First Edition Cycling News for January 17, 2006

Edited by Jeff Jones

Sylvain Calzati starts from scratch again in JCTDU

By Jean-François Quénet in Adelaide

Sylvain Calzati
Photo ©: JF Quenet

Remember the rider from Ag2r who made the first breakaway of the 2005 Tour de France but crashed a few times and was pushed by his teammate Jean-Patrick Nazon in the neutral zone of stage 7? Being injured, Sylvain Calzati, the winner of the 2004 Tour de l'Avenir ahead of Thomas Lövkvist, had no choice but pull out and his season pretty much ended there.

Having stopped early last year, he wanted to start early this year. That's why he put his hands up for the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. "I also wanted to see what Australia looks like," he said. "I love it. It's very similar to South Africa where I started my 2003 season with Barloworld. I've been here for one week now, riding four to five hours every day. The time I've spent on the saddle so far I couldn't have done it in France. With the traffic and the weather, it's more and more difficult to train at home."

Calzati hails from France's second biggest city of Lyon, the half way point between Paris and Nice. "I've clearly announced my goal for this year and it's Paris-Nice," he said firmly. "After winning the Tour de l'Avenir, it's logical to aim at something higher. Is Paris-Nice too high? At least I'll go for it with a great fighting spirit and the hope to perform well. I'm not looking at revenge after all the physical problems I had last year, but I want to be able to compete at 100 percent of my capacities. I'm happy that Ag2r shows the same confidence in me despite the troubles of last year."

In South Australia he'll be riding for Ag2r's leader Simon Gerrans. "I was surprised with him last year," Calzati added. "He was strong from the start to the end of the season, riding in the front at Flèche brabançonne, winning Tour du Finistère, GP Carnaghese in Italy and the Sun Tour, with a good show at the Tour de France. I know by experience that it's difficult to confirm but Simon can go very far and very high. He's a great guy and he's the one of us with the best abilities for the Tour Down Under since he was in the front at the Bay Crits already."

Lars Boom stays with Rabobank

Lars Boom will stay with the Rabobank team through the end of the 2008 season, the team announced today. The Dutch U23 champion will join Sven Nys, Gerben de Knegt, Richard Groenendaal and Sven Vanthourenhout in the powerful Rabo 'cross lineup.

In 2006, Boom will ride a full road program with the Rabobank Continental Team of Nico Verhoeven. At the end of 2006, Boom will once again focus on his cyclo-cross program. Boom showed his ability on the road in 2005, winning Sint-Truiden-Bousalle, the young rider classification of the Hessen Rundfahrt, the individual time trial and the general classification in Triptyque des Barrages plus a stage in Tour de la Somme, all in a three week period.

In cyclo-cross, Boom has dominated the sport in the junior and U23 ranks. He became Dutch national youth champion in 2001, followed by national titles with the juniors in 2002 and 2003 and the under 23 in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2003, he was the junior World Champion in Monopoli, Italy. One year later, he beat Belgian Niels Albert for the European title in Vossem, Belgium.

Boom is still only 20 years old. Since 2002, he has scored 44 victories, of which he recorded 33 in cyclo-cross. This season, he even won the elite races Vlaamse Druivenveldrit in Overijse, Belgium, and Grote Prijs Sven Nys in Baal, Belgium.

Slioussareva to Fenixs-Colnago

Russian sprinter and track endurance specialist Olga Slioussareva will join the Fenixs-Colnago-Cap Arreghini team from June, 2006. Up until then, Slioussareva will race with the Russian national team, focusing on the track with the World Championships as her primary goal. Slioussareva is currently training with the national squad in Cyprus, together with her future teammates Svetlana Bubnenkova, Olga Zabelinskaia and Julia Martissova.

T-Mobile women confirmed for Wellington

The New Zealand leg of the Women's Cycling World Cup in March has confirmed the participation of the women's T-Mobile squad. The team managed over 40 wins last year, 19 of which were courtesy of German sprinter Ina Teutenberg. The team also includes the winner of the gold medal in the 2004 UCI world championship road race, Judith Arndt, who also won silver in the women's road race at the Athens Olympics. Riding alongside them will be French champion Magali Le Floch.

"Having the team currently considered to be the best in the world racing here in New Zealand is great for the sport and for our event," said race director Jorge Sandoval. "The 2006 Wellington race is already looking like being bigger and better than the inaugural event we held in March last year, and that's fantastic for everyone involved. The better we can make it, the more international exposure both the race, and New Zealand, will receive. It's going to be big."

Sandoval said both the World Cup race and the preceding three-day Trust House Women's Tour of New Zealand will also provide a great opportunity for New Zealand's best cyclists to test themselves against the best in the world just ahead of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, later in March.

Entries have also now been received from the German and Russian national teams, and Italian pro team Safi - Pasta Manhattan.

The Wellington race, on Sunday, March 5, is the second of eight legs in the UCI's World Cup series. The first leg of the World Cup will be held a week earlier in Geelong, Australia.

Venezuelan team for LA World Cup

The Venezuelan team has been named for the Los Angeles Track World Cup between January 20-22. Karelia Machado will take part in the scratch and points race; Miguel Chacon will do the scratch and the madison; and Máximo Rojas will race the madison and points race. The team will be directed by Francisco Pazos Casañas.

