News for April 2, 1998

Scott Sunderland Update

Scott started the Driedaagse van De Panne, Belgium's only stage race with very good legs and high morale, not the least because the finish of Stage 1 was right on the doorstep of Scott and Sabine's apartment, in the centre of Zottegem.

Sabine told me today that there were a few attempts to organise a break but nobody got away. Before the peloton got to Zottegem a group of 8 riders finally got clear. Among them were Bartoli, Pieri, Casarotto, Magnien and Scott, who had ridden on the front all day. The big 1 hour local lap over the Valkenberg and Beren proved no problem for Scott who led the group into the first of the 3 smaller laps around Zottegem. Scott was still leading the bunch as they went through the second passage of the town centre. During the last lap he was sitting in the ideal position to jump away when he punctured! It was only 3 kms from the finish.

It took a long time before the material car assisted him and when they finally did they couldn't get the wheel in properly! We (Sabine and crew) were all surprised when we saw the riders coming and no Scott! He was very disappointed as was team director Walter Planckaert who was convinced that Scott was going to win this stage.

In general Scott's form is excellent. On Sunday he rode very strongly to get 17th place in the Brabantse Pijl (Brussels). Scott rode on the front all day doing a lot of work. A repeat on his win in the GP Nokere is just around the corner. Let's hope this Sunday in RVV.

Teams for the Giro

There will be 18 teams in this year's Giro:

Amore e Vita, Asics, Ballan, Brescialat, Cantina Tollo, Casino, Festina, Kelme, Mapei,Mercatone Uno, Riso Scotti, Ros Mary, Saeco, Scrigno, TVM, Polti, Vini Caldirola and Vitalicio Seguros.

Paris-Barentin, March 29, Cat 1.6

 1. Laurent Planchaud (Fra)
 2. Saulius Ruskys (Lit)
17. Dave Bruylandts (Bel)
20. Ronny De Meuter (Bel)
24. Tom Van Uffel (Bel)
39. Laurent Caps (Bel)
40. Kurt Van Goidsenhoven (Bel)

Drug Pressure builds

56 per cent of Australian elite athletes have said in a survey that there was a growing pressure to use banned subtances as the Sydney Olympics approached. The Australian Sports Drug Agency surveyed 620 athletes in Olympic sports and 97 per cent of respondents said they were against banned substance use.

In the report released by the Agency the conclusions included:

  1. Australia, Canada and Britain were the least likely countries to have drug problem in sport. These countries together with the United States were seen to be taking the most positive action against drugs in sport.
  2. China, eastern European countries and the United States were cited as having a widespread problem.
  3. Bulgaria, China, Hungary and the former Soviet countries were viewed to be taking the least positive action against drugs in sport.
  4. Rugby league players in Australia were more likely to believe performance-enhancing drugs were deliberately being used in Australian sport than other elite athletes.
  5. 64 percent of the professional athletes surveyed thought deliberate use of banned drugs was occurring.

US National Rankings, March 31, 1998s

National Racing Calendar Standings 
Men

 1. Gord Fraser, Mercury, Ottawa, Ont., Canada			244
 2. Trent Klasna, Navigators, Pine Valley, Calif.		206
 3. Jonathan Vaughters, US Postal Service, Englewood, Colo.  	183
 4. Julian Dean, Mercury, Hamilton, New Zealand			183
 5. John Peters, Mercury, Santa Rosa, Calif.			124
 6. Eric Wohlberg, Shaklee, Burlington, Ont., Canada		122
 7. Cadel Evans, Volvo-Cannondale, Plenty, Vic., Australia	110
 8. Derek Bouchard-Hall, Shaklee, Menlo Park, Calif.		100
 9. Levi Leipheimer, Saturn, Windsor, Calif.			 90
10. Chris Wherry, Saturn, Boulder, Colo.			 82
11. Kirk Willett, Mercury, Pullman, Wash.			 71
12. Frank McCormack, Saturn, Leicester, Mass.			 71
13. Mike McCarthy, Saturn, New York, N.Y.			 65
14. Tyler Hamilton, US Postal Service, Brookline, Mass.		 60
15. Bart Bowen, Saturn, Albuquerque, N.M.			 60
16. Eddy Gragus, OilMe, Fort Collins, Colo.			 58
17. Thurlow Rogers, Mercury, Van Nuys, Calif.			 56
18. Scott Moninger, Navigators, Boulder, Colo.			 55
19. Roberto Gaggioli, OilMe, Vinci, Italy			 55
20. Fred Rodriguez, Saturn, Piedmont, Calif.			 53
21. Steve Larsen, Schwinn-Toyota, Bend, Ore.			 48
22. Antonio Cruz, Nutra Fig, Sparks, Nev.			 47
23. David Clinger, Mercury, Woodland Hills, Calif.		 40
24. Clark Sheehan, Colorado Cyclist, Boulder, Colo.		 40
25. Michael Sayers, Mercury, Sacramento, Calif.			 38

