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Edited by Jeff Jones
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German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was the biggest guest of honour at the Team Deutsche Telekom presentation in Berlin on Monday. The 2002 team of Erik Zabel and Jan Ullrich is composed of 25 riders, the majority of them German, with just five new acquisitions. The team will again be managed by experienced Belgians Walter Godefroot and Rudy Pevenage.
"The team has written a success story over the years as a team and through the individual performances of Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel," said Chancellor Schröder in his address. "Cycling became a popular sport. I think that the riders are well prepared and that should be enough for the Green and Yellow jerseys."
Jan Ullrich has already had an early season hitout in Qatar, where he finished well to make the top 15. He will now have a break from racing until February 26 when he aims to start in the Tour of Valencia, his European debut. Up until then, he will be training in South Africa for three weeks. "The barely one week long Tour of Qatar was a welcome variation from training," he told journalists at the presentation.
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Team manager Rudy Pevenage repeated his customary start of season statement: "Ullrich is in better shape than in the past two years at this time of year." Pevenage wasn't lying either, as Ullrich looks to be in excellent condition to meet the challenge that awaits him in July - to win the Tour de France for a second time.
"After all the second placings of the past years, I hope that this time I get the big one in the Tour," added Ullrich. "I want to again be at the level where I was in 1997. So far I have trained more intensively, not necessarily done more kilometres. In the fight against Armstrong I will have to exploit my talents and abilities even more, and train even harder."
If all goes well, the first race between Ullrich and the Texan may be in the Tour of Murcia (March 6-10), although neither will be in top condition.
Walter Godefroot certainly wants the team to win another Tour de France yellow jersey, after achieving the feat in 1996 (Bjarne Riis) and 1997 (Jan Ullrich). "The Tour is a mega-event in world sport. We will do everything so that...a Telekom rider is on top of the podium in Paris."
The Telekom team has a budget of over 10 million euro this year, and is certainly one of the best funded teams in the peloton. The team's program is fairly broad, and will again include the Giro d'Italia this year. The first major goal will be Milan-San Remo, where the team's most successful rider Erik Zabel will try to take his fifth victory. Zabel also has his eyes on yet another Tour de France green jersey, and presumably more than a few other races this season.
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Estonian sprinter Jaan Kirsipuu will lead the 21 member Ag2r-Prevoyance team again this season. Kirsipuu has won nearly 90 races in his career, including 18 last year, second only to Erik Zabel. The Eastern European connection is strong within this French team, with Lauri Aus, Innar Mandoja (Estonia), Linas Balciunas, Arturas Kasputis (Lithuania) and Alexandre Botcharov (Russia) all important members.
The Ag2r team will rely on Kirsipuu for victories, as he is a sure fire bet in the smaller French races, and can nearly always pull off a Tour de France stage win. Although his leadout man Ludovic Capelle still has some way to go before he finds the necessary condition this season, he knows he has to get cranking now after his abortive attempt Down Under.
The team also has a couple of handy riders for the mountains: Spaniard Iñigo Chaurreau (ex-Euskaltel) and Alexandre Botcharov, and these will carry the team's hopes during the Tour.
Of course, Ag2r-Prevoyance needs to be invited to the Tour first, but team boss Vincent Lavenu hopes that their consistency over the past few years will help them in May. "This challenge puts us under additional pressure: it will be necessary to fight and convince them".
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Italian team Alessio was presented on Monday in San Giorgio in Bosco in Padova, Italy. Alessio will enjoy its first season in Division I this year, after it finished on top of the Division II rankings in 2001 (35 wins), earning automatic promotion. The team has increased its roster by three riders to a total of 23, and it will certainly remain competitive.
Riders such as Endrio Leoni (8 wins in 2001), Pietro Caucchioli, Ruslan Ivanov, and Ivan Gotti will be back for more in 2002, in addition to new signings Andrea Brognara, Daniele De Paoli, Laurent Dufaux, Vladimir Miholjevic, Cristian Moreni, Dario Pieri, and neo-pro Davide Frattini.
Alessio has the luxury, if it chooses, of automatic starts in the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta España. It earned this after winning the team classification in last year's Giro. These races together with selected World Cups will be the big goals for Bruno Cenghialta's team.
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Approximately 3000 people attended the second presentation of the Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo squad, held in a discotheque in Recanati, Italy. The atmosphere was considerably more staid than the first presentation earlier this month and the girls actually wore clothes this time.
The team's big star Mario Cipollini was present of course, and commented that "I have found a very professional atmosphere. Right from the start, during negotiations with Vincenzo Santoni, I saw that this cycling team was both diverse and innovative. And up to now, my expectations have been realised."
Cipollini's main goal for the early part of the season will again be Milan-San Remo, a race that he has never won. In addition, stages in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta España are on the hitlist, as well as the World Championships in Zolder.
