News for November 26, 2002Edited by Jeff Jones Cipollini wins Vélo d'orWorld Champion Mario Cipollini will be awarded the Vélo d'or, as voted by a panel from the French Vélo magazine. The official announcement will be made in a few days time, but La Derniere Heure reports that Cipollini comfortably won with 82 points, ahead of the winner for the past three years Lance Armstrong (68 pts) and World Cup winner Paolo Bettini (24 pts). Cipollini is thus the second Italian to win the prize after Marco Pantani in 1998. Cipollini's accomplishments this year include Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wevelgem and six stages in the Giro d'Italia. Despite a brief period of 'retirement' after his team wasn't invited to the Tour de France, Cipollini came back in September to win three stages in the Vuelta España and then the World Championships in Zolder, the crowning point of his illustrious career. Vélo d'or 20021 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 82 pts 2 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 68 3 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 24 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 22 5 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 16 6 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 11 7 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10 Palmares 2002 Mario Cipollini (Ita) 2001 Lance Armstrong (USA) 2000 Lance Armstrong (USA) 1999 Lance Armstrong (USA) 1998 Marco Pantani (Ita) 1997 Jan Ullrich (Ger) 1996 Johan Museeuw (Bel) 1995 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 1994 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1993 Miguel Indurain (Spa) 1992 Miguel Indurain (Spa UCI cyclo-cross rankingsBy Joño Cravo After the first round of the Cyclo-cross World Cup last Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany, the UCI has updated its elite men's cyclo-cross rankings. World Champion Mario de Clercq (Palmans) is still leading the rankings with 2016 points, with Sven Nijs (Rabobank) in second on 1538 points. The best move in the Top 10 was made by the winner in Frankfurt, Belgian Bart Wellens (Spaar Select), who is now in third overall. The first non-Benelux rider in Frankfurt, Czech Jiri Pospisil, makes his entrance into the Top 10 with 520 points. Belgian Ben Berden and Dutch Wim De Vos lost their positions in the top 10 after not being selected for the World Cup. Not surprisingly, Belgium has seven riders in the top 10. The Netherlands with two and the Czech Republic with one are the other nations represented there. As a result, Belgium leads the countries' rankings with 7061 points, which is only 24 less than the sum of the points obtained by the Netherlands (3145), Switzerland (1450), Czech Republic (1398) and France (1092). Those nations are ranked second to fifth. UCI rankings as of November 24, 20021 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 2016 pts 2 Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank 1538 3 Bart Wellens (Bel) Spaar Select 1347 4 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1331 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Spaar Select 1314 6 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 846 7 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 827 8 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Spaar Select 598 9 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 536 10 Jiri Popisil (Cze) Author Praha 520 11 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower Team 493 12 Ben Berden (Bel) Spaar Select 476 13 Dominique Arnould (Fra) 468 14 Arne Daelmans (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 422 15 Wim De Vos (Ned) Spaar Select 397 16 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) Author Praha 357 17 Maarten Nijland (Ned) 312 18 Marc Gullickson (USA) Mongoose-Huyundai 306 19 Beat Wabel (Swi) Saeco-Cannondale 304 20 Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) WG Beveren 2000 298 Nations 1 Belgium 7061 pts 2 Netherlands 3145 3 Switzerland 1450 4 Czech Republic 1398 5 France 1092 SpaarSelect's future to be announced soonThe director of SpaarSelect, which currently sponsors a cyclo-cross team, will inform the riders about their future on Tuesday, November 26. Only one rider (Bart Wellens) has a contract for next season, and it's likely that the team will either fold or have to find a new sponsor. Credit Agricole and Saeco confirm for Jacob's Creek Tour Down UnderHometown hero Stuart O'Grady will have strong team backing him in his bid to win the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under when he lines up in January with Credit Agricole for the 2003 event. O'Grady, who was married last weekend, has had a roller coaster year which saw him bounce back from surgery to repair his iliac artery in March. Despite the setback he claimed seven top ten stage finishes and third overall in the points competition of the Tour de France. He then headed to Manchester where he claimed gold in the