News for May 22, 1998

New Drug and Casino and Festina

In a letter to all the team leaders in the Giro d'Italia, the President of the UCI Medical Commission, warning about the PFC, a new drug that is probably being used in the sporting world. PFC (perfluoro cloruro) is a product that is used in rehabilitation for people who have lost a lot of blood. It helps to increase oxygen in the blood without the risk of high hematocriet levels and will thus not show up in the controls.

The revelation has been linked to the Festina and Casino teams. Is PFC the new drug? There are now a lot of questions being asked about the performance of Festina in the last Tour de France and the great start that the Casino team has made to the 1998 season.

All professional teams have been sent the letter from the UCI warning then of the dangers of the product. They have said that they will set up traps for the riders. But Yvan Vanmol, doctor for Mapei-Bricobi said: 'The UCI thinks there is a problems where there is no problem."

PFC is a substance that is in its development phase and is used on an experimental basis in intensive-care units, for patients who have lost a lot of blood. The product can stop further losses. PFC is not freely available in the marketplace but can be obtained via the Internet, something that is provoking alarm with the UCI. The Mapei doctor said: "The product is not being used in cycling. The first claims about this were after the last Tour. Festina has excellent performances in the Tour and there were various explanations for that phenomenon. Now we are hearing about it again because the Casino team is winning everything. For me it seems like a large amount of jealousy. Some people cannot bear it when their own team does not win. Without having had any serious discussions with the UCI about PFC, that is all I can say for the moment.

Rolf Sorensen out of Tour

Kim Plesner Frederiksen writes from Denmark that Rolf Sorensen, who has had quite a disappointing spring season, won't ride the Tour de France (90% sure) or the National Road Championships.

Instead he will focus on The World Road Championship in Valkenburg and perhaps ride the Vuelta a Espana.

His last races in the spring will be GP Aarhus, GP Midtbank, Bicicleta Vasca and Dauphine Libere.

Kim also tells me that Brian Holm has signed his contract with Acceptcard Pro Cycling last Thursday. He will ride the GP's in Denmark this week Aarhus and Midtbank (Herning) just as Bjarne Riis and Rolf Sorensen.

Then he will go on riding the Bayern Rundfahrt and then the American cycling week including US Corestates Pro - a race which a highly motivated Brian is looking very much forward to.

From November 1st he will be Sports Director at Acceptcard Pro Cycling.

Meanwhile, another source from Denmark, Jon Jay Neufeld writes that the soap opera surrounding Brian Holm continues. It is now official that he will complete the season riding for Acceptcard.

But there is still a little rotten something in the state of Denmark:

The newest development in the case is that the organisers of the next two international races in Denmark (they happen to be the clubs behind Jack and Jones and Chicky World - in other words, the competition) rejected Acceptcard's late application for Holm's participation in their races.

This got quite a bit of attention in the Danish sports news, and a couple of days later things were cleared up and it would seem as though Holm will be racing after all.

Amersfoort, Netherlands, Ronde van Klein Zwitserland, 54 laps

From Amersfoort, in the centre of the Netherlands to the East of Amsterdam and home of my cyclingnews.com partner, Hans comes the Ronde van Klein Zwitserland, a 54 lap race for Neo and Elite Amateurs. 122 riders started. 

 1. Rudi Kemna (Deurningen)
 2. Casper Helling (Amsterdam)
 3. Andre van Wijngaarden (Montfoort)
 4. Helmut Tamkow (Estland)
 5. Mischa de Vries (Hilversum)
 6. Bennie van Leijen (Wageningen)
 7. Peter van Ommen (Harderwijk)
 8. Adrie Freijters (Wageningen)
 9. Joop Ribbers (Groenlo)
10. Paul MacDonald (Australia)
11. Marcel Alma (Harskamp)
12. Ard Jansen (Soest)
13. Henne van Zanten (Nijkerkerveen)
14. Johnny Broers (Maartensdijk)
15. Johan van Soest (Houten)
16. Rody Schoppert (Vleuten)
17. Peter van der Werf (Utrecht)
18. Erik Nieuwerth (Lekkerkerk)
19. Stef Vorstermans (Utrecht)
20. Andras van Hoeijen (Amersfoort)

Top amateur Rudi Kemna didn't start in the Olympia's Tour because his wife is expecting a baby. Therefore he ride with a 'buzzer' in his pocket; so he knows when the birth is starting. He came over to Amersfoort 'for training'.

