News for January 13, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Zanette's death: Investigation opened

The shock death of 32 year old Fassa Bortolo pro Denis Zanette last Friday of a heart attack has prompted authorities in Pordenone to open an investigation. The inquiry will be led by Antonella Dragotto, who will attempt to answer the question that many have asked in the last few days: Was it related to doping?

"It is a strange death. A 32 year old man, in the prime of his life, dies from a heart attack. We will do everything to get to the bottom of this affair," said prosecutor Dragotto to La Gazzetta dello Sport on Sunday.

Zanette collapsed while having a routine checkup at the dentist, and was unable to be resuscitated. He was taken to hospital in Pordenone, but died shortly after arriving. Doctors are "99 percent confident" that it was a cardiac arrest, and an autopsy will be performed on Zanette's body on Monday or Tuesday to determine the exact circumstances of his death.

The investigation has already been confirmed that Zanette received no form of anaesthetic, analgesic or anti-inflammatory drugs, which can sometimes cause such an adverse reaction. In addition, the Fassa Bortolo team doctor has said that Zanette had no existing heart problems. His brother Claudio said that "Denis was healthy, had monthly checkups, the last one before Christmas."

Fanini speaks out

Amore e Vita team patron Ivano Fanini has gone on the offensive in the wake of Denis Zanette's death, saying that the "anti-doping controls are a farce, and a lot of athletes risk not being able to pass 50 years."

"The boys are compelled to take poison to help them race. After every scandal, there are external justifications, but the reality is that all, including me, should completely stop this way of doing cycling because otherwise cases like this will become more frequent. The behaviour of everyone in the last few years is slowly destroying cycling. Perhaps it would be better for everyone to stop and reflect and return to the true values that animate this sport."

Source: ANSA

FCI gives money to Zanette's family

The president of the FCI, Giancarlo Ceruti, announced that it would donate €50,000 to Denis Zanette's family. The money is the result of an FCI initiative established to recognise the Italian men's silver medal at the 2001 World Road Championships in Lisbon.

"This is not an emotional gesture," said Ceruti. "It's simply a concrete way to make this commitment, and to draw attention to our movement that sometimes tragedy hits us."

McEwen out to defend Australian title

2002 BMC Software Australian Cyclist of the Year, Robbie McEwen, began last year by claiming the national champion's green and gold jersey and he says he wants it again in 2003.

McEwen will join a record field of 153 for the men's road race at the BMC Software Australian Open Road Championships which begin on Thursday with the women's road time trial, and culminate on Sunday with the staging of the men's road race.

"I would really love to defend the road crown because I enjoyed riding around wearing the Aussie jersey all season in the professional ranks ," said McEwen. "I hope I managed to make it a jersey people really recognise and take notice of."

There is no doubt the jersey is well recognised internationally after McEwen's phenomenal season of success. His victory in Ballarat last year was the first of many for the Queenslander whose highlights included becoming the first Australian to win the green points jersey in the Tour de France, an event in which he also claimed two stage wins. At the world championships in Belgium he sprinted home for the silver medal and during the year won 19 UCI races to move to number four on the world rankings.

But McEwen admits it will be tough to win the Australian title this year.

"There are so many guys training hard for it this year and a lot of guys who are not normally 'early season starters' are already in top condition," said McEwen nominating Cadel Evans, Matt White and Stuart O'Grady as just a few of the riders to watch.

"I'm pretty much aiming to ride the same plan as last year which was to stay in front with the main contenders and wait for the right time to attack, or if it's a bunch sprint use my speed," explained McEwen, who yesterday took out overall honours in the Bay Criterium Series in Victoria.

"I had a good break at the end of last season and since then I've been training well," said McEwen who will race with Lotto-Domo in Europe this season. "I'll already have about 5,500kms in my legs by Sunday."

McEwen says the Bunninyong course is a tough one and expects the field to be whittled down as the race goes on.

"You won't get a surprise winner on this course and whoever wins really has to earn it," said McEwen who admits that last year's success has created an expectation that when he lines up he should do well. "There is extra pressure on me but I'm not putting it on myself."

