He said on his release: "At first, i have to go home to rest. Soon we will conduct some tests to see whether I can rider the Vuelta."
He suffered a fractured right clavicle and fractures to a bone behind his right ear.
The Kersten family thus has some good news to go with the problems associated with Ben's older brother Josh, who is also a junior world Kilo champions. He was suspended for misuse of drugs by the Australian Insititute of Sport in May. His 3 months ban ends on August 20.
Planckaert was not selected for the Tour and he naturally assumed he would be starting in the Vuelta. But there is now virtually no chance that he will be starting in the line-up at Murcia. It appears that he will be having an early winter - a long holiday. The locals are speculating on the reasons for his snub by team management. The assessment is that his early signal that he would like to go to Cofidis has damaged his standing in Lotto. The same appears to apply to his teammate Chris Peers.
Planckaert explained: "There is still a chance that I will stay with Lotto. But maybe they are not interested in me anymore. Three weeks ago Ferdi van den Haute promised me that he would make me an offer. But I have not heard anything more of this since. I have not had contact with the Vandenbroucke since the end of June. The last message I received was that they did not want me to start in the Tour de France."
Vandenbroucke told the press: "The story is correct. At present I do not know when i will select Jo Planckaert to race in the coming months. I don't know which Kermesse races or whether he will start in the Vuelta. But he has my phone number. Why hasn't he called me? From my perspective, Jo is still with the team. But I will always put a question mark on a rider who I invited to race in Combloux and he responded with a doctor's statement saying he had tendinitis. But then in the meantime he is racing kermesses and criteriums."
Men, 90 kms: 1. Bart Voskamp (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 2.01.12 2. Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 3. Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 4. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Rabobank 5. John Den Braber (Ned) Axa Cycling Team Women: 1. Bosman (Rotterdam) 2. Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Rotterdam) 3. Debby Mansveld (Gasselternijveen)
A reaction from one un-named German professional (who is probably being paid less than the Italian): "But Zabel will not be faster..."
Dunne, who won the national criterium national championship in June, has recorded her finest season of her career. She outsprinted Cuba's Y. Perez Gonzalez down the final 200 meters of the 51-mile race to win and earn a berth on the U.S. World Road Cycling Championships. They each posted a time of 2:11:32, but Dunne was declared the winner. The 1999 World Road Cycling Championships will be held Oct. 4-10 in Verona and Treviso, Italy.
"I rode aggressively, and I felt like my sprint abilities would lead me to the win during the last 200 meters or so," said Dunne, who will compete at the EDS Elite National Track Cycling Championships in Trexlertown, Pa., August 10-14. "It was a cat and mouse game down the final sprints. Everyone was watching each other during the final portion of the race, and I knew I had the sprint speed to pull it out.
"I had been training hard, but I was extremely inspired by Alison Dunlap's gold medal in the mountain bike race Monday, as well as lance Armstrong's Tour de France victory," said Dunne. "This was a great course for my style of riding, and let me use my sprinting talents to there fullest."
Dunne also singled out the performances of teammates Elizabeth Emery (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.) in her pursuit of the gold medal. Emery, a gold medalist in the time trial, placed 13th, while Dunlap (gold medal winner in the mountain biking event) finished 18th.
In the men's road race, the United States streak of medals was snapped, as Canada's Brian Walton and Gord Fraser finished first and second. The top U.S. finisher was David Clinger (Woodland Hills, Calif.), who was edged for a bronze medal and placed fourth in the 121-plus mile race with a time of 4:48:18, one minute and 52 second behind the victor. Teammate Levi Leipheimer (Windsor, Calif.) finished in 23rd place, less than three minutes behind Walton.
"We had a tough battle the whole race, as we were targeted by many of our competitors," said Clinger, who captured the individual title at the Tour d'Toona Stage Race in Altoona, Pa. just prior to his arrival at the Pan American Games. "We knew we were a marked team, and that we would have a tough time today and I thought with a little help I could contend for a medal. I am very proud just to compete hard and represent the United States.
Overall, 20 of the 21 U.S. cyclists who competed at the Pan American Games earned at least one medal in the most successful performance in USA Cycling history. The United States garnered 11 gold, six silver and one bronze medal for a total of 18. The previous high for gold medals for USA Cycling was nine at the '95 Pan Am Games. The 14 medals earned by the United States in Argentina were also the previous team high.
