News for January 9, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Cyclingnews Top 10: Tech moments

What were the major changes on the technical side of things in 2002? Cyclingnews tech editor Paul Mirtschin gives his list of the Top 10 Tech Moments of last season.

Kelme reborn

By João Cravo

How will Kelme overcome the loss of key riders such as Aitor Gonzalez, Santiago Botero, Santi Perez and Angel Vicioso? Or to put it another way: how would ONCE react if Joseba Beloki, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, José Azevedo and Jorg Jaksche decided to leave the team? Or what would happen to US Postal without Lance Armstrong, Roberto Heras, José Luis Rubiera and George Hincapie?

These questions are not easy to answer, but Kelme's team manager Vicente Belda is sure that his team has enough resources to continue as the top team it has always been. Belda remembers that Kelme started the season of 2001 without Roberto Heras, Fernando Escartin and Jose Luis Rubiera, and that was the opportunity that Oscar Sevilla was looking for.

With faith and a reduced roster of 21 riders (down from 29 last year), Kelme begins a season that can determine the future of a team that has such a brilliant past. A season where the young lions Carlos Garcia Quesada (24 years old, 284 UCI points), Alejandro Valverde (22, 164), Constantino Zaballa (24, 75) and Jesus Manzano (24, 27) will have to prove that they are skilled enough to ride for a team like Kelme.

The shrinking of the roster implies a smaller calendar. This means that Kelme will not be present in races like Tirreno-Adriático, Tour de Romandie, Dauphiné Libéré and some of the World Cup races. Of course, Kelme will miss none of the Major Tours (Giro, Tour Vuelta) even though it may take a different approach to them.

Garcia Quesada and Zaballa will lead the youngsters of Kelme along the roads of the Giro. The best riders will celebrate the centenary of the Tour under the leadership of Sevilla. The same Sevilla will try to win the Vuelta with a little help from his colleagues who are able to keep their good condition until September.

Maybe in 2004 we will be asking here how Kelme will overcome the loss of Sevilla, Francisco Cabello, David Latasa and Garcia Quesada, or any others? Vicente Belda will surely give us few names that we will remember.

Quaranta looks forward to new lease of life

Saeco's new signing Ivan Quaranta is hoping that 2003 brings better fortune than last year. "I should have been part of this team 12 months ago but the important thing is that the dream has finally come true," he said. "I had a difficult 2002 and the whole season was a disaster. Fortunately now I'm part of a big team like Saeco and it feels like I've woken up after a nightmare. It feels if all the problems of the past are behind me and this is the big chance I've been waiting for. I know I can't mess it up because I owe it to all the people who have helped me through the bad times and to myself."

Quaranta will fill the role as the team's sprinter, but doesn't want to be compared with the team's former star, Mario Cipollini, who now has the rainbow jersey. "There are several things I need to clear up about me and Mario. First of all I really get on well with Mario. He's always been friendly and respectful and I've always been the same with him. Secondly Cipollini is a living legend and is the current world champion, I'm good rider and a successful sprinter but I've still got to really show what I can do. It's not right to compare me to Mario. Thirdly I've managed to beat Cipollini and I hope to do it again but don't expect me to boast about how I can beat Cipollini. I know that I can only learn from every sprint were he go up against each other."

"It's true Cipollini is my biggest rival in the sprints but that's not because I've taken his place at Saeco. My new directeur sportifs always tell me to look at Mario as an example and it's great to see that there's a great team spirit at Saeco and that nobody has anything against me."

"Regarding the new season, my objectives and everything, we'll find out how I'm going at the first race the Tour of Qatar. The first big test will obviously be the major stage races and that's where I'll have to show what I can do. Fortunately I'll have the support of a great team even if I know the whole team won't be working only for me. My only hope for the season is that everybody including myself, will be pleasantly surprised by what happens in 2003."

Knee injury for Dekker

Erik Dekker has had to abandon Rabobank's training camp in Javea (Spain) due to a knee injury, sustained when he hit it on a door on New Year's Day. Although it wasn't initially painful, it got worse last weekend, and the team doctor told him to rest for four days. Dekker flew home immediately from Javea, but he hopes to be back in training by the end of this week.

Tonkov chooses Marlux

Despite strong rumours that he would join Polish team CCC, Pavel Tonkov will sign for Belgian squad Marlux this weekend, according to Belgian teletekst. Tonkov's place in the team should give Marlux a strong chance to ride in the Giro d'Italia this season, as he placed fifth overall there last year. Team director Jef Braeckevelt believes that Marlux also could perform better than Lotto-Domo in the Tour de France, and is hoping for a wildcard both there and in Paris-Nice.

