-up for two imminent races. For the Tour de Picardie, May 13-15, the team will field Ludovic Capelle, Ludo Dierckxsens, James Van Landschoot, Jurgen Van Loocke , Jean Paul Simon, Steve Cummings, Tony Bracke, and Mathieu Criquielion. For the GP Villers Côterets, May 16, the team will field Ludovic Capelle, Ludo Dierckxsens, James Van Landschoot, Jean-Paul Simon, Steve Cummings, Tony Bracke, and Mathieu Criquielion. US Track qualifiers at FriscoThe first round of the US Velodrome championship will be held in Frisco, Texas May 20 and 21 at the Superdrome. The event, which is free and open to the public, will qualify racers for the 2005 USCF Elite National Championships to be held in Carson, California. The Velodrome Championship Series is being held at each of America's twenty two velodromes, starting at the Superdrome, to allow cyclists from throughout the country the opportunity to qualify for the national championships. "This is the first step for (track) cyclists who hope to compete for stars and stripes jerseys," said Frisco Cycling Club president Tim Goodwin. "Many local and regional racers will be testing their legs at the Superdrome and attempting to qualify for the nationals." For more information see www.superdrome.com Eddy & Axel Merckx to attend cancer fund-raiserEddy and Axel Merckx will be the star attractions at a banquet in support of Cancer Research in British Columbia at the Wedgewood Hotel, Vancouver in late October this year. Full details of the evening have not yet been finalized, but organizer Philip Meyer told Cyclingnews, "We are working on ideas with the Merckx family to ensure as many local cyclists, both young and old, will have the opportunity to meet the greatest cyclist of all time." For more details email info@teamwedgewood.com. Wheat Ridge Cyclery's LAF fund-raiser
For the third year, Colorado's Wheat Ridge Cyclery is again producing a special-edition jersey as a fund-raiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). A donation of US$75 to US$100 is requested and the jerseys are available in men's and women's sizes small through extra large, with a few XXL also available. All proceeds, less sales tax, go to the LAF. Jerseys can be obtained by sending a cheque payable to the Lance Armstrong to Ron McOmber, CTL Thompson, Inc., 7306 S. Alton Way, Centennial, Colorado 80112. For more information, contact Ron at rmcomber@ctlthompson.com. The jerseys will be delivered or mailed so please include your jersey size, email and street address, and phone number in case there are questions. North Shore MTB fest seeks volunteersNorth Shore Credit Union World Mountain Bike Festival & Conference, May 21-June 5 is looking for volunteers to help with event preparation and set-up, registration, merchandise, parking/logistics; and course marshalling. Volunteers will receive a specially designed volunteer t-shirt, lunch, an invitation to the volunteer party, and the chance to win prizes. For more information see www.shorebikefest.com. SA World Vets track team announcedCycling South Africa has announced the riders who will be taking part in the UCI world veterans track championships in Manchester, England, September 12-17 . The roser is as follows: Men 30-34: Mario Nell First ever Belgian stage race for 45+ ridersThe weekend of May 21 and 22 sees the first ever stage race organized in Belgium for riders over 45. Organiser Noël Truyers says teams of six are welcome from anywhere in the world, and can be contacted at ntruyers@concentra.be USADA announces research grantsThe United States Anti-Doping Agency has announced more than one million dollars in grants to fund research designed to detect new methods of prohibited performance-enhancement, including a study involving gene manipulation. Research receiving grants includes a two-year study conducted by the Hastings Institute in Garrison, N.Y. to investigate the present and future implications of gene transfer technology and the ethical issues inherent in attempting to detect genetic manipulation. The study, led by Dr. Thomas Murray, will also address the ethics surrounding genetic testing conducted to determine the most favorable athletic traits in an individual. USADA has committed $460,000 U.S. to this research. The USADA is also finding King's College London to the tune of $400,000 U.S. to conduct a broad study on steroids in women, including the concentrations of specific urinary steroids. The Institute of Hematology, Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Camperdown, Australia was awarded an $80,000 U.S. grant to investigate the ability to detect infusion of stored red blood cells from the same individual. A total of $90,000 U.S. was distributed to several institutions to provide reference materials to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratories, including Albany Molecular Research, Inc. of Albany, N.Y.; the National Measurement Institute of Australia in Sydney, Australia; and ARC Seibersdorf Research Gmbh in Seibersdorf, Austria.
Team Velo CanberraTeam Velo Canberra was officially launched by Team Patron and former Tour de France campaigner Stephen Hodge on April 16. The launch took place at the start of first round of the National road series, The Canberra Tour. The team is comprised of locally sourced riders who will be competing on the National circuit in the increasingly teams based environment against teams such at MG X Power.
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