News for August 30, 2002Edited by Jeff Jones and Chris Henry Another Italian thinks of SpainFrancesco Casagrande, like his compatriot Gilberto Simoni, is thinking of the Vuelta a España as an opportunity to salvage a season of disappointment. From his expulsion from the Giro d'Italia (for pushing Freddy Garcia and causing a crash), to his non-participation in the Tour de France, to an injury in the Vuelta a Burgos, Casagrande has not had the most brilliant of seasons. Add to that several near misses in the recent series of one day races in Italy, and it becomes clear why the Vuelta and the Giro di Lombardia have become the Tuscan's new objectives. Casagrande is looking to leave Fassa Bortolo at the end of the year, and has announced his hope that he will sign for a new team by mid-September, making a strong start at the Vuelta all the more important. Casagrande told La Gazzetta Dello Sport that his differences with Fassa Bortolo were strictly economical, and in fact it remains possible that he will re-sign with the team. Spanish formation iBanesto.com has been touted as the leading candidate to sign Casagrande, but all remains speculation at this point. Freire to decide on contract soonThe two main contenders appear to be CSC-Tiscali and Quick Step, but Oscar Freire has yet to make a decision on which team he will join for the coming season. Most indications point towards CSC-Tiscali, but according to Spanish newspaper Marca, Quick Step remains in the picture. One million Euros appears to be the asking price for the world champion, whose career is managed by his brother Antonio. The brothers Freire are hoping to settle on a contract prior to the start of the Vuelta in just over one week's time. Although Quick Step is the logical successor to the Freire's current Mapei-Quick Step formation, the team will undergo a change in management as Domo-Farm Frites director Patrick Lefevre takes over. On a sporting level, a possible stumbling block with Quick-Step may be the presence of Paolo Bettini as team leader, a rider who shares similar racing qualities with Freire. A certain friction has been noted between the two, and Freire might prefer greater freedom as a designated leader of CSC. Pedro Horrillo hopes to follow FreireFreire's Mapei teammate Pedro Horrillo has expressed a desire to follow the world champion to his new team, although Horillo has received independent offers, most notably with the Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team. "I want to follow Freire," Horrillo told Spanish newspaper Marca, explaining that a strong friendship exists between the two riders. "I am proud to work for Freire and to help him as much as I can, but I do not want to limit myself to only that. Oscar understands, and I know that with him I will have the freedom to ride for myself when the opportunity does not exist for him." Braeckevelt decides to go, before he is pushedLotto's long serving directeur sportif Jef Braeckevelt has asked the National Lottery for a retirement agreement, following his decision to leave the team after 14 years of service. He knows that there is no place for him in the team next year, unless he wants to be the fifth team director, something that does not appeal to him. "I have too much self respect," he said. The key moment in Brackevelt's future role in Lotto-Domo came when Patrick Lefevere decided to leave the team in favour of Quick Step. That meant that Christophe Sercu was in charge, and had his friends Marc Sergeant (in particular), Hendrik Redant, and Walter Planckaert on board. Claude Criquielion, who was part of the Braeckevelt side of the team is also meant to stay with them next year. 59 year old Braeckevelt expects to get an answer next week from manager Christophe Sercu, and it's unlikely that there will be any barriers put in the way of Jef's retirement. As for the future, Braeckevelt says that he's talking to a few foreign teams, as well as the Sociètè du Tour de France. Team CSC-Tiscali to ride Cervélo bikes in 2003Team CSC-Tiscali will be officially riding Cervélo bicycles next season, it was announced today. Sponsoring a division I team is a first for the Canadian manufacturer, who has up till now been sponsoring individual riders. The distinctive looking bikes will be now officially be seen under the likes of Tyler Hamilton, Andrea Tafi and Carlos Sastre next year. The team will use the Cervélo P3 and P2K for time trials, the Soloist and Prodigy in road races, and the P2T on the track. On top of that, a new road bike has been developed that is "sure to turn heads". See our latest tech update for more on the CSC-Cervélo deal. Failed health tests at MTB World'sA second rider in the MTB World Championships in Kaprun, Austria has been prevented by the UCI from taking the start due to a failed blood test. On Wednesday, Greek rider Andreas Markakis was kept from competition, while on Thursday it was announced that female Dutch cyclist Laura Turpyn would also be a non-starter in her event. Lars Brian Nielsen positive for caffeineBy Tomas Nilsson, Cyclingnews correspondent Danish track sprinter Lars Brian Nielsen has tested positive for caffeine, according to Danish TV station TV2, and is subsequently taken out of the Danish National Team for the World Championships on home ground in Ballerup in September. Nielsen was one of the greatest Danish hopes in the Championships, especially in the keirin. Last Sunday he won a keirin meeting in Germany against some of the top men in this discipline. This is the second time Nielsen has been caught. In 1997 he was found to have taken nandrolone and was suspended for two years. The Danish Cycling Federation (DCU) has a policy to life time ban doped riders from the national squad but Nielsen was allowed on the team as the rule was not yet in place.
