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Edited by John Stevenson
Former world champion Giani Bugno has been summoned to give evidence in April or May to a court in Belgian investigating allegations of doping at the 1999 Three days of Depanne, according to reports from news agencies AFP and Belga.
The case involves the alleged supply of doping agents to the Mapei team and Bugno will give evidence alongside his father Giocomo, former Mapei soigneur Tiziano Morassut, former Belgian cyclist, Edouard Vanhulst, and the latter's father, Louis Vanhulst.
The prosecution claims that in 1999 parcel company DHL alerted it to a suspect package addressed to Gianni Bugno, who at the time was a technical consultant for the Mapei team. The package allegedly contained amphetamines and police searched the Mapei team's hotel and arrested Morassut and Edouard Vanhulst.
Farm Frites has announced that the company will not renew its sponsorship of the Domo team after its current commitment ends at the end of 2002. Domo team manager Patrick Lefevere will therefore have the whole of this year to seek another sponsorship partner for the Belgian Classics specialist team.
Farm Frites sponsorship of its women's team, which includes Dutch star Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel, is also up in the air. Farm Frites spokesman Ronald Princen said, "We are going to talk with team manager Michael Zijlaard. Our plans will depend on the plans for the future of Leontien. If she wants to carry on, Farm Frites will handle this case very carefully."
The european invasion of South Australia began yesterday with the arrival in Adelaide of Sydney Olympic Games road race bronze medallist, Andreas Kloeden, and his German Telekom team mate, Danilo Hondo. The pair are the first of more than 30 international cyclists who will descend on the South Australian capital this weekend to prepare for the 2002 Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under.
Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu, the highest internationally ranked rider in the 2002 line up (UCI world rank - 14) will arrive today with two of his AG2R Prévoyance team mates, Lauri Aus and Innar Mandoja. On the same flight will be seven of the eight man CSC-Tiscali team including reigning Danish national road champion, Jakob PIIL. The Belgian registered Lotto - Adecco team will also touch down.
On Sunday morning at 10.00am (MH129) the Italian based Mapei - Quick Step team, with the exception of Australian Cadel Evans who is racing in Victoria until the 14th, will arrive along with three more riders for the Telekom team.
The team management of Lotto-Adecco has advised a late change to their starting line up. Belgian Fulco Van Gulik will not compete in the 2002 TDU. In his place the team will start Dutch rider Stefan Van Dijk who is a new signing for the team for the 2002 season.
From: Netherlands
DOB: January 22, 1976
New signing transferring from Bankgiroloterij / Batavus
1st Stage 1 Tour of Holland
1st Stages 1 & 4a Course de la Solidarité Olympique
1st Ronde van Noord-Holland
2nd Stages 3 & 5 Course de la Solidarité Olympique
2nd Stage 2 Tour of Holland
4th Stage 4 Herald Sun Tour
By Rod Morris
American cycling ace Jame Carney is poised to win yet another prestigious Tasmanian trophy.
After claiming the Devonport Wheel, A. J. Clarke & Sons Handicap and two high profile A Grade Scratch races, Carney carries a comfortable lead in the newly instigated Cycling Tasmania Rider of the Season Award.
With three carnivals remaining for the season, Carney has amassed 42 points from all handicap and scratch races held from Boxing Day at Latrobe to New Year's Day at Burnie, although the award actually stretches from early November to the St Helens Carnival on January 19.
Carney will have the opportunity to extend his lead when he rides at this weekend's Bikes & Spikes Carnival in Hobart, while his biggest danger will be in-form Hobart rider Jason Johnson, who is already the hot favourite for his hometown wheelrace.
North-West Coast rider Michael Wood has emerged as a serious threat after winning several races throughout the Christmas Carnivals.
The early leader, Ron Crawford of Devonport, has slipped to fifth.
Throughout Christmas, all handicap finals and scratch races carried 6-4-2 points, but now the fields have been reduced drastically, the points system will revert to a 3-2-1 basis.
Sheffield's Belinda Goss holds a commanding lead in the CA Female Rider of the Season, which is held under the same conditions as the male equivalent.
Meanwhile Queensland's Aaron Kemps winner of the Latrobe Wheel heads SCAT's Order of Merit with earnings in excess of $8000.
His closest rival is American scratchman Jame Carney with $5875 and Victorian scratch champ, Shane Kelly on $4645.
Burnie Wheel winner Mark Jamieson moved into fourth with earnings over the $4000 mark.
Only 15 riders have earned more than $1000 this Tasmanian summer.
And in junior acing exciting young Launceston rider Matthew Goss has racked up 16 wins, three second places and three thirds to outgun any other cyclist this season.
