News for April 2, 2002

Edited by Jeff Jones

63rd Paris-Camembert

The 63rd Paris-Camembert takes place tomorrow, April 2, over a 208 kilometre parcours between Magnanville (near Mantes) and Vimoutiers, not far from the "capital of cheese", Camembert. The main difficulties include the Côte de Roiville (2 km @ 10%) and two ascents of the Mur de Champeaux (500 m @ 17%), which comes at 10 kilometres to go.

Last year's winner Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour) will head the start list, hoping to defend his cheese title in 2002. Although runner-up David Millar (Cofidis) will not be present (recovering from mononucleosis), last year's third place getter Scott Sunderland (Team fakta) will be there in just his second race back after a crash in January.

Other favourites include 2000 winner Didier Rous (Bonjour) and 2000 runner up Lance Armstrong, fresh off his second place in the Criterium International last weekend. Also David Moncoutié (Cofidis), winner of the tough second stage of the CI, should find the course to his liking, as will his teammate Inigo Cuesta, Sandy Casar (FdJ), Alexandre Botcharov (Ag2r), Mario Aerts and Serge Baguet (Lotto), and Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole).

US Postal report from Criterium International

Lance Armstrong at Criterium International
Photo: © AFP

US Postal's Lance Armstrong almost took his first victory of the year in only his second race of the year, as he came within 0.45 seconds of winning the 71st Criterium International, held in France last weekend. The race was decided on the final day, with a 98.5 kilometre road stage from Les Mazures to Montherme followed by an 8.5 km time trial in Charleville Mezieres.

Armstrong placed seventh in the morning stage, among a group of group of eight riders nine seconds behind stage winner David Moncoutie (Cofidis) before finishing third in the time trial, eight seconds behind winner Jens Voigt of (Credit Agricole). That gave him second place overall, officially one second behind Jose Alberto Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), the runner-up at Criterium International last year.

"I felt good in the race," Armstrong said. "Saturday's stage was not too difficult, therefore it was hard to judge my form, but this morning's stage was a tough one and I was happy with what I felt. The time trial was a bit of a disappointment, as it's tough to lose by half a second, but if you asked me before if I thought I would be podium here, I would have said you were crazy. All in all, I can't complain - I'm ready for the Classics."

Floyd Landis also performed well for USPS, finishing 23rd overall after placing 17th in the time trial. Dave Zabriskie finished just in front of Landis in the time trial in 16th place and 41st overall, while Christian Vandevelde placed 21st in the time trial and 24th overall.

Related story: Lance Armstrong interview

Coupe de France féminine

The women's version of the Coupe de France is in its third year this year and consists of five rounds. The first - Trophée national de Pujols - is on April 1, followed by the Trophée des Grimpeurs (May 1), Ronde du Houblon (July 7), Boucles Nontronnaises (July 21) and Atlantique Manche Féminine (August 26). The previous two years winners' have been Juliette Vandekerckhove (2000) and Magali Floc'h (2001)

Alessio disgruntled

The Italian Alessio team, led by Bruno Cenghialta, is not happy at not being selected for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, especially after Dario Pieri's win in the GP E3-Harelbeke on Saturday, and solid performances in many of the early season Belgian races.

Alessio was the best division II team in 2001, earning a promotion to the division I ranks this season. However, in October last year the UCI abolished the rule that gave the top division II team automatic entry into the World Cups the following season, in line with increasing the number of division I squads to 30.

"We have raced for 10 months with the objective to win the second division, only to discover in the end that it was useless," said Cenghialta to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "To make a comparison, it is like if a soccer team that won the Series B championship is told that the following year it will not be able to participate in Series A. It's not only bad for Pieri, who would have contested Flanders and Roubaix to try and win, but also for Caucchioli, Pellizotti, Gotti, Dufaux, all competitive riders for La Flèche Wallonne and Liege."

"On Tuesday we will present a letter of protest to the UCI, but I already know it will be useless. It's almost the same as if our right to participate in the Tour was also taken away, after having won the team classification in the Giro. I'd guess that the sponsor (Alessio), who has invested four years in having a team, will want to leave cycling."

Stive Vermaut stops due to heart problems

Belgian rider Stive Vermaut (Lotto-Adecco) has to stop cycling for the time being. The 26 year old in his 5th year as a pro has been diagnosed with abnormal heart rhythms, and has been told by doctors to refrain from any heavy physical activity. Last year, Vermaut finished a creditable 36th in the Tour de France and was considered a good prospect for the future.

Lotto-Adecco doctor Daniël De Neve said that the team did not wish to take any risks with Stive, and he will undergo two more examinations to determine exactly what the problem is, although it's not believed to be any kind of heart disease.

GP della Liberazione and Giro delle Regioni preview

The 57th edition of the Gran Premio della Liberazione for U23 riders will once again take place on April 25 on a circuit in the centre of Rome: 23 laps for a total of 138 kilometres. The last seven editions of the race have been won by Italians, with Alberto Loddo taking out the win last year in front of Vellutex teammate Yaroslav Popovych.

The GP della Liberazione is followed the next day by the Giro delle Regioni, which runs from April 26-May 1. Again a race for U23 riders, the Giro delle Regioni consists of five stages and one time trial for a total of 800 kilometres. The first stage from San Ginesio to Camerino is considered selective, and is followed by a time trial between Monte Cosaro and Morrovalle. Stage 2 is from Fabriano to Loro Ciuffenna (Tuscany); Stage 3 from Montevarchi to Bientina and Stage 4 is from Buti to Passo Due Santi, which will more than likely decide the GC. The final stage is from Valenza Po to San Giuliano Milanese.

National teams from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela are all expected to take part, in addition to Italian squads Cycling Team Casprini, Grassi Mapei Las, Rsine Ragnoli, Alipast, Team Parolin, Zalf Fior, UC Bergamasca, San Pellegrino Bottoli, Pagnoncelli.

A new Segersäll for Prim

Swedish third division Team Crescent has signed 19 year old Mikael Segersäll to substitute Johan Jelvin who died in a training accident in Italy a couple of weeks ago. Segersäll has already joined the team's training camp in Belgium.

Segersäll has been one of Sweden's top junior riders and did his first elite season last year. His father Alf had a pro career with Bianchi in Italy in the early 80's and won a stage in the Giro 1983 and the Trofeo Matteotti in 1981. He also had two podium placings in the paired time trial Trofeo Barachi with his team captain Tommy Prim, who now becomes his son's team manager in Team Crescent.

Menthéour becomes a singer

Retired French pro Erwin Menthéour is currently pursuing his dream of becoming a singer, with his first album to be released in September this year (including the single J'aurais dû). Menthéour was a cyclist for several seasons until a positive doping control ended his career. He then published a book entitled "Secret défonce" which exposed doping practices in the peloton, and caused something of a stir. He is now 28 and is hoping to make the best of his new career.