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Dauphiné Libéré
Photo ©: Sirotti

Latest Cycling News for November 24, 2004

Edited by Hedwig Kröner & John Stevenson

Landis worried but optimistic

In gold at the Vuelta
Photo ©: Lavuelta.com
Click for larger image

Floyd Landis took a bold career step earlier this year when he signed with Phonak for 2005 after three years with the US Postal team. In that time he developed from super-rookie to Lance Armstrong's first lieutenant and a podium threat in the grand tours. But with Phonak's participation in the UCI ProTour under threat after the Hamilton and Perez doping cases, Landis might find himself looking elsewhere at the eleventh hour. Kristy Scrymgeour caught up with the ever-ebullient Landis to find out his take on the situation.

By any standards, Floyd Landis has had a remarkable year. By working tirelessly for team leader Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France, then spending 11 days in the leader's gold jersey himself at the Vuelta a España, Landis demonstrated that he was a rider to watch in future grand tours. In August Landis made the decision to sign for Phonak for 2005 but recent developments including the possibility that Phonak may not make the Pro Tour have put his plans slightly up in the air.

Despite the obvious concern, Landis is still in good humour when Cyclingnews catches up with him by phone at his home in San Diego. "I've been a bit worried about everything that's been going on," he says, "but I've been through this once before [with the Mercury team in 2001]. I'm just hopeful that it works out this time."

Click here for the full interview

Recycling.co.uk / MG X-Power signs final two

British-based Continental team Recycling.co.uk / MG X-Power has announced the final two riders who will complete its roster for 2005. The team has signed multi-talented road and track rider Paul Manning and former Cofidis rider Rob Hayles, a silver medalist in the team pursuit at both the Athens Olympics this year and the world track championships.

Flying start for Revolution 6

The Revolution 6 track meeting at the Manchester Velodrome, December 4, will feature a new event likely to please fans of the fast men of the track: a two-rider 500m team sprint. It'll be a chance to see some of the world's top sprinters in action as the teams include Olympic gold medallist and world kilo champion Chris Hoy paired with Craig MacLean and 2000 Olympic champion and winner of the Kilo at the recent Moscow World Cup Jason Queally paired with Ross Edgar.

Revolution 6 will also feature a host of track endurance stars including Franco Marvulli, Alexander Aeschbach, Matthew Gilmore, Iljo Keisse, Danny Stam, Robert Slippens, Magnus Backstedt and Jimmi Madsen who will face off in the endurance races earlier in the evening before pairing off for the Madison finale.

Revolution organisers say they have one more surprise event to announce and are hinting that two more Olympic stars have been signed up for the event.

For more information and ticket sales, see www.cyclingrevolution.com

Trebon & Knapp nominated to U.S. Cross World's team

Ryan Trebon and Ann Knapp will receive nominations to the U.S. World Cyclocross Championship Team for their overall victories in the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross Series which concluded this past weekend.

Trebon, who had to work his way up in the rankings, didn't claim the overall lead until the final race. Early in the series, it was Marc Gullickson wearing the leader's jersey after grabbing second place at the series opener - the Cannondale Stumptown Cyclocross Classic, and fourth the next day at the Clif Bar Grand Prix in Tacoma, Wash.

The second weekend saw Canadian Geoff Kabush win the first race in Gloucester. Trebon stood atop the podium the following day on Halloween, but Kabush added a second place finish to his win from the day before and overtook the leader's role. Trebon moved into third place behind Kabush and Gullickson. Trebon continued his surge toward the top in the series' final weekend and came within 37 points of Kabush at the Beacon Cyclocross in Bridgetown, N.J. The final race, Highland Park Cyclocross, saw Trebon and Todd Wells drop Kabush about mid-race. Wells went on for the victory, while Trebon's second place effort was enough to move him into the lead ahead of Kabush and claim the inaugural Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross.

Ann Knapp may have won the first event in Portland, but Gina Hall placed second and then won the next race, making her Knapp's strongest threat. Hall gained a substantial lead on Knapp in the first weekend, but it didn't last for long. Knapp claimed not one, but two victories in the second weekend and took over the series lead. She went on to win the Beacon Cyclocross, but still hadn't clinched the series just yet, as Hall was only 30 points behind going into the final race. The final event saw Knapp take her fifth win out of six total races, and finally stake her claim on the overall title.

