First Edition Cycling News for July 31, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones

UCI attacks Management Committee member Sylvia Schenk

By Tim Maloney, Cyclingnews European Editor

The UCI has hit out at its Management Committee member Sylvia Schenk following of her complaint to the International Olympic Committee's Ethics Commission about Road Commission President and UCI president-elect Pat McQuaid's involvement with the UCI. In a communique issued on Friday, the UCI's Management Committee stated that it would be "stopping all relations with her with immediate effect."

Sylvia Schenk's complaint stemmed from what she believed was an abuse of Article 52 of the UCI Constitution: "No member of the Management Committee shall be bound by an employment or service contract with the UCI, a federation or a continental confederation at the same time."

Schenk, the former head of the German Cycling Federation (BDR), a Frankfurt attorney, and former German Olympic runner, was the first woman elected to head the BDR in 2001. During her term, she brought a strong level of oversight and strict governance to the BDR. In June 2004, Schenk made a controversial demand for the sacking of BDR sports director Burkhard Bremer, who Schenk claimed didn't properly pursue doping allegations. Schenk said Bremer didn't inform her of the results of a health check carried out on one of the BDR Olympic team pursuit members in June 2004, that allegedly revealed abnormal blood values. She subsequently resigned as BDR head in September 2004, but will retain her seat on the UCI's management board until September 2005.

Alarmed by what she saw as clear violations of the UCI Constitution, Schenk filed a complaint against the UCI with the International Olympic Committee's Ethics Commission in late June about Pat McQuaid's current status with the UCI. Head of the UCI's Road Commission, McQuaid is outgoing UCI President Hein Verbruggen's choice as a successor.

An Irish citizen, McQuaid moved to Switzerland with his family in February, 2005 to work at the UCI HQ in Aigle in an allegedly paid position. Last Friday, Schenk told French sports daily L'Equipe that she had filed her complaint with the IOC because "a member of the UCI Management Committee can't have a contract with the UCI. It's very clearly written.

"I have requested information about Pat McQuaid's contract with the UCI, but I've had no responses so far. I know that he's living in Switzerland and his work is with the UCI, and his wife has left his job in Ireland and isn't working. So in order to live, (McQuaid) must be making something. If that's the case, it's in violation of the UCI Constitution.

"Verbruggen has said that the Management Committee had voted to provide McQuaid with compensation to repay him for all the time he's put in at the UCI, but that's not true because I'm a member of the Management Committee and there has never been a vote on this matter."

Schenk's complaint to the IOC's Ethics Committee will be examined by Judge Pâquerette Girard-Zapelli, who will then send his report on this matter to the eight members of the IOC Ethics Committee headed by Judge Keba M'Baye of Senegal.

After Schenk's L'Equipe interview, the UCI then issued a strident communique that expressed "solidarity to the persons touched by Mrs. Schenk's action, which attains to their respectability as well as to that of the whole Federations and its members. The UCI's Management Committee considers Mrs Schenk's behaviour, herself member of the same Management Committee until next September, as totally unacceptable, and decides that all relations with her will be stopped with immediate effect."

This preemptive action mean that Schenk will now effectively be frozen out from any further inclusion in UCI Management Committee meetings or communications. Furthermore, the UCI Management Committee said in an increasingly paranoid tone that "this action by Mrs. Schenk is evidently keeping in the frame of the manoeuvres aiming to disrupt the election of the new UCI President, and is in conflict with her agreement to the consensual agreement expressed by the UCI Management Committee in favour of Mr. Pat McQuaid two years ago in Hamilton." However, there is no proof offered that Schenk's motivation had anything to do with any manoeuvres to disrupt the election of the new UCI President.

The UCI communique then attempted to further smear Schenk's reputation, saying "the Management Committee had to note with regret that after her forced resignation from her position as President of the German Cycling Federation (BDR), and because of the numerous controversies which have characterized her mandate, Mrs Schenk has launched herself into a campaign aiming to unsettle the internal balance of the UCI. Deprived of her Federation's support, and consequently of all other ambition thereof, Mrs Schenk has been able to concentrate solely on her new objective, trying to do everything possible to reach her goal."

