Eddy Planckaert has no regrets over his admissionsFormer professional Eddy Planckaert clarified his position a week after he admitted to taking EPO. He has no regrets. "Everyone now knows that I have used EPO. But if I had have known that my admission was going to cause so much commotion, then I would probably not have said anything."Planckaert, who now runs a tourist business in Belgium, made the admission last week on a TV programme with host Hugo Camps that he had found EPO a fantastic product and that he had used it himself. "I had a 15 per cent advantage on the riders who did not take it." said the former professional. After the programme, Planckaert went on business to Turkey. On his return home to Flanders (Poeke) he realised that his admissions had involved him in controversy. "All the characterisations have surprised me. After all I am not a murderer or a thief?" "Hugo Camps was the first person who had asked me whether I have earlier used EPO. It was spontaneous conversation and I gave an honest answer. It should be noted that EPO was at that time not forbidden and was not listed on the doping list. Above all it was not known until 1991 and then I was at that end of my career. At that time I had troubles with my back and I was only 50 per cent the rider that I was in 1998 when I won the Tour of Flanders. It was one experiment that I did alone. I have named no-one, no rider, no doctor, no-one. I have only besmirched myself." Robbie Vandaele free to rideThe discplinary tribunal of the Flemish Province on account of a lack of proof accepted the appeal of Robbie Vandaele who had been accused on doping.The 25-year old rider from the West of Flanders did not attend a required drug test after a competition at Lede in July and was given a two year suspension. He appealed against this penalty. Vandaele has stated that he was unaware that he had to take the test. He was near the finish line and he did not know that the man nearby was the doctor who was going to administer the test. The man did not clearly make it known that he was there to test Vandaele. Slippens goes to AXAThe Dutch trackrider Robert Slippens has signed for two years with the AXA Cycling Team.Het Volk to finish in Lokeren until 2001The opening classic of the season for Belgium the "Omloop Het Volk" will finish in the town of Lokeren until the year 2001. The Organisating Committee and the City Offices have signed a new contract for three years. The race will be held this year on February 28. As was the case last year, the climb of Berendries, just south of Zottegem will be the last of the race, about 30 kms from the end.And a possible new development in NZMichael Hamid at mhamid@voyager.co.nz wrote to me as follows:I've just completed a Masters three day tour of the Waikato organised by Stephen Cox. During a session at the bar after the second day I suggested that Stephen ought to organise a longer tour. He said he'd love to have a go at organising a five or six day tour from Auckland to Wellington maybe following the route of the old Dulux six day tour we used to have here for so many years. He wants to see if there are sufficient lunatic old sods who wish to thrash their bodies. We'll be putting something in the next NZ Masters newsletter to gauge interest here but I thought that some of you Aussies may be interested in getting a thrashing from the Kiwi's again (I won't mention the cricket!!). Anyway I set Michael right on the current cricket relativities (OZ have just won the 3-team One-Day competition by defeating South Africa in the finals after the sheep... oops, NZ were eliminated in the preliminary series, and we are 2 up out of 3 against South Africa in the tests, and NZ have been compared to a State Side over here.... he understands now..). So if you American oldies or Aussies want to get a great tour happening in NZ write to Michael at the email address above. The McCormack Brothers to lead the US Cyclo Cross Worlds TeamThe brother duo of Mark McCormack and Frank McCormack (Saturn) will lead the U.S. team into the 1998 UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, in Middelfahrt, Denmark. The two brothers have won the last two U.S. Championships in the discipline, with Mark being the current champion.Joining the pair will be Dale Knapp (Redline), the 1997 Cyclo-cross Super Cup champion; Thomas Clark, a member of several past U.S. teams who is currently based in Switzerland; and pro mountain biker Marc Gullickson (GT). The under-23 squad will include Adam Krause (Pazzo Velo) and Tim Johnson, while the junior squad will consist of Super Cup champ Narayon Mahon (Redline) and Matt Kelly, a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The team will again be led by Clark Natwick, U.S. national cyclo-cross coach. Some members of the team will compete in the Cyclo-cross World Cup, Jan. 18, in Heerlen, the Netherlands, prior to the World Championships, and a UCI calendar event, Jan. 25 in Paal, Belgium. Preliminary Team Ranking speculation continuesThis is Wim van Rossum's latest spreadsheet iteration. We have a more or less complete information set about the composition of teams for 1998 with the exception of Portugal, Colombia and the United States.Here Wim has given the most recent calculations as at January 27, 1998. The ?? indicate some uncertainty with the composition of the teams. The allocated points are those attributed to the riders as at December 31, 1997.
27/1 31/12 Team Points 1998 1997 Team Top 8 Every Number of Riders Rider Riders |