(a) I make mistakes. When I find out that I have made a mistake I apologise and try to rectify the error. Recently I passed on some information about a race in South Australia. I think the information was probably incorrect although the organisers have not confirmed that. I did not deliberately publish it knowing it to be untrue. But if anyone feels aggrieved by the error then I apologise. All cycling events in Australia should receive our support.
(b) cyclingnews.com has no relation to my university employment. It is not served from university equipment and I maintain the pages in my spare time. It has nothing at all to do with my professional work. To try to attack me by ringing up my office or my superiors (Deans and higher) is malicious. If anyone takes this route again I will immediately close the whole site. That way everyone loses out except perhaps that I will regain some time. I fail to see why anyone would seek to harass my employer over the cycling pages. If you wish to talk to me then my mobile phone number is 0419 422 410.
(c) While I am always sorry about errors that I make I do not resile from my opinions. I do not think it is anti-Australian to carry criticism of Australian cycling on my pages. It is a free country still. My private consulting company own the pages and the equipment that serve them. I can say what I like within the limits of being responsible. I will exercise that right. Given the amount of data we deliver to the WWW the percentage of personal comment is very small indeed. Please don't email me to tell me I am a low-life who should leave the country. It just wastes bandwidth. If you want to make a contribution then follow my guidelines for contributors and I will publish your viewpoint.
(d) I don't want to overstate the amount of criticism. I am now getting around 580 thousand requests per week. Most emails I get are very supportive and appreciative of the information that I provide. A small number are not. I should add that the major critics are in fact Australian users of my site.
Kind regards, bill.
Senior Men: 1. Mark McCormack (Saturn) 1.00.44 2. Bart Bowen (Saturn) 3. Tim Johnson (CCB-Volkswagen) 0.06 4. Loren Hanson (Control Tech-Kona) 0.14 5. Dale Knapp (Control Tech-Kona) 0.15 6. Johnathan Sundt (Redline-Jog Mate) 0.34 7. Marc Gullickson (GT) 1.13 8. Curt Davis (Cannondale) 1.20 9. Peter Webber (Gary Fisher) 1.26 10. Amos Brumble (Eurotek) 2.22
The words of his rival may be found illuminating. Jalabert said: "I've been beaten by the strongest rider. When one loses in this way, one can have few regrets, I applaud my rival"
Bartoli said after winning LBL: "To become the number one ranked rider is one of my great objectives of the season. It will be very difficult because Jajŕ is one of those champions that wins from the first races in February to the Giro di Lombardia".
The campaign of the Northern Classics was good for Bartoli but in May and June, the Frenchman took back some terrain. Michele Bartoli passed the 2000 points mark as a result of his fine performance in the Giro d'Italia. His day in the maglia rosa (at Frascati) and the stage win at Schio helped the little lion.
At the beginning of July, before the Tour, Jalabert was dominating thanks to almost 3,000 points and Bartoli was going in reverse to third place, behind Swiss Alex Zülle, who a little later would be affected by the Festina scandal.
Michele restarted his climb up the rankings in August, while Jalabert lost points everywhere, particularly at the Vuelta, the World's ITT (which he won 1997) and Lombardia (which he won in 1997).
He won 400 points with his victory in the GP Suisse. He also earned 200 points by coming 3rd in the Worlds.
"It is a great satisfaction. To be number one in the world has a certain ring about it. The absolute best doesn't exist, because each champion has their moments in their own preferred terrain. The ranking system seems to indicate who are the most consistent riders. To be number one is a matter of pride for me".
The second consecutive World Cup and his fourth place at Lombardia gives Bartoli close to the 3,000 UCI points. But for now Bartoli is only thinking of vacation: "In the coming months, I will not go near a bicycle. This weekend I leave for New York and you can expect me to then head to the Caribbean, where is hot and peaceful".
About next season: "My schedule for next year will be decided over the Winter. Before I leave on vacation I will work out the details of my transfer to Mapei. I hope that it isn't a hassle. I would like to return to the Giro, after a campaign at the Classics, but I must conform with the demands of the team".
Olano also criticized the Banesto team: "At Banesto I have missed the dialogue. I, for example, have found out about signings through the press and I think that we have the right to find out who is signed. Another case is what was experienced this last Sunday by José María Jiménez, who found out at la Escalada a Montjuďc that José Miguel Echávarri has spent a few days in Italy hiring a new rider", said Olano.
Then Olano compared Banesto to his new director Manolo Saiz at ONCE: "I like it a lot because he talks to all the riders and also personally controls the training, not like at Banesto, where I, for example I have gone to the Pyrenees on my own and nobody found out. Manolo is like a father and the riders are his children". Even after the criticism, Olano said that he didn't regret the 2 years that he had spent at Banesto.
The Italian Federation had rolled two offences into one, a point not acceptable to the UCI.
The calendar shows that most of the races are in the Benelux. There are three new places (Surhuisterveen in the Netherlands and Ruddervoorde and Hoogstraten in Belgium). Only three races will be "abroad": Silvelle (Ita), Wetzikon (Swi) and Harnes (Fra).
Gevaert said: "If these places eventually stop hosting cyclecross then we will look to replace them with sites in Benelux." The organisation has contracted nine riders for the whole competition. They are - Mario de Clercq, Sven Nijs, Erwin Vervecken, Bart Wellens and Ben Berden from Belgium, Dutch riders Richard Groenendaal, Adrie van der Poel and newcomer Maarten Nijland and Daniele Pontoni (Ita).