TVM will start in Giro

Sven Nijs joins VKS

"We must now deal with the technical business." said Van Kasteren. "He currently hold a contract with BBS from October. But we are 90 per cent there. By the end of March I will definitely round off all the business."

Nijs also has had discussions with the Belgian team, Lotto. It is the intention of the riders of VKS to follow the example of Adri van der Poel and Richard Groenendaal who are with Rabobank, so that TVM can use the winter season as preparation for the road. VKS is a sub-sponsor of TVM, and Van Kasteren is talking with TVM team manager Cees Priem about such matters.

With the arrival of Nijs, VKS are now finished with the idea of signing Daniele Pontoni. Van Kasteren began negotiations this month at the World Championships with the former World Champion from Italy who recently has been in strife after testing positive for cocaine.

Bjarne Riis in the wars

There was some doubt about the extent of his injury but it was discovered at an examination in Aarhus that his hand is indeed broken. His hand is in plaster at least for one week.

Ullrich in Mallorca

The race in the islands is also an opportunity for the autograph hunters and those fans that like to take pictures with their favorite stars. That is precisely the reason why the organizers try not to impose to much security on the starting area. This way fans can touch, say hello and even bother riders like Zulle, Olano, Jalabert, Chiappucci, Berzin ­ "Give me your cap!", "Can you give me your water bottle?", "Can I take a picture while riding your bike?" - to , but not to Jan Ullrich.

The young German must be allergic to the press, photographers and fans, since he evades him at all cost. The press corps from Mallorca has said that it has been very difficult to get any comments from the German during the weeks that he spent before the Challenge. They are exaggerating, we thought at first, but soon we found out that it wasn't going to be easy to interview the Tour de France winner, it was going to be impossible.

The day before the start of the race, all the teams were presented at the Lonja de Palma de Mallorca. When it was Telekom's turn, the master of ceremony asked Ullrich in English if he was happy to be debuting in Mallorca; Ullrich who lived for many years in South Africa and speaks English perfectly, only raised his shoulders and put a face like if he didn't understand what he was being asked. Rudy Pevenage, his director, translated the question to German and then he answered: "Well, it's sunny" and nothing else. That same day the press found out through Pevenage that we could forget about attempting to get interviews with the rider, since he had decided that he had nothing to say to the Spanish press.

"He doesn't want to talk to the press" explained Rudy Pevenage. "The only thing that he wants to do is train and race". And why does he have this phobia with the press?" He says that he's fed up of the same questions about whether he is going to win the Tour or about his private life".

But Ullrich not only decided to build a wall with the press, but also with the many fans, most of them German, who cluster around the Telekom vehicles everyday hoping to get a glimpse of their hero. Ullrich stays inside the bus until the start of the race and then he quickly goes to the signature control and then immediately looks for refuge amongst the riders already lined up to start.

During the Tour of Mallorca, Jan Ullrich demonstrated his haughty and displeasing character. A Spanish journalist suggested that maybe the sun - that he received in Canarias and Mallorca ­ has burnt some of his neurons or maybe he is still on that trip that they pay him to race and not to do interviews and sign autographs. If in fact it is this last thing, somebody in his team should pull his ears and make him understand that with that attitude he's damaging Telekom's image.

Miguel Indurain always accepted and carried himself in an admirable manner under the weight of fame. Everything seems to indicate that Ullrich will be a great champion. Some people say that he may be the new Indurain or maybe even better, but he will never be like the Navarran champion in character, humblenes and accessability.

Kross-Selle Information

Gianni Savio has taken advantage of this brief stop in the teams activities to officially present the team yesterday. "We have already debuted in South America - explained Savio - totalling ten victories. Stage wins at la Vuelta Tachira in Venezuela with Colombians Lozano & Goyenece; while in Colomiba we hit the target with Lozano, Frigo, Saavedra, Mondini & Pierobon. And two victories in Australia wit Mc Kenzie". "Apart from the optimal results we are very satisfied with the preparation work done during the Winter".

Savio is convinced that he has caught a new talent in Colombia: "I'm talking about twenty year old Vladimir Forero, a climber of great resources. He could carry the torch for his compatriots Leonardo Sierra and Cacaito Rodriguez. Forero will debut in Italy in August. The other young ones are Frigo and Goyenece (with 8 and 4 victories respectively, last year) and Pulnikov is preparing for the Giro".