Pate gets a Commonwealth Games spot

Micheal Stevens from the Herald Sun newspaper reports (March 26, 1998) that: "his inclusion has been made possible by the doubt on the availability of South Australian Brett Aitken" who is expecting to add to his family about the time of the Games.

Stevens continues: "Ironically, Pate finished second to Aitken in the points race at the national titles in Adelaide last Saturday night. But the 34-year old veteran was clearly the dominant rider in the event, winning 59 intermediate sprint points compared with Aitken's two."

It is now common knowledge that Pate was not helped by his Victorian Team riders who are also in the AIS squad. Pate is not in the AIS squad. The points race performance by Pate's teammates led the manager of the team to say publicly that he would not want to see the riders selected in a Victorian team again. Aitken gained a lap on the field to take the race despite Pate's solo efforts to stop that happening.

Pate was highly critical of his original non-selection and aimed his attacks at National Track coach Charlie Walsh. Stevens writes: "He claimed Walsh had a vendetta against him and had instructed fellow Victorian riders Baden Cooke and Brett Lancaster not to help him. Walsh categorically denied all the claims by Pate. Pate also threatened legal action and it is understood he has briefed a Queen's Counsel during the past couple of days."

Information I have received today has suggested that the QC briefed may be the same person who successfully conducted Kathy Watt's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport prior to the Atlanta Olympics. This has not been confirmed though.

Stevens writes: "It is understood his inclusion in the squad was ratified by the Cycling Australia board in a telephone hookup yesterday afternoon. Cycling Australia President Ray Godkin said last night he felt Pate, who is also the Australian Madison Champion, should have been included initially."

Godkin was reported as saying: "As far as I am concerned Pate should have been in the squad in the first place. I know he didn't win the points score at the national titles, but there is no doubt he was the most dominant person in it. I would love to see him win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games."

Stevens reports that "Walsh said he was not prepared to discuss the matter with the Herald Sun but confirmed the doubt on Aitken's availablity."

So, go Patey.

Luik-Bastenaken-Luik changes

1. The Cote des Hézalles will replaced the Cote des Trois Ponts - the climb is 1.6 kms in length and an average slope of 8.8 per cent and maximum slope of 14 per cent.
2. The finale will see the riders climb the Cote de Saint Nicolas - 1.2 kms with a slope of 10 per cent - 5 kilometers from the end at Ans as the last difficulty of the classic.

The Rider and Team for March

But the fight for the "www.cyclingnews.com Rider and Team" of the month is exciting. After the Dwars door België, the leader in the ranking for the Rider of the month March is:

Let's see what happens over the weekend.

 1. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom)                 	  436 points
 2. Franck VandenBroucke (Bel) Mapei		  428
 3. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto)                	  321
 4. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) Casino)                	  290
 5. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Française des Jeux  243
 6. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE			  239
 7. Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank		  209
 8. Alberto Elli (ITA-Casino			  193
 9. Franco Ballerini (Ita) Mapei              	  185
10. Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei                   	  175

Teams (the best 8 riders per team) the situation is: 1. Mapei-Bricobi 1131 points 2. Casino 948 3. Telekom-ARD 700 4. ONCE 658 5. Festina-Lotus 526 6. Lotto-Mobistar 462 7. Rabobank 406 8. TVM-Farm Frites 404

As soon as all the results are known, the final rankings will be published, together with the rankings for the title "www.cyclingnews.com Rider and Team of the year 1998"

Rolf's Diary Update

2nd Stage - Setimana Catalana 164 km. I could finally hold my hands in the air again. There were still 22 riders in the group when I attacked with 12 kms before the end. 12 kms can be infinitely long especially if the lead never exceeds 15 seconds. I managed to hang on to win by 4 seconds, although I lost about 5 seconds in the last 100 metres! But I enjoyed it a lot. And I kept the leader's jersey. Tomorrow - there is a 1800 metre mountain coming!

ONCE has a new co-sponsor - a German Bank

The team will now be called - ONCE-Deutsche Bank.

Greg LeMond visits California

Three-time Tour de France winner and two-time World Cycling Champion Greg LeMond was on an in-store junket on March 24 to promote his bicycle line and the 6:00 p.m. visit to Helen's Cycles in Santa Monica was the last of what had been a long day for him.

It was raining when he visited, but that didn't deter a crowd of fans who packed the store.

For the first hour, Greg -- looking tan and fitter than we've seen in a long time -- answered questions from the crowd. After about 20 minutes of fielding questions about his recent race-car career, the cycling great asked, "So, doesn't anyone have any cycling questions?" and with that, the floodgates opened.

Young fans, old cyclists, recreational riders and hard-core racers pressed LeMond about how to improve climbing ability, whether he thinks indoor spinning classes (currently the rage among LA health clubs) are beneficial and the question on everyone's mind: how do you train to become a champion? (His answer to that last: there's no secret -- increase your leg speed and pedalling efficiency and train for long periods at high intensity to train your VO2 max.)

LeMond was very candid about his cycling career, admitting that one particularly bad day in the 1991 Tour de France marked a point when his career entered "a rapid downward spiral," culminating in his retirement in 1994. He also seemed to express little regret over the misfortunes that befell him during the course of his career, notably being restrained by La Vie Claire in the 1985 Tour from taking teammate Bernard Hinault's yellow jersey and his near-fatal hunting accident in 1987. "1985 could have been my first Tour victory, instead of 1986" he said, later noting also that "I was probably the fittest I had ever been after my first Tour [victory] and I was set to take my ability to the next level when I was shot ... but oh well, what can you do? Things happen."

Standing beneath banners depicting LeMond victories as a teenager in Reno and at the 1989 Worlds at Chambery, he also gave the gathered crowd a glimpse of day-to-day life as a professional cyclist. "Professional cycling is one of the most democratic occupations there is," he noted. "Whether you're a domestique or Miguel Indurain, you still stay in the same hotels with a roommate, don't take private jets to get around, and eat the same food as everybody else," he said.

Besides his recent car racing career, LeMond has had plenty with which to occupy his retirement. He detailed a recent cycling trip he completed through Vietnam, which he performed with war veterans. This summer, he has organized a trip to ride over the last week of the 1998 Tour de France route as a benefit for World T.E.A.M. Sports, a sports-oriented charity organization.

Although the questions might have continued all night, Lemond's handlers drew a close to the Q & A and permitted the assembled fans to have Greg autograph their memorabilia, including tattered decade-old posters, cycling magazines, French newspapers and even a LeMond bike.

Laurent Jalabert out of RVV

Burnaby Velodrome Club

We've had our indoor track running here in British Columbia, Canada for nearly half a year now but most people still think that our track is still under construction, or not even know that it exists!

Go to http://www.truesport.com/Bike/burnaby.htm.