News for November 4, 2002

Edited by Jeff Jones

Escartín and Mauri's last races

Fernando Escartín and Melchor Mauri rode their last races today in the Criterium Ciclista Ciutat de L'Hospitalet in Llobregat, near Madrid. The race was won by US Postal's Roberto Heras, who beat Mauri by one point, with Angel Casero finishing third. Despite the fact that there's another criterium in Valenciana next weekend, both Mauri and Escartin have decided to call it a day, with the latter looking forward to a well deserved cruise in the Caribbean with his wife and kids.

Escartin (34) rode his last two years with Team Coast, and before that rode for Kelme (1996-2000), Mapei (1994-1995) and Clas (1992-1993). He counts 17 victories on his palmares, including the Volta a Catalunya (1997), stage 15 in the Tour De France (1999), and stages in the Vuelta Al Pais Vasco, Vuelta a Asturias and Vuelta a Aragon. A consistent finisher in the grand tours, Escartin placed second in the 1997 and 1998 Vuelta and third in the 1999 Tour de France. He finished 8th in this year's Giro, the last major tour that he completed.

Melchor Mauri announced his retirement in the middle of the Vuelta this year. The 36 year old has won 35 races in his career, including the Vuelta overall in 1991, the Vuelta Valenciana in 1991 and 1992, Vuelta a Murcia (1994, 1996), Vuelta a Aragon (1996), Circuit De La Sarthe (1997, 1998), Spanish time trial championship (1995), and many time trial victories. He also finished second in the 1998 World Time Trial Championships.

Mauri rode for a number of teams during his career, including Reynolds (1998), ONCE (1991-1992, 1995-1998), Amaya (1993), Banesto (1994), Benfica (1999-2000), and Milaneza-MSS (2001-2002).

39th Six Days of Munich preview

The 39th Six Days of Munich will get under way at 9pm on the evening of Thursday, November 7 in Munich's Olympiapark velodrome. 14 professional teams will take part in the event, including top combinations such as Scott McGrory/Matthew Gilmore, Robert Slippens/Danny Stam, Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart and Andreas Kappes/Andreas Beikirch. In addition to these favourites, Australian Stuart O'Grady will team up with Italian Silvio Martinello. These two riders are currently holding the top two positions in the Dortmund Six after night 3 (O'Grady is with McGrory in second, Martinello is with Aldag in first) and will definitely be a threat to the rest.

McGrory, the Olympic Champion, said that "The Munich Six Days is like Wimbledon is to Tennis or the Tour de France is to road racing," and he together with his normal partner Matthew Gilmore will be doing his best to win it.

There will also be a sprint competition in Munich, with Australian World Champions Sean Eadie and Jobie Dajka riding along with Germans Rene Wolff and Jens Fiedler.

Start list

Professionals

1 Stuart O'Grady/Silvio Martinello (Aus/Ita) Franziskaner
2 Andreas Kappes/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Coca Cola
3 Scott McGrory/Matthew Gilmore (Aus/Bel) Generali
4 Bradley Wiggins/Martin Nothstein (GBr/USA) Alba
5 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart (Swi) BRW
6 Stefan Steinweg/Erik Weispfennig (Ger/Ger) Stadler
7 Robert Slippens/Danny Stam (Ned) Karstadt
8 Jimmy Madsen/Thorsten Rund (Den/Ger) SWM
9 Adriano Baffi/Marco Villa (Ita) RegioneBasilikata
10 Andreas Müller/Guido Fulst (Ger) ZSD
11 Lars Teutenberg/Frank Kowatschitsch (Ger) Haberl
12 Gerd Dörich/Mario Vonhof (Ger) Bayer. Spielbanken
13 Jens Lehmann/Ronnie Laucke (Ger) Ingram - Micro
14 Lorenzo Lapage/Christian Lademann (Bel/Ger) Heim & Handwerk

Sprinters

Sean Eadie (Aus)
Jobie Dajka (Aus)
Jens Fiedler (Ger)
René Wolff (Ger)

Parra to Kelme

Colombian cyclist Ivan Parra (ONCE-Eroski) has signed for two seasons with the Spanish team Kelme-Costa Blanca.