Women:

 1. Clara Hughes, Saturn, Hamilton, Ont., Canada		253
 2. Karen Kurreck, Saturn, Cupertino, Calif.			161
 3. Linda Jackson, Saeco-Timex, Napean, Ont., Canada		153
 4. Marie Holjer, Jane's Cosmetics, Sweden			148
 5. Nicole Freedman, Shaklee, Palo Alto, Calif.			144
 6. Mari Holden, Cratoni-Hawk, Colorado Springs, Colo.		136
 7. Pam Schuster, Saeco-Timex, Northridge, Calif.		116
 8. Leigh Hobson, Shaklee, Kitchener, Ont., Canada		100
 9. Alison Sydor, Volvo-Cannondale, N.Vancouver, B.C., Canada    90
10. Nicole Reinhart, Shaklee, Portland, Ore.		 	 86
11. Joan Wilson, Ralph's-Klein, Palo Alto, Calif.		 79
12. Alison Dunlap, Team GT, Colorado Springs, Colo.		 72
13. Jennifer Evans, Team EDS, Austin, Texas			 66
14. Cheryl Binney, Ralph's-Klein, Los Angeles, Calif.		 65
15. Emily Robbins, Celestial Seasonings, Wauwatosa, Wis.	 61
16. Brenda Brashears, PowerBar, Grants Pass, Ore.		 59
17. Susy Pryde, Saeco-Timex, Auckland, New Zealand		 57
18. Aleka Skouras, unattached, Los Altos, Calif.		 57
19. Julie Young, Fanini, Auburn, Calif.				 56
20. Tina Mayolo, PowerBar, Athens, Ga.				 54
21. Karen Bliss Livingston, Saturn, Gainesville, Fla.		 52
22. Elizabeth Emery, Saturn, New York, N.Y.			 50
23. Louisa Jenkins, Shaklee, Boulder, Colo.			 43
24. Aileen Loe, Start to Finish, Arroyo Grande, Calif.		 42
25. Jeanne Golay, Schwinn Paramount, Glenwood Springs, Colo.	 41

Teams:

Men

 1. Mercury			678
 2. Saturn			368
 3. Navigators			300
 4. Shaklee			257
 5. US Postal Service	  	243
 6. OilMe			158
 7. Nutra Fig			 86
 8. Colorado Cyclist	   	 81
 9. Ikon-Lexus			 50
10. Kissena			 34
11. 7-Up			 26
12. GoMart			 14
13. egas Cycling	 	  7

Women:

 1. Saturn			540
 2. Shaklee			389
 3. Saeco-Timex			359
 4. Ralph's-Klein		190
 5. Jane's Cosmetics	   	150
 6. PowerBar			134
 7. Start to Finish		 65
 8. Safeway			 64
 9. Celestial Seasonings	 63

Hunter District Cycling Club, Sunday 29 March 1998

The inaugural Steam Fest Criterium was contested by 94 riders in 4 grades for a total prize pool of $600:00. Racing was conducted around a 1.2km course consisting of High St, Victoria St, and Bent St Maitland. The longest race of the day was for the A Grade riders at 45 minutes plus 3 laps. The results were as follows: 

A Grade:

 1. C Chapman
 2. S Farley
 3. M Green
 4. D Newton

B Grade:

 1. B Radcliff
 2. N James
 3. K Ford
 4. S McDermott

C Grade:

 1. R Landsiedel
 2. A McIlroy
 3. S Brown
 4. R Jennings

D Grade:

 1. A Gaguley
 2. W Semiet
 3. A Howard
 4. J Millington