Cycling Tasmania Male Rider of the Season
1 Jame Carney 42
2 Jason Johnson 33
3 Michael Wood 27
4 Abram Manion 25
5 Ron Crawford 24
6 Shane Kelly 24
7 Keiichi Maruyama 20
8 Andrew Taylor 20
9 Jeff Hopkins 16
10 Mark Jamieson 16
Cycling Tasmania Female Rider of the Season
1 Belinda Goss 41
2 Emily Williams 20
3 Tanya Lindenmuth 18
4 Louise Yaxley 18
5 Kristine Bayley 16
6 Lisa Strange 12
7 Stephanie Williams 6
8 Michelle Fearne 4
9 Kirby Piscioneri 4
10 Katrina Purcell 4
SCAT Order of Merit top 15 prize money earners
1 Aaron Kemps (Qld) $8,020
2 Jame Carney (USA) $5,875
3 Shane Kelly (Vic.) $4,645
4 Mark Jamieson (Nook) $4,195
5 Warren Doyle (NSW) $2,260
6 Keiichi Maruyama (Japan) $2,210
7 Darren Young (East Dev.) $2,205
8 Andrew Loft (L'ton) $2,185
9 Sean Sullivan (Evandale) $1,845
10 Abram Manion (Exeter) $1,750
11 John Abblitt (Port Sorell) $1,710
12 Jason Johnson (Hobart) $1,695
13 Caleb Manion (Exeter) $1,670
14 Adriano Baffi (Italy) $1,465
15 Jeff Hopkins (NSW) $1,290
Most wins (& placings)
Category 1st 2nd 3rd
Matthew Goss J1 16 3 3
Alex Holden J3 (now J2) 11 4 1
Ben Fielding J2 6 2 1
Jame Carney Open 6 1 1
Cameron Flint J1 5 3 2
Jason Johnson Open 5 2 3
Clay Murfett J3 5 0 2
Belinda Goss Open 4 3 5
Matthew Bonham J2 4 2 4
Michael Wood Open 4 1 2
For Cyclingnews' coverage of the Tasmanian Christmas and New Year carnivals click here
A team which included intrepid cyclingnews.com reporter Karen Forman took the accolades in a less-than-serious addition to the racing program on the third day of the 2002 Skilled Geelong Bay Classic yesterday.
Riding mountain bikes, the City of Greater Geelong team comprising Dutch cyclist John Denbraber, Australian cycling legend Phil Anderson and Forman, beat out its rivals in the final sprint (!!???) to take out the three-lap celebrity relay.
Second was the Skilled team comprising Tour de France star Stuart O'Grady, David Millward (husband of world number one female rider Anna) and Skilled general manager of corporate development and marketing, Greg Hargraves.
Scott McGrory led the Skilled Quest team, with national women's road coach James Victor and a member of the public, Dee Munro, while Geelong stage winner Robbie McEwan led the Crown team with Geelong councillor for sport and recreation, Linda Ristevski and Bay Classic director, John Trevorrow.
Race tactics were non existent, UCI rules were scarcely considered (let alone abided by) and the knobbly-tyred bikes were not exactly set up for racing, but the event was popular with a crowd which enjoyed the fun.
Highlights included Forman's heart-pumping attack off the starting line, only to be caught halfway into the first lap when she couldn't find a larger gear to keep the pressure on; a brilliant first time performance by Ristevski, who had never ridden a bike before today; the subsequent cheating of McEwen, who after waiting for his team mate, decided the only way to catch up was to take a shortcut; and the final "sprint" by Armstrong and Hargraves to the line.
"It was tough out there," Forman said afterwards. "Just learning I had Phil on my team was enough to push my heart rate into the lactic zone . . . and that was before I even got anywhere near the bike."
A second celebrity race has been added to Sunday's program at Crown Casino and will feature Holden car racing driver Jason Bright, who will also be driving the lead car during the serious events on the day.
The London Velodrome project's campaign for a covered velodrome in East London received a boost recently when the British Cycling, the governing body of UK bike racing, gave its support to the project.
In a letter to Lea Valley Cycling Club, British Cycling Events & Facilities Director Bob Barber said "I am writing to give my full support to the proposals for the provision of a covered track in East London. This model of such a facility received widespread support in the consultation process of British Cycling's facility strategy, Sport England Lottery Fund Strategy and is an integral part of the current World Class Start and Potential Plans for cycling."
Outlining British Cycling's plans and needs for the next several years, Barber concluded, "The development of multi-use facilities, such as Lea Valley, will give our riders the best opportunities to develop into future World Class performers and help Great Britain to become one of the leading Cycling nations in the World by the beginning of the next decade."
USA Cycling has named the riders that will make up its team for the 2002 world cyclo-cross championships in Zolder, Belgium on February 2-3.
The men's team will be spear-headed by national champion Todd Wells, while on the women's side the US best hope for a medal is undoubtedly national champion and world MTB champ Alison Dunlap.
