News for December 31, 1998

Jeannie Longo - 13th time unlucky

On Monday, Jeannie Longo failed in her 13th attempt to break her own one hour record. She made the aborted attempt at the Mexico City Olympic velodrome which is 2240 metres above sea level. Longo (41), abandoned after riding for 18.50.83015 minutes and had covered 15 kms (45 laps). Her average at that point was 47.752 km/h, already slower than the required 48.159 (over the hour). She considered the problems that she was confronting with poor weather and winds to be insurmountable. She said she would try again on Wednesday. Yesterday (Wednesday), she announced that she would not try again for a few days because she has trouble with a right leg injury which began on last Sunday during a hard training session. She told Noé Ramírez, the UCI official who was present to record the attempt that "due to her physical state she decided to postpone it for Friday January 1st or Saturday the 2nd the latest."

Belgium, Loenhout, International Cyclocross, December 29:

 1. Marc Janssens (Bel)          	     1.04.08
 2. Adri Van der Poel (Ned)			0.29
 3. Sven Nijs (Bel)				0.31
 4. Mario De Clercq (Bel)			0.37
 5. Erwin Vervecken (Bel)			0.42
 6. Radomir Simunek (Cze)			0.57
 7. Daniele Pontoni (Ita)			1.11
 8. Peter Van Santvliet (Bel)			1.21
 9. Ben Berden (Bel)				2.07
10. Beat Wabel (Swi)				2.21

Started: 51

Groenendaal to take a break

Dutch cyclocross champion Richard Groenendaal is to take a short rest break. He has decided to take less than a half a month off after talking to his carer and having some tests done by Rabobank team doctor Geert Leinders. He did not ride at Loenhout nor the 9th round of the Superprestige Trophy at Surhuisterveen. The results of the blood tests indicated the need for rest.

Danny Nelissen transferred to hospital in Maastricht

28-year old Dutch professional Danny Nelissen, who is from Sweikhuizen in the southern Netherlands province of Limburg has been transferred from the Maasland Hospital in Sittard to the Academic Hospital in Maastricht for further tests. On December 23, he became unwell during a training rider and it was thought that he may have had a heart attack. He was taken immediately to the hospital in Sittard for observation he was placed in intensive-care. Tests done in Sittard have revealed nothing abnormal. In the AZM (Maastricht) he has undergone extensive testing by Professor Hein Wellens and noted cardiologist Joep Smeets. The results will be known in the coming days.

Spanish Team Managers vote for the best rider in 1998

Marco Pantani, winner of the Giro and the Tour and Abraham Olano, winner of the Vuelta and ITT World Champion, have been unanimously elected the best cyclists in the World and in Spain for 1998, respectively, in a poll of the Spanish Sport Directors conducted by Diario AS.

The six directors of the Spanish teams, Eusebio Unzué (Banesto), Manolo Saiz (ONCE), Javier Mínguez (Vitalicio-Seguros), Alvaro Pino (Kelme-Costa Blanca), Julián Gorospe (Euskaltel) and Jesús Suárez Cueva (Estepona), together with National Team Selector Paco Antequera and ex-director and commentator for SER and AS, José Antonio González Linares, all elected Pantani as the best in the World and Olano as number one Spaniard.

Olano also came second behind Pantani for the World Number 1 crown, although this choice was not unanimous with four directors voting for Michele Bartoli as second. Bartoli won the World Cup competition in 1998 and finished in 3rd position after all the votes were counted. Curiously, one of the directors that voted for Bartoli ahead of Olano was Eusebio Unzué, the director of Banesto. In the best of the World category single vote getters were World Champion Oskar Camenzind, Jan Ullrich, Fernando Escartín and José María Jiménez.

In terms of the specialist categories, Pantani was unanimously selected as the best climber and Olano as best time triallist. No other rider received votes in this category even though we witnessed great performances from Chaba Jiménez in the mountains during the Vuelta and Jan Ullrich's dominance at the Tour time trials.

