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Edited by John Stevenson
Olympic time trial champion Viatcheslav Ekimov announced Monday that he will definitely not be returning to racing this year because he has taken the position of directeur sportif of the Russian Itera team.
The acquisition of the hugely-experienced Ekimov is part of the Itera team's plan to move up to Division I in the next few years, a program that should also see the team racing more outside its traditional Spanish base.
Ekimov, who will be 36 in February 4, turned pro in 1990 and amassed 52 victories in his career. He was named Russian Cyclist of the Century, and won the DuPont Tour, the Driedaagse van De Panne and Meisterschaft von Zürichas well as stages of the Tour de France, Vuelta, Paris-Nice, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque, G.P. Midi Libre and many more.
Cyclingnews recently interviewed Viatcheslav Ekimov – to read that interview, click here.
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The Acqua&Sapone team launched its new strip yesterday in the Rolling Stone night club in Milan. In attendance were Mario Cipollini, motorbike racer Max Biaggi and various cycling greats including Vittorio Adorni, Francesco Moser and Franco Ballerini.
Here's Supermario showing off both the new strip, created by designer Roberto Cavalli and described by Acqua&Sapone general manager, Vincenzo Santoni as "a fantastic jersey in regard to graphics, giving a new image to cycling," as well as his new bike, a Specialized E5.
Tour de Langkawi organisers have announced the line-up of five more of the European teams that will be campaigning the 2002 event February 1-10. They are Mobilvetta-Formaggi, from Italy, Team Fakta, Denmark; Team Bonjour, France; Collstrop Palmans, Belgium, and Team Nurnberger, Germany.
Italian teams have an outstanding record in the Tour de Langkawi, including Mobilvetta-Formaggi, which will again be led by Slovenia's Uros Murn who placed 11th overall in last year's race. Murn then went on to ride in the Tour of Italy where he and team-mate Moreno Di Biase both completed the gruelling three-week race after collecting several high stage placings. In addition to Murn and Di Biase, Mobilvetta-Formaggi's line-up for Langkawi is: Mario Traversoni (Italy), Filipe La Verde (Colombia), Samuele Vecchi (Italy), Orlando Mesa Meza (Colombia) and Denis Bondarenko (Russia).
Team Fakta tasted success in the 2001 Tour de Langkawi when Jorgen Petersen placed 10th overall. Petersen returns at the head of an all-Danish line-up comprising Morten Sonne and Lennie Kristensen, a former Langkawi king of the Mountains leader, plus Bjorner Vestol, Bo Jorgen Petersen, Lars Bak and Bo Allen Andresen.
Germany's Team Nurnberger makes a return to Tour de Langkawi with Artour Babaitsov (Russia), Ronny Lauke (Germany), Jurgen Pauritsch (Austria), Dirk Schumann (Germany), Holger Sievers (Germany), Lubor Tesar (Czech Republic) and Jurgen Werner (Germany).
Collstrop-Palmans of Belgium sends an experienced line-up of Tony Bracke, Eric De Clerq, Hans De Meester, Bjorn Leukemans, Karel Pauwels and Hendrick Van Dijk, all of Belgium, and Max Becker from Luxembourg.
Team Bonjour, which finished fourth in the World rankings for Division II teams in 2001, fields an all-French squad of mainly first-year professionals. They are: Anthony Charteau, Anthony Geslin, Charles Guilbert, Jimmy Engoulevent, Mickael Pichon, Jerome Pineau and Thomas Voeckler.
With the Australian summer season back in full swing after the Christmas New Year break and the Bay Series, it's time for the Australian Open Road Championships, which gets underway in Buninyong, near Ballarat, Victoria tomorrow, January 10.
For the first time, the four day event includes both time trial and road race competition, kicking off with the women's time trial on Thursday, then Friday's men's TT, women's road race on Saturday and culminating in the men's road race on Sunday.
This year's championships see extremely strong fields, reflecting the increase in stature of Australian cyclists on the international pro circuit over the last couple of years. World number one Anna Millward is recovering from surgery, but will be a rider to watch if she has managed to regain form, as will 2001 champion Katie Mactier. If the race finishes in a bunch sprint, though, the super-fast legs of Rochelle Gilmore will be very hard to beat.
In the men's race, Stuart O'Grady is hungry to take his first victory in this event, clocking up 200km days in training. David McKenzie of iteamNova.com is also keen to take the Australian champion's jersey overseas, and they will both have to look out for Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown. The two sprinters livened up the recent Bay Series with their finishing-straight tussles.
For preview and start lists, click here.