Again, there is no substantive proof offered to back up these provocative accusations by the UCI Press Service in their release. As Sylvia Schenk's IOC ethics complaint against the UCI proceeds, and the polemics increase between the UCI and the Grand Tour organizers on the ProTour and succession issues at the UCI, a real crisis of governance looms at the UCI as lame duck President Hein Verbruggen's term ends in less than 60 days time.

Simeoni's complaint against Armstrong shelved

By Tim Maloney, European Editor

Italian Prosecutor Giuseppe Quattrocchi has decided to not pursue Filippo Simeoni's complaint in 2004 for intimidation and insults allegedly made by Lance Armstrong during Stage 18 of the 2004 Tour de France, from Annemasse to Lons le Saunier. Quattrocchi nixed Simeoni's case as he decided that the events were part of a sporting event and had nothing to do with public life.

Although Simeoni alleged that Armstrong threatened him, the case came down to Armstrong's word against Simeoni's and Prosecutor Quattrocchi has decided that Simeoni's allegations had insufficient credibility to proceed with. In a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport's Pier Bergonzi, Armstrong admitted, "I made a mistake to go after him that day. I thought it was too important but I never said the things he said I did."

However, Mario Cipollini will have to appear in court as Quattrocchi wants to look further into Simeoni's allegations that the Italian sprinter sought to exclude him from certain races in 2004 when both riders were on the Domina Vacanze squad.

Kashechkin to Liberty

Andrei Kashechkin (Credit Agricole) will be following his Kazakhstani compatriot Alexandre Vinokourov to Liberty Seguros-Würth, signing a four year deal with Manolo Saiz's squad today. Liberty also announced the arrival of another Kazakhstani, Serguei Yakovlev (T-Mobile), and Spaniard Jose Antonio Redondo, who will come across from the Würth-Liberty Seguros under-23 team.

"Kashechkin is a cyclist who has demonstrated a solid progression this season, crowned with his second place in the young rider's classification in the Tour de France," said Manolo Saiz. "He is still young, but at 25 years old and five years as a professional, he is already a mature rider and gain for our team, which continues to be reinforced for next season."

Dave Zabriskie injured

After the Herning criterium in Denmark, CSC's David Zabriskie fell victim to a swinging door. No, Dave did not do too many laps and neither did he attend a wild party after the event, he simply tried to stop a glass door hitting him in the face by putting out his hand. The glass in the door shattered and sliced open Zabriskie's hand, damaging a nerve. He was operated on successfully in the Holstebro Hospital on Saturday morning, as he had lost feeling in two fingers. He now needs to have his hand in a cast for one month, but he may be able to start training again in two weeks.

Gil has tendonitis

Koldo Gil (Liberty Seguros) will not start in Sunday's GP Getxo as he is suffering from tendonitis in his right knee. It was the same problem that forced him to abandon the Giro d'Italia in Stage 16. Gil took a rest period after the Spanish Championships at the end of June, but upon resuming training he experienced problems with his knee again.

Beloki a dad again

Last Wednesday, July 27, Joseba Beloki's wife Gema gave birth to a 4.1 kg baby named Markel. Both Gema and the baby are in perfect health and, together with their first daughter Aitxane, they are very satisfied with the latest addition to their family.

Cyclingnews sends its best wishes to the enhanced Beloki clan.

Ag2r-Prevoyance for upcoming races

HEW Cyclassics-Hamburg (July 31): Andy Flickinger, Laurent Mangel, Erki Putsep, Christophe Riblon, Mark Scanlon, Aliaksandr Usau, Tomas Vaitkus.