For the best Spanish rider, Olano was clearly the winner. In addition to winning the Vuelta and the World ITT Championship, he won 11 races during the season. His only dark moment was his abandoning of the Tour, something he shared with the rest of the Spanish peloton. The vote for second place was a lot tighter, with both Escartín and Jiménez scoring points. Even though Chaba had six wins (four at the Vuelta) compared to Escartin's two wins, the board selected the Kelme rider as the second best Spanish rider. This was thanks to his second place on GC in the Vuelta and his high ranking in the Tour before the Spanish riders abandoned and returned to Spain. Roberto Heras only received two votes. The three best Spaniards coincide with the podium placing at the Vuelta a España.

Banesto was voted the best team of the year. Even though they pulled out of the Tour, the team achieved 35 wins in 1998 - only surpassed by Casino (66), Mapei (55) and Festina (40) - and completely dominated the Vuelta. There was some disagreement in this category, three directors voted for Banesto and two others for Mercatone Uno. The other three were split amongst Casino, Mapei and ONCE. Manuel Beltrán (Banesto), also took the category of best domestique in 1998, thanks to the splendid work in the mountains that he gave for Abraham Olano.

Another distinguished rider was Jose Luis Rubiera (Kelme), who was voted the revelation of the year ahead of Bobby Julich (third at the Tour), Oskar Camenzind (World Champion) and Andrei Zintchenko (winner of three stages of the Vuelta).

Belgian Tom Steels (Mapei), with 12 wins in 1998, was elected best sprinter ahead of Mario Cipollini, who had 13. The four wins of Steels at the Tour had greater weight than the two by Cipollini. Erik Zabel, with 14 votes (same as Blijlevens), received one vote.

There were some differences between the director's votes and the UCI classification for 1998. First four in UCI Rankings: 

 1. Michele Bartoli (voted third in the world).
 2. Laurent Jalabert (didn't get any votes).
 3. Abraham Olano (elected second).
 4. Marco Pantani (winner of the vote).

Estonian Jan Kirsipuu (Casino) didn't get any votes even though he finished with a total of 16. The motive is the quality of the wins, his biggest accomplishment was a stage win in a sprint at the Vuelta a España.

Kelme-Costa Blanca in 1998

In 1997 the team rode above itself and the great showing placed a lot of pressure on the team in 1998, including the team leader, Fernando Escartín to match this new level of performance. From 18 wins in 1997, the team was gained 11 victories in 1998. A return to the past.

Without the team was also the most damaged of the Spanish teams following the walk-out of the Tour de France. Fernando Escartín was fourth in the overall and nobody knows if he could have made it to the podium in Paris. His form during the Vuelta a España, where he repeated his second-placing from 1997 suggests that a podium place was not improbable. In 1997, Alex Zulle beat him in the Vuelta and in 1998 it was Abraham Olano.

The team performed the best at the Vuelta a España where they were considered the "movers of the race" although they succumbed to the strength of Banesto in the end. Roberto Heras (6th on GC and a stage winner) and Marcos Serrano (10th overall) were notable achievements behind that of Escartin.

The Giro d'Italia was the difference between 1998 and the previous year. In 1997 everything fell into place whereas in 1998 nothing seemed to go as planned. Even with a stage win by Angel Edo, neither Chechu Rubiera nor Chepe González repeated their performances, both lacking in luck and tactics to match their obvious combativity.

A positive progression for the team during the year has been Roberto Heras. He became the fourth highest ranked Spaniard in the UCI classification behind Olano, Jiménez and Escartín.

Kelme's Performances for 1998 

Victories:

GP Primavera - Roberto Heras
Stage 1 Vuelta Aragón - Fernando Escartin
Stage 1 GP Mitsubishi (Por) - M. Martin Perdiguero
Stage 2 GP Mitsubishi (Por) - Santiago Botero (Col)
Stage 3 GP Mitsubishi (Por) - Angel Edo
Overall GP Mitsubishi (Por) - Angel Edo
Stage 4 Vuelta Colombia - Eduardo Hernandez
Stage 2 Giro d'Italia - Angel Edo
Stage 8 Volta Catalunya - Fernando Escartin
Clasica Puertos - Marcos Serrano
Stage 19 Vuelta España - Roberto Heras
Subida Naranco - José Luis Rubiera

2nd Places:

Trofeo Calaratjada-Cala Millor - M. Martin Perdiguero
GP Mitsubishi (Por) - Santiago Botero (Col)
Vuelta España - Fernando Escartin
Subida Naranco - Roberto Heras