He is backed by an experienced team, including the likes of Roberto Conti, Filippo Simeoni, Gabriele Colombo, Guido Trenti, Mario Scirea and Giovanni Lombardi.
By Tim Maloney, European editor
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Up through the mist from Trento, along mountain roads lined with vineyards and red porphyry rock outcrops, past Bavarian style village churches with distinctive onion shape domes, Cyclingnews went to Palu' di Giovo for a one on one in-depth interview with Gilberto Simoni.
Click here for the full interview
The opening race of the Spanish season is the Challenge Mallorca, a series of one day races held on the popular tourist island. The first stage will be on February 3, an 82 kilometre circuit race in Palma. The series concludes with a 155.6 kilometre stage from Malagus to Palmanova on February 7. Riders do not necessarily have to race in every stage, although there is a general classification awarded for the rider with the lowest time over all five stages.
Angel Casero (Team Coast), Oscar Freire (Mapei), Erik Zabel (Telekom), Richard Virenque (Domo-Farm Frites), Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali), Joseba Beloki (ONCE) and Erik Dekker (Rabobank) are some of the principal riders who will be competing, out of a total of 290 riders from 18 teams.
Prosecutor Luigi Bocciolini has called in two French pharmacists to help analyse the products seized from former Fassa Bortolo rider Dario Frigo during the police raids in the 2001 Giro d'Italia. The two will examine two phials initially suspected to contain Hemassist, an artificial blood boosting agent that needs to be kept under very cold conditions to actually stay fresh. They have two months to return their conclusions to prosecutor Bocciolini.
Elite Men
Thomas Frischknecht
Christian Heule
Jan Ramsauer
David Rusch
Beat Wabel
Reserves
Beat Morf
Giuseppe Atzeni
David Chassot
U23
Marco Baggenstos
Michael Baumgartner
Michael Müller
Roger Schuppli
Simon Zahner
Reserves
Ralph Näf
Markus Amstutz
Reto Hess
Juniors
Beat Bertschinger
Gregory Devaud
Lukas Flückiger
Pirmin Lang
Stefan Trafelet
Reserves
Yves Corminboeuf
Cornelius Häring
Till Schaltegger
Staff
Leader: Jean-Claude Leclercq
Trainers: Richard Steiner and Stephan Buchs
Masseurs: Kurt Benninger, Sepp Ochsner
Mechanics: Daniel Pürro, Michael Flammer, Markus Schenkel, Gert Rombouts
The Dutch cycling federation (KNWU) has chosen Zeddam as its candidate for the 2006 World Cyclo-cross Championships. Zeddam was picked ahead of Heerlen, Pijnacker and Hoogerheide. The town previously hosted a round of the World Cup as well as the Dutch championships this year. The KNWU and Zeddam will work on a bid proposal in the coming weeks to present to the UCI, which will eventually pick the venue from the various countries' candidates.
By Jeff Jones
One team for sale, it's going cheap, only seven guineas...or $US100,000 in today's modern pricing. Got the cash? Then log onto eBay to put in a bid for Item #1801642647, formerly known as the 800.com women's cycling team.
It's a novel approach to attract a sponsor. Team manager Jeremy Storie told Cyclingnews that online electronics retail company 800.com decided it could no longer honour its three year sponsorship agreement due to "financial downsizing", and pulled the plug. "Unfortunately, we were not given notice until late in the fall. A rider on the team had the idea of putting the team, or rather the exposure for the team on eBay, and I thought it would at least generate some publicity."
The team is still extant and has kept a few of its sponsors. Bianchi USA will continue to supply bikes and clothing, meaning that the riders can start racing in California in March, including Redlands and Sea Otter. "We had a great team chemistry and good results," said Storie. "The riders had decided that they wanted to continue on as an unsupported team."
Is $100,000 enough to fund the team for the season? "Yes, we would like more, but we can operate a quality program on that kind of budget," added Storie. "Whether it is realistic to expect 100K, I don't think so but...stranger things have happened."
The eBay blurb says that "This women's team comes complete with: a full 6 rider roster, reserve riders, equipment, mechanic, and manager/director of operations...This team has met with great success especially in 2001 with a breakout year. Our team consistently finished in the top three against teams with budgets well in excess of ours, including numerous victories."
What more could you want? Place your bids now.
By Gregory Taylor, Team Lardbutt correspondent
Well, I guess that we've now figured out what it takes to draw a big crowd for a Team Lardbutt training ride in deepest January. Food. And not just any food. It takes pancakes. Yup, pancakes. Lots of pancakes. We've tried fast rides, slow rides, no-drop rides...but we've now firmly established that the promise of heaping stacks of pancakes guarantees a great turnout. Who knew?
Anyway, for those who missed it, we had a great time. This Sunday's ride had everything - cold temperatures, mechanical mayhem, lots of folks, and an easy pace. No one hurled, no one got dropped, and everyone was on their good behaviour. Damn.
