News for May 30, 2002Reported by Jeff Jones, Gerard Knapp and Tim Maloney Evans gets a boost from Australian PMWas the latest maglia rosa in this year's Giro d'Italia, Cadel Evans, inspired by some high level support today on his way to gaining the leader's jersey in stage 16, the first ever Australian to do so? The Australian Prime Minister's Department contacted the Cyclingnews office in Sydney, requesting that a special message be sent to Evans prior to the stage, and the personal note of encouragement and support from Prime Minister John Howard was received at Evans' hotel shortly before he left for the start of stage 16. "To be second on GC at this stage is a marvellous achievement in such a mountainous tour," read part of the note. Evans' maglia rosa combined with Robbie McEwen's two stage wins has made this normally Italian dominated race one to remember for Australians. You can read Evans' reaction to the PM's note in his latest diary entry. Giro d'Italia news
Stage 16 of the Giro was the first and arguably the toughest day in the Dolomites. After yesterday's withdrawal of Francesco Casagrande, and the non-start of teammate Wladimir Belli, Fassa Bortolo was reduced to just five riders, none of whom are GC men. Team sponsor Paolo Fassa has threatened to stop sponsoring the team if another rider is excluded from the Giro, which does not bode well for the future of Giancarlo Feretti's outfit. The stage was a cracker, with the strongest team Alessio going on the offensive with three riders in the early break. They were eventually caught by a rapidly diminishing peloton, but not before Mexican climbing genius Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio escaped off the front to eventually win the stage solo. Alessio's Pietro Caucchioli made a bold bid on the Pordoi for the maglia rosa, but this was foiled by his poor descending skills as a group containing Cadel Evans, Dario Frigo and Tyler Hamilton caught him just before the finish, which meant that Cadel Evans took the lead. Stage 16 full results
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Cadel Evans (Mapei, 1st GC)
"This is the first time that I've raced over three weeks, and also the first time I've ridden these roads in the Dolomites. To end up with the maglia rosa is 'bellissimo'. The most difficult this for me is to remain focused for 20 days. What mountain biking taught me especially is 'grinta', the will to beat the cols. The most difficult parts of this stage were in the final two kilometres of the big climbs, every time." "Win the Giro? To wear the maglia rosa is one thing, to keep it is another. I believe that my most dangerous rivals will be Frigo and Hamilton." Julio Perez Cuapio (Panaria, 1st stage)
"I was not thinking of this stage especially, more the next one that finishes on a long climb. Today, there were a lot of descents. I attacked on the Marmolada (Passo di Fedaia) to take points for the mountains jersey. Then when I caught Di Paoli, I saw that he was not doing any turns because he was waiting for reinforcements. Then I attacked on the Pordoi." "In the 10 last kilometres, I was confident. My direttore sportivo said to me that I had lost a little time on the descents. When I crossed the line, I made signs with my hands to show that there are only four Panaria riders in the race but we have two victories." My direttore sportivo told me this morning that if I won another stage and won the climber's jersey he would give me a month's holiday. He meant that in a good way." "This victory, I dedicate it primarily to my fiancée Mara. When I won in San Giacomo, she did not appreciate it that I did not it then. She will come for the Folgaria stage (tomorrow) or for the one in Brescia (Friday)." "Win in Folgaria? I will try, But it is necessary to have good legs again." Police raid four team's hotelsItalian financial police have raided rider hotels in Corvara in Badia following the completion of the 16th stage of the Giro. The raids were carried out on four Italian teams: Mapei, Panaria, Mercatone Uno and Saeco. The justification used was that all of these teams have been implicated in drug related affairs since the start of the Giro in Groningen. Police seized the health file of ex-Mapei leader Stefano Garzelli, winner of the second and fifth stages who was later disqualified due to a positive control for probenecid. The carabinieri also raided the Saeco motor home as well as the rooms of the riders. Saeco's leader Gilberto Simoni was previously taken out of the race by his team after an out of competition control that was non-negative for cocaine. In a similar control taken before the Giro, Mercatone Uno's Roberto Sgambelluri tested positive for Nesp, an enhanced form of EPO. Finally, several Panaria riders have been implicated in drug related affairs: Antonio