Commonwealth Games road race. O'Grady, the team captain for the Australian squad in the men's road race at the World Championships in Belgium in October, helped set up Robbie McEwen for silver before crossing the line in 13th place. Joining O'Grady in the French registered team will be his close friend, Jens Voigt (Ger), a Tour de France stage winner, and Christophe Moreau (Fra), winner of three Tour de France stages. The Italian Saeco team also boasts a strong lineup with Igor Astarloa, fourth overall in the 2002 World Cup, heading the line up. Giro d'Italia and Tour de France stage winner Stefano Zanini will make his debut with Saeco in Adelaide. Fabio Sacchi, third overall in the 2001 JCTDU returns to Australia as does the winner of stage 3 in the same year, Alessio Galletti. Credit Agricole Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Saeco Igor Astarloa (Spa) Milk Ras sponsorship renewedBy Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent Organiser extraordinaire Dermot Dignam has over the past four months been putting the jig-saw in place for next year's "Ras" as it is termed amongst the cycling fraternity. The National Dairy Council and FBD Insurances will once again sponsor the FBD Milk Ras 8 Day International Cycle Race when it takes place from May 18-25 next year. This will be the 21st year of sponsorship by the NDC and 20th year of FBD sponsorship, and in that time the race has developed into a much sought after event by professional and amateur teams from many parts of the world. Already for next year requests for invitations to compete in the race have come from Greece, South Africa, Germany, France, Canada, Taiwan, Moldavia, Netherlands and Italy. Of these Germany, Canada, South Africa and Italy are, or will be, professional teams in 2003. Race organiser Dermot Dignam will announce the route for the 2003 event in the very near future and promises it will be in the best traditions of this great race as it enters its 51st year of competition. Race website: www.fbdmilkras.com Vainsteins 50/50 to MarluxRomans Vainsteins has a 50 percent chance of signing with Belgian division II squad Marlux next season. Team director Jef Braeckevelt confirmed this according to Belgian teletekst, adding that he is still negotiating with five or six riders. The team is talking with Dave Bruylandts and Dmitri Konychev, amongst others. Braeckevelt said that he is also concerned about his final salary payment from Lotto-Adecco, which has him under contract until the end of the year. "On December 4 we will discuss it. They must pay me, or I will go to court," said Braeckevelt
eDsystem - ZVVZ emergeseDsystem - ZVVZ is a new Czech professional team containing several members of the former Wüstenrot - ZVVZ squad. The team leaders will be 29-year-old former Domo rider Tomas Konecny, winner of a stage in the 2001 Vuelta and sixth in this year's Milan-San Remo; and Lubor Tesar (32) ex of Nürnberger whose palmares includes third place overall in the 2002 GP de Beauce after two stage wins. Team rosterStaff Manager: Jiri Zenisek Riders Petr Bencik (Cze, 27) ex Wüstenrot - ZVVZ West Virginia/Go Mart go proThe top ranked US amateur team, West Virginia/Go Mart, will be riding in the UCI Division III next season. The Charleston, WV based team is currently in the process of finishing its registration, and will be targeting the National Racing Calendar events in 2003. The team is led by Scottie Weiss (2002 National Elite Men's Road Champion) and Jon Hamblen (who finished second in that event). The team roster will total 11 riders and will be managed by Craig Slaughter and Greg Cook. West Virginia/Go Mart will be racing on Merlin Magia and Extralight bikes, having secured a two year deal with the Merlin Metalworks company. Other team sponsors include Cane Creek, ITM and Fizik. A new pro team from South Africa: BarloworldBy Jean-Francois Quenet in Johannesburg There will be a new English speaking team in the professional peloton next year: Team Barloworld, from South Africa. It will be a TT3 for the first year, and will consist of 10 riders with the majority being South Africans: National champion Tiaan Kannemeyer and runner up Ryan Cox coming from Team Cologne in Germany, alongside world U-23 championship time trial silver medallist James Perry, former SA champion Jacques Fullard and two rising stars of SA cycling Jaco Odendaal and Jaco De Witt, both aged 20. Australian strongman Sean Sullivan from Tasmania has been added to the roster, as well as neo-pro Sylvain Calzati from France. Two other French riders should complete the line up soon. Team Barloworld will make his debut in South Africa in January and will also compete in Europe for 5 months, the first appearance being the Circuit des Mines in France (April 26-May 1). There will be a strong French flavour as the team will be led in Europe by the respected Michel Gros, formerly with Festina and Jean Delatour. In South Africa, the team will be coached by Graeme McCallum, coming from