3rd Places:

Trofeo Manacor - M. Martin Perdiguero
Vuelta Comunidad Valenciana - Santos Gonzalez
Volta Catalunya - Fernando Escartin
Vuelta Galicia - Marcos Serrano
Clásica Puertos - Roberto Heras
Japan Cup - José Luis Rubiera

4th Places:

Vuelta Mallorca - M. Martin Perdiguero
Trofeo Luis Puig - Angel Edo
Trofeo Navarra - Roberto Heras
GP Primavera - José Luis Rubiera
Tour of Romandie - Santiago Botero (Col)
Clásica Alcobendas - Fernando Escartin
Spanish Road National Champion - Angel Edo
Vuelta Burgos - Fernando Escartin
Clásica Puertos - Fernando Escartin

5th Places:

Vuelta Andalucía - Francisco Cabello
Vuelta La Rioja - Roberto Heras
Trofeo Castilla y León - Fernando Escartin
ITT Spanish National Championship - Santos Gonzalez
GP Llodio - Angel Edo

6th Places:

GP Mitsubishi (Por) - José Angel Vidal
Vuelta Asturias - Roberto Heras
Vuelta España - Roberto Heras
Memorial Galera - Oscar Sevilla
Escalada Montjuïc - Fernando Escartin

7th Places:

Trofeo Magalluf - M. Martin Perdiguero
Clásica Almería - Angel Edo
Clásica Alcobendas - Roberto Heras
Circuito Getxo - M. Martin Perdiguero
Trofeo Luis Ocaña - J. Pascual Rodriguez

8th Places:

Trofeo Pollensa-Alcudia - M. Martin Perdiguero
Clásica Almería - M. Martin Perdiguero
Vuelta Murcia - Javier Otxoa
Vuelta Aragón - Roberto Heras
Vuelta La Rioja - Santiago Botero (Col)
Bicicleta Vasca - Fernando Escartin
Clásica Sabiñánigo - Angel Edo

9th Places:

Vuelta Asturias - Fernando Escartin

10th Places:

Paris-Nice - Roberto Heras
Setmana Catalana - Roberto Heras
Vuelta Aragón - José Luis Rubiera
Vuelta España - Marcos Serrano

Escalada Montjuïc - Roberto Heras

Other important places:

11th Vuelta País Vasco - Roberto Heras
12th Vuelta Andalucía - M. Martin Perdiguero
12th Vuelta Aragón - Fernando Escartin
12th Giro d'Italia - J.J. Gonzalez Pico (Col)
13th Vuelta Mallorca - Francisco Cabello
13th Giro d'Italia - José Luis Rubiera
23rd Clásica San Sebastián - Fernando Escartin
26th Vuelta España - José Luis Rubiera
31st Vuelta España - Arsenio Gonzalez
54th Giro d'Italia - Santiago Botero (Col)
55th Giro d'Italia - Arsenio Gonzalez
64th Vuelta España - José Rodriguez
76th Vuelta España - Angel Edo

Carnegie-Caulfied Criteriums, AFL Park, December 29:

Mark Chadwich writes that with the field reduced by the concurrent Victorian country and Tasmanian Track carnivals and a number of groups training in the Victorian Alps, small but aggressive bunches fought out the Tuesday twilight criterium. In the A Grade, race AIS cohorts Leaper and Stalder took off at the halfway mark and never looked back. The breakaway was in fashion with Nick Groves winning B Grade, with a huge solo effort, C Grade, allowed the four placegetters to escape at twenty minutes to go. D Grade, finished with their traditional bunch sprint. 

A Grade, 1 hour plus 3 laps:

 1. Andrew Stalder
 2. Tom Leaper
 3. Mathew Tuck
 4. Cameron Lester

Started: 15

B Grade, 1 hour plus 3 laps:

 1. N. Groves
 2. T. Warren
 3. M. Fluendi
 4. G. Hutchinson

Started: 29

C Grade, 45 minutes plus 3 laps:

 1. B. Gilhome
 2. P. Benjamin
 3. D. Couper
 4. S. Morrow

Started: 30

D Grade, 45 minutes plus 3 laps:

 1. S. Rush
 2. P. Free
 3. C. Hunter
 4. A. McLean

Started: 21