Second Edition News for January 14, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Floyd Landis breaks hip

One of the key members of the US Postal Service team, Floyd Landis, has suffered a broken hip bone after falling during training on Saturday. The accident happened 10 days prior to the start of the team's first training camp of the new year in California.

According to a team statement, Landis suffered a complete oblique fracture of the right femoral neck when he went down hard on his bike returning from a workout at his local gym in Murrieta, Calif., where he lives. Landis underwent 90 minutes of surgery at Inland Valley Medical Center in nearby Wildomar Saturday evening, and had three titanium screws placed in his hip.

"I was about 20 minutes from home and returning from the gym," said Landis. "I was riding down a short, steep hill that levels out and then turns right and I crashed when making the right turn. It has been windy the last few days and there must have been some sand on the road I didn't see. Where the street leveled out, my front wheel just washed out and I went down on my right side at about 25 miles an hour.

"I knew something was wrong with my hip when I couldn't get my foot out of the pedal. I had to crawl to the side of the road and then telephoned my wife. I knew I wasn't going to be able to ride home."

"I hope it's not too bad," said Johan Bruyneel, the USPS team's director sportif, who suffered a similar injury during his professional cycling career. "This will definitely effect the start of his season. Floyd is one of our key riders for the Tour de France but I'm pretty confident he can get ready (for the Tour). I expect him to be racing in April, so it's not a disaster. We will change his program to get him ready for the Tour and then maybe to also race the Tour of Spain (in September) as well."

Landis added that "My conversation with Johan made me feel better. He overcame something like this himself so that helps. We talked about me making my first peak at the Tour and then taking part in other races possibly leading up to the Vuelta. That's the thing about our sport - the season is so long and there are so many races. I wouldn't have chosen this, but it could be a nice schedule."

Minaar signs for Haro

Shortly after being released from Global Racing, it's now confirmed that South African Downhiller Greg Minaar will ride for the Haro mountain bike team for the 2003 season.

"We're excited to bring Greg and former Global team mate Mick Hannah together again in the same program", said Jim Ford, Haro's President. "The addition of Greg to the team should make Team Haro Lee Dungarees a powerhouse in downhill and 4X events while providing us with invaluable input into the design and performance of our mountain bikes".

Greg's debut with the Haro Lee Dungarees team is scheduled for April, at the 2003 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California.

Minaar's accomplishments include being the 2001 UCI Downhill World Cup Champion, winning a bronze medal at 2001 World Championships, and winning a World Cup Downhill event in Kaprun, Austria. Other notable results include a second place downhill result in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada and a second place finish in Leysin, Switzerland earlier that year. Greg finished the year ranking ninth in the World Cup standings in 2002.

Greg will join Mick Hannah and Mike King to make up the three man Haro Lee Dungarees downhill and 4X squad. He will compete in all NORBA and World Cup downhill and 4X events as well as selected European Red Bull and Maxxis Cup downhill events.

Jittery Joe's 2003

The Jittery Joe's Cycling Team has announced its roster for 2003. Returning will be young sprinter Jeff Hopkins from Australia, climbing specialist Cesar Grajales Calle from Colombia, multi-talented Australian Luke Stockwell, U23 Time Trial bronze medalist Chad Hartley, and American strongmen Jacob Rosenbarger and Jesse Lawler. The team will also add cyclocross rider Jonathan Sundt to its roster as well as a few auxiliary riders from the Southeast. The team will be working with amateur Atlanta-based team RealityBikes.com to bring up young up-and-coming riders through the pro ranks.

The team has also increased its main source of sponsorship dollars via by selling more Jittery Joe's Cycling Coffee. "Now that we have national distribution we're selling a huge amount of Cycling Coffee," said Jittery Joe's CEO Keith Kortemeier. "It's clear now that our co-op based sponsorship is going to work beyond expectations."

