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Edited by Jeff Jones
Although this year the GP Costa degli Etruschi a Donoratico (Feb. 3) was the first race on the Italian UCI calendar, traditionally the Italian season opens with the Trofeo Laigueglia, which will be run for the 39th time tomorrow.
With the same tough parcours of last season over 172.6 km, including two climbs of the Passo del Testico and the tough Colle Paravenna less than 30km from the finish along the Ligurian Rivera, Tour of the Med winner Michele Bartoli will start as the likely favourite.
"Last season, there was never a time when I was going as well as I did in the Tour of the Med," said Bartoli today. "I won two stages in five days and now I can be relaxed and do my training program without the need to win."
"It's hard to pick a favourite for Laigueglia; sure there will be attacks on the climbs, but you have to be alert all the time. I think the decisive move should go before the final climb (of Colle Paravenna.)"
There are plenty of other Italian stars who will start, and fans will see Mirko Celestino (last year's winner), Gilberto Simoni, Danilo Di Luca, Davide Rebellin, Paolo Bettini, Daniele Nardello and Paolo Savoldelli amongst other well known foreigners such as Johan Museeuw, Laurent Jalabert, George Hincapie, and Raimondas Rumsas.
Following Laigueglia is the four day Giro Riviera Ligure Ponente, which was won in its inaugural year in 2001 by Hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi.
Saeco-Longoni Sport: Celestino, Simoni, Di Luca, Commesso
Mapei-Quick Step: Bettini, Nardello, Evans, Noč
Acqua&Sapone-Cantina Tollo: Colombo, Gentili, Gasperoni
AG2R Prevoyance: Agnolutto
Alessio: Gotti, Ferrigato, Dufaux, Pellizotti, De Paoli
Index-Alexia: Savoldelli, Di Grande
Amore&Vita-Beretta: Massi
Cage Maglierie: Buenahora, D'Amore
Panaria-Fiordo: Figueras, Degano, Perez Cuapio, O'Neill
Colombia-Selle Italia: Fredy Gonzalez
Colnago-Landbouwkrediet: Popovych, Bernucci, Sorensen
De Nardi Pasta Montegrappa: Palumbo, Miorin
Fassa Bortolo: Bartoli, Baldato, Tiralongo
Gerolsteiner: Rebellin, Rastelli
Jean Delatour: Roux
Lampre-Daikin: Rumsas, Sciandri, Serpellini, Spruch
Lotto-Adecco: Baguet, D'Hollander
Mercatone Uno: Sgambelluri
Mobilvetta-Formaggi Trentini: Gualdi
Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola: Mazzoleni, Luttenberger, Borghi
Colpack-Astro: Lunghi, Giordani
CSC-Tiscali: L. Jalabert
Deutsche Telekom: Hondo, Julich, Livingston
US Postal: Hincapie, Mondini
Vlaanderen-T Interim
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Team Alessio made it two from two in the Ruta de Sol as Khazakstan's Aleksandr Shefer took the second stage that finished in Cordoba. Shefer was part of a four man breakaway that finished 17 seconds clear of the main pack which was led home by Erik Zabel. Second placed Antonio Colom Mas (Fuenlabrada) was awarded the leader's jersey, while Axel Merckx (Domo, 3rd) and Francisco Cabello (Kelme, 4th) were credited with the same time.
Click here for the full results & report
World road champion Oscar Freire will be awarded the title of "Cantabria's Favourite Son" next Friday, the highest honour that the Cantabrian community can bestow on a person. Only five people have been granted the title since its inception in 1987, and the Cantabrian Government made its choice shortly after Oscar won the World's in October 2001.
Freire, a resident of Torrelavega, fit the award's criteria. Through his performances he provided "a significant benefit to the community of Cantabria."
In the past five World Championships, he has won two gold medals, one bronze, and one silver in the U23 category.
Despite no longer sponsoring a professional cycling team this year, Italian gas distribution company Liquigas will still be active in cycling, recently announcing a two year sponsorship of the Italian Cycling Federation.
The sponsorship will be targetted at the junior, amateur and cyclotourist riders, both on and off road. One part of the venture will promote the sport of cycling in approximately 60 schools in the southern part of the country; another will be to support the popular MTB and 'gran fondo' tourist rides, including two new events in summer organised by the partnership. Finally Liquigas will sponsor the FCI's cycling guide book, which contains tourist information and 10 new routes.
By Mikael Kyneb
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A BT Newspaper journalist started his report on the media presentation of Team fakta, held in Vejle last week, with the following words: "They talked about a fantastic solidarity and it wasn't just talk. You actually could see it on these guys - the bright faces, the lights in the eyes told us everything. These 16 hopeful riders who sat together on the scene for the traditional Team photo form a real close-knit team."
Indeed, one could really get a taste of true team spirit, this thanks to the commitment of all involved. There was festive feeling; everybody was cheerful, even a Scott Sunderland on crutches didn't let his injury stand in the way of a fun day with the rest of the team.
