News for August 18, 2002Edited by Jeff Jones Meisterschaft von Zürich: Can Museeuw hold off Bettini's World Cup charge?Tomorrow's 89th Meisterschaft von Zürich will see two competitions being fought out on the tough 41.4 km circuit that the riders must complete four times, in addition to a 71 km loop. Both involve Italian Paolo Bettini, who will be defending the title that he won last year, and at the same time trying to close the gap to Johan Museeuw in the World Cup standings. A good result in Zürich is crucial for Bettini, as he needs to erase a 68 point deficit. With only two more World Cups to go in the season, he does not want to leave his charge too late, especially as Paris-Tours is favourable for Museeuw. "Museeuw is not too distant, if I win in Zürich I can win the Cup," said Bettini to La Gazzetta dello Sport this week. "Zürich was at first in doubt, because we introduced the Tour of Denmark into my program. I wanted to honour the engagement with the organizers, but from Thursday I will be at home to recover from the efforts of these days, and to concentrate myself on the World Cup." True to his word, Bettini did race in Denmark but pulled out before the third stage claiming tendon problems. Bettini knows that Zürich will suit his talents better than it will Museeuw's, however he is wary of the Lion of Flanders. "No one day race scares him. Even if he does not win, he is able to be in front and gain points for the Cup. The only time I underestimated him, in Hamburg, he punished us all." Johan Museeuw will rely on his enormous experience and good form to try and stay abreast of Bettini. He has won the World Cup twice, and also knows what it's like to lose it in the second half of the season. "I will do my best to keep my current advantage of 68 points, but I can't guarantee anything," he says. "Since the Amstel Gold Race, I have always said that a gap less than 100 points is not decisive in the World Cup. A second place will be enough for my rival if I don't score any points." Museeuw is also more confident than he was at San Sebastian last week, where he finished 154th. "I think I will have a better chance to gain points this weekend than in the Clasica, which was eight days ago." For more, see Meisterschaft von Zürich preview and start list. Cyclingnews will be providing live coverage of the Meisterschaft von Zürich from 1530 CEST/0630 PDT/0930 EDT/2330 Aust EST. Fassa Bortolo to Zürich with B teamThe Fassa Bortolo squad for the Meisterschaft von Zürich is a formidable "B" team, with 1998 winner Michele Bartoli, Tour de France best young rider Ivan Basso, and the always dependable Wladimir Belli. In addition to these three, Russian Serguei Ivanov, Luxembourgois Kim Kirchen, Slovenian Gorazd Stangelj and Italians Paolo Tiralongo and Matteo Tosatto will make up the rest of the team, which looks to be very competitive on paper. The director sportif will be Alberto Volpi. Index Alexia for upcoming racesEnnio Vanotti will direct the Index-Alexia team for tomorrow's Meisterschaft von Zürich, Round 8 of the World Cup. The team contains Giuseppe Di Grande and Bo Hamburger as leaders, as well as Damiano Giannini, Alessandro Guerra, Marco Magnani, Daniele Righi, Gianluca and Paolo Valoti. For the Dutch races Dwars Door Gendringen (August 18) and ENECO Ronde van Nederland (August 20-24), Giovanni Fidanza will take a squad containing Daniele Galli, Mario Manzoni, Ivan Quaranta, Andris Reiss, Sebastiano Scotti, Corrado Serina, Eddy Serri and Marco Villa. Eagle Tour good for Team IrelandBy Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent in Langkawi Team Ireland cyclists have been very much to the fore in the inaugural Gamuda Eagle Tour of Malaysia which will conclude on Sunday after five days of competition on the island of Langkawi. Currently they lead the team classification of the 21 participating teams, the U-23 award is safe in the hands of the youngest competitor in the event, Philip Deignan of Letterkenny and yesterday Paul Griffin of Tralee took over in the points competition which is judged each day on the basis of where a competitor finishes in the top 15 each day. The race, which is being led by the Italian Simone Mori (Jura Suisse-Nippon Hodo), has been very intriguing, with the Italian taking over as leader after a severe test of stamina on Friday when the competitors finished 800 meters above sea level. In Stage 4 the Italian defended his lead thanks to his team, Jura Suisse-Nippon Hodo on the stage around the island over 134.2kms. Whilst he was not found wanting, the Irish lads were equally aggressive in maintaining their positions in the various categories. With winds coming in off the Strait of Malacca, the passage of the stage did not deter the competitors from giving of their all. In the end it came down to a sprint with the Norwegian Rune Jogert showing fine skills to win out easily thanks to the lead out courtesy of his Team Krone who simply hit the front with 3kms to go and defied anybody to pass them. In second spot was Paul Redenbach with Paul Griffin in third place, which lifted him into first lace in the points competition. With the final stage of 50 kms around the town of Kuah, which is the capital of the island, there is confidence in the Irish camp that at least they will win three categories in the event and on the off chance add another stage win to add to the victory of Tommy Evans on Thursday. Also, barring accident Simone Mori, who has three wins to his credit this year, is bound to be crowned overall champion. No Superprestige contract for Sven VanthourenhoutThe organisers of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series, the most lucrative 'cross series in the world, have not given a contract to U23 World Champion Sven Vanthourenhout (Domo-Farm Frites) for this season. They claim that his asking price is too high. Vanthourenhout was one of the few Belgians to miss out, as contracts were given to Mario de Clercq, Sven Nys, Erwin Vervecken, Bart Wellens, Tom Vannoppen, Peter Van Santvliet, Ben Berden, Arne Daelmans, Davy Commeyne, Björn Rondelez, Wim Jacobs and Tim Pauwels. The first round of the Superprestige series will be held on October 20 in Ruddervoorde, West Flanders. Six Days of the Future in Gent to be replacedAccording to Het Nieuwsblad, the organisers of the Gent Six, which will be held from November 19-24 this year, have decided this year not to hold the amateur race (Six Days of the Future), which runs concurrently with the professionals. Instead, there will be two three day events for younger riders (beginners and juniors) which will be run on an individual basis. The better U23 riders will have a chance to ride in the professional Six Day event, and the total number of teams has been increased from 12 to 13. Colombian team for Pan-American GamesThe Colombian team has left for Ecuador, where they will be competing in the Pan-American Road and Track Championships, from August 18-23. On Saturday afternoon, August 17, the team will arrive and start preparing for the track and road events in the coming days. The Colombian track and road time trial team consists of Flor Marina Delgadillo, Paola Madrinán, Andrés Rodríguez, Mauricio Ortega, Carlos Ibañez, Jonhy Leal, Wilson Meneses, Anderson Espitia, Víctor Alvarez, Jonathan Marín and Diana García, as well as medico Luis Eduardo Contreras and track director Jairo Monroy. The riders for the road race on August 23 will leave the day before. The team is made up of Natalia Mejía, Sandra Gómez, Mauricio Soler, Giovanni Báez, Alexis Castro, Daniel Rincón, Argiro Zapata and Libardo Niño. Last year in Medellin, Colombia topped the medal table with 7 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze. They are hot favourites to do so again in Ecuador. The schedule (part only)
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