Team Roster

Jeff Hopkins (Aus)
Cesar Grajales (Col)
Jesse Lawler (USA)
Jake Rosenbarger (USA)
Chad Hartley (USA)
Luke Stockwell (Aus)
Jonny Sundt (USA)
Kurt Garin (USA)
Drew Deters (USA)
Director Sportif: Micah Rice

Sponsors

Jittery Joe's Coffee
K2 (Bicycles)
Cane Creek (wheels)
Maxxis (Tires)
Truvativ (components)
Verge Sport (clothing)
SRAM (chains and cassettes)
Profile Design (aero equipment)
Clif Bar (Nutrition)
Tifosi Optics (eyewear)
Catlike (Helmets)

U.C. Forno D'Asolo takes shape

Italian women's team U.C. Forno D'Asolo is looking to improve on its 2002 season, which saw it claim 30 victories on the national and international calendar. Although the team roster has not yet been finalised for 2003, it's already known that 2002 La Grande Boucle Féminine winner Zinaida Stahurskaia will ride for the squad, as well as Junior World TT Champion Anna Zugno, who will turn professional this year.

Argentinean champion Valeria Pintos, Italian Helga Faccin, Swiss Lucille Hunkeler, Russian Goulnara Ivanova will remain with the team, while the talented Ilenia Lazzaro will be a new signing for U.C. Forno D'Asolo. Italian champion Rosalisa Lapomarda (Aliverti Kookai) is also set to join, although the negotiations are still being finalised. The team has signed a new director in Fabrizio Tacchino, who was with Mobili Casaccia in 2002.

The team's presentation will be on March 3.

USAC names Matt Cramer for MTB development

USA Cycling has announced the appointment of Matt Cramer as the Mountain Bike Development Director. Cramer has an extensive background as an exercise physiologist and as a cycling coach, and first worked for USA Cycling in 1999 as a coach in the resident program.

Cramer's appointment is part of USAC's drive to identify top talent among young mountain bike riders. His responsibilities will include developing programs to identify sponsors and other business partners for mountain biking.

"He's going to be challenged to create a development program for the best young American mountain biking talent, and also to create a program that will allow us to leverage other opportunities, like sponsorship, for mountain biking," said USAC's Athletic Director Steve Johnson.

"Although the initial budget will be limited, I wanted to get the program up and running as soon as possible," added Johnson. "I also think that the effort to secure sponsorship will be more effective with a viable program already in place."

Cramer said that "My vision for this new position as Mountain Bike Development Director is to provide junior and espoir [under age 23] athletes with a clearly-defined roadmap they can follow to reach the top of their sport, and achieve a lifetime goal of becoming an elite cyclist. I want to help develop a more distinct connection between the USA Cycling Development Camp Program and the National Team Program, as well as create a more objective method of talent identification of young athletes in the United States."

Cramer has a Bachelor's Degree in exercise physiology from Penn State ('98). He has worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee's Sport Science and Technology Department, and was formerly the sports science manager for the U.S. Women's Rowing Team. In '99 he was hired by USA Cycling as the Resident Cycling Coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Since then he has served as assistant coach for USA Cycling's World Championships Mountain Bike Teams from 1999 through 2002.

Burnaby Velodrome 3 Day in February

North America's only indoor velodrome, the Burnaby Velodrome in British Columbia, Canada, has announced its second race series event of the 2002/2003 indoor track season. The three day event will draw Canadian and American track riders from Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle, Portland, and other points from across Canada and the United States. This is the velodrome's second major event since re-opening on September 4, 2002, and its first since the installation of a new roof in January 2003.

Racing begins on Friday night with the flying 200m qualifying heats. Saturday and Sunday will see a number of mass start, sprint and timed events including points races, miss-n-out, scratch race, kilometre, keirin, Olympic sprint, and Madison. There will also be a Learn to Race clinic run Wednesday and Friday evenings prior to the February 14-16 event. These clinics will include race entry fees for first time racers with their own category on the weekend.

More information: www.burnabyvelodrome.ca

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