First Edition Cycling News for August 23, 2004

Edited by Chris Henry

More velodrome records fall

By Rob Jones in Athens

Ulmer unbeatable
Photo ©: epicimages.us

Records continue to fall at the Olympic velodrome, with two more being established today. Sarah Ulmer (New Zealand) won the gold medal in the women's pursuit, by knocking almost two seconds off the world record she established only yesterday. The women's pursuit was the only medal final run today, but the men's Team Pursuit saw Australia take almost a second off of their own world record in the first round of competition. One pair of records that did not fall was Canadian Curt Harnett's Flying 200 time of 9.865 seconds for the men, and Russian Olga Slyusareva's women's record of 10.831, as the sprinters started their competition.

A huge roar went up from the large New Zealand contingent after Ulmer broke the record, and she circled the track, stopping to hug friends and family. Afterwards, she stated that she was confident that she was capable of breaking the world record she had set the day before.

"I knew the track was fast, and that I was capable of something; I just had to go out there and do the ride," Ulmer said. "It's great to win in any competition, but to win here, in front of the fastest women's pursuit field in history, is something special."

Both Australia and Great Britain caught their competitors (Lithuania and France, respectively) in the first round of the team pursuit, and powered on to set the fastest times of the round. Britain's time of 3:59.866 was superb, but then the Aussies came out and blew it away with a time of 3:56.610, breaking their own world record set in Stuttgart, Germany last year. The two teams will face off for the gold medal on Monday.

Click here for the full Day 3 wrap-up.

Bettini closing in on World Cup

Olympic gold medal winner Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) edged ever closer to the lead in the World Cup competition with another second place- his third this year in the series- in the Championship of Zurich Sunday. The race was won by Spain's Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) in a 30 rider bunch sprint after 241 kilometres of racing. Bettini now trails World Cup leader Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), who finished sixth, by just six points.

Full Zurich results and report

World Cup standings after round 8

1 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                          314 pts
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon                    308
3 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                           202
4 Stuart O'grady (Aus) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone       150
5 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                              146
6 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo            140
7 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                  137
8 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                        131
9 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team                              108
10 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi                     100

No Discovery for Merckx

Axel Merckx (Lotto-Domo) has signed for two years for Omega Pharma-Lotto (which could become Davitamon-Lotto), according to Sporza. The Belgian won the bronze medal in the Olympic men's road race and was in negotiations with Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team, but decided to stay in Belgium.

Totschnig extends

Austrian Georg Totschnig has extended his contract with the German Gerolsteiner team through 2006. Totschnig will stay on as the team's top man for the general classification in the Tour de France. Totschnig finished seventh overall in the 2004 edition of the Tour.

Hinault back

Crédit Agricole's Sébastien Hinault will return to racing at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, which begins Tuesday in Chateauneuf-sur-Charente, France. Hinault suffered a fractured vertebrae after a serious crash during stage 10 of the Tour de France.

Pino stays with Phonak

Directeur sportif Alvaro Pino will stay with the Swiss Phonak team for another two years. Pino provides the team with a Spanish director for the Iberian contingent headed by Oscar Sevilla.

Dierckxsens sees double

Belgian veteran Ludo Dierckxsens (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) has become the proud father of twins, born Saturday.

Ireland's Sheeffry Challenge

By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent

They may be noted for promotions in road racing, but next Saturday, August 28th, Mayo Wheelers turn their attention to a fun leisure cycle. The Sheeffry Challenge is now in its fourth year and through the patronage of Sean Kelly it has been gaining kudos far and wide.

The participants have the option of pitting their skills to the event that suits their taste. There is a 60 miler, a 30 miler and a mountain challenge for those who really want that little bit out of the ordinary.

According to the organiser, Joe McGuire, "Mayo Wheelers is a club that cater for all tastes and the onus is on the club to cater for all. Also we want to share with everybody else that the course the "Challenge" takes is a breath taking view of the County. Also the County Footballers did us a big favour by having their All Ireland semi this weekend.

"Darby's in Carrowkennedy, Westport is the base where we will roll out around the 11 o'clock mark. Interest is by far being heightened by Sean's patronage and who knows maybe he'll also take in the challenge.

"Roads in the area of the leisure activities will be well signposted for the participants. Only last week I was made aware that the event has been gaining notoriety abroad," said Joe.

The shrewd man, Joe is also attempting to snare the racing guys and gals on Saturday week. The club is staging a criterium around the streets of Westport in the evening, which brings greater awareness of racing to the general public.

Previous News     Next News

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2004)