Fourteen riders has been signed so far and more will be contracted in the next few days. From the Pro ranks they have signed Inaki Ayarzaguena Urkidi (Spa, from Euskaltel), Anton Chantyr (Rus, from Lokosphinx), Kiko Garcia Arnandis (Spa, from ONCE), Edouard Gritsoun (Rus, from Lokosphinx), Juan Llaneras Rosello (Spa, from US Postal), Tomas Valls Mata (Spa, from Troiamarisco). They have also signed the following Spanish neo-pro's: Josep Jufre Pou, Eloy Coca Cabestany, Joan Horrach Ripoll, Xavier Llamas Boza, Igor Miner Aldasoro, Iker Camano Ortuzar, Juan Martinez del Amo and Carlos Torrent Tarres. It is very likely that Viatcheslav Ekimov who was riding with US Postal will also sign with the team.
There have been news in the last few days that Retevisión will not sponsor the team and that they are looking into new options like Telepizza or Race. But the first alternative will be confirmed today.
* US Postal have signed US national time trial and pursuit champion Dylan Casey for the 1999 season. Casey rode for Shaklee in 1998 and will now taste the European pro races. He will combine US domestic racing with some European races and is scheduled to ride the Vuelta a España in September next year. US Postal have also signed Kevin Livingston (from Cofidis), and New Zealand rider Julian Dean (from Mercury). Dean won the USPro Criterium this year at Illinois. The final team is yet to be announced.
* Asics-CGA - Ivan Basso (Ita-Neo) will join the team in May and will debut in the Bicicleta Vasca in Spain
* Cantina Tollo - Neo-pro Danilo di Luca (Ita) will ride for Emanuele Bombini in Cantina Tollo in 1999 before moving over with Bombini in 2000 with the new Gewiss team
* La Française des Jeux - Festina rider Christophe Bassons (Fra) has signed a contract for 1999.
This is the 4th edition of the race and it is a mass participation event although the field is limited to 3,000 starters.
Most Victories in 1998: 1. Erik Zabel 19 2. Marcel Wust 17 3. Jann Kirsipuu 16 4. Mario Cipollini 15 4. Tom Steels 15 6. Jeroen Blijlevens 14 6. Daniele Hondo 14 6. Marco Pantani 14 9. Laurent Jalabert 13 10. Jan Svorada 10 10. Franck Vandenbroucke 10 10. Michele Bartoli 10 10. Abraham Olano 10 Most Victories in a Single Year: 1. Eddy Merckx 53 (1971) 1. Freddie Maertens 53 (1977) 3. Freddie Maertens 52 (1976) 4. Eddy Merckx 51 (1970) 5. Eddy Merckx 50 (1972) 5. Eddy Merckx 50 (1973) Most Victories Ever: 1. Eddy Merckx (Bel) 436 2. Rik van Looy (Bel) 379 3. Francesco Moser (Ita) 275 4. Rik van Steenbergen (Bel) 273 5. Roger de Vlaeminck (Bel) 256 .. 9 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 208
Effect of an Oral Bovine Colostrum Supplement on Running Performance by J.D. Buckley, M.J. Abbott, S. Martin, G. D. Brinkworth, P.B.D. Whyte Centre for Research in Education and Sports Science, University of South Australia.
Bovine colostrum is secreted by cows during the first few days after calving and is a rich source of bioactive components, including growth factors. Oral supplementation with a whey fraction of bovine colostrum has been shown to significantly increase serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) concentrations with no effect on vertical jump performance (Mero et. al., 1997). The present study employed a double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel, randomised design to determine the effect of supplementation with a low fat, low lactose, concentrated bovine colostrum protein powder (intact(tm), NorthField Laboratories Pty Ltd) on plasma IGF-1 concentrations and endurance running performance.
After an initial familiarisation period in the two weeks prior to commencement, 39 males, aged 18-35 years, completed an 8 week running program (3 x 45 minutes/week at lactate threshold) whilst consuming 60 g/day of intact(tm) bovine colostrum (n=23, peak !Unexpected End of Expression.O2 53.5 ± 1.1 ml·kg-1·min-1) or whey protein (n=16, peak !Unexpected End of Expression.O2 54.2 ± 1.7 ml·kg-1·min-1). All subjects followed dietary guidelines provided by the researchers and kept food diaries throughout the study period for subsequent dietary analysis. Subjects completed 2 incremental treadmill running tests to exhaustion (10 km/hr, incremented 1% grade every 3 min) separated by 20 minutes of recovery at weeks 0, 4 and 8.
There were no differences in plasma IGF-1 concentrations between the groups at week 0 (colostrum 231.1 ± 10.7 ng/ml, placebo 221.0 ± 13.3 ng/ml; P=0.37). Plasma IGF-1 concentrations did not change in either group during the study period (P=0.90). There were no differences in the distance covered (m) or work done (kJ; vertical distance covered x body mass x 9.81 m/s2) during the first (colostrum 4649 ± 238 m, 155.8 ± 15.7 kJ; placebo 4464 ± 320 m, 140.2 ± 19.6 kJ; P>0.46) or the second (colostrum 4044 ± 357 m, 120.6 ± 21.3 kJ; placebo 3942 ± 388 m, 110.7 ± 21.1 kJ; P>0.91) treadmill runs at week 0. Distance covered and work done during the first treadmill run increased in both groups during the study period (P<0.01), but at similar rates (P>0.69). During the second treadmill run both groups exhibited similar increases in the distance covered and work done from weeks 0-4 (P>0.20) but, from weeks 4-8 the intact(tm) colostrum group continued to improve whilst the performance of the placebo group plateaued, such that by week 8 the colostrum group ran further (colostrum 4662 ± 251 m, placebo 4237 ± 323 m; P=0.04) and did more work than the placebo group (colostrum 150.7 ± 17.1 kJ, placebo 124.2 ± 18.9 kJ; P=0.03). The TEM for running time (which equates to distance covered and work done) was 2%. There were no differences in dietary intakes between the two groups. These results indicate that oral supplementation with intact(tm) bovine colostrum improves the ability to perform a second bout of maximal exercise following a relatively short period of recovery from a prior bout of maximal exercise.
Reference:
Mero, A., Miikkulainen, H., Riski, J., Pakkanen, R., Aalto, J., Takala, T. (1997). Effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on serum IGF-1, IgG, hormone and saliva IgA during training. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(4):1144-1151.
Conclusion: It is performance enhancing, which would seem to be the primary motivation for using it rather than any other properties it might have.