Rain stops play in USCF National Track Cycling Championships
Days 2 and 3 of the USCF National Track Cycling Championships in Trexlertown have been all but rained out, with the last competitions taking place only in the morning session of Day 2. As a result, the meet has had to be rescheduled to try and fit everything in the remaining days. It was also decided to award the Team Pursuit medals on the basis of the qualifying results, meaning that Prime Alliance (Jame Carney, Colby Pearce, Mike Tillman, Kenny Williams) won the gold medal ahead of Tri State Velo, Cycles De Oro, Adrenaline and Kissena. Gwen Hoover, of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome (www.lvvelo.org) is optimistic that racing will be completed by Saturday, as the bad weather seems to have moved out to sea. She told Cyclingnews that "We should get through Friday OK - it looks cloudy, very cold and could have spotty rain, but we'll get through. They are calling for possible thunderstorms on Saturday, so depending when and if they happen..." "There are no plans to go to Sunday at this point, but it has not been entirely ruled out. Basically we have 15 hours of racing to get in between now and Saturday night, so we should make it." The revised schedule is as follows:Thursday Evening (beginning at 5 PM) Women Sprint Semi Final - Ride #1 Friday Morning Men Points Race Final* if not Thursday evening Friday Evening Women Keirin Heats Cyclingnews.com's coverage of the US track championships Schedule and results Problems for Marco Polo in TibetThe Marco Polo Cycling Club had big problems getting to the Qinghai-Tibet Cycling Race (August 28 - September 8). Visa formalities and stubborn airline employees cost the team two days of extra travelling. After three full days of travelling (including one night in a park in Copenhagen and getting visas on Sunday in a Chinese Embassy that opened only for Marco Polo...) the team arrived during the first stage. One rider didn't make it there, Jason Allen from New Zealand got stuck in Seoul and had to go home alone. It is the first time that the Marco Polo team has had so much trouble to get to a race. The team thanks the (mostly Chinese) people that helped them on their way! Luckily the comissaires had some understanding of the problems getting into China and gave the Marco Polo riders permission to start in the second stage, with a 20 minute time penalty, however. In this second stage Marco Polo's Nathan Dahlberg managed to finish second in a very hard stage. This, coming from the Netherlands (sea level), after three days on planes, embassies and airports, at 4000 meters altitude! Ulzii Jamsran Orshikh from Mongolia won the first and second stage and is Tour leader. Last year Jamsran won this race for Marco Polo, this year he is racing for Giant Asian Racing Team. Marco Polo line up in Tibet Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) Mechanic Wilco Geerts Ondernemers van Nature for Holland Ladies TourThe Dutch Ondernemers van Nature team has announced its participation for the Holland Ladies Tour. The team will include Prisca Doppmann, 9th in UCI rankings, and Australian Katherine Bates, winner of last weekend's GP Boekel. The full lineup is as follows: Martine Bras, Katherine Bates, Minke van Dongen, Prisca Doppmann, Loes Gunnewijk, Corrien van Haastert, Francis Linthorst, Afke Sijm. DS: Angela van Smoorenburg Norwegian women in Holland Ladies TourNorwegian Team Sponsor Service in the Holland Ladies Tour is actually the pro team and the Norwegian national teams combined. Pia Sundstedt will ride a race at home in Finland this weekend and is substituted by national team riders Anita Valen, Tove Fenstad, Linn Torp and Linda Larsen as the race allows for eight riders in each team. The ordinary pros are: Solrun Flatås, Wenche Stensvold, Jorunn Kvalø and Monica Valen. CSC-Tiscali for upcoming racesGiro del Friuli, August 31: Carlos Sastre, Francisco Cerezo, Manuel Calvente, Marcelino Garcia, Michael Rasmussen, Martin Rittsel, Nicki Sørensen. GP le Télegramme, September 1: Olivier Asmaker, Michael Blaudzun, Nicolas Jalabert, Raphäel Jeune, Danny Jonassson, Bjarke Nielsen, Jakob Piil, Thomas Bruun Eriksen (reserve), Laurent Jalabert (reserve). Hessen Rundfahrt, September 4-8: Frank Schleck, Michael Blaudzun, Geert van Bondt, Julian Dean, Marcelino Garcia, Paul van Hyfte, Jakob Piil. Phonak for GP le TélegrammeDenis Bertolini, Christian Charriere, David Derepas, Martin Elmiger, Fabrice Gougot, Alexandre Moos, Michael Reihs, Alexandre Usov. Directeur sportif: René Savary Transocéane cancelledThe Transocéane, a new women's event to link Québec and the Bretagne region of France, has been cancelled. Initially the stages to