One rider McEwen tips as a dark horse for the race is Wollongong's Jonathon Hall, 30, who is making a comeback after several years away from racing. Hall was the Australian road and time trial champion in 1997 and in the same year finished eighth in the time trial at the World Championships in San Sebastian, Spain. Hall was also the World Duathlon Champion in 1996.

"I hear he's been training hard for it and the course suits him so I'll keep an eye on him as well," said McEwen with Hall also expected to be a contender for a medal in Friday's time trial event.

Defending champion Nathan O'Neill, the time trial bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, will not race as he is required in America by his new team, Saturn. Also not lining up in the time trial is Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Cadel Evans.

"I'm not ready yet for a time trial at this stage of the season," said Evans who is following a meticulous pre-season program and is tipped to ride his first Tour de France in July this year. Last year on debut in the Giro d'Italia, Evans, wore the leader's pink jersey for a day. He will however contest the road race on Sunday before heading to Adelaide for next week's Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. Evans was in Adelaide last week meeting and training with his new team mates after signing with the German registered Telekom team late last year.

The favourite for the time trial is undoubtedly Michael Rogers who was the silver medallist in Manchester and placed ninth at the World Championships in Belgium. Rogers is the defending champion for the Tour Down Under and will fly to Adelaide tonight (Monday 13th) to prepare for the BMC Software Australian Open Road Championships and to meet his new Quickstep Davitamon team mates who flew into Australia yesterday.

The women's time trial on Thursday will see 2003 BMC Software Women's Road Cyclist of the Year, Sara Carrigan out to defend her crown. Carrigan was fifth in the event at last year's World Championships in Belgium.

The 2003 BMC Software Australian Open Road Championships will be held at Bunninyong, near Ballarat from January 16th to 19th. Cyclingnews will be providing full coverage of all the events.

Day 1 - January 16: Women's Individual Road Time Trial, 28km
Day 2 - January 17: Men's Individual Road Time Trial, 39km
Day 3 - January 18: Women's Road Race, 100km
Day 4 - January 19th: Men's Road Race, 180km

Events start at 11am each day.

Malaysia announce LTDL team

Despite "losing" one of its most experienced riders, the Malaysian team is convinced that they could mount a strong challenge in the upcoming Telekom Malaysia Tour de Langkawi. The absence of team stalwart and seasoned rider Tsen Seong Hoong, who will race for Team Telekom Malaysia this year, will certainly be felt.

However, Seong Hoong's absence has also paved the way for some juniors to move up the ranks and compete in the Tour which is expected to be even more challenging this year.

Armed with four experienced riders and three talented juniors, the national squad aims to improve on last year's bad outing, where they finished second last in the general classification.

The Malaysian team for the Tour is Musari Musa, Shahrulneeza Razali, Wong Ah Thiam, Mahazir Hammad while Suhardi Hassan, Shahrizan Selamat and Sazalee Ismail formed the group of juniors in the team.

Panaria announce JCTDU line up

The Ceramiche Panaria Fiordo team will depart to Australia on January 14 for the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, its first race of the 2003 season. The team contains Australians Graeme Brown, Brett Lancaster and Scott Davis, who will all compete in the Australian championships on January 19. They will be joined by Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio, Paolo Lanfranchi, Sergey Matveyev, Filippo Perfetto and Ruben Bongiorno, with Roberto Reverberi as D.S.

Euskaltel train

On Monday, January 13 the 24 riders of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team will head to Calpe, a coastal town halfway between Valencia and Alicante in Spain. The team will remain in Calpe until January 22.

For team manager Julian Gorospe, this beginning of the season hasn't been a quiet one. Four riders are injured and three of them are the team leaders, David Etxebarria, Roberto Laiseka and Samuel Sanchez. The other one is Josu Silloniz. Luckily none of these injured riders seem to be at risk of missing the spring season. The most seriously injured is Etxebarria, who is suffering from a wounded ankle.

Paredes changes its name

The Portuguese team Paredes-Rota dos Móveis has changed its name to Antarte-Rota dos Móveis-BPN. At the same time, the team decided to take a step up and registered itself with the UCI as a Division II team for the season 2003.

With a budget of €400,000, the roster of Antarte-Rota dos Móveis-BPN was raised from 12 to 15 riders. The team was reinforced by riders as experienced as João Silva (Milaneza-MSS) and Ricardo Felgueiras (Carvalhelhos-Boavista). It will participate in several races in Spain and is trying for some races in France as well.

