Lance Journal - Introduction

February 11, 1998, Cap Ferrat, FRANCE

After contemplating this move for so long, it is almost a relief to finally be here. There are many emotions tied to this whole adventure - for him and for us. At times he feels so good to be back on the bike- strong and quick. Other times if he has an off -day, he is scared out of his mind. It's hard to understand the life of a cyclist until you are immersed in it. There is incredible sacrifice just to play. If you want to win, you multiply that sacrifice to enhance your natural talent and hope for good luck.

This year is different from others for Lance. He knows that there is more to life than cycling if this doesn't work out. It is usually more difficult for American cyclists because they get so lonely over here. Europeans can go home between races and play with their children and snuggle their wives at night. Americans go back to lonely beds in crappy apartments or hotels, and watch foreign TV. Not a fun life! This year, Lance has his little family with him (me and our cat, "Chemo") to make the time at home between races really feel like home.

The move is stressful for me too - I don't speak French (though I start school next month). I have left my friends, family and professional life across the ocean to come over here. This is a crash-course on what it really means to be married - to be able to truly think of life in terms of "we" instead of "me." Our common cause has changed, from his recovery to his return to racing.

People always ask me if I think Lance will do well this season. My belief is that success takes more than strength, discipline and dedication - though these things are essential. Lance has always had those traits, combined with his famous Texas bravado. But in the past year, Lance has acquired something more as a result of facing his own mortality and finding his soulmate in the process. What Lance has acquired is BALANCE. Where his bravado gave him fire before - he is now fueled by something else. Something much more mature, more intelligent, more competitive and more imposing to the competition. It is passion and guts in its raw and primal form the way you earn it when you stare death in the face and in my opinion, it should be cause for other cyclists to be shaking in their pedals.

He has been catapulted from the start line of life. He is pedaling fast. And he has the mind of an old man instead of a kid. He has climbed steeper hills than anyone could imagine this year. He now not only rides for himself - he rides for us, for other survivors, and for every single person who kept believing in him.

And so we wait for the first race-now just days away. The world is watching. The cancer community sends the power of hundreds of thousands of people, if they could each take a pedal stroke for him, they would do it gladly. He is their champion already. Mine too.

Armstrong comeback in Spain

Ahead of Armstrong is a 5 day stage race from Seville to Granada. German sprinter Erik Zabel and Belgian Johan Museeuw qill also be racing. Also racing will be Dutchman Leon van Bon, who recently won the Tour of Mallorca. The Rabobank rider will be accompanied by his teammates Rolf Sörensen, Erik Dekker, Max van Heeswijk, Maarten den Bakker and Aart Vierhouten. Other Dutch riders who will start in Seville are Raymond Meys and Michael van der Wolf, who are riding for the German team Gerolsteiner. TVM will have Sergej Ivanov leading them.

Olano has his eyes on the Tour

After undergoing an operation to remove his tonsils over the Winter, Olano says that he feels better training "although I have yet to make any big efforts. But I have noticed that I don't require a lot of rest to recuperate". Another innovation for 1997 is the new diet that he has adopted. The rider himself admits that in the past he had made major mistakes in is diet. He would ask so much of himself and would watch his weight so closely, that he won't eat enough, undergoing a regimen that was too strict. "This Winter I have not gained as many kilos as in other years, in which I would gain from 8 to 10 kilos. I have been taught how to eat and now I'm eating more than before. I follow the basic diet of the cyclist, rich in carbohydrates. Nothing out of this world, the more you burn, the more you have to replenish".

His competition plan for 1998 is not very different from 1997. He plans to reach the Tour with the same days of competition more or less and what will change is that he won't need to attempt any victories before the month of July. "I will test myself at la Bicicleta Vasca, but without the obligation of winning. And I anticipate to have my best form by the time of la Volta a Catalunya, which I have chosen instead of the Dauphiné, since the French race this year will be farther away from the Tour (timewise). But I'm gambling everything on the Tour and the month of July. The Tour is a race that gives you everything and that is why it is the objective of the best. And as long as I have the option, it is logical that I will gamble it all for the Tour. If the time should ever come when I realize that the Tour is unattainable, I will choose other objectives", explains the Guipuzcoan.

Banesto has suffered serious departures for 1998 in comparison with last year. "In a team the only one that is indispensable is the sponsor. It is true that good riders have left, but they have been substituted with good riders. Garmendia and Odriozola can be important elements". The Santi Blanco case is almost subject in any conversation about Banesto. Olano doesn't have any doubt in Blanco's capacity to be a leader and affirms "he already has the age to assume that responsibility. I would have liked for Santi Blanco to have continued with Banesto, more than anything because I prefer to share the leadership of the team. That is why I would have been more comfortable in 1997 if Miguel Indurain had decided to continue".