"Our primary objective was to win as many races as we could, and we exceeded our expectations with our 11 gold medals," said USA Cycling Director of Athlete Performance Sean Petty. "Our secondary agenda was to earn as many Olympic qualifying positions as we could.
"I am excited about our overall team performance. Erin Veenstra (Colorado Springs, Colo.) really stepped up and controlled her two events (individual pursuit and points race). Marty (Nothstein) was very focused on winning his three gold medals at the Pan Am Games. Now, he can change his attention to the World Championships (October 20-24 in Berlin).
The gold medal performances by our two mountain bikers - Alison Dunlap and Steve Larsen - were also solid efforts, and I think we showed many people how complete our cycling program.
Everyone had momentum after Lance's win at the Tour de France," said Petty. "The team held its head higher and our performance in the first day with three medals in the time trial. We continued our success in all three disciplines (road, mountain bike and track) and really exhibited the hard work and talent that we have compiled with our national team."
Overall Results from all Pan American Games Events:
August 4 - Road: Men, Road Race, 203.3 kms: 1. Brian Walton (Can) 4.48.18 2. Gord Fraser (Can) 1.52 3. Pedro Pérez Márquez (Cub) 1.52 4. David Clinger (USA) 1.52 5. Luis Sepúlveda (Chi) 1.52 6. Jesús Zárate (Mex) 1.52 7. Rubert Marín (Col) 1.52 8. Marcio May (Bra) 1.52 9. Anton Villatoro (Gua) 1.52 10. Hernán Antolínez (Col) 1.52 11. Ussein Monsalve (Ven) 1.52 12. Manuel Guevara (Ven) 1.52 13. Federico Moreira (Uru) 1.52 14. Irving Aguilar (Mex) 1.52 15. Elliot Hubbard (Ber) 1.52 16. Oscar Villalobo (Arg) 1.52 17. Eric Vohlberg (Can) 1.58 18. Marlon Pérez (Col) 1.58 19. Cassio Freitas (Bra) 2.11 20. Czeslav Lukaszewicz (Can) 2.13 21. Rolando Basulto (Cub) 2.21 22. Victor Peña (Col) 2.29 24. Tomás Margalef (Uru) 15.00 25. Gonzalo Garrido Zenteno (Chi) 15.00 28. Guillermo Brunetta (Arg) 21.28 30. José Zeceña (Gua) 21.28 31. Erick Castaño (Ecu) 21.28 32. Alexis Méndez (Ven) 21.28 33. Luis Flores Cabral (Par) 21.28 34. Rubén Pegorín (Arg) 21.28 36. José Cruz Pérez (Rdm) 21.28 37. Miguel Pérez Laparra (Gua) 21.28 38. Herwin Méndez (Ven) 21.28 39. Pablo Viracocha (Ecu) 21.28 40. Carlos M. Hernández (Mex) 21.28 41. Juan Fiero (Chi) 21.28 42. Alejandro Mendoza (Mex) 21.28 44. Milton Wynants (Uru) 21.28 45. Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) 21.28 46. Wendy Cruz Martínez (Rdm) 21.28 47. Daniel Rogelin (Bra) 21.28 48. Gregorio Bare (Uru) 21.28 49. Iddis Tabares (Cub) 21.28 50. Eliecer Valdés (Cub) 21.28 Abandoned: Rudy Ispache (Gua) Enzo Cesario Farias (Chi) Carlos Faraj (Hon) Women, Road Race, 81.288 kms: 1. Karen Dunne (USA) 2.11.32 2. Y. Gonzalez Perez (Cub) 3. Janildes Silva (Bra) 4. Lyne Bessette (Can) 5. M. Molina de Ortiz (Gua) 2.14.14 6. F. Delgadillo Ruiz (Col) 2.14.40 .. 