News for March 25, 2002

Edited by Jeff Jones

Cipollini joins the "older winners" club

Photo ©: Sirotti

At 35 years and one day, Mario Cipollini became one of the oldest winners in Milan-San Remo, which was run on Saturday. The oldest winner remains Belgian Andrei Tchmil who won in 1999, aged 36 years and 2 months. He is followed by Dutchman Hennie Kuiper (36 years in 1985), Irish Sean Kelly (35 years in 1992) and Italian Gino Bartali (35 years in 1950), all of whom were older than Cipollini when they won.

It is worth noting that Tchmil finished 7th this year, aged 39 and 2 months. However, he does intend to retire at the end of spring.

Joop Zoetemelk remains the oldest winner of any classic, as he was 40 years and 4 months when he won the Amstel Gold Race in 1987. He is also the oldest winner of the World Championships (38 in 1985). The next is Belgian Pino Cerami, who was 39 years and 1 month when he won Paris-Brussels in 1961. Then comes Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle who was 38 and 8 months when he won Paris-Roubaix in 1993.

Dekker returns home

Rabobank cyclist Erik Dekker has returned home to the Netherlands for a probable operation on his left femur, which he broke as a result of a crash in Saturday's Milan-San Remo. An understandably upset Dekker commented that "I have had time to regret that damned Saturday, that I thought would be completely different, not to mention the weeks to come."

If he is lucky enough not to have an operation, he will be out for "at least a month" and will resume racing again "very cautiously". His spring classics season is over, and that means goodbye to the World Cup. Last year, Dekker's spring results included second in the Tour of Flanders and first in the Amstel Gold Race.

Ironically, despite not finishing Milan-San Remo he will become the UCI number one tomorrow when the rankings are released. The current number one, Erik Zabel lost 235 UCI points after finishing 70th on Saturday, largely due to being caught behind the crash.

Van De Walle out for 5 weeks

Jurgen Van De Walle (Vlaanderen-T Interim) will be out of action for at least 5 weeks (until the end of April) after he broke his collarbone and wrist in the GP Erik Breukink last weekend.

Vlaanderen-T Interim Ladies Team

The Vlaanderen women Photo: © Erik Van Breugel

The Belgian Vlaandern-T Interim Ladies Team is one of the top women's trade teams, ranked third at the end of 2001 with 24 victories. Last season was the team's best season to date, when Swede Susanne Ljungskog won two World Cups (GP Suisse and Primavera Rosa); Debbie Mansveld finished second in Rotterdam; and there were another 10 top 10 placings for Van De Vijver, Mansveld, Ljungskog and Pieters. In the final World Cup classification last year, the team had three riders in the top six, and that was without riding in the first two rounds Down Under, something that they have rectified this year.

Directeur sportif Christel Herremans says that it will not be easy to repeat this in 2002, but they will certainly try. There are three new arrivals : Kathy Ingels, Sharon Van Dromme and European U23 Champion Mirella Van Melis. Returning to the team after one year in the USA is Cindy Bauwens.

Also new in the team is assistant coach Peter Van Den Abeele. The former Belgian MTB rider (he rode in the Sydney Olympics) is also coach for the Vlaanderen T-Interim cyclocross team (Berden, Daelmans, Volckaerts, Verstraeten, Mansveld and Belleter) and will help the women's road team in the summer.

Thanks to their experienced team members, The Vlaanderen-T Interim Ladies team hopes to offer young, talented riders the opportunity to ride international races.

Team roster

Photography

Courtesy of Erik Van Breugel

Susanne Ljungskog - one of the team's top riders
The team's 14 riders and the staff
The team's top riders: Heidi Van De Vijver, Cindy Pieters, Debbie Mansveld and
Susanne Ljungskog
The directeur sportifs - Peter Van Den Abeele and Christel Herremans flank manager Fons Leroy.

39th Setmana Catalana

The 39th edition of the Setmana Catalana (Catalan Week) runs from Monday, March 25 through to Friday, March 29. The race will feature the winners of the Giro and the Vuelta, Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) and Angel Casero (Team Coast), as well as Erik Zabel (Telekom). The race will not feature TdF winner Lance Armstrong, who will instead compete in the Criterium International as part of his preparation for the spring classics.