be held in Bretagne (September 25 to 29) were cancelled due to the withdrawal of the host towns. Hoping to keep the Québec portion intact, the organizers were subsequently informed by the UCI that the race's international format was not valid. As a result, the entire event has been shelved. No more money for Henk Vos and Groningen-MünsterThe province of Groningen, which hosted the start of the Giro d'Italia this year, has decided not to put any more money into the Henk Vos Memorial (July 19) and the Groningen-Münster (August 23), both one day races classed as UCI 1.3. However, it's more than likely that the province will sponsor another race, which will be aimed at being a lot bigger. The details have not been announced, but it's quite possible that the race will go into Friesland, where the headquarters of top sponsor Friesche Vlag are located. Stagiaire for CofidisSylvain Calzati, who rides for French club Etupes, has signed a stagiaire's contract for Cofidis. He will race with them from September 1, including GP Fourmies, Isbergues and the Circuit Franco Belge. Also see: Cyclingnews.com's Stagiaire's page. Courtesy of velomania.net First annual Cox Charities Cycling ClassicA new pro event will be coming to Rhode Island (USA) this September. The first annual Cox Charities Cycling Classic , a five-event criterium program, will be held on Saturday, September 7. Racing will take place at the University of Rhode Island campus in Kingston. The event, co-sponsored by the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) and Motorola, is expected to attract over 400 competitors, including the Saturn and Navigators professional teams. The race will be televised on Cox3, Cox Communications' community programming channel. A number of big names are due at the start line, including Marty Nothstein, Vassili Davidenko, Frank and Mark McCormack, and 2002 U.S. Professional Criterium Champion Kevin Monahan. Proceeds from the Cox Charities Cycling Classic will benefit Cox Charities, a charitable giving initiative created by Cox Communications in conjunction with the United Way to support local children's causes. Cycling Ireland Bike WeekBy Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent This weekend and the coming week a high emphasis will be placed on Bike Week which is being organised by Cycling Ireland. An attractive programme has been put in place by the governing body and hopefully it will be brought home to all and sundry that the bike is the form of transport which should be exploited more forcefully. Irrespective of all the good intentions that are being put in place, if the weather cries foul then there will be a lot glum faces. The weather particularly since polling day has been to say the least miserable. What country in the world would get the four seasons in one day? Of course the kids are back at school and in the last number of years, when they return the upshot is that the weather improves. All the meteorologists please give good tidings this weekend! Bike Week gets under way on Sunday and runs until the following week. Tomorrow at the Spelga Pass in Co. Antrim, the Irish Hill Climb Championship takes place. This is certainly not a stroll in the park. It'll be blood sweat and guts as they tackle the infamous Spelga, which has seen many an aspiring winner lose out down the years. Defending champion from the Earl of Desmond-Tralee Bicycle Club, Paul Griffin heads a very competitive start sheet. Paul is just back from his exploits in the Gamuda Eagle Tour of Malaysia. Also, Tommy Evans who also participated in the Gamuda will be there. Both of them got serious hill climbing practice a fortnight ago on the Gunung Raya Climb, which ultimately decided the Tour winner, Simone Mori from Italy. On that showing Griffin looks to have the edge, but Evans could spring a surprise and win his first Irish title of the year. A danger to both of them could be Roger Aiken a much competitor this season. The action gets under way from the Spelga Dam with the first competitor off at 11 a.m. for the 1.2-mile climb. There are also prizes for underage riders. Meanwhile in Batterstown, Co. Meath also tomorrow (Saturday), that versatile club, Irish Road Club, will stage two events. The two races which were postponed earlier in the year because of complications with the Phoenix Park circuit are the Dickie Comerford Memorial for 1st and 2nd Cats, and Andy Mahon Memorial for 3rd Cats Juniors Vets and Ladies. Sign on for both events at Batterstown GAA Club at 10am,both events start at 11am sharp. Dickie Comerford 4 laps of The Mullagh Circuit [52mls] Andy Mahon 3 laps of The Mullagh Circuit [39mls].
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