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Edited by John Stevenson
Australian Institute of Sport rider Scott Sunderland is facing every rider's nightmare - two to three months off the bike at the start of the road racing season - following a disastrous crash during the finale of stage 4. Click here for full details on Scott's injuries and prognosis.
Bobby Julich is riding in new colours for the first time in three years. After signing for Team Telekom in September last year, Julich will join his compatriot Kevin Livingston in the German powerhouse team of Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel. Click here for Julich's thoughts on a 'working holiday' at the JCTDU.
While Julich enjoys the Adelaide sunshine his Telekom team-mates are preparing for the Tour of Qatar. See our latest photos page for pics of Telekom hard at work.
Mapei rider Cadel Evans started the Tour Down Under by finding himself a bike to borrow, as his official team rig had gone AWOL somewhere between Italy and Australia. A report on South African cycling website Super Cycling gives a hint at where Evans' stuff might be.
Talking about preparations for Sunday's 100km Pick 'n' Pay Hyper to Hyper, Evans' team-mate Robert Hunter said, "I don't know what I'll do for kit. I was sent an Aussie rider's kit and it doesn't fit me at all. I might have to go out and buy Mapei threads at a bike shop.
What do professional athletes do for jobs after they stop competing at the highest levels? Brett Aitken isn't planning to retire just yet, but he's already thinking ahead. Click here to find out what's on the cards.
Meanwhile, Aitken's Olympic Madison team-mate Scott McGrory is back in Europe racing the Six Day circuit and disappointed not to have clocked up a season hat-trick at the recent Bremen Six with partner Matthew Gilmore.
McGrory wrote in his diary:
"The final chase was 48mins + 60laps worth of sprints at the end. We got back in the lead after winning the first two sprints, but then the other two contending teams with less points started attacking. Having to chase them down hurt enough that Bruno & Kurt were stronger in the last couple of sprints & ended up with a fairly comfortable points advantage by the end. Martinello/Villa held on for 3rd which kepted Bremen's very own, Andy Kappes, & Andy Beikirch off the podium."
"We're both disappointed with losing, but l guess we still have three more Sixes to notch up another victory or two. Or three for that matter!"
Attendance at this year's Bremen Six is reported to be similar to the 2001 edition: around 130,000 for the six nights. "lt really must be seen to be believed," writes McGrory, "there is no track racing on Earth that compares to the atmosphere of the Sixes. l'm still motivated to race whenever l can at home, but l do get disappointed that only a few people have even tried to bring track cycling out of the 1960's. l'm still hoping that the idea from Gordan Johnson to have a Melbourne Six will come to fruition."
Negotiations between Paris-Nice organiser Laurent Fignon and the Tour de France organisation ASO to save Paris-Nice may be approaching a conclusion according to statements from Fignon and ASO's Jean-Marie LeBlanc and Daniel Baal.
However, no agreement had been reached at close of play on Friday, and the race may not go ahead on its planned dates, March 10-17.
"We did not reach an agreement this evening," said Baal late on Friday. "Everything is thus held over till next week."
"We are approaching an outcome," said Fignon. "I must see another investor to find out more."
LeBlanc did not seem especially hopeful of a conclusion, but said that the race could still be run this year if an agreement was reached soon. "If the negotiations end favourably, I hope we could organize the race in this year", said Leblanc.
Fignon admitted some weeks ago that the 'Hors categorie' race that he took over in 1999 was in difficulty, needing to raise some 300,000 Euro for the 2002 edition to go ahead.
The troubled relationship between former world cyclo-cross champion Daniele Pontoni and the Italian Cycling Federation took another twist this week when Potoni was threatened with exclusion from the Italian team for the world's in Zolder, Belgium, February 2-3.
According to a report in Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, Pontoni failed to attend mandatory blood controls before the start of last weekend's Italian national championships.
This did not amuse Italian Federation president Giancarlo Ceruti who said, "I received the doctor's report and I wrote a letter with the national technical Director Alfonso Morelli to remind him that controls are obligatory and that the rules must be respected.
By Øyvind Aas
Claus Michael Møller may be banned from the Danish national team for life, but that didn't stop him from being named the Danish cyclist of the year.
Danish Cycling Union and Danish Post announced the poll results on Thursday. Møller's performance in the Vuelta is believed to be what pushed him well ahead of Jacob Piil in the poll preformed by DCU's magazine Cycling, Sport & Motion.
CSC/Tiscali sports director, Bjarne Riis is not happy with the DCU's obvious paradox of naming a banned rider, rider of the year. "I think it is embarrassing, I really do," Riis says. Riis voted himself for Møller as rider of the year. "He is an absolutely worthy winner. He deserves to win with his results," he says "It's just silly that on one hand he is not allowed any thing, but on the other he can be voted rider of the year. It doesn't quite fit," Riis says, calling for a new debate in the matter.
Although Riis would have liked to have Møller riding for CSC/Tiscali he says:"If I were to give him a contract I would be painted up the wall, that's the way things work in Denmark these days, and that's why I would like a new debate."
Claus Michael Møller was banned for life by the DCU after a drug charge. He has served the two year ban he received from the UCI. Møller says that the DCU hasn't called him about the award. "If a journalist hadn't called I would not have known. The whole thing is almost a laughing matter," Møller says "That the heads of DCU, Peder Pedersen and Jesper Worre won't hand me the award themselves."
Bjarne Riis believes in punishment for drug abuse, but thinks Møller has served his time. "He made a mistake, and that, he has been punished for."
