Francesco Casagrande is facing possible suspensionFrancesco Casagrande is facing possible suspension over a contract problem. The Italian has signed with Cofidis while he also has a contract with Mercatone Uno. The two teams both want Casagrande to ride for them and it is now up to the UCI as to whether they will suspend him.Casagrande rode last season for Saeco and in last year's Tour de France he came 6th. Wim van Rossum did some sums on his spreadsheet and tells me that Francesco Casagrande is the 8th on the UCI rankings as at December 31, 1997 with 1102 points. The possible suspension is thus also quite important for the team ranking in 1998. In Wim's unofficial (preliminary) team rankings we find that Cofidis (with Casagrande) would be in 14th place with 2855 points. If he was not to ride for them this year they would drop to 20th with 1866 points. Mercatone Uno is now on 19th place with 2363 points. But if Casagrande was to ride for them they would soar to 7th place with 3303 points. Pantani visits the wind tunnelThe climber from Team Mercatone Uno-Bianchi has started the new year in peace. "So many things have changed. Last year I was farther along in my preparation, but I had a big question mark in my head: will I even return to how I was? I had many doubts, fears and needed time to see what would happen. The 1997 season has given me the answer and I'm very relaxed".in 1997 he had success - two mountain stage wins in the Tour de France (Alpe d'Huez and Morzine) and third place overall. Pantani has returned to be the number one climber. His Team Mercatone Uno-Bianchi has been reinforced and the Pirate faces the new season with ambitions. "I want to above all race a grand Giro d'Italia . Unfortunately there will be less kilometers in the mountains than in last year's edition, but I will still find a way". On the time trials: "I will have a true time trial bike, with a custom made frame and special handlebars. I have also changed pedals for next season. As a consequence I have had to lower my saddle one centimeter and I have slightly changed the angles of my frame. In the last days I've been testing new materials in aluminum and titanium and the time trial bike which I will test at a wind tunnel". The man working with this project is Giuseppe Martinelli, a trusted technician of the Pirate. Martinelli said: "This will be the first year that Marco will ride a special time trial bike. Bianchi has prepared a prototype, a copy of the bike that was used by Berzin. The frame will be made of aluminum and the handlebar will be flat as a blade. Thanks to the new position Marco can take a second per kilometer". About Pantani's left leg: "After a maximum effort I feel a slight muscular pain, but everything is under control. I'm alternatively going out with a fixed gear. I pedal for two hours with a 53x19 to memorize the rhythm. The training with fixed gear is pretty primitive, but always useful. Two hours with the fixed gear are worth three on a regular bike. In a week Pantani will meet with his 18 teammates of Team Mercatone Uno-Bianchi at Terracina. "We are a good group, I'm confident", says the Pirate. A Summary of the Italian Team's Training Camps* MAPEI-BRICOBI: until January 13 at St. Raphael (France)* ROS MARY-AMICA CHIPS: from January 8-15 at Desenzano del Garda (Bs) * MOBILVETTA-NORTHWAVE: from January 8-22 at San Vito Chietino (Ch) * BALLAN: from January 9-17 at San Vincenzo (Li) * CANTINA TOLLO-ALEXIA ALLUMINIO: from January 10-22 at Porto S. Elpidio (Ap) * ASICS-CGA: from January 12-22 at Donoratico (Li) * SAECO: from January 12-17 at Marina di Bibbona (Li) * MERCATONE UNO-BIANCHI: January 15-31 at Terracina (Lt) * VINI CALDIROLA-LONGONI SPORT: January 16-21 at Montecarlo (postponed because of a new sponsor added to the jersey) * TEAM POLTI: from January 20 to February 2 at Castagneto Carducci (Li) * RISO SCOTTI: from January 21 to February 2 at Castagneto Carducci (Li) * KROSS-SELLE ITALIA: from January 23-30 at Donoratico (Li) * SCRIGNO-GAERNE: from January 26 to February 5 at Donoratico (Li) * BRESCIALAT-LIQUIGAS: January 31 to Feburary 10 at San Vincenzo (Li) * AMORE&VITA-FORZARCORE: February 2-8 at Camaiore (Lu) Banesto to avoid the GiroEven though the Giro d'Italia will be televised this year in Spain (with RAI already having sold the rights to Spanish TV), Banesto is very close to announcing that they won't participate in the Pink Race. The fact that they won't be able to take a competitive team has discouraged them. Specially when looking at the competition that they are going to find and the number of young riders in the team."Our problem is that the we don't want to touch, under any circumstance, the team members that are programmed for the Tour de France. If we add to that the fact that we have another group preparing for the early season, we