First Edition News for October 19, 2003

Edited by Chris Henry & Jeff Jones

Bartoli doubles in Lombardy

Bartoli's back
Photo: © Sirotti

Defending Giro di Lombardia champion Michele Bartoli did the double Saturday, taking his second victory in two years in the race of the falling leaves. The race was the final World Cup event of the season, and is among the last major events of the European road calendar. Bartoli outsprinted breakaway companion Angelo Lopesboselli (Cofidis) to offer a final victory to his Fassa Bortolo team before moving on to Team CSC in 2004.

"I'm happy to be able to win this one for my sponsor (Fassa Bortolo)," Bartoli said after the victory. The talented Tuscan also showed his satisfaction at seeing former teammate Paolo Bettini, with whom he had a falling out several years ago, confirm his overall series victory in the World Cup for a second consecutive year.

"For me to leave an Italian team is not that great," Bartoli said about his departure from Fassa Bortolo. "I was really happy at Fassa because it was like a with a big family for me, but with Bjarne Riis I'm sure things will go great at CSC."

Bartoli was the first repeat winner at the Giro di Lombardia since Eddy Merckx did the double in 1971-72.

Full results & report
Live report

Bettini takes second World Cup

Mr. World Cup
Photo: © AFP

Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) had already secured final victory in the season-long World Cup before he took the start in the Giro di Lombardia, but Saturday his win became official. Bettini was a dominant force in one-day racing, claiming three of the ten rounds of the World Cup: Milan-San Remo, HEW Cyclassics, and Clasica San Sebastian.

Rabobank's Michael Boogerd, 10th at the Giro di Lombardia, reclaimed second overall in the World Cup behind Bettini, pushing Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix winner Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Domo) into third. The team classification saw Saeco take top honours ahead of Quick.Step and Alessio.

Final World Cup Standings

1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon                       365 pts
2 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                                 220
3 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo                             219
4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                             187
5 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom                                  186
6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Team Saeco                                140
7 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Team Saeco                               139
8 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Team Telekom                            124
9 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                            124
10 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre                             123
11 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon                       106
12 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon                 92
13 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron                  88
14 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Fassa Bortolo                             79
15 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal presented by Berry Floor    74
16 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Saeco                                 71
17 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) iBanesto.com                    68
18 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank                                      62
19 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Team Saeco                                54
20 Andrea Noè (Ita) Alessio                                       46
 
Teams
 
1 Saeco                                                           79 pts
2 Quick.Step-Davitamon                                            72
3 Alessio                                                         47
4 Rabobank                                                        47
5 Fassa Bortolo                                                   45
6 Telekom                                                         30
7 Lotto-Domo                                                      26
8 Cofidis                                                         23
9 Gerolsteiner                                                    21
10 Lampre                                                         19
11 Domina Vacanze                                                 16
12 ibanesto.com                                                   14
13 Phonak                                                         12
14 CSC                                                            12
15 Ag2r-Prevoyance                                                 9
16 Vini Caldirola                                                  8
17 ONCE-Eroski                                                     8
18 US Postal-Berry Floor                                           6
19 Crédit Agricole                                                 4

Wegelius prevented from Lombardy start

British rider Charles Wegelius (De Nardi-Colpack) was prevented from taking part in Saturday's Giro di Lombardia after a pre-race health check revealed an excessive haematocrit value. Per UCI procedures, he will also be suspended for two weeks, considered a precaution for the rider as the blood test does not automatically indicate the use of illegal substances. Wegelius, 25, kept his comments to a minimum following the news.

"I don't want to say anything because it will only make things worse," he told Reuters. "Ask [former coach at Mapei] Aldo Sassi. He knows I've never done EPO."

De Nardi Colpack issued a statement explaining that Wegelius's haematocrit value fluctuates naturally, the result of the removal of his spleen following a 1998 motorcycle accident. Wegelius will travel Monday to UCI headquarters in Switzerland to undergo a series of tests.

Bettini and Astarloa OK

Bettini and Astarloa
Photo: © Sirotti

Paolo Bettini and world champion Igor Astarloa look to have settled their differences stemming form Astarloa's comments that Bettini offered him money during the World's road race last Sunday. The two offered a gesture of reconcilation prior to the start of Saturday's Giro di Lombardia, reportedly putting an end to the week-long squabble.

Trampusch to Acqua e Sapone

Austrian rider Gerhard Trampusch will leave his current Gerolsteiner team to join the new Acqua e Sapone squad next season. The strong climber, who began his career as a stagiaire with Gerolsteiner in 1999 before spending two years with Telekom and one with Mapei. He returned to Gerolsteiner for 2003 but is expected to sign a one year contract with the Italian Acqua e Sapone team on Monday.

Planckaert confirms with Palmans

Belgian Jo Planckaert will seal the deal to transfer from Cofidis to the Palmans team of Hilaire Van Der Schueren. The team will add MrBookmaker as a principal sponsor for 2004, and will likely be dubbed MrBookmaker-Palmans-Collstrop. Planckaert has a verbal agreement with the team and plans to sign the contract Monday or Tuesday.