Jesse Anthony took the U23 Series victory after an extremely strong showing in the final race. Although Matt White held the advantage over Anthony at the start of the day, a ninth place finish in the elite category gave 19-year-old Anthony the Series win. Toby Marzot will also be nominated to the World's team for his overall win in the junior category.

The World Cyclocross Championships will be held in St. Wendel, Germany in February. Nominations to the U.S. team will be made following the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships in Portland, Oregon next month.

Australia's dirt centuries

The popularity of endurance mountain bike racing continues to grow with two new events recently announced for 2005 in new South Wales Australia. Both follow the lead of Queensland's Flight Centre Hidden Vale Epic, which recently attracted 700 riders.

Most recently announced is the Highland Fling, a two-day event including a 100km race on the Sunday, scheduled for November 12-13, 2005. The venue is the small town of Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The event includes a 7km 'sprint' event on Saturday evening as a prelude to the following day's epic which follows a route comprising trails, dirt roads and a tiny amount of tarmac.

The Highland Fling is open to solo riders and relay teams with organiser Huw Kingston (who also promotes the popular Australian editions of the Polaris Challenge MTB orienteering event) aiming to "appeal to everyone from the elite riders competing for substantial prize money, to the keen recreational mountain bikers to those who see it as a good reason to get on the bike and get fit and work towards the challenge."

The prize for first 100km MTB race in New South Wales will almost certainly go to the Max Adventure Elements race on April 10, 2005, though. This event will take place in the St Albans area, north-east of Sydney on a three-loop course that mixes trails and dirt roads through private property and the Yengo National Park. The Elements event comes in the thick of a busy few weeks for endurance mountain bikers, with the 2005 Polaris Challenge March 12-13, the CORC solo 24-hour March 27 and the N-Zo Sydney 24-hour April 17.

For more information see the Elements race site and Highland Fling site.

Muenzer to race at Burnaby

Olympic sprint gold medalist Lori-Ann Muenzer will feature in this weekend's races at Canada's Burnaby Velodrome in three days of racing dubbed Mass Start Madness, November 26-28. The weekend's racing will include selection events for the world cup in Los Angeles December 10-12 and will also feature top Canadian scratch race specialist Mandy Poitras and reigning national men's and women's keirin champions Matt Chater and Breanna Loster. The time standard trials will be held on November 30 at the Burnaby Velodrome.

For more information see www.burnabyvelodrome.ca.

OrganicAthlete launches BC regional team

OrganicAthlete is founding a regional team in British Columbia, Canada for the 2005 season. OrganicAthlete supports grassroots teams around the world with a mission to promote healthy living, ecological responsibility, and compassion for all life. The organization welcomes cyclists of all levels to join the club and is currently accepting resumes for an elite level team based out of Victoria.

For more information on the British Columbia team or to submit your resume, contact brett@organicathlete.org. For information on how to start a team in your area, visit www.organicathlete.org.

Exeter Eagles BMXers' charity event

The Exeter Eagles BMX club in Exeter, UK are running a charity meeting in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on Sunday, November 28. There will be races for all BMX classes as well as a special category for mountain bikes. Registration is from 9:30 am - 10:30 pm, and the racing starts at 12:30 pm. The Eagles' BMX track is located Cofton Road, Marsh Barton Industrial Estate, Exeter,UK.

New sponsor for Indiana Masters

The Indiana Masters Racing Team has announced the acquisition of a new associate sponsor. Land Rover Louisville will join primary sponsor Roark Fabrication and Welding, manufacturer of the Roark Custom Titanium Bicycle to support the Indiana Masters, a 5 year-old squad of 17 age 35 and above bicycle racers.

The team includes Dave Mercer, a 5 time USCF National Champion, George Geier, a multiple national and world medal winner on the track, Skip Higgins, a recent gold medal winner in the ABR National Criterium Championship as well as a multiple medal winner at the 2003 Masters National Track Championships, and time trial aces Terry Martin, Kent Menzel and Frank LaRondie, who are current district champions in their respective age groups. In addition, Martin is the current 50+ district road race champion and Higgins is the current 45+ Indiana cyclocross champion. These racers are joined by seasoned veterans Kriss Anderson, Mike Halsey, Bran Boyer, John Kirchner, Adam Beck, David Coar, Mike Tarsa, Rich MacInnes, Darrin Lay, John Mandrola and Gregg Rokosh.

The current status of this team, and its activities in the future, can be learned by going to its website: www.indianamasters.com

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