Erik Zabel and Judith Arndt have been voted German Cyclists of the Year by the readers of "Radsport" magazine. Zabel's immense popularity in his homeland is shown by his landslide win: 55.3 percent of the vote, ahead of team-mate Jan Ullrich trailing in second with just 15.1 percent. Jens Voigt was third with 9.1 percent.
The women's vote was somewhat closer, with Arndt's 44.0 percent vote putting her ahead of mountain bike racer Sabine Spitz on 27.8 percent and cyclo-cross world champion Hanka Kupfernagel in third on 18.4.
Mapei-Quick Step's 'feeder' team – known as the "Young Group" – starts its first training camp of 2002 from today to January 16 at the Hotel Caesar Palace in Camaiore, Italy.
Two members of the team, which is directed by Fernandez Rodriguez "Matxin" and with the supervision of Fabrizio Fabbri, will not be present at the meeting; they are Michael Rogers and Allan Davis who are taking part in the Tour Down Under in Australia (January 15-20).
Joining these athletes will be a few of the "Top Team" racers such as the World Champion Oscar Freire (who should arrive on January 10 – he will be in Seville until january 9 for a special physiotherapy check-up), the Silver Medal winner at the World Championships of Lisbon Paolo Bettini and the Belgian sprinter Tom Steels. The team's sporting Director Serge Parsani and Luca Guercilena will also be present.
By Phil Ingham, BCF
British cyclist Yvonne McGregor was made an MBE in the UK's New Year Honours list. With such a wonderful career behind her, we wondered what she would be doing to fill the time now she has "retired". We called Yvonne at 10am on a very cold morning to ask her and, perhaps predictably, she was just going out of the door on a training ride.
However, she pulled off her thermal gloves and balaclava long enough to tell us that she is keeping fit "riding with the girls at Alsager" (WCPP training base) and that she has an eye on one last record attempt.
Although unwilling to commit herself completely at this stage, she admitted that she will be making her mind up in the very near future about whether to attempt the European athletes hour record - currently held by Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel at 43.47591 kilometres.
If the record attempt does go ahead it is likely to be in the spring. In the meantime, Yvonne jets off to New Zealand at the end of the month for a three week social visit with friends and family.
As for the long term, she says "I've made no hard and fast decisions about the future. I don't want to turn my back on cycling completely. I'm going to take the British Cycling level two club coach qualification. However, it's too soon to make any firm decisions. Training for competition, as I have over the years, is very intense. I want a few months to reflect before making my mind up."
Former national team and Team Coast directeur sportif Joergen Marcussen has signed a one year contract with CSC Tiscali. Marcussen will start as the team's DS at the GP E3 Harelbeke in Belgium at the end of March.
"I am very satisfied with the perspective they are taking, and I would be happy to stay in this environment at least one more year," said Marcussen. He was released from his contract with the German team last year.
CSC Tiscali manager Bjarne Riis said, "Joergen fits very well into our profile and his inspiration and competence will without doubt benefit the team." The appointment of Marcussen will ease Riis' role as manager in 2002.
Jame Carney isn't the only American having success racing in warmer climes this winter: 7UP team leader John Lieswyn has spent time in Australia and New Zealand recently, and this weekend notched up a victory in the Copa America, a criterium race in Brazil. Click here for a brief report and results.
The racing team formerly known as Zaxby's is now the Jittery Joe's/Café de Ecuador Team. Team director Micah Rice announced yesterday that he had found a new title sponsor in Jittery Joe's Coffee Roasting Company for his three-year-old US-based Division III team which will focus on the American NRC and NORBA National circuits.
The team will keep its focus on the road with a nine-man road squad and will also have four pro mountain bikers. The team also has a number of multi-sport athletes who will be contesting the duathlon and Xterra circuits.
"We are excited about another year of racing and consider ourselves very lucky to have found a new title sponsor," says Micah Rice, Team Director. "We have kept our core group of strong riders from last year but have added some power to the top that should help our results on the NRC circuit."
The team will keep most of the heavy hitters from the Zaxby's team from last year but will also sign other riders who rode for other pro teams last year including at least one ex-Mercury pro. Other team sponsors include K2 Bikes, SRAM, Maxxis Tires, Clif Bar, Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine and Truvativ.
Jittery Joe's is a coffee roasting company based in Athens, Georgia and is joined by The Maquipucuna Foundation, an Ecuadorian non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Ecuador's biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.
"The team will be funded by fresh-roasted coffee sold to an associate sponsor and through Internet monthly coffee subscriptions," says FEI Velo Marketing Director Gene Dixon.
Jittery Joe's purchases its coffee through the Maquipucuna Foundation from Ecuadorian growers who produce shade-grown organic beans. Such sustainable practices help preserve biologically diverse rainforests while producing a superior product.
The new team's website is www.thebeanteam.com.
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