What he has very clear is that he is not going to battle with Vitalicio, because of the Blanco 'affair'. "I'm not going to play that game. My rivals on the road are all the teams that will try to prevent me from reaching my objectives. Revenge is not in me and I would dare to say that neither is it in Echávarri". In addition to Blanco, Olano thinks that 1998 could be a good year for other young riders like Roberto Heras, Jesús Rubiera or Unai Osa. "Even though one never knows how things are going to develop". And speaking of youth, one can't avoid the name of Ullrich. Olano thinks that if the German gained 12 kilos during the Winter, he's capable of losing them. He thinks that the last Tour winner is "a beatable rider, like all others. It is true that we are talking about a very complete cyclist, but we can't forget that we can all fail at a certain moment".

Kelme-Costa Blanca

The oldest professional team warmed up their engines in Calpe recently. There were alternating sunny and rainy days during the week that the Kelme-Costa Blanca team decided to accumulate kilometers in the Alicante roads. It will be the 19th season for the green and white jersey of the Kelme team directed by Alvaro Pino. It earned the title of "major team" for their performances in 1997. In 1997, they progressed more than ever before, but they start with the dream "to make 1998 an even better year. It's going to be difficult to even equal the results of last year, but we will not give up. I'm certain that the team's performance will be superior", says Pino.

There is already a starting spot reserved for the veteran team at the Tour de France; their manager has already figured out the team that he will take: Escartín, Serrano, Pascual Rodríguez, Contreras, Santos González, Vidal and Cabello. Precisely this last one will be the important rider for the early season commitments: Mallorca and Ruta del Sol. "For the Tours of Valencia and Murcia the strongmen will be Santos González and García Camacho. Roberto Heras is preparing for Paris-Nice and Setmana Catalana. There are other riders like Pascual Rodríguez, De los Angeles or Perdiguero who are called to have a good first third of the season".

Chronologically. the first great objective will be the Giro, where Chechu Rubiera and Chepe González will lead the team. "We are going to the Giro to fight and put on a good showing. I'm conscious that I can't have the goal of winning, but that doesn't mean that we will just give up", he assures.

Fernando Escartín is going to concentrate in the Tour de France. "He's having a much more specific preparation than in other years. He will arrive there with about 50 and 55 days of competition, more or less like in other years, but the difference is that this year he can take it easy before the Tour because we have our starting spot guaranteed and there is no pressure to get wins before July to be invited to the Tour. If things don't work out at the Tour? It doesn't matter because Fernando knows that he has the Vuelta to be able to make amends."

Roberto Heras will be the team leader at la Vuelta. Together with him will be the team leader's from the Giro: Rubiera and Chepe González. "The leader will be Roberto, but he knows that we will not require any concrete results from him. When la Vuelta comes around we should have already achieved a great part of our objectives, that is that things would have worked out the Giro and the Tour and therefore there wouldn't be any pressure. If it wasn't like that, we would have to give our all at la Vuelta and get the help of Escartín, Serrano and company and the responsibility would be shared".

Alvaro Pino doesn't feel that he's putting too much responsibility on two young riders like Rubiera and Heras, starting as leaders in a big way. "This will be positive for them, because they are going to grow up. Even though they are young, they are riders with a lot of personality and this responsibility is a stimulating for them, which at no time will be a requirement to perform concrete objectives". Rubén Galvan is going to start his second year as a pro. Pino was very satisfied with his performance at the World Cup races that he disputed last year. "He likes those races and he has the necessary frame of mind to dispute them. We are going to back him up to encourage him, so that he can maintain his dreams about this races".

The team has had important riders leave: Domínguez, Buenahora and Benítez. The only additions have been the neo-pros José Enrique Gutiérrez and Oscar Sevilla, with which they have reached the maximum of 25 riders allowed. Pino doesn't think that the departures have weakened the team. "When we knew that we were losing this riders, the management asked me if I wanted to sign any riders and I answered that I would be happy to keep the team that I had. The team for this year will be tremendously competitive and I'm very satisfies. There are riders who have the condition to aspire to the success of 1997. Santos González and Javier Pascual Rodríguez are riders with characteristics similar to Domínguez".

Reassuring news for Wilfried

A month ago, Nelissen had to leave a training camp in Spain after experiencing knee pain. He is still to stamp his authority again after a very bad fall during the 1996 Gent-Wevelgem.

US Road Championships to be in Cincinnati

USA Cycling has announced that Cincinnati, Ohio, will be hosting the 1998 Elite Road Championships.