13. Elizabeth Emery (USA) 2.15.14 18. Alison Dunlap (USA) 2.15.16 August 2 - Road: Women, Mountain Time Trial, 4 laps for 40 kms: 1. Alison Dunlap (USA) 2.09.44 2. Alison Sydor (Can) 2.19.38 3. Jimena Florit-Juarez (Arg) 8.42.93 Started: 7 Finished: 7 Men, Mountain Time Trial, 5 laps for 50 kms: 1. Steve Larsen (USA) 2.19.21 2. Carl Swenson (USA) 1.09 3. Chris Sheppard (Can) 1.29 Started: 19 Finished: 14 July 31 - Track Men, Keirin Final: 1. Marty Nothstein (USA) 11.214 2. John Ganzalez (Col) 3. Mario Joseph (Tri) 4. Sebastian Alexandre (Arg) 5. Barry Forde (Bar) Men, Olympic Sprint Final: 1. USA 47.129 * 2. Cuba 47.899 3. Argentina 48.179 4. Canada 48.486 * Marcello Arrue, Johnny Barios, Martin Northstein Men Madison Final: 1. Gabriel Curuchet/Juan Curuchet (Arg) 14 points 2. Jame Carney/Brian Whitcomb (USA) 39 (-4) 3. Richard Rodriguez/L. Sepulveda Villar (Chi) 28 (-4) 4. M. Ubeto Aponte/T. Gil Martinez (Ven) 27 (-4) 5. Yiovani Lopez/John Garcia (Col) 23 (-4) 6. Luis Martinez/Fernando Avila (Mex) 8 (-4) Women, 25 kms Points Final: 1. Erin Veenstra (USA) 42 points 2. Belen Guerrero (Mex) 23 3. Maria Calle (Col) 22 4. D. Perez Serrano (Cub) 20 5. M. Kaila Vergara (Esa) 0 6. Mandy Poitras (Can) 5 (-1) July 30 - Track Men, Match Sprint Final: 1. Martin Northstein (USA) 2-0 2. Marcello Arrue (USA) 3. Julio Herrera (Cub) 2-0 4. Alexander Cornieles (Ven) 5. Barry Forde (Bar) 6. Sebastian Alexandre (Arg) Men, Points Race Final: 1. Marlon Perez Arango (Col) 24 points 2. Luis Martinez (Mex) 16 3. Milton Wyants (Uru) 15 4. Gabriel Curuchet (Arg) 29 (-1) 5. Brian Walton (Can) 27 (-1) 6. James Carney (USA) 21 (-1) 4,000m Team Pursuit Final: 1. USA 4.20.24 * 2. Cuba 4.27.65 3. Argentina 4.19.66 4. Chile 4.23.48 * (Derek Bouchard-Hall, Mariano Friedrick, Adam Laurent, Tommy Mulkey) Women, 3,000m Individual Pursuit Final: 1. Erin Veenstra (USA) 3.47.15 2. Maria Calle (Col) 3.51.30 3. Y. Gonzalez Perez (Cub) 3.51.94 4. Lyne Bessette (Can) 3.56.57 Women, Match Sprint Final: 1. Tanya Dubnicoff (Can) 2-0 2. Jennie Reed (USA) 3. Yumari Gonzalez (Cub) 4. Nancy Contreras (Mex) July 29 - Track Men 4000m Individual Pursuit Final: 1. Dylan Casey (USA) 4.29.513 * 2. Walter Perez (Arg) 4.31.642 3. Marlon Perez Arango (Col) 4.34.823 4. Brian Walton (Can) 4.37.271 * New Pan Am record, previous record 4.32.118 set by Casey in quarterfinal July 28 July 28 - Track Men, 1km Time Trial Final: 1. Julio Herrera (Cub) 1.04.487 * 2. Erin Hartwell (USA) 1.05.347 3. Doug Baron (Can) 1.05.508 4. Marcelo Ammendolia (Arg) 1.05.815 5. E. Cesario Farias (Chi) 1.06.572 6. Michael Phillips (Tri) 1.07.307 * New Pan Am record, previous record set in 1975 Men, 4,000m Individual Pursuit (qualifying): Dylan Casey (USA) set a Pan American Games record, qualifying with 4.32.118. He then defeated Brian Walton of Canada in the semi-final round to advance to Thursday's finals against Walter Perez of Argentina (the silver medalist at the 1995 PAG) Women, 500m Time Trial Final: 1. Tanya Dubnicoff (Can) 35.394 2. Nancy Contreras (Mex) 35.962 3. Yumari Gonzalez (Cub) 36.255 4. Daniela Larreal (Ven) 36.589 5. Jennie Reed (USA) 37.109 6. Daniela Donadio (Arg) 37.841Thanks to Rich Wanninger, USA Cycling
Concerned about trail erosion caused by knobby tires, the governing body of Skyline Park has voted against hosting next spring's World Cup mountain bike race and it may extend the ban for five years. The three-day event, which attracts the world's top mountain bikers and thousands of spectators, was held for the third consecutive year in late March.