Microsoft. Team Barloworld will ride Shimano equipped Scott USA bikes. The manager of the team is John Robertson, who has led the domestic squad Minolta for the last five years and will continue to do so as well. "I've always had the dream to take South African cycling further and by sending South African professional cyclists to Europe. Thanks to Barloworld, this is now possible," Robertson said. "The agreement with Barloworld is valid for 5 years and the goal is to take part in the Tour de France within 5 years." South Africa is a country where the bike races attract the biggest number of participants in the world. One week ago, 22,000 cyclists took part in the 94.7 cycle challenge. The Cape Town Argus will again see about 40,000 people on their bikes in March. It will obviously be one of Team Barloworld's first big goals and the Frenchmen should be impressed. Kelly to star at Melbourne Cup on WheelsOlympic star Shane Kelly will be part of the lineup of track talent in the upcoming Fitzroy Cycles Melbourne Cup on Wheels, as preparation in the lead up to the Christmas Carnival series and the upcoming World Cups. The racing takes place this Saturday, November 30 at Vodafone Arena, starting at 7pm. This year is the 65th staging of the Melbourne Cup on Wheels, a classic handicapped* Wheelrace that has achieved international recognition. Kelly, a placegetter in last year's event, is in top form and is one of the hot favourites to win the feature event of the night, the 2000m handicap final. Kelly will be the only rider off the scratch mark (0m), but he will face some stiff opposition from World Champions Sean Eadie and Jobie Dajka who are also competing, riding off 20m and 30m respectively. Dajka, the Keirin World Champion, and Eadie, the Sprint World Champion, will also face off in a Sprint Showdown which is a replay of the Sprint Final at the recent world Championships. This showdown is expected to be fiery, as both riders are out to prove who is the quickest track sprinter in the World. Dajka will also compete in a Keirin, where he is expected to assert his authority as the reigning World Champion. Finally there will be a Junior Invitational series featuring the best Under 17 cyclists in Australia. In this event, Jessica Tanner, an outstanding under 17 female cyclist, will be competing with the Under 17 males, such is her dominance in the female ranks. Bookmakers will be present at the event, and will be taking wagers on the feature events during the night. Tickets are available from Ticketek (www.ticketek.com) and are priced from $15. Doors open at 6.00pm. *Handicap track racing means that the better riders start with a gap to make up on the rest of the field. The best riders start at 0m, with the others being given headstarts depending on their ability. Darren Young injuredBy Rod Morris Top Tasmanian cyclist Darren Young has been injured in a training accident, the day after representing Australia overseas. Young broke his collarbone last Thursday in a training ride after being hit by a car in Melbourne. The dual winner of the Devonport Wheel and 2000 winner of the Burnie Wheelrace is still expected to compete at the Telstra Country Wide Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals series. Young only returned from France last Wednesday where he had been competing in an official Australian track team in the Open des Nations. It is believed Young was also to have ridden with former Launceston cyclist, Matthew Gilmore, who now represents his birth country, Belgium in next month's Australian Madison Championship at Melbourne's Vodafone Arena. Young's road bike was late arriving back in Australia last week, meaning he could not go on his normal early morning training ride. The later start may have been responsible for more traffic on the road leading up to the time of Young's accident. Young is currently living in Victoria, but maintains a Tasmanian racing licence. He is one of the most successful Tasmanian cyclists produced over the last decade. His father Darrel is a former winner of the Tasmanian Thousands Wheelrace and ex-coach of the Tasmanian Institute of Sport's cycling department. Around Australia record attempt restartedCanadian ultra endurance rider Perry Stone has been forced to restart his third "Around Australia" record ride after his bicycle broke in Katherine, the Northern Territory, 11 days into the attempt. Stone was hoping to cover the 14,187 kilometres around Australia in 41 days and 5 minutes to beat the record he set in 2000. He is doing the race unsupported, which means that he's pulling a 20 kg trailer behind him containing various essentials. Unfortunately that means when things go wrong, they can't be fixed quickly, however he expects to get a new bike by the end of this week and will start over from Katherine. Stone is dedicating his efforts to the victims of the Bali bombing recently. Donations can be made to a fund set up by the Red Cross.
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