Latest Cycling News for September 29, 2006

Edited by Jeff Jones, with assistance from Susan Westemeyer

Antequera leads new team based on Comunidad Valenciana

By Antonio J. Salmerón

Francisco Antequera, Spain's very successful national cycling selector, is leading a project to create a new continental professional cycling team sponsored by Teruel Avanza, a group of businesses in the Teruel region of Spain. The team will be based on the now defunct Comunidad Valenciana, and will use some of the team's young riders as well as its technical and human infrastructure.

At the moment, Antequera is negotiating other sponsorships that will ensure the viability of the project. He has already registered it with the Spanish cycling federation.

In addition, the Andalusian regional government has guaranteed its sponsorship of the Andalucia-Paul Versan continental professional team until 2010, after co-sponsor Paul Versan expressed doubts about continuing.

Landis' hip surgery successful

Embattled American cyclist Floyd Landis underwent surgery on his injured right hip in San Diego, Ca on Wednesday. The operation lasted two hours, and Dr. David Chao, who has operated on Landis twice in the past, declared it a success.

Landis announced during the Tour de France in July that the broken hip he sustained in a crash while training in January 2003 near his home in Murietta, Ca., caused avascular necrosis. The disease resulted from decreased blood flow to the head top of his right femur and caused progressively increasing pain as the joint deteriorated over time. The surgery revealed greater damage to Landis' hip than initially shown in MRI screenings, but was performed successfully and without complications.

Landis has returned home now, and will spend the next six weeks strengthening and increasing the range of movement in his hip. He will be able to start low intensity riding in one to two weeks. Whether he can return to top level competition will depend not only on his recovery, but also on the outcome of his doping case after he tested positive for abnormal levels of testosterone during stage 17 of the Tour. If found guilty, the soon-to-be 31 year-old faces up to a two year ban from the sport and a four year ban from riding for a ProTour team.

May 29, 2009 - French authorities summon Landis and Baker
September 28, 2008 - Landis takes case to US federal court
September 10, 2008 - Landis signing with current Health Net-Maxxis team for 2009
July 1, 2008 - CAS delivers final blow to Landis legal challenge
June 30, 2008 - Landis loses final appeal
June 28, 2008 - Landis decision due Monday
March 12, 2008 - Landis' judgment day nears
October 21, 2007 - Landis files appeal with CAS
October 18, 2007 - AFLD takes another look at Landis case
Thursday, October 11 - Landis continues fight, appeals to CAS
Saturday, September 22 - UCI officially names Pereiro 2006 Tour champion, Landis case raises issues
Friday, September 21 - Landis' appeal denied, two year suspension levied

Lynch also admits to "supplying"

South African cycling is continuing to be rocked by the revelations of former national representative Shawn Lynch, who admitted on the Carte Blanche TV show that he had advised athletes on how to use banned substances. In addition Carte Blanche alleges that it has footage of Lynch admitting to also supplying substances, although he has denied that these were illegal substances.

Carte Blanche released the footage to News24, after Lynch told News24 that he had done "nothing more than supply information regarding banned substances and enjoy a fascination with the doping situation currently gripping world sport."

But Carte Blanche asked Lynch what he actually did, if he wasn't a supplier or a trainer. "Ok look I do supply sometimes," he replied. "Ja, I do supply and that, but I will never admit to that with [Beeld journalist Wilhelm de Swardt], I won't. He knows I have as well, I have told him. I do. But for his sake and my sake when he writes about anything I don't supply anybody anything."

Furthermore, Lynch told Cyclingnews, "I admitted to supplying sometimes, but there was never any mention of anything illegal."

In response to a question about whether he had dealt in steroids at international competitions (World Cups), while representing South Africa, he told Carte Blanche, "I have swapped stuff, yes. I've had stuff with me that I have exchanged for cycling equipment," and admitted to taking steroids and other substances at these international meets. But he wished to clarify this with Cyclingnews, "The items I swapped were again not illegal," he said.

Lynch has been twice suspended for doping himself, and his comments have attracted a storm of anger from officials in South African cycling and the Institute for Drug-free Sport. "How much further evidence is still required before stripping him of his colours and pressing charges?" Dr Shuaib Manjra, head of the Institute for Drug-free Sport, was quoted by News24 as saying.

Austrian riders winding down the season

By Susan Westemeyer

The season is winding down, and the Austrian riders are looking to the end of the racing year and planning their well-deserved vacations. The end of November will see the beginning of training for the 2007 season, and for two of the riders, that new season brings a new team.

Bernhard Eisel doesn't yet know if he has raced his last race for Française des Jeux or not. "Probably I will ride Paris-Tours. The decision will be made by the team management." He "wouldn't be unhappy" if he didn't start, he admits. "What is certain, is that I am about to make a two-week vacation with my girlfriend, probably somewhere in the Caribbean." After that, he'll start training for the 2007 season and his new team, T-Mobile. "Like the last few years, I will stay in Austria and bring myself in form with skiing and cross country skiing."

Rene Haselbacher will definitely ride Paris-Tours for Team Gerolsteiner. "I have good memories of this race. 2002 I was fourth in this sprint classic." The first team meeting of his new team, Astana, follows in October in Switzerland, followed by vacation in New York. "The end of November I will probably begin my training for the next year in South Africa."