"This event will bring together the best elite female and amateur male cyclists in the country in a tremendous venue," said Evan Call, USCF Managing Director. "It will also start a long-term relationship with the Cincinnati area that will greatly benefit cycling."

The championships will take place June 25-28, including road race, individual time trial and criterium events. The late June weekend is the traditional national championship weekend around the world, affording American riders the chance to compete against all of their peers. On the women’s side, the field should be comparable to the Olympic Trials, with virtually every elite rider present.

"It’s great that they were able to find dates that allow the best to compete against each other," said Karen Bliss Livingston (Saturn).

Livingston will be seeking to defend her national criterium crown on Sunday, June 28. The championship week opens with the individual time trial, June 25, in Loveland, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. Titles will be awarded to the fastest man and woman over the 40km course. Professional men are eligible to compete for that title, so the best in the land will be present. Championship jerseys will also be awarded to the top male and female in the under-23 category.

After a rest day Friday, action resumes Saturday, June 27, with the road races, which will award titles in the amateur men, elite women and men’s and women’s under-23 division. That course is in central Cincinnati, including a pass by Cinergy Field, home of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team and Cincinnati Bengals football team. The course includes a pair of tough climbs, aimed to mirror the 1998 world championship course in Holland.

The final day of the championships will see the men’s and women’s criterium titles awarded as riders again return to Loveland for the final day of competition.

While this is the first time the Cincinnati area will host the Elite Road Championships, Ohio is no stranger to the event, having hosted the 1993 and 1996 championships. Ohio is also home to two National Racing Calendar events, the Wendy’s International Cycling Classic and the Tour of Ohio.

"We have developed a relationship with Cincinnati that is much bigger than hosting our National Championship events," Call said. "We have joined into a partnership with the city and surrounding communities to host national championships and develop grass roots and youth cycling programs."

Youth development, a key project for USA Cycling, is also part of the Cincinnati relationship.

"The cities of Cincinnati and Loveland, Ohio, are crazy for cycling," Call said. "They are very excited about hosting events, creating grass roots programs and making this part of the country a cycling mecca."

The Cincinnati bid, led by Nick Vehr and the Greater Cincinnati Amateur Sports Association, is part of the Queen City’s overall Olympic bid city plan. The community is targeting other Olympic sports, such as gymnastics and rowing.

1998 Championship Dates

May 15-17	Collegiate Road			Greenville, SC
June 7		CoreStates USPRO (Road Race)	Philadelphia, Pa.
June 25-28	Elite National Road		Cincinnati, Ohio
June 30-July 4	EDS National (Track)*		Frisco, Texas
July 15-19	Masters National (Road)**	Tallahassee, Fla.
July 28-Aug. 1	EDS Masters National  (Track)	Seattle, Wash
August 6-9	EDS Junior (Track)		San Diego, Cal
August 13-16	Junior National Road		San Diego, Cal
August 16	USPRO Criterium Championships	Downer’s Grove, Ill
September 17-20	Collegiate Track Championships	Indianapolis, Ind

To Be Announced

Collegiate Mountain Bike Championships
National Cyclo-cross Championships

*Includes U.S. Disabled Cycling Championships (Track).
**Includes U.S. Disabled Cycling Championships (Road).

1997 Road Champions

Elite Women

Road Race, Louisa Jenkins, Boulder, Colo.
Individual Time Trial, Elizabeth Emery, New York, N.Y.
Criterium, Karen Bliss Livingston, Gainesville, Fla.

U-23 Women

Road Race, Sara Willhoit, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Individual Time Trial, Sara Willhoit, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Elite Men

Road Race, Paul Martin, Broadview Heights, Ohio
Individual Time Trial, Jonathan Vaughters, Englewood, Colo.
Criterium, David Smith, San Jose, Calif.

U-23 Men

Road Race, Steve Cate, Norman, Okla.
Individual Time Trial, Brent Aucutt, Clovis, N.M.

Obituary: Longbottom dies in crash

Longbottom, 38, made his international debut in the world junior championships in Vienna in 1977 and ended his representative career in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, winning a silver medal with England's team time trial squad.

In between Longbottom, who lived at Malton, North Yorkshire, won 44 individual and team national championship medals and rode 10 times in the round-Britain Milk Race, as well as winning virtually every classic British road race.

His best season was 1990 when he broke the British 25-mile out-and-home time trial record in 49min 13sec, and the 50-mile straight-out record in 1hr 30min 14sec, as well as winning the national 100-mile championship. At the Commonwealth Games in Auckland he won bronze in the team time trial and was fifth in the individual road race.