The results of the poll in Cycling, Sport & Motion
1 Claus Michael Møller 2750 votes 2 Jakob Piil 1981 3 Michael Blaudzun 696 4 Nicki Sørensen 340 5 Jørgen Bo Petersen 274 6 Rolf Sørensen 155 7 Ari Højgaard 144 8 Michael Rasmussen 137 9 Lisbeth Simper 112 10 Erling Laursen 76
After the highs of 2000, last year was a disappointing one for Victor Hugo Peña. In a recent interview with Cyclingnews, he talked about his hopes for a better 2002. Click here for the full story.
Remember Sime, the Spanish-Swedish second division team planned for this year? The project never left the ground and the Swedish partner, Team Mälarenergi, decided to register as a third division team on its own. Now Sime has joined as a part sponsor and brings three Spanish riders to the team rising the number of riders to twelve.
They are Antonio Gras, Angel Valero and Rafael Ballester, all from the Benidorm area, where Team Mälarenergi has done a lot of racing.
SIME will fund the team's whole Spanish programme next season and they also contribute with assistant manager Vicente Morand. The houses at the Costa del Sol will be at the team's free disposal.
"This means that our best climbers, Modin and Simensen, will get better support on the hilly races, so now we can put up a fight in all kinds of terrain", says team manager Patrick Serra who will present the team's racing programme shortly. The season will start in spain in early february.
Six riders, Fredrik Modin, Henrik Oldin, Martin Vestby, Valero, Ballester and Gras are already in Spain preparing. Niclas Ekström and Fredrik Johansson will join them in a weeks time. Thw two young Finns Kimmo Kaananen and Jussi Veikkanen joins in the beginning of February while Norwegian Ole Sigurd Simensen will start his season early march. Jukka Heinikkainen will bwe riding the six days in Copenhagen and hits the Spanish road mid March.
Global racing, the downhill MTB team that started its life last year and immediately grabbed a string of victories and the UCI's Downhill Team of the Year title, has announced a line-up for 2002 that is largely unchanged from 2001, with one departure and one addition.
The 2002 rider roster is headed by 2001 World Cup Champion and World Number 1, Greg Minnaar (RSA), together with mountain bike legend and two time World Cup Champion Missy Giove (USA).
Giove continues in her role as team leader. According to team director Martin Whitely, "It's clear that each rider benefited under her guidance in 2001, having their best career years to date."
Matti Lehikoinen, the 2001 European Junior Champion, joined Global Racing just prior to the 2001 World Championships in Vail, and continues to race for Global in 2002 as the team's junior, racing only in Europe. He replaces Global's hot discovery of 2001, Australian Mick Hannah who will ride for Haro in 20002.
The team's schedule for 2002 includes the full World Cup circuit, plus some Maxxis Cups in Europe, World Championships, European Championships, Asian Championships, Pan-American Championships, the 2003 Worlds Test event in Lugarno, Swittzerland, plus partial team attendance at the Sea Otter Classic, all NORBA races and special events.
Global will continue to use British-built Orange bikes and RockShox suspension, among a large array of equipment sponsors chosen by the team riders after the 2001 World's in Vail.
Riders
Markolf Berchtold (Brazil, South America) - Downhill, 4X, Dual
Missy Giove (USA, North America) - Downhill some 4X
Naoki Idegawa (Japan, Asia) - Downhill, 4X, Dual
Matti Lehikoinen (Finland, Junior Rider) - Downhill
Sean McCarroll (Australia, Oceania) - Downhill, 4X, Dual, some XC
Greg Minnaar (South Africa) - Downhill, 4X, Dual, some XC
Cesar Rojo (Spain, Europe) - Downhill
Marielle Saner (Switzerland, Europe) - Downhill, some XC
Sponsors
Orange bikes
RockShox suspension
Michelin tires
Mavic rims
Shimano components and brakes
Azonic clothing
Globalstar satellite phones
Salomon casual clothing, bags, and
Easton handlebars, stems and seat posts
T.H.E. fenders, seats and bar grips
Chris King
Motorex Synthetic lubricants
Hozan tools
Hope Hubs
DT Swiss spokes
MRP chain devices
Staff
Team Director - Martin Whiteley (Aus)
Team Manager - Ben Monroe (Aus)
Head Soigneur - Bettina Stalder (Swi)
Head Mechanic - Patrick Griessen (Swi)
Mechanic - Chris "Monkey" Vasquez (USA)
Mechanic - Mike van Zyl (RSA)
Team Photographer - Mark Dawson (Fat Tire Fotos)
Web Site Manager - Gary Perkin (Flipper UK)
The Midwest-based Cityscape-Higher Gear team will become Churchill-Higher Gear in 2002 as its sponsorship continues from Churchill Realty Partners Ltd. (CityScape) and Higher Gear.
The squad's star 2001 rider Brian Sheedy has graduated to a pro contract with Navigators for 2002 and the 2002 squad has been streamlined in order to focus on achieving better results. The team will concentrate on grooming Espoir riders for the Four Bridges of Elgin race and Espoir Nationals. Several riders are currently training in Arizona and California to get a head start on the Midwest cycling season. Ryan Zook and John Puffer will kick the season off at the Valley of the Sun stage race in Arizona. Elite Espoirs and the lower category riders from the club side will target the UCI Four Bridges Of Elgin race in July.
The orange Chicago skyline logo will still be used, however the primary sponsor is replacing the CityScape name with Churchill. Higher Gear is a professional bike shop with locations in Chicago and Highland Park IL and supports the team with product and monetary contributions.
Riders
John Puffer
Derek Witte
Ryan Zook
Andrew Rizzo
Matt Walczak
Ryan Calilung
Bryce Mead (Espoir)
Earendel Fingerson (Espoir)
Dan Siever
Sponsors
Carrera bicycle frames
Carnac shoes
Rudy Project sunglasses
Bell helmets
Extran
Reynolds forks
Serfas saddles
Staff
Team Directors: Brad Menna, Derek Witte
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