News for October 13, 2002

Edited by Jeff Jones

Cipo and Marco together?

By Tim Maloney in Zolder

Rumours are flying around the press room at the World Cycling Championships in Zolder about a possible transfer by Mario Cipollini to Mercatone Uno. But more likely, Mercatone Uno could take over what is now the Acqua & Sapone team in 2003.

Italian journalist Giorgio Viberti told Cyclingnews that "After almost 6 months, Marco Pantani called up Mr. Cenni, the owner of Mercatone Uno and told him he wanted to race again. At the same time, Vicenzo Santoni of Acqua & Sapone is seeking another title sponsor to replace the soap firm."

Cenni isn't sure of what Pantani might want to do, and seemingly, nor is Pantani.

However, Santoni still has a contract with Mario Cipollini for 2003, as he does with Aitor Gonzalez, winner of the Vuelta, but no title sponsor to support them. Santoni and Cenni are still talking and an announcement may be forthcoming in the near future, but it's still to early to say what will happen and where Pantani, Cipo and Gonzalez will end up.

No renewal for Cesar Solaun and Igor Flores

Team manager Miguel Madariaga has confirmed that Euskaltel-Euskadi riders Cesar Solaun and Igor Flores will not be riding for the team in 2003. Neither has performed to expectations this year. On the other hand, it seems that Gorka Gerrikagoitia, Mikel Artetxe and Iker Flores will be offered new contracts.

Courtesy of Eloi Corres/www.equipoeuskadi.com

Final U23 and Junior rankings for 2002

Following the U23 and Junior Men's Road Races in Zolder, the UCI has issued its final rankings for these categories for 2002. The undisputed champion of the Espoirs is Russian Mikhail Timochine, who tops the table with 292 points. Dutch rider Pieter Weening is second on 150 points, followed by Italian Domenico Puzzovivo (139 pts) and Russian Alexandr Bespalov on 125 points. The Russians finished with four riders in the top 10, while newly crowned Italian World Champ Francesco Chicchi finished in 11th spot on 105 points. 100 of those came from winning the road race.

In the Junior Men, the battle was much closer with Slovakian talent Matej Jurco finishing on top with 288 points, in front of Thomas Dekker (Ned) on 257 points and Finn Jukka Vastaranta on 227 points. World Junior Road Race Champion Arnaud Gerard (Fra) ended up 10th with 109 points, again 100 of those coming from his win today.

Rankings as of October 12, 2002

U23 Men

1 Mikhail Timochine (Rus)                     292 pts
2 Pieter Weening (Ned)                        150
3 Domenico Puzzovivo (Ita)                    139
4 Alexandr Bespalov (Rus)                     130
5 Ivan Terenine (Rus)                         125
5 Thomas Vaitkus (Ltu)                        125
7 David Garbelli (Ita)                        120
8 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)                    116
9 Andrei Ptchelkine (Rus)                     110
10 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb)                       108
11 Francesco Chicchi (Ita)                    105
12 Markus Fothen (Ger)                        101
13 Vladimir Goussev (Rus)                      93
14 Antonio Quadranti (Ita)                     90
15 Grégory Rast (Swi)                          89
16 Stefan Rucker (Aut)                         88
17 David Loosli (Swi)                          87
17 Johan Vansummeren (Bel)                     87
19 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa)                   85
20 Jonathan Patrick McCarty (USA)              84

Junior Men

1 Matej Jurco (Svk)                           288 pts
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned)                         257
3 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin)                      227
4 Tom Veelers (Ned)                           140
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)                       131
6 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus)                      125
7 Jos Harms (Ned)                             118
8 Matti Breschell (Den)                       115
9 Peter Velits (Svk)                          110
10 Arnaud Gerard (Fra)                        109
11 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus)                   106
12 Tyler Farrar (USA)                          96
13 Jordane Chazal (Fra)                        74
14 Sebastian Schwager (Ger)                    73
15 Norman Meerkerk (Ned)                       72
16 Mark Jamieson (Aus)                         70
16 Felix Odebrecht (Ger)                       70
18 Heinrich Haussler (Ger)                     65
18 Olivier Stiler-Cote (USA)                   65
20 Mateusz Taciak (Pol)                        64

Full rankings

Principal dates on the 2003 UCI calendar

The UCI has released its complete provisional men's calendar for 2003, with the dates of the principal races remaining very similar to this season. The 10 rounds of the World Cup will start with Milan-San Remo on March 22, followed by the Ronde Van Vlaanderen (April 6), Paris-Roubaix (April 13), Amstel Gold Race (April 20) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 27). The latter two races have been swapped from their normal positions on the calendar, and La Fleche Wallonne has been moved to April 23 accordingly (the Wednesday before LBL).

The second half of the World Cup season starts the weekend after the finish of the Tour de France with the HEW Cyclassics Hamburg on August 3. That is followed by Clasica San Sebastian (August 9), Meisterschaft von Zürich (August 17), Paris-Tours (October 5) and the Giro di Lombardia (October 18).

The World Championships take place in Hamilton, Canada between October 7-12, with the Elite Men's Time Trial on October 9 and the Road Race on October 12.

The three grand tours are, as always, the Giro d'Italia (May 10-June 4), Tour de France (July 5-27) and Vuelta Espana (September 6-28).

March 9-16: Paris-Nice (2.HC)
March 13-19: Tirreno-Adriatico (2.HC)
March 22: Milano-Sanremo (CDM)
April 6: Ronde Van Vlaanderen (CDM)
April 7-11: Vuelta a Pais Vasco (2.HC)
April 9: Gent-Wevelgem (1.HC)
April 13: Paris-Roubaix (CDM)
April 20: Amstel Gold Race (CDM)
April 23: Fleche Wallonne (1.HC)
April 27: Liege-Bastogne-Liege (CDM)
April 29-May 4: Tour de Romandie (2.HC)
May 10-June 1: Giro d'Italia (GT)
June 8-15: Dauphine Libéré (2.HC)
June 16-22: Volta a Catalunya (2.HC)
June 16-25: Tour de Suisse (2.HC)
June 29: National Championships (CN)
July 5-27: Tour de France (GT)
August 3: HEW-Cyclassics Hamburg (CDM)
August 9: Clasica San Sebastian (CDM)
August 17: Meisterschaft von Zürich (CDM)
August 24: GP Ouest-France Plouay (1.HC)
September 6-28: Vuelta España (GT)
September 21: GP des Nations (1.HC)
October 5: Paris-Tours (CDM)
October 9: World Time Trial Championship (CM)
October 12: World Road Race Championship (CM)
October 18: Giro di Lombardia (CDM)

Paris-Brussels downgraded

Next year's Paris-Brussels classic has been downgraded to a 1.2 event, from its 1.1 status this year. The UCI decided to do this in reaction to the organisers lengthening it to 266 km this year. 266 km is too long for a 1.1 race, which are usually limited to 200 km. The UCI made an exception for Paris-Brussels, so long as it remained less than 250 km. The organisers actually wanted a promotion to 1.HC, but the opposite occurred.

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