Others who were originally scheduled to start but won't be there include Mario Cipollini (resting after Milan-San Remo), Jan Ullrich (injured knee) and Erik Dekker (broken femur). Dekker's Rabobank team will instead be led by American Levi Leipheimer, who has shown some promising early season form.

The five day race is split into six stages, including a 10.3 kilometre time trial on the second afternoon. The toughest stage is the third, which finishes atop the 2000 metre climb of the Col de Pal. The race covers 737 kilometres in total.

The stages

Stage 1 - March 25: Lloret de Mar-Lloret de Mar, 143.0 km
Stage 2a - March 26: Lloret de Mar-Empuriabrava, 106.8 km
Stage 2b - March 26: Empuriabrava-Empuriabrava ITT, 10.3 km
Stage 3 - March 27: Castello d'Empuries-Coll de Pal, 157.0 km
Stage 4 - March 28: Bago - Vic, 176.0 km
Stage 5 - March 29: Vic-Sabadell, 144.0 km

Teams

Euskaltel-Euskadi, iBanesto.com, Jazztel, Relax-Fuelnabrada, Kelme, ONCE, Acqua & Sapone, Fassa Bortolo, Team Coast, Telekom, LA Pecol, Milaneza-MSS, Crédit Agricole, CSC Tiscali, Phonak, Rabobank, Itera.

22nd Tour de Normandie

Starting tomorrow (March 25) with a 5.6 kilometre prologue in Mondeville is the 22nd edition of the Tour de Normandie. This one week long stage race is aimed at younger riders, and is given a 2.5 UCI classification. The big favourites this year are the riders from the Mapei-Quick Step Espoirs team, who have won a number of races already this season.

The will contend with several French division II and amateur teams, as well as top Danish division II team fakta and a number of other teams from various countries.

The stages

Prologue - March 25: Mondeville ITT, 5.6 km
Stage 1 - March 26: Lisieux - Forges-les-Eaux, 181 km
Stage 2 - March 27: Forges-les-Eaux - Elbeuf-sur-Seine, 153 km
Stage 3 - March 28: Elbeuf-sur-Seine - Flers, 205 km
Stage 4 - March 29: Flers - Cherbourg-Octeville, 191 km
Stage 5 - March 30: Cherbourg-Octeville - Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, 201 km
Stage 6 - March 31: Bagnoles-de-l'Orne - Caen, 146 km

Teams

Bonjour, Saint-Quentin Oktos, Crédit Agricole Espoirs, VC Rouen 76, Jean Floc'h, Panorimo.com 23 en Limousin, CM Aubervilliers 93, VC Roubaix, Sélection régionale de Normandie, Team fakta, Nürnberger, KRKA Telekom, Mroz Supradyn, Legia Bazylisek, Porta da Ravessa Tavira, Marlux Charleroi Berry Floor, Mapei Espoirs, Jura Jajo Sport, Kröne, Axa VVZ, Moscou Normat, Joko Velamos

Ster Elektrotoer 2002

This year's Ster Elektrotoer has been upgraded to a UCI 2.3 ranking, meaning that the race can guarantee a stronger starting lineup. It is held in the Netherlands and Belgium between September 11-15, starting in Eindhoven and finishing in Schijndel.

The tour's longest stage is on the second day, with a 210 kilometre leg from Boxmeer to Sint-Michielsgestel. This is followed by a split day with a 120 km stage starting and finishing in Valkenburg in the morning and then a 10.3 km time trial in the afternoon. The race then heads to Belgium for the final two stages, and features some tough climbs in Limburg and the Ardennes.

The stages

Stage 1 - September 11: Eindhoven-Boxmeer, 189 km
Stage 2 - September 12: Boxmeer - Sint-Michielsgestel, 210 km
Stage 3a - September 13: Valkenburg a/d Geul - Valkenburg a/d Geul, 120 km
Stage 3b - September 13: Valkenburg a/d Geul ITT, 10.3 km
Stage 4 - September 14: : Valkenburg a/d Geul - Verviers (Bel), 184 km
Stage 5 - September 15: Nuth - Schijndel, 191 km

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