have little to choose from". The reasoning of Eusebio Unzue seem to be logical, even though the organizers have shown interest in their attendance. The teams participating are: Festina (Zulle), Telekom (Riis), Kelme (Chepe González, Rubiera), Vitalicio (Buenahora, Rincón, Domínguez), will be joined by 14 Italian teams, which will change the panorama in respect to last year when the participation was poor. "Racing days, which is what we need, we will find in other places and without so much pressure. We had even thought of riders like Fernández Ginés, Arrieta, Unai Osa or De las Cuevas, but without a concrete need we thought that to go with a weak team wouldn't be good either, even if there will be TV coverage for the whole country". "To start with we will divide the team in two blocks. One will be in Mallorca and the other will be at the Tour of the Mediterranean with people like De las Cuevas, Odriozola, Solaun, plus some other young ones". That's why the whole team will not go to Mallorca after the team presentation in Madrid on the 28th. Also following the team plans, Abraham Olano is training at Denia (Alicante) and together with him are the two Osa brothers, Aitor and Unai. They will spend some 15 days doing important training there. Yvonne Brunen not guilty of dopingThe banned substances which were detected in the urine of Yvonne Brunen during the 1997 Tour of Italy, was naturally produced by her body. That is the finding of an official investigation by the KNWU (Dutch Cycling Federation). Her body naturally produces higher levels of norandrosteron and norctiocholanolon and the KNWU has declared her not guilty of using banned substances during the Tour of Italy.New Name for TVMThe TVM team has a new name - TVM/Farm Frites. The former subsponsor Farm Frites has agreed to contribute more than last season and so the team will change its name for the coming season. The only variation on this will be during the Vuelta (September 5-27), when for marketing reasons, which escape me, the team will reverse the order of the sponsor's names and call themselves Farm Frites-TVM.I guess they think the Spanish identify more with fried potato chips than they do with a Trucking Insurance Company. Which raises the other question - why does a freight insurance company (TVM) sponsor a cycling team anyway. On Thursday, January 8, the TVM-Farm Frites team held its press conference and presentation. Today the Mapei-Briccobi team holds its presentation in Tielt, and on Wednesday, January 21 the Rabobank team will present itself in Utrecht. The French Champion of Champions AwardRemi Spilliaert our French-speaking correspondent who lives in Iceland sent me this. L'équipe, the daily French sportspaper has just elected the "French Champion of Champions" (as it has for every year since 1946). Fo 1997 the award has gone to Luc Alphand, the downhill skiing specialist, who won the overall standings for the 1997 World Cup, the 1997 Downhill World Cup and the Super G World Cup.For www.cyclingnews.com readers this is not a story about skiing, even though I have just come back from Chicago. In fact, Remi tells me that four bike riders took top 10 places: Rousseau (4th), Brochard (6th), Jalabert (8th) and Virenque (10th). Moreover 6 cyclists got points in a total of 31 individual sportpeople who scored. This means about 20% of French champions come from bike racing. Did we doubt otherwise!
1. Luc Alphand (Sking) 145 pts 2. David Douillet (Judo) 144 pts 3. Stephane Diagana (Athetics) 131 pts 4. Florian Rousseau (Cycling) 118 pts 5. Christophe Auguin (Sailing) 83 pts 6. Laurent Brochard (Cycling) 61 pts 7. Marie-Claire Restoux (Judo) 49 pts 8. Laurent Jalabert (Cycling) 40 pts 9. Srecki (escrime) 39 pts 10. Richard Virenque (Cycling) 22 pts 10. Andrieux Rolland (Rowing) 22 pts 12. Fabrice Tiozzo (Boxing) 20 pts 13. Jeannie Longo (Cycling) 17 pts 13. Mary Pierce (Tennis) 17 pts 15. Thuram (Football) 16 pts 16. Stoecklin (Hand ball) 9 pts 17. Adisson-Forgues (Canoe-Kayak) 8 pts 18. Felicia Ballanger (Cycling) 7 pts 19. Abdel Benazzi (Rugby) 6 pts 19. Fijalkowski (Basketball) 6 pts 21. Peterhansel (Motorcycling) 5 pts 22. Cedric Pioline (Tennis) 4 pts 23. Frank Esposito (Swimming) 3 pts 24. Arron (Athletics) 2 pts 24. Zinedine Zidane (Football) 2 pts 26. Deleigne (Modern Pentathlon) 26. Capet (Volleyball) Previous riders elected "French Champion of Champions": 1994: Luc Leblanc 1987: Jeannie Longo 1981: Bernard Hinault 1980: Bernard Hinault 1979: Bernard Hinault 1978: Bernard Hinault 1975: Bernard Thevenet (together with Guy Drut - athletics) 1974: Raymond Poulidor (together with Guy Drut - athletics) 1972: Daniel Morelon (together with Guy Drut - athletics) 1971: Regis Ovion (together with Bouttier - boxing) 1963: Jacques Anquetil 1957: Roger Rivière 1954: Louison Bobet 1953: Louison Bobet |