Santi Blanco signs for Relax-Fuenlabrada

Spanish cyclist Santi Blanco has signed a one year contract with the Relax-Fuenlabrada team, just hours before the team's presentation in Zaragoza. Blanco, who rode with iBanesto.com last season, had been negotiating with several teams in the last few weeks, but finally decided on Relax.

Blanco will make his debut with Relax in the Challenge de Mallorca, which starts on February 3. His main season objective will be the Vuelta a España, and he will also try and win some smaller Spanish stage races at the beginning of the season.

Solaun retires

Another former Euskaltel rider has been forced to get off bike. After Igor Flores, now it's the turn of 32 year old Basque rider César Solaun to put an end to a career that started in 1994. Solaun, who also rode for Banesto before moving to Euskaltel, was set to sign for Costa de Almeria, but the deal was finally aborted by team manager Miguel Moreno. The possibility of extending his career riding for a Portuguese team was not considered by César Solaun, despite an offer in that area.

A winner of four races during his career, Solaun exits the professional ranks with 37 UCI points.

Courtesy of João Cravo

New Perssons for Kronborg

New Danish division III team CK Kronborg has contracted two additional neo-pro riders, Dennis and Lucas Persson, for the upcoming season.

Flanders-IteamNova.com for LTDL

Retaining four of its riders from last year's edition, Belgium's Flanders-iteamNova.com aims to improve on its position with Australians Allan Iacuone and David McKenzie expected to play leading roles in the Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi 2003 (Jan. 31 to Feb. 9).

The team makes its debut in the Tour as a newly formed outfit which was a result of the merger between Australian team, iteamNova.com and Belgium's Flanders team. IteamNova.com competed in last year's Tour, finishing 11th overall in the team general classification while rider Dominique Perras was the team's best finisher at 18th place.

According to team manager Susan Stewart, the team wants to make use of Iacuone's climbing skills to help them on GC. "The team is hoping to improve on Iacuone's overall 3rd placing in 1999," said Stewart. "Last year, Iacuone spent four days in the top 10 of the general classification and it shows that he has the talent to improve on this. His strong finish in last year's Herald Sun Tour in Australia where he finished second overall should also spur him to do better."

Iacuone, a former Australian champion, performed consistently last year, claiming second overall in the Herald Sun Tour and sixth in the Australian championships.

Stewart added that the team has been preparing hard for the race as it views Tour de Langkawi as an important race on the Flanders-iteamNova calendar. "Being a team with major Australian influence, it is important for the team to race well in Asia. The organisation is exceptional and Flanders-iteamNova riders enjoy participating in the race very much. Also, Tour de Langkawi is the biggest Tour outside Europe and is contested strongly by the big teams, so it is a good showcase for our team."

"The team has been based in Australia over the summer and has been preparing strongly. Also, the Australian National Championship is held about two weeks before the race (January 19), so all the riders are going well for that," she said.

According to Stewart, the team have competed strongly in Langkawi previously, with Iacuone finishing third overall in 1999. "In 2003, we will be coming to improve on this performance," she said.

Apart from Iacuone, the team has two strong climbers in Trent Wilson and Scott Guyton. "We're also going for some stage wins, hopefully from David McKenzie andJurgen Landrie," said Stewart. The remaining team member is former Flanders riders Ronny Assez.

McKenzie is among the team's top riders, having won a stage in the Giro d'Italia and several other races last year. "I hope to score around 300 UCI points this year and also a couple of big wins," said McKenzie.

Team roster

Allan Iacuone (Aus)
David McKenzie (Aus)
Jamie Drew (Aus)
Trent Wilson (Aus)
Scott Guyton (NZL)
Jurgen Landrie (Bel)
Ronny Assez (Bel)

De Nardi-Colpack-Astro meet

The Italian team De Nardi-Colpack-Astro will gather next Sunday, January 12 for a training camp in Riccione, Italy. The camp will end the following week on Saturday, January 18. Under the leadership of the team manager Gianluigi Stanga, the riders will face up to five hours of team training on the first four days. On the 16th, the day off will be taken up with photo sessions and press briefings. The riders will also test the new road and time trial bikes at this first training camp.

For the last two days of the training camp the team will split in two clusters. The first one will involve the riders who will compete in the Tour de Langkawi (January 31 to February 9). Those riders are: Andrus Aug, Simone Cadamuro, Michele Colleoni, Ondrej Fadrny, Michele Gobbi, Giuseppe Palumbo and Charles Wegelius. They will fly to Malaysia on January 24 and will get together for a second training camp in Kuala Lumpur from January 26-30.

The other group will prepare for their participation in the Tour of the Mediterranean (February 12-16) and includes the follow riders: Graziano Gasparre, Leonardo Giordani, Serguei Gontchar, Devis Miorin, Rafael Nuritdinov, Andrea Rossi and Leonardo Zanotti.

