News for February 16, 1998

Blaudzun Injured

Danish rider Michael Blaudzun, who before this season went to Team Deutsche Telekom from Rabobank, crashed and broke his collarbone during the 5th Stage of the Tour Mediterraneen.

Blaudzun was out most of last season due to a knee injury, and will now have to wait at least 2 weeks before riding again.

Rolf Sorensen update

For a full diary go to Rolf's Home Page at http://www.sport-online.dk/rolfsorensen/. Definitely worth bookmarking.

My first race in about 5 months! It's been quite a while since I've been away from cycling for that long, but I must say that I felt pretty good at Vuelta Mallorca, a race which my team mate Leon van Bon won. My best performance was finishing 6th on stage 4.

As I've just mentioned, I'm very suprised that I'm in such a great shape at the moment, considering the long break (due to a broken hand) and also the fact that I had the Flu just before riding the Vuelta Mallorca.

Actually, I'm in better shape now than I was at the same time last year, so I'm very much looking forward to the World Cup Classics this spring.

Tomorrow it's the Ruta del Sol. Officially I'm the captain of the Rabobank team, but I probably won't ride for the overall win. I'll try to win a stage or two along the way and then concentrate on building up my form, so I'm 100% ready when the Milano-San Remo takes place on March 21.

New Zealand MTB Results

Jeff Lyall is keeping an excellent site at http://www.mountainbike.co.nz/events/nzchamps/1998/ where you can find all the recent results.

Canadian Update

Pierre Hutsebaut, Director National Programs, Canadian Cycling Association sent me the following update.

For Women:

The CDM will take place in Montreal instead of Ottawa, using the climb of the Olympic games, World Championships and Men's World Cup events.

Track: the 2nd WC will be held in Victoria, BC, on May 27-29, followed by a road race on Saturday and the Bastion Square criterium on Sunday.

A Women Canadian National Team is heading to Australia and New Zealand to compete in the March-April events including the Sydney World Cup. The team will be comprised of four young riders: Kim Langton, Cybil Di Giustini, Annie Gariepy and Sophie St Jacques. Canadian Olympic medallist will also compete in the same events under her Trade Team colors Saturn.

Canadian readers will appreciate it if you could give us some quotes or interviews from them.

We'll see Pierre.

The CCSD National Cycling Centre, part of the Commonwealth Centre for Sport Development, has accepted an invitation by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to host a stop on the 1998 World Cup of Track Cycling Series, the largest event of its kind on the international cycling calendar.

The dates for this World Cup event - the only one kind this year in North America - are May 27-29th, 1998. This international event will be the first of a three-commitment to the UCI to host a world cup event in Victoria.

"I am pleased, but not surprised, that the Greater Victoria area and the CCSD National Cycling Centre set the foundation for accommodating this World Cup event with such short notice," said Tanya Dubnicoff, a member of the Canadian National Cycling Team and 1994 Commonwealth Games gold medallist. "I know the potential of this velodrome and I look forward to competing once again before a Canadian crowd - so mark your calendar and get ready to witness track cycling at its ultimate level."

The Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) offered the CCSD National Cycling Centre the opportunity to host a World Cup event in 1999, but due to the withdrawal of the 1998 World Cup Organizing Committee in Indianapolis, USA, the UCI invited the CCA to host the event one year earlier.

"Victoria is fast becoming a hotbed of cycling activity and bringing top international cyclists to Canada was a long-term goal which has been realised sooner than anticipated," said Ken Shields, President of Commonwealth Centre for Sport Development. "We’re committed to hosting the finest event possible and are confident that with all of the organizing partners already on board that we are on schedule for this spring.

The prestigious event will be hosted in conjunction with the Greater Victoria Velodrome Association, with assistance from the Victoria International Bicycle Race Society. It is anticipated the three-day event will be held in close concert with already established cycling events in Victoria, namely the 7th annual Bastion Square Grand Prix and the 3rd annual Mt. Tolmie Road Race, scheduled for May 30-31, 1998.

"This is a terrific opportunity for track cycling in Canada," said Pierre Hutsebaut, Director of National Racing Programs for the Canadian Cycling Association. "If there is any hosting group which can deliver such an event under tight timelines, we believe it is our partnership at the CCSD National Cycling Centre."

Other World Cup stops include Cali, COL, May 22-24; Berlin, GER, June 5-7, Milan ITA, June 12-14. The World Junior Championships will be held In Havana, CUB July 15-19 and the World Championships in Bordeaux, FRA, August 26-30.

Track cycling fans will have three opportunities to witness fast-paced competition at the Juan de Fuca Velodrome in 1998. In addition to the World Cup in May, the BC Provincial Championships will be held July 4-5, and the Tim Hortons National Championships will be held July 24-26.

The CCSD National Cycling Centre is the training headquarters for the Canadian National Cycling Team and hub of a series of national, provincial and community programs. National coach Yury Kashirin is the Head Coach and Director of the Centre.

The Centre is a partnership between the Canadian Cycling Association, Cycling BC, the Greater Victoria Velodrome Association, the Victoria International Bicycle Race Society and the Commonwealth Centre for Sport Development. It is part of the Commonwealth Centre’s series of national "line" centres, created out of the legacy of the XV Commonwealth Games.

Update on the Six Day Rankings

The Milan 6 Day Race has just ended our we update the official 6 Day rankings (official to www.cyclingnews.com that is) which are carefully and skilfully compiled by Wim van Rossum.

Milan was the 15th out of 18 scheduled Sixes for the 1997-98 season.

Silvio Martinello, the winner at Milan, took his 6th win for the season, while his "normal" partner Marco Villa (Ita) remains on 5 wins, having been denied by the promoters of Milan the teaming with Martinello.

Swiss pair Kurt Betschart-Bruno Risi ) have 4 wins, Danes Jimmi Madsen-Jens Veggerby have 2 wins, as has Etienne De Wilde (Bel) who partnered Martinello to victory in Milan. Single race winners include Australian Matthew Gilmore, Danes Tayeb Braikia-Jakob Pill Storm (although Pill is under a doping cloud), and the pair of Adriano Baffi (Ita)-Andreas Kappes (Ger).

Based on UCI points gained from the Six Day races the rankings are now: 

 1. Silvio Martinello (Ita)  	585
 2. Marco Villa (Ita)        	502
 3. Bruno Risi (Swi)         	445
 4. Kurt Betschart (Swi)     	430
 5. Jimmi Madsen (Dan)       	385
 6. Adriano Baffi (Ita)      	380
 7. Jens Veggerby (Dan)      	377
 8. Etienne de Wilde (Bel)   	329
 9. Matthew Gilmore (Aus)    	284
10. Andreas Kappes (Ger)     	265
11. Carsten Wolf (Ger)       	169
12. Gert Dörich (Ger)        	161
13. Tayeb Braikia (Dan)      	147
    Jakob Pill Storm (Dan)   	137
15. Scott McGrory (Aus)      	129
16. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita)  	125
17. Andrea Collinelli (Ita)  	105
18. Juan Llaneras (Spa)      	100
19. Lars Teutenberg (Ger)     	 87
20. Bjarne Riis (Den)         	 80

followed by some 29 other riders with less than 80.

Rankings by Country 

 1. Italy              	1697 (5 riders)
 2. Danmark          	1193 (7 riders)
 3. Germany           	 959 (13 riders)
 4. Switzerland       	 910 (4 riders)
 5. Belgium           	 443 (4 riders)
 6. Australia         	 413 (2 riders)

Followed by France, Spain, Argentina and The Netherlands with less than
200 each.