Also see: Division I and II rade Teams 2003

Courtesy of João Cravo

The Advertiser Super-Drome Challenge

With some of the world's best road cyclists in town for the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under in Adelaide, it is fitting that the country's best track cyclists have an opportunity to show their class on the super-fast boards of the Adelaide Super-Drome.

Saturday, January 18 will see the world's best sprint cyclists competing in a special keirin and sprint match at the Advertiser Super-Drome Challenge. Jobie Dajka (World Keirin Champion) leads South Australia's assault with Sean Eadie (World Sprint Champion), Ryan Bayley (Commonwealth Sprint Champion), Mark French (World Junior Sprint Champion), Shane Kelly (former World Kilometre Champion) and Ben Kersten (Australian National Champion) all taking part.

Another feature on the night will be a motorpaced derny challenge featuring World and Commonwealth Champion, Brad McGee, up against South Australia's 2000 Olympic Champion, Brett Aitken.

There will be a full support program for men and women and U17 and U15 competitors. In addition, there will be a presentation of some of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under stars on the night.

Racing starts at 7:30 pm with doors opening at 6:00 pm. Tickets available through VenueTix or at the door. For further information contact the Adelaide Super-Drome on (61 8) 8262 7777.

Topbike MTB stage race in Mt Beauty, Australia

A 2-5 day off-road stage event in Mt Beauty, Australia, will be held between April 2-6 this year. The event, run by Topbike tours and sponsored by the Adventure Travel Company Boomerang, runs for five days, with a two day weekend option, and is open to teams and individuals of all levels, with the start and finish each day in Mt Beauty.

At the launch at Topbike Headquarters, Cadel Evans commented that he was happy to see an off-road stage race in his home state of Victoria, lamenting that it could only have been better if he were still racing on the dirt side. Phil Anderson felt that the Boomerang would be good preparation for himself for this year's Crocodile Trophy in far North Queensland.

The stages

Competition Stage 1: Time Trial over 13 km
Competition Stage 2: 53 km lap out west of Mt Beauty.
Competition Stage 3: 37 km Heading east of Mt Beauty and under Mt Bogong.
Competition Stage 4: 38 km Point to Point looping out towards Bright.
Cruising Stage 5: 10 km to the 'Hot Rod Track'
Competition Stage 6: The Total Rush Dirt Crit Sprint, 10 laps of a short course
Cruising Stage 7: 10 km
Competition Stage 8: 24.4 km traditional XC race around the Mt Beauty course

Enable Ireland Cappadocia Cycle Challenge

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

Fancy a nine day cycling trip through the volcanic valleys and canyons of Cappadocia in central Turkey? The charity Enable Ireland is organising a tour through the remarkably scenic area this May with the specific aim of raising funds for children and adults with physical disabilities.

"Our challenge will be to cycle through this extraordinary region, covering 199 miles over 7 days," says Enable Ireland's event organiser Peter Daly. "We will bike through and be part this wonderful place, staying in a mixture of camping and hotels locally along the way. Eighty percent of our journey will be off road. The terrain will be a little up and down but never too steep. Our longest day biking will be 40 miles and the shortest 16 miles."

"A good reasonable level of fitness is required by all the participants but with a little effort this challenge should be achievable by all. We will be supported along the route by local guides and vehicles, and our gear will be transported each day to the next overnight location."

Besides being a memorable experience, the trip will provide some vital fundraising during this European Year of People with Physical Disabilities. Participants are asked to raise €3,500 for Enable Ireland, a sum which will generate funds for support services in their own local area while also covering all travel accommodation and food costs.

All those taking part will be entered into a draw for a Falcon Mountain bike (sponsored by Mill Cycles) and one of 5 Speak Easy mobile phones.

For further information and an application form, please contact Enable Ireland at 1-800-204-304 or e-mail pdaly@enableireland.ie.

* Enable Ireland is the biggest provider of services to those with difficulties such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, hydrocephalus and developmental delay. The mission of the national charity is to enable those who use their services to achieve maximum independence, choice and inclusion in their communities. All of their services are provided free of charge.

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