Vuelta a Tachira back on

Despite the likelihood of its postponement due to the oil strikes in Venezuela, the Vuelta a Tachira will go ahead as planned between January 10-23. La Vuelta al Tachira has never been suspended since its inception in 1966. However, the current strikes that have lasted over 35 days has meant that the Vuelta has been compromised.

This year's Vuelta al Tachira will cover a total of 1,893.80 km, split into 14 stages. There will be 51 sprints, 26 of which will have bonuses and the remaining 25 will have points. The organisers have confirmed the participation of the international and local teams that will take part in the race as follows:

Selección Nacional de Cuba: Pedro Pablo Pérez, Luis Romero, Yosvani Falcón, Yosvani Gutiérrez, Reinaldo Rodríguez, Yoel Mariño, Lizardo Benítez y Damián Martinez
Broncomiel (Guatemala): Fernando Escobar , Amilcar Gramajo, Abel Jochola, Andrés Ordóñez, Nery Velásquez and Edgar Rodríguez
Líder Ariel (Chile): Marcelo Sandoval, Jaime Bretti, Juan Fierro, Pablo González, Gonzalo Garrido, Andrei Sartosov (Rus), Gonzalo Salas and Víctor Garrido.
Tecos Universidad de Guadalajara (México): Florencio Ramos, Joel Alamillo, Fausto Esparza, Antonio Aldape, José L. Castel, Javier Paniagua, Irvin Aguilar and Ubaldo Mesa.
Colombia Selle-Italia: Hernán Darío Muñoz, José Rujano, Freddy González, John Freddy García, Rubert Marín, Mauricio Henao, Vladimir González and Mikael Khalilov (Ukr).
Dos Pinos Costa Rica: Warren Calvo, Jorge Cotto, Maicol Chavez, Luis Garcia, Gilbert Temcio, Juan C. Rojas, Melvin Lopez and José L. Vanegas.

Venezuelan local teams

Lotería de Táchira (two teams), Gobernación Trujillo, Indeportes Mérida, Alcaldía de Tinaco Cojedes, Alcaldía de Cabimas (two teams), Amigos del Ciclismo Tachirense, Gobernación de Barinas Comerciantes Socopó, Kino Tachira and Yaracuy.

Courtesy of Fernando Zapata

British Cycling launches circuit race series

A new ten event circuit race series for senior men is being promoted by the Britain's governing body British Cycling as one of the main features of the 2003 season. The series will bring together many of the best known circuit races in the calendar, with events both in town centres and on closed road circuits. The ultimate aim is to run the series entirely in city and town centres, effectively bringing the sport to the general public.

The first twenty riders across the finish line in each event will receive points towards the overall Series and a only rider's best six results from the ten events will count towards the final series standings.

The races are detailed below. Only the Hillingdon promotion is yet to be confirmed.

March 1: Simon Hook Memorial Circuit Race Eastway, E.London
April 26: The Bike Show Criterium NEC, Birmingham
May 5: Bungay Town Centre Criterium Bungay, Suffolk
June 18: Science in Sport Circuit Race, Preston
June 24: Otley Town Centre Circuit Race Otley, W. Yorks
July 2: Guildford Town Centre Circuit Race Guildford, Surrey
July 9: Hetton Circuit Races Hetton Lyons, Sunderland
August 23: John Hinksman Memorial Circuit Race Darley Moor, Derbyshire
August 30: (TBC)BC West Thames Area Circuit Race, Hillingdon
September 6: Newport Nocturne Newport, Shropshire

Major events in Ireland in 2003

By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent

Preparations are well in hand for the 2003 racing and touring calendar of Cycling Ireland. In pole position again are the old reliables, which have been very much part and parcel of the calendar for more years than people remember.

Between them, the FBD (51 years), Gorey Three Day (37 years) and the Junior Tour (25 years) have clocked up 113 editions.

The Gorey has to be unique in that Sam Darcy, the darling of committees down the years, has been the driving force. He has been organiser in chief since day one and each year he simply gets better. On average, what organiser could put their hands on their hearts and say that at least 160 riders sign on for the race every Easter.

Going international a number of years ago has cemented the relationship between sponsors FBD and the National Dairy Council. The Milk Ras now has an awareness. The marriage says it all, and cycling is the main beneficiary.

The Junior Tour has been languishing for the last number of years. What sport with the exception of soccer has a higher profile in Ireland? The decline in numbers has not helped matters, but this has not deterred the efforts of Alice Sherratt to keep plugging away.

The season opens on the first Sunday of March with a double header. In Tralee, Co. Kerry it is the Lacey Cup while in Navan, Co. Meath it is the Cycleways Cup.

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