Paco Wrolich is the only one of the three not changing teams. The Gerolsteiner rider decided at the last minute to ride Paris-Tours. "I decided that because my form is good and I can surely support the team." After the race, he is planning a vacation with his wife and infant son: "I don't yet know where. But the end of November I will start training again."

Team Volksbank in Zürich

The Austrian Continental Team Volksbank has one of two wild-card invitations to the ProTour race Championship of Zürich on Sunday. The race is "damned long and hard," according to Volksbank captain Gerrit Glomser. "I don't have any trouble with that mentally, and my form is good. Now I just have to find the right rhythm. I hope that we can continue the good performance of the Austrians from the World Championships."

The team's goal is to show themselves well in the race. "We must ride actively, not hide ourselves," says Glomser. "Why should we wait, even if it costs us good results because the attacks use up our strength? If we're lucky, we'll be in the thick of it. If not, then we will at least have sold ourselves dearly and gone down with banners flying."

Team roster: Josef Benetsender, Christoph Girschweiler, Gerrit Glomser, Gregor Gut, Pascal Hungerbühler, Fraser MacMaster, Andreas Matzbacher, Harald Morscher.

T-Mobile to Sparkassen Münsterland Giro

The T-Mobile team will race the Sparkassen-Münsterland-Giro in Germany next Tuesday, October 3, with practically the same line up that is competing in the Circuit Franco-Belge. The only change sees Linus Gerdemann slot in for Italy’s Lorenzo Bernucci in the eight-rider roster in Westphalia.

Gerdemann, who hails from Münster, will enjoy a home advantage in this first running of the UCI 1.1 late-season race. The 24 year-old is motivated to impress his home fans, and will be able to rely on local knowledge of the roads in the area.

Gerdemann will be supported in the 200 km race by a host of sprinters: Eric Baumann, André Greipel, André Korff, Olaf Pollack and British stagiaire Mark Cavendish. Classics specialists Andreas Klier and Bas Giling round out the magenta roster on German Reunification Day, which is a public holiday in Germany.

The race route takes the peloton from the town of Coesfeld through the Baumberge hills to the regional capital Münster. If a winning break doesn't go clear on the gentle slopes of the Baumberge, then the fans at the finish in Münster’s Hindenburgplatz can look forward to a big sprint finale.

Gasparotto leads Liquigas at GP Cimurri

Enrico Gasparotto will captain the Liquigas team in the GP Cimurri on Saturday, September 30. The rider from Pordenone will be supported by a solid team, including three riders who took part in the World Championships in Salzburg: Kjell Carlström, Roman Kreuziger and Matej Mugerli. The squad will be completed with Eros Capecchi, Francesco Failli, Marco Righetto and Charles Wegelius. Team director: Stefano Zanatta.

Skil-Shimano sponsored by Wieler Magazine

The new Dutch cycling monthly Wieler Magazine will co-sponsor the Skil-Shimano professional cycling team from next year, the team announced. The magazine was launched yesterday with a pilot edition. It will be available throughout the Benelux from next year.

Team Odysis becomes Team Ton van BemmelenSport/OdySis

Dutch team OdySis will continue for the next two seasons under the name of Team Ton van Bemmelen Sports/OdySis. Ton van Bemmelen Sports, an outdoor sports store in Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk, has sponsored women's teams before, most notably the development team for Farm Frites-Hartol. The company went further and became the main sponsor for Michael Zijlaard's Team Ton van Bemmelen-AA Drink, but withdrew this year and the team became simply AA Drink.

Ton van Bemmelen was still interested in continuing with cycling sponsorship, and found a perfect vehicle in Team OdySis, a development team managed by Odwin Bink and Sissy van Alebeek. The team, which is a mixture of young women and men, has three new riders for next season: Yvonne Baltus, Regina Bruins and Rob Disseldorp. The latter was impressive this year, winning five races and finishing on the podium 26 times. Bruins took part in the Euregio Tour against the pros, and competed for the young rider's jersey. Baltus won three bronze medals at the last Dutch track championships.

The other riders in the team are Odwin Bink, Ton Slippens, Gerhard Kleinhout, Sissy van Alebeek and Arenda Grimberg.

Buitenpoort – Flexpoint calls it a successful season

The Dutch women's team Buitenpoort – Flexpoint has expressed satisfaction with its 2007 season, which has seen the squad notch up 73 victories. Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel took a superb victory in the women's Ronde van Vlaanderen, although she had a bad end to the season when she crashed in the Euregio Tour and broke her pelvis, hip, jaw and thigh. Co-leader Susanne Ljungskog won the Open de Suède Vargarda, another women's world cup race, while Linda Villumsen won the European time trial championship and the overall victory in the Route de France Féminin, and Amber Neben the Tour de l'Aude and the Redlands Classic for the 2nd time. Loes Gunnewijk also improved, winning stages in the Tour de l’Aude and Euregio Tour, as well as becoming Dutch time trial champion.

Jean-Paul van Poppel's team also won a total of six national championships with Villumsen (Danish TT), Ljungskog (Swedish road and TT), Annette Beutler (Swiss road), and Elsbeth Vink (Dutch MTB and MTB marathon).

Vervecken has twins

Cyclo-cross World Champion Erwin Vervecken is the father of twins, reports Sportwereld. His wife Liesbeth Peeters gave birth to Louis and Marie on Thursday. Vervecken will still be at the start of the first cyclo-cross World Cup on Sunday in Aigle, Switzerland.

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