Polynormande (July 31): Iñigo Chaurreau, Philip Deignan, Simon Gerrans, Julien Loubet, Yuriy Krivtsov Lloyd Mondory, Christophe Oriol, Ludovic Turpin

Paris-Correze (August 2-4): Iñigo Chaurreau, Philip Deignan, Julien Loubet, René Mandri Christophe Oriol, Nicolas Portal, Stéphane Poulhies, Blaise Sonnery

Tour of Denmark (August 3-7): Andy Flickinger, Laurent Mangel, Lloyd Mondory, Erki Putsep, Christophe Riblon, Mark Scanlon, Aliaksandr Usau, Tomas Vaitkus

Tour De L'Ain (August 7-10): Sylvain Calzati, Cyril Dessel, Samuel Dumoulin, Jean-Patrick Nazon, Christophe Oriol, Ludovic Turpin

Landbouwkrediet-Colnago for upcoming races

Paris-Coreze (August 2-4): Thierry De Groote, Sven Renders, Mathieu Criquielion, Jean Paul Simon, Gregory Habeaux, David Verheyen, Geert Vandewalle, Johan Verstrepen.

Tour of Denmark (August 3-7): Steve Cummings, Ludovic Capelle, Sergey Lagutin, Tony Bracke, Geert Verheyen, James Van Landschoot, Glenn D'Hollander, Michael Simms.

Huge prize list for Bank of America Invitational Criterium

The second annual Bank of America Invitational Criterium is set for Saturday, August 6 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. A women's race has been added in 2005 and the combined prize list for the two races is over $175,000 in cash, plus lap primes. Top teams from the United States and around the world are set to compete. Ivan Dominguez (Cuba) won the event in 2004 in front of an estimated 30,000+ spectators.

2005 Le Tour Fantasy Game winners announced

The results are now in for this year's 2005 Le Tour Fantasy competition. Below are the 10 lucky prize-winners, who all get to enjoy over US$13,000 worth of prizes, including the first-place prize of a TREK Madone Discovery Team bike.

Of course, these prizes wouldn't have been possible without our presenting sponsor, Trek, and other sponsors Specialized, Park Tool, Bontrager, Carmichael Training, Systems, DMT, Giro, fi'zi:k and Speedplay.

And don't forget - the 2005 Vuelta a España game is just around the corner! Stay tuned for more details.

Grand prize

Won by team manager "Wanna B. Fasta" with team "Velo Europa/Cyfac #5" from California, USA. The team gets the big-daddy prize, a TREK Madone Discovery Team bike worth $7700 USD and 1 Giro Atmos Helmet.

Here's what they had to say: "I first started by looking at all of the stage profiles to see how many stages favoured the sprinters, rouleurs, and the GC contenders. Once I broke that down, I then weighted my team of fifteen accordingly. With the sprinters, there was no way I could afford the dream team of Boonen, McEwen, O'Grady, and Hushovd - so I decided to save some points by not choosing Boonen and going with Hushovd and McEwen. While I love the Aussie riders, Stuey was just way too expensive. I filled out the other sprinter spots with bargain basement sprinters like Eisel, Wrolich, Forster, et al., being careful to skip over repetitive non-finishers or riders who seem to be entering the twilight of their careers, like Kirsipuu.

"For the GC contenders, the first couple of selections were a no-brainer. Armstrong and Basso were must haves. I skipped Ullrich because I didn't have a ton of confidence in how he would do, and his results in races leading up to the Tour didn't impress me too much. There were a handful of riders that I passed over because they seemed to find their form much too soon - guys like Michael Rogers. Instead, I went with proven performers over the last few Tours - Vino, Pereiro.

"Most importantly, I took advantage of the game's provision that I could sign up as late as the 8th stage, so I did. I went back and did a huge Excel spreadsheet and tracked the stage results to that point, and looked for the riders that scored the most points, and took advantage of that to help me with the sprinter selection.