"With the recruitment of Jo, we can get involved in the classics," Van Der Schueren commented. "He can still do it. It's s up to me to bring him up to the right level again and maybe he'll even be able to win a classic."

Sponsor inspired by 2002 Tour

The Jean Delatour team, which next year will become RAGT Semences, can point to the 2002 Tour as a principal reason for the new sponsor's arrival. Noticing that a number of employees at RAGT were more intent on watching the stage finish in Luz-Ardiden than carrying on with their jobs on July 21, board of directors president Alain Fabre opted for a company-sanctioned viewing. "I decided to call a quick break to work to watch the finish," Fabre noted at the team's unveiling in Rodez, France this week.

The company's director Alain Segonds explained how the involvement with Jean-Luc Jonrond's Jean Delatour team came to be. "We soon learned that Jean Delatour was looking for a new sponsor," he said. "That made an impression, but it took us ten days to get in touch with Jean Delatour."

Jonrond is looking to sign a number of riders to replace the eight who moved on while the team was in limbo, and having maintained his Division I status, remains hopeful for another Tour de France selection in 2004. The team is thus far without a designated leader, but Jonrond expects that an aggressive squad can always come up with good results.

UCI doping news

The following riders have been sanctioned for doping offences:

Gianluca Bortolami: Sanctioned by the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana, disqualified from the 2003 Three Days of De Panne, suspended 6 months from April 30, 2003 to October 29, 2003 and fined of 2,000 Swiss francs.

Gianluca Cavalli: Sanctioned by the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana, disqualified from the 2003 Trofeo Caduti di Soprazocco, suspended 14 months from April 30, 2003 to June 30, 2004 and fined 2,000 Swiss francs.

Gabriele Di Francesco (team manager): Sanctioned by the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana, suspended 12 months from July 10, 2003 to July 10, 2004 and fined 2,000 Swiss francs.

Rebellin meets Schumacher on the field

Italian Davide Rebellin will take to the soccer field Sunday in a match against a team of Formula 1 drivers headed by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher. Rebellin will be joined by fellow cyclist Gabriele Colombo, among others. Rebellin was invited to the Montecarlo showdown by a mutual friend of Prince Albert of Monaco.

"The condition is there," Rebellin commented, "so I hope to find a good position on the field, maybe even attack, and dream of scoring a goal."

USA MTB Nationals to Snowmass

Snowmass Village, Colorado, has been named a host site for the National Off Road Biking Association (NORBA) National Championship Series, August 3-5, 2004. The NORBA Nationals, North America's biggest and most prestigious mountain bike event, is expected to bring several thousand amateur and professional racers to Snowmass Village next summer.

The four-day race series consists of cross country, downhill, mountain cross/slalom and short track events. An ultra endurance race unique to the Snowmass area terrain is also planned. Racers from all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and Europe, will compete in age-based category racing within ability divisions.

The Town of Snowmass Village, located nine miles from Aspen, recently concluded an agreement with NORBA to bring the Nationals to Snowmass Village for the next three years, beginning with the 2004 event.

Polaris Challenge season nears

The Polaris events season is fast approaching. The Polaris mountain bike events' major fundraising initiative is 4Wheels4Sean. This charitable trust was set up to provide a specially adapted vehicle for Sean Fitzgerald, a Canberra-based rider made a quadriplegic in a riding accident two years ago. The Trust will continue to fund Australians severely disabled as a result of a cycling accident. (See www.polarismtb.com.au/4w4s for information)

November 16: The 2003 Urban Polaris

"Bringing mountain bikes to the city" is what the Urban Polaris is all about and after the huge success last year, it's back in Canberra on Sunday 16 November as the final event of the month long Canberra Festival of Cycling. Some 500 riders in teams of two will take to the bike paths, forest trails and routes around the national capital to seek out as many of 35 checkpoints as they can in the seven hours.

December 6-7: The 2003 Paddle Polaris

Two days of paddling, navigation and camping at a location approximately 4 hours south of Sydney, which will not be disclosed until until four weeks before the event. The Paddle Polaris uses a large waterbody on, in, around of which are placed some 35 checkpoints. Paddlers in teams of 2 have 7 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday to plan a route to maximize their points.

March 6-7, 2004: The 2004 Polaris Challenge

Now in its 8th year, some 700 riders from across Australia and overseas will converge on a location approximately three hours from Sydney and nine hours from Melbourne to do battle over a huge range of bush and mountain country. Riders in teams of two have seven hours on Saturday and six hours on Sunday to plan a route to maximize their points. All teams camp at a secret location on the Saturday night, carrying all the equipment on their bikes for the weekend.

The winners of the 2004 Polaris Challenge will be sent to the UK, courtesy of Emirates Airlines, to compete in the UK Polaris Challenge.

For further details on Polaris Events please contact Huw Kingston on 0418 977609 (Australia), email info@polarismtb.com.au or visit www.polarismtb.com.au.

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