Canceling the event could cost local businesses more than $500,000 in visitor spending and deprive Napa of free international publicity from television coverage, according to the Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau.
Muddy conditions at this year's race caused "extensive damage" to the park's trails, said Milan Pittman, president of the Skyline Park Citizens' Association. "We really need a rest." Promoter of the race, Gale Force Inc. of Redwood City, was required to protect sensitive areas and repair damage to trails after the race.
But Pittman said the impact this spring was too severe. "(Gale Force) paid for some (trail work), but there's no way they can completely restore the trails," Pittman said, citing deep gouges caused on race days and by the influx of riders practicing in the weeks before the event.
Gale Force officials said they were surprised by the park's decision and are now looking for alternate sites in the Napa Valley and in surrounding counties. Rick Sutton, Gale Force president, said that this year's race damaged about 600 to 800 yards of the five mile course. But Sutton said the eroded area is being restored and that "overall the trail system has really benefited from the race being there."
Sutton said Gale Force pays the park $20,000 each year to hold the event there and donates hundreds of hours of labor to fix damaged areas and improve other trails not used during the race.
"Gale Force has more than lived up to our end of the bargain," said Napan Mitch Wippern, Gale Force's operations manager. "There's a lot of work done that goes way beyond what the race (course) needed."
Bob Hillhouse, owner of Bicycle Works, said that "over the long run there's been a great working relationship between Skyline Park and (local) bicyclists." But he said some equestrian users of the park have been vocal opponents of bicycle use there.
In June, the park's 16-member board of directors nixed the World Cup by a vote of 10 to 2, Pittman said.
Pittman said he appoints eight of the members to the board and the remaining seven are elected by the Skyline Park Citizens Association, a group of about 25 to 30 that is open to anyone with an annual park pass. Two members of the board of directors are mountain bikers, said Pittman. Pittman would not reveal how he voted on the issue. But in October 1998 he supported the 1999 World Cup race in testimony before the board of supervisors, which approved Gale Force's application. Pittman then called the race a "good advertisement" for the 900-acre, privately-operated park, noting that "we're not anywhere near maximum use of this park."
Several local business people also endorsed the race at the October hearing, saying that thousands of spectators were a boon to local eateries, shops and hotels during a lull for tourism.
Daniel Howard, executive director of the Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau, said the event attracts at least $500,000 in direct spending in the county. Because the event is televised throughout Europe, Asia and South America, Napa also benefits from the equivalent of $2 million in international advertising, Howard said.
"It helps our economy in a very big way ... it puts Napa Valley on a worldwide scale," said Howard, adding that the recreational nature of the event meshes well with the bureau's strategy of attracting tourists to Napa for multi-night stays, rather than just an afternoon of wine tasting.
While disappointed that the event might disappear from Napa, Howard said he respected the park board's right to decide what events take place there and said the bureau would not lobby for them to reverse their vote.
"It's truly their decision," he said, "Hopefully we can find a win-win -- a place that wants (the race) and that will benefit the valley."
Pittman said the park's board tried to get Gale Force to change the event to a drier time when there would be less erosion. But Gale Force said it is unable to control the scheduling of the World Cup series, which includes races around the globe. Wippern said Gale Force has tried to re-route the course every year to avoid areas susceptible to damage.
A trail survey conducted after the 1998 event by park association members and others found that damage was "minimal" and that most problems "occurred from the race spectators and not the cyclists."
The ban on the World Cup "isn't necessarily permanent," Pittman said, but the "feeling on the board" was that rehabilitation of the trails would require halting the event up to five years.
Sutton would not disclose the location of other possible sites for the race. "If someone in the community or the city of Napa invited us, we'd be happy to approach (Skyline) again," said Sutton. "We don't hold a grudge. We'd love to find a solution."
Besides races for professionals on Saturday and Sunday, the World Cup includes an amateur day on Friday and this year held various races in downtown Napa on Thursday evening.