* Festina have just concluded a meeting in Barcelona to determine their riding staff for next year. They renewed the contracts of Laurent Brochard, Pascal Hervé, Francis Moreau and Didier Rous. They also renewed, unexpectedly, the contract of Armin Meier(Swi). Other riders to sign are Fabian Jeker (Swi) and Wladimiro Belli (Ita) and confirmed that Alexandre Moos (Swi) is coming from the Italian team Saeco. So Belli is not changing to Lampre as was reported earlier.
Heiko said that: "They decided immediately that I am the right man for the job of the High Performance Manager of the BDR. My job profile is yet to be determined, but I will supervise and communicate with the 12 National Coaches, approve and direct the Annual planning process of the National Coaches, including the preparation of the budgets towards the various disciplines of Cycling. Three staff will assist me in this task. After 20 years of coaching both in Germany and in Australia the offered position is a new challenge for me. I am very excited about the amount of faith the Germans invest into my leadership abilities. At only 41 years of age, I am young enough to accept new directions in my life, despite my family remaining in Australia."
Heiko used to be the National Australian Team coach until the collective wisdom at the ACF decided otherwise. Hard to accept and hard to comprehend!
Olano also said that the arrival of Zulle at Banesto "will have broken the plans" of José María Jiménez, who finished third at the last Vuelta. He said: "I think that Jimenez will be personally affected, because after becoming the leader for the major stage races, Alex Zulle's arrival has to have broken his plans".
On 1999, he said: "I would like to ride the Tour and to try to win it." But he is yet to choose which of the major tours he will contest and is awaiting detailed routes of all the three big races - Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, "to see which one adapts best to the characteristics of Abraham Olano".
When asked about the climb of La Gamonal, a climb that might be used in next year's Vuelta, Olano commented: "I know that it is a very tough climb, but we all would have to climb it. I already climbed thev Mortirolo and I was left behind, but there were very few riders that could go in front of me and many were left behind." This was during the 1996 Giro, where he finished 3rd in the GC. "I spent two years of crisis in respect to the mountains because I was suffering badly with my tonsils. After the operation it takes a little while to get my rhythm back. I think that little by little I'm getting it and I still have margin for improvement."
Olano assured that he doesn't think that they will have leadership problems at ONCE with Laurent Jalabert, since both of them have shared teams with important riders in years past - Olano with Tony Rominger and Jalabert with Zulle. He said: "I won't have any problems with Jalabert. I had another team leader in Tony Rominger, with whom on occasions I shared the leadership and when I came to Banesto it was to ride with Miguel Indurain. Because of the circumstances I couldn't ride with him. Jalabert, rode with Zulle for a long time and there was never a problem".
October 29 to November 3: Grenoble (Fra) and Dortmund (Ger) November 5 to 10: Monaco di Baviera (Ger) - in Munich November 17-22: Gent (Bel) November 30 to December 6: Zurich (Swi) December 10-15: Leipzig (Ger) January 7-12: Berlin (Ger) January 14-19: Bremen (Ger) January 22-27: Stuttgart (Ger) January 29 to February 3: Copenhagen (Den) February 8-13: Milan (Ita) February 21-26: Melbourne (Aus) March 31 to April 5: Buenos Aires (Arg)