05 Orbitel up to Division II

Colombian team 05 Orbitel is moving up in the world, aiming to ride in the UCI Division II in 2003. The team's official presentation will take place this Wednesday, November 6 in Bogota. The full team roster is as follows:

Riders

Hernan Buenahora (Col)
Felix Cardenas (Col)
Carlos Contreras (Col)
Javier Zapata (Col)
Hernan Dario Bonilla (Col)
Jorge Humberto Martinez (Col)
Marlon Perez (Col)
Luis Oran Castañeda (Col)
Alejandro Ivan Cortes (Col)
Jairo Hernandez (Col)
Elder Herrera (Col)
Ever Gutierrez (Col)
Julio Cesar Aguirre (Col)
Javier Gonzalez (Col)
Olmedo Capacho (Col)
Jhonny Leal (Col)

Directeur sportif: Raul Mesa Orozco
Media officer: Luis E. Barbosa
Mechanics: Robert Gonzalez, William Serna
Masseurs: Egidio Sierra, Fernando Correal

Marlux courting De Wolf and Vermaut

Belgian Division II team Marlux-Ville de Charleroi is hoping to contract Steve De Wolf (Domo-Farm Frites) and Stive Vermaut (Palmans-Collstrop) for next season. The team has already signed Jef Braeckevelt (ex-Lotto) to be its manager next year.

Ride for the Roses Beach Race

The second edition of the Ride for the Roses Beach Race will be organised on January 5, 2003 in Schevenignen, the Netherlands. The ride is a spin off from the very popular U.S. and Dutch Rides for the Roses, which were started in 1997 under the impetus of Lance Armstrong to help raise money for cancer research.

The Ride for the Roses Beach Race is for mountain bikes, run over distances of 24 or 42 km. The race is open to riders of all abilities, from professionals to recreational riders. The proceeds of the even will go to the Nederlandse Kankerbestrijding/Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds (KWF).

For some more information, visit the event's website (Dutch only) at: www.ridefortheroses.nl.

Two new world records for backwards cycling

On Saturday, September 7, on the track of the skeeler club Oost-Veluwe in NL-Heerde, Pieter de Hart (52) became the world fastest backwards cyclist. He was awarded the title after covering 26.9 kilometres in an hour, beating the previous mark of 25.6 km. He also beat the 50 km world record, clocking 2.00.08 to beat the previous best of 2.52.11.

Attempting two records in one event proved to be difficult. De Hart kept his lap times between 44 and 46 seconds per 333.3m lap in the first hour, but this took its toll in the second hour, where he dropped to 48-51 seconds per lap.

De Hart has been riding backwards for over a decade now - in 1990 he was the first in the world to set the hour record in this discipline at 22.6 km. In the last two months trained between one and two hours per day in preparation for this attempt. The conditions on the day (dry weather, no wind) were perfect, allowing him to surpass both marks.

Backwards cycling takes place on a regular bicycle - De Hart's latest record attempt was done on a mountain bike - without the help of any extra aids or appliances: no mirrors, no special adaptations. The rider sits on the handlebars instead of the saddle, facing backwards, and pedaling and steering in reverse.

Westerley Cycling Club Turbo Trainer 12 hour Marathon Relay

A team of 24 young and old Westerley Cycling Club members will each ride a half hour relay on turbo trainers starting at 10.00am and finishing at 10.00pm on Friday November 15, 2002 at the Dragons Health Club, Rowdels Road, Northolt. Their target is 300 miles (480 km) at an average speed of 25mph (40 km/h). The event hopes to raise as much as possible for the nationwide BBC Children in Need Appeal.

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2002)