Click here for the full presentation report and photos
By Karen Forman, in Melbourne
A capacity crowd is expected at Melbourne's Vodafone Arena on Saturday night for the running of the best-loved and most historic track race in Australia - the Bicycling Superstore Austral Wheel Race. Tickets have been selling thick and fast for the event, which has attracted some top name riders including an international with the potential to take the title out of the country.
American Mike Tillman, in Australia on a racing holiday and showing building form at the Tasmanian Christmas carnivals and on track in Sydney, will vie for supremacy in the event said to have made champions out of champions. Handicapper Laurie Norris is likely to start him off 60 metres.
Scratch marker no doubt will be Australian Shane Kelly, who has finished second both times behind 2002 Forges Wheel Race and Leongatha Wheel Race winner, Nicholas Sanderson, a 17 year old Year 12 student.
Combined with the frustration of finishing second in the opening event of the Cyclists International 2001-2002 track season, the Melbourne Cup on Wheels in December, the highly respected track star is hungry for a win. But it will depend on the handicaps, due to be released tomorrow, and on his ability to recover from a jam-packed program of support events.
Another rider to watch will be rising youngster Jobie Dajka, now recovered from injury in the Leongatha event three weeks ago.
This will be the second year the Austral has been raced on the super fast board track of the Vodafone Arena and promoter Barry Langley is expecting stiff competition and fast times to be recorded.
The event was born in 1887, when the Melbourne Bicycle Club - then the oldest cycling club in Australia - ran the first Austral wheel race over a distance of two miles (3200 metres) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Like now, first prize was highly sought after - it was a walnut cabinet containing 152 pieces of silver and cutlery, valued at 200 pounds sterling (around $500).
It wasn't long until the new event had attracted some controversy. In 1901, the press alleged race fixing involving infamous Melbourne identity John Wren, after American, "Plugger" Bill Martin, won from scratch. The following year, the prizemoney soared to 1050 Sovereigns, so perhaps the outrage didn't do the event any harm.
The Austral has moved around a bit over the years. It has been held at the three exhibition tracks - at first on the asphalt oval and then indoors twice, on the board track that was relocated to North Essendon in the 30's.
The Olympic Park area - where Vodafone Arena is located - had two Austral tracks - the concrete Motordrome and the 250m wooden Velodrome constructed after the 1956 Olympics. And since the late 70's, the event has been held on the Brunswick, Coburg and Northcote Velodromes.
Of course nothing can be perfect and the Austral did have its down times. In the late 1970's, only $1500 could be scraped up to offer as prizemoney, but by 1982 it was lifted to $5000 plus sponsors' products and seemed to get back on track.
These days, the event is worth more than $18,000.
Many famous names appear on the "Austral" honour roll. World champions, Gordon Johnson (1973) and Steele Bishop (1982) both won from scratch. Past champions Jack Fitzgerald (1922) won from scratch and Tassie Johnson (1944) won from 30 yards. The great Sid Patterson (1962 & 1964) and Laurie Venn (1979 & 1981) have both won the event twice from scratch.
Tasmanian, Danny Clark has had three wins off the scratch mark in 1977, 1986 and 1990. But the record now belongs to consistent Victorian all-rounder, Stephen Pate, with four victories - in 1988 from scratch, 1991 from minus 10 metres, 1993 from minus 20 metres and his most recent win, 1999 from scratch.
* Tickets are available for the Bicycle Superstore Austral Wheel Race and other events from $20 each from Ticketek of at the door on the night. Packages are also available for infield dining, eight days before each event. For further information contact info@cyclistsinternational.com.au
Australian Credit Agricole star Stuart O'Grady now has a new - and very green - website: www.stuartogrady.com.au. The site (which is very green by the way) contains plenty for the Dedicated O'Grady Fan - no TDU Stuey masks though. The title of the site is "I WANT GREEN! | www.stuart o'grady.com.au" which may give a clue as to his ambitions this year.
His diary gives the impression that he likes speed. e.g. "I'm currently sitting in the team car , cruising along the Auto-Route from Nimes to Antibes. Our soigneur (masseur, whatever you want to call them) is kicking along at around the 150km/hr mark, taking it pretty steady today. We are in no rush anyway."
Later, he goes into some detail about the extra motorpaced training he did after each stage of the Etoile de Besseges. "You try not to think of the damage you would inflict on yourself if your tyre blew out, or you hit a big bad pot hole while your front wheel is an inch or two from the bumper bar when you're doing 100km/hr! At one stage we were doing between 90 & 100km/hr for 20kms, I had the 53* 11 completely wound out, & we maxed out on a descent coming into the city at 120!"
That's quick.