1. Sven Nijs (Bel) 56.30 2. Beat Wabel (Swi) 0.17 3. Mario De Clercq (Bel) 0.31 4. Adri Van der Poel (Ned) 1.27 5. Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 1.32 6. Dieter Runkel (Swi) 2.21 7. Roland Schätti (Swi) 2.33 8. Christian Heule (Swi) 2.48 9. Andy Büsser (Swi) 2.58 10. Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 3.10Thanks to Markus Kammerman
Track Competition:
Women's 3000m pursuit:
1. Maria Luisa Calle (Col) 3.55.772
2. Lismey Britapaz (Ven) 4.00.340
3. Lorena Coleman (Arg) 4.08.151
Women's Sprint:
1. Karelia Machado (Ven)
Women's 500m Time Trial:
1. Karelia Machado (Ven)
Women's Points:
1. Lismey Britapaz (Ven) 31 points
2. Maria Luis Street (Col) 19 points
3. Verónica Martinez (Arg) 42 points (-2)
Men's 4000m pursuit:
1. Edgardo Simón (Arg) 4.38.648
2. Marcos Arriagada (Chi)
3. Francisco Encalada (Ecu)
Men's 4000m team pursuit:
1. Argentina 4.16.044
(Guillermo Brunetta, Sebastián Donadio, Gonzalo García, Edgardo Simón)
2. Chile 4.17.032
(Luis Sepúlveda, Marco Arriagada, Marcelo Arriagada, Richard Rodriguez)
3. Colombia
(Víctor Herrera, Alexander Moncaleano, Giovanny Lopez, John García)
Road Races:
Women, 20 kms ITT:
1. Maria Luisa Calle (Col) 25.54
2. Lorena Colman (Arg) 0.39
3. Ketty Loja (Ecu)
Men, 40 kms ITT:
1. Rubén Pegorín (Arg)
Women 60 kms Road Race:
1. Maria Luisa Calle (Col) 2.05.01
2. Lismey Britapaz (Ven)
3. Flor Marina Delgadillo (Col)
4. Ketty Loja (Ecu) 0.05
Men's Road race, 167 kms:
1. Casio Paiva (Bra) 4.06.21
2. Jose Medina (Chi) 0.11
3. Víctor Herrera (Col) 0.13
42 starters
MTB, Cross Country:
Women, 24 kms (5 laps)
1. Flor Marina Delgadillo (Col 1.35.18
2. Adriana Nascimento (Bra) 1.43.43
3. Magda Cubides (Col) 1.56.53
4. Claudia Pizarro (Chi) - 1 lap
5. Verónica Mosquera (Ecu) - 1 lap
6. Zaira Farinango (Ecu) - 1 lap
Men, 40 kms (9 laps)
1. Diego Garavito (Col) 2.21.38
2. Víctor Mendoza (Bol) 2.29.47
3. Abraao Azevedo (Bra) 2.29.51
4. Carlos Trujillo (Col) 2.31.42
5. Erick Brown (Ecu) - 2 laps
6. Julio Ramon (Ecu) - 2 laps
Tomas Nilsson kindly keeps me informed of events in Latin America
Stage 3, La Ceja-El Carmen de Viboral, ITT 26 kms: 1. Luis Felipe Laverde (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 37.36 (41.755) 2. Arles Castro (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 0.55 3. Alex González (Col) Coomeva-Panela El Triángulo 1.30 4. Giovanni Chacón (Col) Tapa Roja-Tolima 1.38 5. Andrés Hernández (Col) Ciclo Wander-Caldas 1.47 6. Alexis Castro (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 1.49 7. John Dailer Ríos (Col) Club Las Gacelas 2.02 8. Mauricio Ortega (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 2.02 9. Idem Villamil (Col) Urtimora-Cauca 2.03 10. Gerardo Rodríguez (Col) Ron Añejo Santa Fe 2.10 GC after Stage 3: 1. Luis Felipe Laverde (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 5.55.49 2. Arles Castro (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 2.56 3. Alexis Castro (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 4.09 4. Gerardo Rodríguez (Col) Ron Añejo Santa Fe 4.19 5. Mauricio Ortega (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 4.52 6. Andrés Hernández (Col) Ciclo Wander-Caldas 5.52 7. Yuberney Ospina (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 6.50 8. Ezequiel Soto (Col) Ron Añejo Santa Fe 6.54 9. John Garzón (Col) Ron Añejo Santa Fe 7.23 10. Giovanni Chacón (Col) Aguardiente Tapa Roja 8.33 Intermediate sprints: 1. Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Coomeva 18 Mountains: 1. Luis Felipe Laverde (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 28 Points: 1. Arles Castro (Col) Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya 55 Teams: 1. Brandy Don Juan-Loti Ya-Antioquia