Apart from breakfast (more on that in a minute) it's a toss-up for this week's Team Lardbutt Haulin' Ass Highlight of the Day. It's tough to pick between Bill's rear wheel partially disassembling itself mid-ride (he fixed it) and a certain rider (who shall remain nameless) who was surprised by a female jogger while relieving himself. Men, we salute you!
On to breakfast. Our host for the morning, Mr. Steve Porter, completely outdid himself in setting before us a gustatory delight truly worthy of a group calling itself Lardbutts. It was a caloric Armageddon...eggs, pancakes (with a selection of berries and whipped cream in addition to the time-honored maple syrup), bacon, sausages of every description, fruit juices, and endless coffee to wash it down. All of it was excellent. It was noon-ish when we waddled out into the bright, warm sunshine for a gentle afternoon of digestion and slumber.
Mr. Boertlien observed (between mouthfuls of egg and sausage) that Mr. Porter has set a very high bar indeed for the next Pancake Ride. Hmmm...next Pancake Ride. Definitely food for thought... Thank you Steve!
Team Mack, in its eleventh year, is set to once again have a strong presence in the Midwestern United States. With over 80 members, the team will focus on all major Midwest events, a few NRC events on the East and West coasts, the Elite, Masters men/women & Junior Nationals as well as a few events in Europe. The team's Elite members are presently training in Tucson, Arizona with hopes of reaching good form for the early season campaign in the Midwest.
The team is based out of Springfield, Illinois. The principle sponsor is Mack Paper Company located in Rockford, Illinois, with additional warehouses in Asheville, North Carolina, and Juarez, Mexico.
Riders
Elite Men
Martin Adamczyk, IN
Josh Neff, IL
Ryan Nenninger, IL
Eric Reber, IN
Elite Women
Ali Dwyer, WI
Laurel Green, WI
Katie Weber, IL
Juniors
Jason Carr, WI
Mike Gauger, WI
James Goeman, WI
Andrew Moore, IL
Matt Siemens, IL
Women
Lori Burman, IA
Amy Dykema, IL
Yvette Martel, WI
Marilyn Powell, IL
Tracey Richardson, WI
Category III
Aaron Bobinsky, IL
Dan Eichinger, IL
Andy Lister, IL
Trevor Lister, IL
Trey McClure, IL
Category IV
Curtis Bice, IL
Jeffrey Boele, IL
Mark DesJardin, IL
Dave Figgins, IL
Scott Groeler, WI
Chad Hiatt, IL
Jaime Lopez, IL
Mathew Miller, IL
Brian Patton, IL
Tim Shotts, IL
Brad Tutt, MO
Elite Masters Cat I-II-III
Richard Adamczyk, IN
Darrell Bratton, IL
Robert Burns, FL
Glen Butzlaff, WI
Giorgio DiPaolo, IL
Gary Doering, IL
Steve Driscoll, IL
John Fleckenstein, WI
Andrew Hines, IL
John Jacobsen, IL
Joel Johnson, IL
Dennis Jurs, IL
Todd Kinart, WI
Nikola Konsulov, IL
Michael Macedon, IL
Chad Martel, IL
Mark McGeen, WI
Tim McParlan, IL
Larry Moore, IL
Dean Ott, IL
Scott Ouimette, IL
Michael Pardon, IL
James Rundblom, IL
Anthony Sabia, MT
Randall Senneff, IL
Aaron Shepley, IL
Michael Zellmann, IL
Masters Cat IV
Bruce Beazly, IL
Don Daniels, IL
Ron Dillow, IL
Jerry Emmert, IL
Kevin Horvath, WI
Brian Karalow, IL
Hugh Kelly, WI
Todd Lafountain, IL
Dan Leikvold, IL
Dennis Lister, IL
Tom Lister, IL
Chris Martel, IL
Len Olson, WI
Jerry Rankin, IL
Brad Reid, Brad, IL
Paul Ring, IL
Mark Sarder, WI
Steve Schien, IL
Karl Schilling, WI
Paul Schilling, WI
Steve Schilling, IL
Darren Sherkat, IL
Jeffrey Tipps, IL
Jay Trimble, WI
Daniel Truesdale, WI
Eddie Turner, WI
Brad Verstegan, WI
Mke Vonnahmen, IL
Team Managers
Sharmin Doering
Gary Doering
Darrell Bratton
Sponsors
Mack Paper Company
Waterford Precision Cycles (bikes)
Profile Design
Shimano
Squadra Apparel
MET-RX Engineered Nutrition
Bell
BikeTek, Inc.
American Classic Design
Vittoria
Midwest Orthopedic Specialists
Zipp
Alderman Irv Smith
GS Doering
Website: www.teammackracing.org
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