Leading the charge in the Under 23 class is Espoir national champ Adam Craig, while junior phenom Jesse Anthony heads the under 18 class.
Elite Men
Marc Gullickson (Boulder, Colo.)
Tim Johnson (Middleton, Mass.)
Jonathan Page (Northfield, N.H.)
Todd Wells (Tucson, Ariz.)
Elite Women
Carmen D'Aluisio (Watsonville, Calif.)
Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Ann Grande (Des Moines, Wash.)
Gina Hall (Richmond, Calif.)
Under-23 Men
Josh Anthony (Beverly, Mass.)
Adam Craig (Old Town, Maine)
Alan Obye (Mendon, Vt.)
Jackson Stewart (Los Gatos, Calif.)
Junior Men
Jesse Anthony (Beverly, Mass.) Brent Bookwalter (Comstock Park, Mich.) Aaron Bradford (Auburn. Wash.) Christopher Hill (Wakefield, Mass.) Mike House (Helena, Ohio)
On May 19, Danbury, Connecticut will see a new face on an existing event on the women's cycling calendar, as the Housatonic Valley Classic becomes the Saturn-Timex Women's Challenge. The race will start and finish in Timex's 'backyard' in Danbury, and pass through ten towns in the area while traversing the scenic Housatonic Valley.
The support from Saturn and Timex will allow race promoter John Eustice to extend the 2002 women's race from its previous format of a downtown criterium to a fully-fledge 80+ mile one-day race.
John Eustice has high hopes for the Saturn-Timex Women's Challenge, "We are designing the Saturn-Timex Women's Challenge to World Cup technical standards. American women and teams rank with the best in the world. They absolutely deserve international quality races to showcase their talents."
A Timex release describes the sponsorship as "an effort to support sport events in the local Connecticut area" and quotes Christine Johnson, Manager of Sponsorships and Promotions for Timex as adding: “We are pleased to have an opportunity to help bring such an important professional sporting event to our home turf. We are keen on supporting a local event in our community."
Hong Kong has its first professional cyclist in Kam Po-Wong, who has announced he will sign a pro contract in 2002, though he has yet to specify which team he'll be riding for.
With the signing-up season rapidly ending, two French riders have picked up deals for this year. Franck Pencolé, formerly of BigMat will ride for Francaises des Jeux and Vincent Templier (Saint-Quentin) has joined Belgian squad Marlux.
It seems cross-country mountain bike racing isn't quite dead after all. Bas van Dooren, who last year claimed he'd been 'forced' into racing on the road in 2002, will ride some mountain bike races for the B One team this year. Van Dooren started his professional career with B One before moving to Specialised in 2001. He is nevertheless expected to concentrate on road racing, with occasional forays into the dirt.
Also new to the 2002 team is dirt jumping and BMX star Michal Prokop who finished second at the 2001 Kaprun World Cup Dual. Australian Anna Baylis, current UCI No. 9 ranked women's XC rider will also join the team.
In other B One news, the team will use FSA Carbon Pro cranksets, ISIS Drive bottom brackets in both titanium and chromoly and FSA Orbit Z integrated headsets in 2002.
FSA recently inked a deal with the Bonjour team, so the addition of B One to its roster of supported teams means the crank and headset company has a strong presence at the top level, both on and off-road.
The Saturn team has announced three new sponsors for the 2002 season: CycleOps Power-Tap, GeniSoy Soy Protein Products and ART (Active Release Technique).
Power-Tap, an instrumented hub system that measures a rider's power output, will be used as a training aid by all 25 of the team's male and female riders. "Its ease of use and accuracy is going to be a big plus to the Saturn athletes' race day preparation," commented Saturn Men's Director Jim Copeland.
Fairfield, California based Genisoy will provide soy-based nutrition products including energy bars to help with the team's food needs while other bodily care will be provided by ART (Active Release Technique) a soft-tissue care system that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves.
Mountain bike world champion Roland Green is the first off-roader to engage the services of Sotox Sports Management, the athlete representation company that also looks after Goerge Hincapie, Dylan Casey and Chann McRae.
Green dominated the 2001 mountain bike season, winning the Worlds, the World Cup series and the US NORBA series, and then switching to skinny tyres for a 14th place in the world TT championships despite having to train on his mountain bike when his TT bike was held up in customs.
"I've had a phenomenal season and that has brought in a lot of interest in me as a rider and made things pretty exciting," said Green. "It has also made it kind of busy. I really needed to get some support on the business side of things and a friend recommended I check into Sotox. I was impressed by the portfolio of athletes that Sotox represents and Clay's commitment to cycling."
"We are very excited to sign Roland as our first client in the mountain bike field," said Clay Young, president of Sotox Sports Management. "By adding such a talented rider, we are diversifying our clientele and promoting the various cycling opportunities."
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