National Field Opens EDS Superdrome, May 16-17

The new EDS Superdrome opened in grand style May 16-17 at the inaugural EDS Spring Classic. The event many of the country’s top riders, who were preparing for the first two rounds of the World Track Cup and the second round of the EDS Track Cup ’98. All of those events are later this month.

Marty Nothstein (Team EDS) was one of the big winners of the weekend, winning the men’s match sprint and helping his national champion Olympic sprint squad to a victory before capping the weekend with a win in the keirin.

Team EDS also posted wins in the Italian pursuit and Karen Dunne won the women’s points race for her first national win for her team. Gil Hatton won the men’s win and out.

Large crowds watched the action at the new, 250-meter wood track which will host the 1998 EDS National Cycling Championships, June 30-July 4.

Other multiple winners included Nicole Reinhart (Shaklee), won the women’s 3km scratch race and miss and out; and Shaun Wallace (Cox Atlanta Velo), men’s miss and out and points race. 

Women’s 3km Scratch Race

1. Nicole Reinhart (Shaklee), Portland, Ore.; 2. Rebecca Quinn (Tri State
Velo), Quakertown, Pa.; 3. Jennie Reed (Ikon-Lexus), Issaquah, Wash.

Women’s Point a Lap

1. Erin Veenstra (BMC-Walmart), Colorado Springs, Colo.; 2. Jennifer Evans
(Team EDS), Austin, Texas; 3. Marisa Vande Velde (BMC-WalMart), Colorado
Springs.

Olympic Sprint

1. Team EDS (Trey Gannon, Marty Nothstein, Erin Hartwell) 46.647 secs;
2. Cox Atlanta Velo (Nathan Rogut, Tampa, Fla.; Adam Payne, Conifer,
Colo.; Sky Christopherson, Tucson, Ariz.), 48.748; 3. Ikon-Lexus
(Johnny Bairos, Redlands, Calif.; Bill Clay, Gurnee, Ill; Jason Garner,
Newport Beach, Calif.), 49.538.

Men’s Win and Out

1. Gil Hatton (Team EDS) Alburtis, Pa.; 2. Guido Furlst (Germany); 3. Tommy
Mulkey (Ikon-Lexus), Winterville, Ga.

Men’s Miss and Out

1. Shaun Wallace (Cox Atlanta Velo), Southampton, England; 2. Derek Bouchard-
Hall (Shaklee), Menlo Park, Calif.; 3. Furlst.

Men’s 24km Madison

1. Ikon-Lexus (Kirk O'Bee and Brian Whitcome) 21 pts; 2. Cox Atlanta Velo
(Payne and Wallace), -1 lap, 29 pts; 3. Germany (Furlst and Rolf Liehner),
-1, 25.

Women’s Miss and Out

1. Nicole Reinhart (Shaklee, Portland, Ore.; 2. Karen Dunne (Team EDS),
Colorado Springs, Colo.; 3. Reed.

Team Pursuit

1. National Team (Derek Bouchard-Hall, Tommy Mulkey, Dirk Copeland and
Zach Conrad), four mins, 24.724 secs; 2. U.S. National 2 (O’Bee, Whitcomb,
Derek Wilkerson, San Antonio, Fla.; Brice Jones, Ft. Smith, Ark.), 4:35.993;
3. Cox Atlanta Velo (Payne, Wallace, Chad Rodekohr, Lawrenceville, Ga.; Steve
Hogan, Woodstock, Ga.), 4:36.135.

Men’s 10km Points Race

1. Shaun Wallace (Cox Atlanta Velo), Southampton, England, 15 pts (2 sprint
wins); 2. Bouchard-Hall, 10 (1); 3. Chris Carlson (Team EDS), Dallas, Texas,
10 (0).

Men’s Match Sprint

1. Marty Nothstein (Team EDS), Trexlertown, Pa.; 2. Gannon; 3. Paul Swift
(Shaklee), Kenosha, Wis.

Women’s Win and Out

1. Jennie Reed (Ikon-Lexus), Issaquah, Wash.; 2. Veenstra; 3. Tanya Lindenmuth
(Tri State Velo), Trexlertown.

Italian Pursuit

1. Team EDS (Trey Gannon, Marty Nothstein, Erin Hartwell, Nick Chenowth,
Jennifer Evans and Ryan Kelly) 1 min, 37.509 secs; 2. USA (Veenstra,
Vande Velde, Copeland, O’Bee, Whitcomb, Conrad), 1:38.824; 3. German (Robin
Conley-Cutting, Plano; Quinn, Thorsten Rohde, Rainer Pelemann, Liehner,
Furlst), 1:40.943.