"I hedged my bets with the two last teams I entered. I did one team with Boonen and McEwen, and the other with Hushovd and McEwen. I also mixed up the GC riders a bit to cover my bases and took a risk by skipping Basso and going with Evans and Moreau for my second placed team. I took care this year to also think about the other competitions (GC, maillot vert, maillot a pois) when I made my rider selections.

"Thanks for a wonderful game, and a special thanks to the sponsors for providing such great prizes! I'll look forward to next year's game!"

2nd prize:

"Wanna B. Fasta" also won second prize with his other team "Velo Europa/Cyfac #4". He wins a pair of Bontrager wheels, Bontrager Race X-Lite Aero wheels, 1x Race X Lite OS handlebars, and 1 Giro Helmet.

3rd prize:

Won by team manager "kharris21" with the team "Racebears2".The team wins 1 pair Bontrager Race X-Lite Aero wheels, 1 pair DMT Flash shoes, 1 Giro Atmos Helmet, 1x Race X Lite Pro saddle, and 1x Race XXX Lite OS carbon stem.

4th prize:

Team manager "CY-KOTICS" with team "JOEYBIKE" came 4th place, winning the CTS signature coaching package, 1 pair DMT Flash shoes, 1 Giro Atmos helmet, and 1 Fizik saddle.

5th prize:

Won by team manager ""Grififico" with team "Port Adelaide". The team wins 1 pair DMT Flash shoes, 1 pair Speedplay CSC pedals, 1 Fizik Arione saddle, 1 Giro helmet.

6th prize:

Won by team manager ""Mad Dawg" with team "Droppin' Chains". This team wins 1 pair DMT Flash shoes, 1 pair Speedplay CSC pedals, and 1 Giro Helmet.

7th prize:

Team manager "wheelsuckers" won 7th place prize with the team "wheelsuckers 2". They win 1 Fizik saddle, 1 Giro Atmos Helmet, and a pair of Speedplay CSC pedals.

8th prize:

Team manager "GoPosties" with the team "ColoCats" came 8th place, winning 1 Fizik Saddle, 1 Giro Atmos Helmet, and Speedplay CSC pedals

9th prize:

Team Manager "Jeff Doyle" with the team "Bluestar" came 9th place, winning a Giro Atmos Helmet.

10th prize:

Taking tenth place was team manager "Stimulleke" with the team "3Tourstimul" winning a Fizik saddle.

Daily Stage Prizes – each stage winner wins a pair of Specialized sunglasses and a tool from Park Tool:

Stage 1: Team Manager: Flag Velo         Team: FoodCount.com
Stage 2: Team Manager: Dr. Do Little     Team: Minutemen
Stage 3: Team Manager: Nigel             Team: Coureurs de Vitesse
Stage 4: Team Manager: Al P. Duez        Team: French Wench
Stage 5: Team Manager: Hercules III      Team: LuckyOrLoser
Stage 6: Team Manager: Fatboy-Fliers     Team: DasCoverMe
Stage 7: Team Manager: TJ Racer          Team: Lost in Siena
Stage 8; Team Manager: phil_legit        Team: speyshuleyes
Stage 9: Team Manager: Ophiuchi          Team: Ophiuchi 3
Stage 10: Team Manager: Rob Winslow      Team: Gimpy needs shades!
Stage 11: Team Manager: USDutchie        Team: USDutchie
Stage 12: Team Manager: Ondy             Team: BigYmers
Stage 13: Team Manager: Marko Tammsaar   Team: Team Go
Stage 14: Team Manager: CY-KOTICS        Team: ALJOE
Stage 15: Team Manager: DANY DOWNUNDER   Team: DM Glorreiche Velofahrer
Stage 16: Team Manager: Special Delivery Team: Special Delivery
Stage 17: Team Manager: Jevan            Team: jevan
Stage 18: Team Manager: Pinocchio        Team: Foulfellow
Stage 19: Team Manager: kharris21        Team: Racebears2
Stage 20: Team Manager: Kingsta Derosa   Team: Kingfish
Stage 21: Team Manager: Mad Dawg         Team: Droppin' Chains

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