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Marco Polo Cycling Club president Nathan Dahlberg has to be a leading candidate for the most miles done by an elite rider last year (or any year for that matter). Air miles, that is - jet lag does not exist in Nathan's world. And we are not talking about some recreational rider, this is the winner of the Tour du Maroc and second place in the Tour of China, both in 2001.
Click here to read about Nathan's travels
The Marco Polo Cycling Club is looking for support to be able to do the Californian program in March. The club is managed by riders, to help riders and does not have a sponsor, but still managed to win four international stage races in 2001. In 2002 a win in the USA is high on the priority list, however the high rate of the dollar makes things hard to organise.
For the Sequoia Classic, Redlands Classic and Sea Otter Classic the most internationally diverse team in the world is trying to bring riders from Mongolia and Indonesia. To make this happen, they are in need of transport and some housing between the races. Anyone interested to be the team manager? All you need is a huge van and a place to put these sportsmen up.
Contact: marcopolo@worldwidecycling.com
The National Off Road Bicycle Association is preparing for a five-race National Championship Mountain Bike Series.
The series kicks off on May 9-12 with its traditional season-opening venue at Snow Summit, California. Organizers have moved the date one week earlier than an initial positing to avoid a conflict with a World Cup event in Madrid.
"We understand that the NORBA Nationals remain a focus of international teams. There's so much heritage and prestige associated with these events that riders from Europe, Canada, Africa and Asia want to be competitive in this series," said Rick Sutton, president of GaleForce Sports Marketing which organizes the series. "There's a lot of pressure from sponsors to do well in both, the World Cup and the NORBA series."
Two new venues have been added for 2002, including the second round at East Troy, Wisconsin at the Alpine Valley Resort (June 13-16). The following week it's back to Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia for the June 20-23 event.
The series moves back to its roots in August with events in Durango, Colorado. The mountain town has hosted the series three times before, 1986, 1987 and 1992. This year's Durango event will be August 1-4.
Then it's back to Mount Snow, Vermont for the finals to be held on August 15-18. This will be the sixth time that Mount Snow, with a strong history as the mountain bike capital of the east, hosts the NORBA finals. There the pros get a final shot at series points while junior and master riders have a one-day shootout for their stars and stripes jerseys.
There are two notable absences from the calendar. Deer Valley, Utah, was left off due to scheduling conflicts; and Mammoth Mountain Resort in California is undergoing a renovation to its main lodge area.
Round 1 - May 9-12 Snow Summit, Calif.
Round 2 - June 13-16, Alpine Valley Resort, E. Troy, Wisc.
Round 3 - June 20-23, Snowshoe Mountain, W. Va.
Round 4 - Aug. 1-4 Durango, Colo.
Round 5 (Finals) - Aug. 15-18, Mount Snow, Vt.
2002 will be the third racing campaign for Team Supergo.com/Clif Bar (formerly Team HotJobs.com), a mountain bike team based in San Diego, California, that competes in mountain bike races throughout the Southwestern US and select International Events.
The team will focus on cross-country events such as the Masters World Championships, Sea Otter Classic, NORBA NCS Races, and 3 California Series (State Championships, Snow Summit Amateur Cup, and Rim Nordic). They will also focus on endurance events such as the 24 Hours of Adrenaline Races (Monterey and Idyllwild, CA), Brian Head Epic 100, Cream Puff 100, Big Bear 100, and 12 Hours at the Summit.
Team Supergo.com/Clif Bar will send a 2 person team to compete in the TransAlp Challenge, an 8 day mountain bike stage race through Germany, Austria, and Italy, and has riders who plan to compete in the TransRockies Challenge in Canada, and La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica. In addition to racing, Supergo.com/Clif Bar Team members lead rides at mountain bike festivals and clinics, work on local trail maintenance projects, and do charitable work with San Diego's youth.
Pro
Brent Prenzlow
Expert
Jason Charlebois
Cliff Clermont
Melissa Fletcher
Todd Galati
Tomoko Maruyama
Greg Norman
Greg Norombaba
Mark Reynolds
Chad Theule
Randy Wilson
Sport
Jerrie Beard
Andy Darragh
Brandt Furgerson
Rob Mikuteit
Jeff Sullivan
Team Sponsors
Supergo Bike Shops (www.supergo.com)
Clif Bar/Clif SHOT (www.clifbar.com)
HotJobs.com (www.hotjobs.com)
Fire Protection Products Inc. (Carlsbad, CA) (www.fppi.com)
Pizza Port (Carlsbad and Solana Beach, CA) (www.pizzaport.com)
Fins Mexican Eatery (San Diego, CA) (www.fins.net)
Equipment/Product Sponsors
Weyless mountain bike frames (www.supergo.com)
White Lightning Company (www.whtlight.com)
E-CAPS Inc. (www.e-caps.com)
Sock Guy (www.sockguy.com)
Carmichael Training Systems (www.trainright.com)
Spy Optic (www.spyeyes.com)
AXO Cycling (www.axocycling.com)
O'Neal (www.oneal.com)
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