Women’s 7km Points Race

1. Karen Dunne(Team EDS), Colorado Springs, Colo., 23 pts (2 sprint wins); 2.
Veenstra, 20 (2); 3. Reinhart, 19 (3).

Men’s 5km Scratch Race

1. Tommy Mulkey (Ikon-Lexus), Winterville, Ga.; 2. Garner; 3. Ryan Oelkers
(Team EDS), New Tripoli, Pa.

Men’s Keirin

1. Marty Nothstein (Team EDS), Trexlertown, Pa.; 2. Hatton; 3. Garth Blackburn
(Cox Atlanta Velo), Houston, Texas.

Olympic Medalists Lead U.S. World Track Cup Team

Olympic silver medalists Marty Nothstein (Team EDS) and Erin Hartwell (Team EDS) will lead the United States team into the first round of the UCI World Track Cup, May 22-24, in Cali, Colombia.

Nothstein, Trexlertown, Pa., has been the number one male sprinter in the world for the past two years and won the 1997 World Track Cup overall titles in both the match sprint and keirin. The Cali World Cup will mark the return to first international appearance since the 1996 Olympic Games for Hartwell, of McKinney, Texas.

Leading the women’s team is double national champion Nicole Reinhart (Shaklee), Portland, Ore. Reinhart will compete in the 500 meters and points race in Cali.

The 11-member team will compete in a three-day competition which includes all of the Olympic and world championship events.

In international track competition, an individual rider can qualify his or her nation for a starting spot in the world championships based on performance at the World Cups. The Cali event is the first of four World Track Cups.

The roster for the second round, May 28-30, in Victoria, B.C., Canada, includes Christian Vande Velde (U.S. Postal Service), Lemont, Ill., the 1997 World Track Cup overall winner in men’s individual pursuit. Also on that roster are 1996 Olympians Mariano Friedick (Saturn), Brentwood, Calif., and Adam Laurent (Navigators), Shell Beach, Calif.

The United States team (subject to change) for the first round is as follows: 

Men
Derek Bouchard-Hall (Shaklee) - team pursuit
Zach Conrad (Ikon-Lexus) - individual pursuit, team pursuit
Dirk Copeland (Ikon-Lexus) - points race, Madison
Trey Gannon (Team EDS) - match sprint, Olympic sprint
Erin Hartwell (Team EDS) - km time trial, Olympic sprint
Tommy Mulkey (Ikon-Lexus) - team pursuit
Marty Nothstein (Team EDS) - match sprint, Olympic sprint, keirin
Kirk O’Bee (Ikon-Lexus) - team pursuit, Madison

Women

Rebecca Quinn (Tri State Velo) -  match sprint
Jennie Reed (Ikon-Lexus) - match sprint
Nicole Reinhart (Shaklee) - 500 meters, points race

The United States team (subject to change) for the second round is as follows: 

Men
Sky Christopherson (Cox Atlanta Velo) - km time trial, Olympic sprint
Dirk Copeland (Ikon-Lexus) - team pursuit, points race, Madison
Mariano Friedick (Saturn) - team pursuit
Erin Hartwell (Team EDS) - Olympic sprint
Adam Laurent (Navigators) - team pursuit
Tommy Mulkey (Ikon-Lexus) - team pursuit
Marty Nothstein (Team EDS) - match sprint, Olympic sprint, keirin
Christian Vande Velde (US Postal) - individual pursuit, Madison

Women

Jennie Reed (Ikon-Lexus) - match sprint
Nicole Reinhart (Shaklee) - 500 meters, points race

Team Updates:

This is an update on Team information. 

New Riders:

Amore e Vita: Alessio Galletti; Cristian Gasperoni; Filippo Meloni
Big Mat-Auber'93: Denis Leproux
Cantina Tollo: Andrea Dolci

New Assistant Team Managers:

Mapei: Claude Criquelion
Ros Mary: Leonardo Levati
Saeco: Guido Bontempi
Saturn: Egon van Kessl

New Team: AVIANCA-TELECOM (AVI) - Colombia

Manager: Nelson Giraldo Flores
Team Manager: Raul Mesa Orozco

Riders:

Julio César Aguirre Cabrera
Hernan Dario Bonilla Sanchez (neo)
Olmedo Capacho Fulido
José Joaquim Castelblanco Romero
Javier Florente (neo)
Juan Andres Garcia (neo)
Jairo Hernandez Montoya
Helder Herrera Cortes
Francisco Leon Mane (neo)
Luis Ricardo Mesa
Dvorsick Milan - Spain (neo)
Federico Munoz Fernandez
Carlos Andres Osorio
Victor Hugo Pena Grisales