Revolution: Youth vs Experience

Some of the UK's brightest young talent will take part in the Revolution 11 on Saturday, January 21 at Manchester Velodrome. With their performance in the junior competition at the recent Rotterdam Six Day, that saw a British 1-2, Adam Blythe and Peter Kennaugh, and Russell Hampton and John Bellis will be in fine form when they ride alongside two of the world's top endurance riders.

Peter Kennaugh will be focusing on retaining his lead of the Future Stars competition whilst Adam Blythe, a graduate of Future Stars, is hoping that, along with Russell and John, he can compete with Bradley Wiggins and Bradley McGee. With double World Champion Rob Hayles also in the field, it will be a tough night of racing for these emerging stars, but Blythe for one is looking forward to the challenge.

"It's awesome being in the same field as Wiggins and McGee, they're the biggest names in our sport and McGee's never been at Revolution before so it's going to be cool to compete against him. I can't wait," said Blythe.

It's not just the young endurance riders who are getting the chance to face off against the stars. The junior sprint team is also looking forward to taking on sprint legends Arnaud Tournant and Craig MacLean in the sprint events. After winning a handful of gold medals at a Junior International event in Austria this weekend, Jason Kenny, Joshua Hargreaves, Christian Lyte and David Daniell are all in superb form setting up a fascinating clash between the greats of today and the potential stars of tomorrow.

More information: www.cyclingrevolution.com

Herron Todd White marks 20th Anniversary of CQU Rockhampton Cup on Wheels

This weekend's Central Queensland University Rockhampton Cup on Wheels in northern Australia is a special occasion for long time sponsors Herron Todd White Valuers, as it marks the 20th year of their involvement in the event. The carnival will be held at the Kenrick Tucker Velodrome on January 20-21.

The Capricornia Cup commenced in 1961 with the original winner being Carol Ball (now Wood). In 1985, Herron Todd White took ownership of the race and since then, the Capricornia Cup has become one of Australia's leading women's wheelraces in the country, now worth $3750 in cash. This event has been won by many top women riders including Rockhampton Cycling Club's own Olympic Champion and world record holder Anna Meares.

Other special events that will form part of the racing will be the Tuckers Avanti Plus Peak Fuel Madison, an exciting pairs race that with any luck will be decided in the final sprint; tandem races; flying lap record attempts; and the CQU Rockhampton Cup.

More information: www.cyclingnews.com/sponsors/rockhamptoncup/

Cycling Tasmania Rider-of-the-Season update

By Rod Morris in Devonport

Cycling Tasmania's Female Rider-of-the-Season award for 2005-06 will go right to the wire with the sudden late form of Ulverstone's Sarah Cure. Now in its fifth season, the CT award is the highest profile recognition of its type in the state, as it operates at every track carnival, rewarding riders in a vast array of events.

Sarah Cure has leapt into outright second place and is just one point behind the leader, Karissa Ling of South Riana, with only this Saturday's St Helens Carnival remaining to earn points. Points are on offer in all handicap finals and all grade scratch races and if Ling or Cure don't win the girls' award, then Flowery Gully rider, Grace Sulzberger is next in line. Sulzberger goes to St Helens trailing Ling by 6 points, but with a maximum of 15 points up for grabs.

The prestigious male award is also far from finished, although the in-form Tom Robinson of Launceston has at least one hand on the trophy. Robinson has earned points in his last six races at the three most recent carnivals and to highlight his performance even better, he has won prizemoney in each of the last six handicap races, the three wheelraces and 1000 m lightning handicap events at the Hobart, Rosebery and Mersey Valley carnivals.

Robinson will carry a 9 point lead over Jarrod Harman to St Helens, whilst other potential winners include Aaron Jones (11 points behind) and veteran Steve Martini (14 points behind).

The junior award is a foregone conclusion with Ulverstone's Luke Ockerby holding an unassailable 29 point lead over Launceston's Ben Grenda. Ockerby has been in sensational form all season, having won 17 races that carry points in the CT award as well as numerous speciality races.

Ockerby currently has 95 points and needs only one more win to become the first rider in the history of the award to amass 100 points.

Current standings

Males
 
1 Tom Robinson      45 pts
2 Jarrod Harman     36
3 Aaron Jones       34
4 Steve Martini     31
5 Nathan Clarke     29
6 John Forrest      28
7 Ryan Innes        28
8 Ben Kersten       21
9 Ben Laskey        21
10 Matt Goss        19
 
Females
 
1 Karissa Ling      41 pts
2 Sarah Cure        40
3 Grace Sulzberger  35
4 Laura McCaughey   25
5 Alitta Laskey     23
6 Emma Heynes       21
7 Sarah Eaves       19
8 Jessica Berry     18
9 Kate De Paoli     18
10 Emma Smith       17
 
Juniors
 
1 Luke Ockerby      95 pts
2 Ben Grenda        66
3 Sam Brett         61
4 Izac Guest        54
5 Bradley Ryan      47
6 Andrew Smith      46
7 Matthew Kent      45
8 David Stride      40
9 Amy Cure          39
10 Alex Benson      39 

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