Varriale, Nicola Chesini (investigation in Brescia), Faat Zakirov (positive for Nesp). Marco Pantani abandonsOne of six riders to abandon today's 16th stage was 1998 Giro winner Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno). The Italian race's most popular rider was dropped on the very first climb, and abandoned at the feed zone in Selva di Cadore (93 km). Pantani was lying in 76th on GC, over an hour behind the leaders. Father-to-be Streel goes homeMarc Streel (Colnago-Landbouwkrediet) pulled out of the Giro before the start of stage 15. Team director Locatelli was quoted in Het Nieuwsblad as saying that "Marc got a phone call from his wife, who is pregnant. He was asked to come home as the birth is near, and of course he did so right away. I understand that fully." Knee operation for UllrichJan Ullrich has undergone an operation to his right knee, in order to try and get rid of the recurring pain that has forced him to stop racing for most of this season. The operation, an arthroscopy under local anaesthetic, was performed on Wednesday in the Hamburg hospital. According to his doctor it will be two to three weeks before Ullrich can resume training on the bike. Ullrich had to call off his participation in the next Tour de France due to his knee problems, but according to his manager Wolfgang Strohband, "Jan will participate in races this year." Ullrich's last race was the Tour of Qatar in January. Shortly afterwards, while training in South Africa, he noticed problems with his knee. He took several weeks of rest, but whenever he started training again, the pain came back. His problems were compounded on May 1 when he was involved in a driving accident, which resulted in the suspension of his driving licence. Merckx to race Tour of GermanyAxel Merckx (Domo-Farm Frites) will race the Tour of Germany next week, from June 3-9, in order to prepare for the Tour de France. He will follow that with the Route du Sud (June 22-25) and the Belgian Championships in Maldegem before the Tour start in Luxembourg. Teammate Richard Virenque will instead ride the Dauphiné Libéré (June 9-16) as preparation, as well as the Route du Sud. Tour of Germany: Johan Museeuw, Axel Merckx, Dave Bruylandts, Enrico Cassani, Servais Knaven, Leon Van Bon, Piotr Wadecki and Tomas Konecny. Dauphiné Libéré: Richard Virenque, Wilfried Cretskens, Steve De Wolf, Jurgen Van Goolen, Andrei Kashechkin, Koos Moerenhout, Bram Tankink and Marco Milesi. 62nd Tour of LuxembourgTaking place over the next four days from May 30 to June 2 is the 62nd edition of the UCI 2.2 classed Tour of Luxembourg. The race will see Erik Dekker in action again, after returning to competition last Monday in a kermis in Strombeek where he finished 12th. Dekker has been out of action since breaking his leg in Milan-San Remo in March. Last year's winner Jørgen Bo Petersen will lead a strong EDS-fakta team, which has been at the top of the division II rankings since the beginning of the team. Local favourites Benoît Joachim (riding for the Luxembourg National Team) and Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) will also be there, alongside recent Tour of Belgium winner Bart Voskamp (Bankgiroloterij-Batavus), and Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Adecco). The teamsEDS-fakta, Bankgiroloterij-Batavus, Fassa Bortolo, Telekom, Rabobank, Ag2r, Luxembourg National Team, Vlaanderen-T Interim, Palmans-Collstrop, Cofidis, De Nardi, CSC-Tiscali, iBanesto.com, CCC-Polsat, Lotto-Adecco, Marlux-Ville de Charleroi The stages
Injury updateKevin Hulsmans (Mapei-Quick Step) will resume competition in the Tour of Germany next Monday, June 3. He had last raced in Paris-Nice but pulled out due to knee pain. Tom Steels and Fabien De Waele will also be at the start for Mapei. Florent Brard (Crédit Agricole) is definitely out of the Tour de France. He was operated on for his broken collarbone. The French time trial champion crashed in the Midi-Libre and also damaged one of his vertebrae. Frederick Penne (Palmans-Collstrop) crashed in the race in Strombeek and cracked his shoulder, but also hurt three ribs. He will be out of competition for at least three weeks. More bad luck for Heidi Van De VijverBad luck is continuing to follow Belgian cyclist Heidi Van De Vijver (Vlaanderen T-Interim). After two crashes in the recent Tour de l'Aude, a couple of days where she was sick, and some equipment problems, she's now in hospital for a nose operation. After a crash several years ago, the bone was not placed in the right position and her oxygen intake has gradually become more and more difficult. Doctors are going to re-open this part of the nose and set it right. She will not be able to ride for approximately 10 days, which means no World Cup in Montreal this weekend!
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