News for December 11, 1999

Cipo for Australian one-day race?

The organisers of the Melbourne - Sorrento one day race are negotiating to bring Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini to Australia in early January to compete in the 175 km road race. Race promoter John Trevorrow told cyclingnews that discussions were well advanced, with Melbourne's Crown Casino prepared to underwrite his appearance as part of "Italian Week", a festival to be held in Melbourne celebrating Italian culture.

The Melbourne - Sorrento is aiming to become a future World Cup event and has already attracted many top Australian riders. The 175 km race will leave the Crown Casino in the centre of Melbourne and pass along the coastline to the Mornington Peninsula, Arthur's Seat and Flinders to finish at Sorrento. There is also a 95 km women's event and the organisers are planning a "breakfast with the stars" prior to departure.

Trevorrow said Crown Casino "were prepared to pay the dollars (for Cipollini's appearance) - it's out of our price range". The race promoter has recently formed a new joint venture company called Flying Start Cycling in partnership with leading sports agent Ricky Nixon, who manages top Australian Football League players such as James Hird and Wayne Carey (AFL is the dominant football code in Victoria).

If Cipollini does decide to visit Australia, it's also likely he will take part in the final two stages of the Bay Series, a round of criteriums held in and around Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria. Both the one-day event and the criterium series are being sponsored by Skilled Engineering. Cipo's appearance will certainly boost interest in the 175km road race, which already features prize money of AUS$25,000, although Trevorrow said the prize money in itself was hardly enough to attract the top sprinter.

Coming six days after the Melbourne - Sorrento race is the Tour Down Under, a stage race organised in South Australia that has also attracted top European teams. "He said he wasn't going to ride Down Under", Trevorrow added.

When it comes to organising sporting events, there is fierce rivalry between Victoria and South Australia, with the two Australian States trying to outdo each other with bigger names (and bigger budgets). In many ways, the government-supported Tour Down Under is South Australia's answer to Victoria's hosting of the Formula One Grand Prix, previously held in SA. It's expected that Cipollini will make a decision over the next couple of days.

Last year, the promoters of the Tour Down Under were also claiming that Cipollini would be taking part in the stage race, but the Italian did not appear despite the rider's name being associated with the race until the day before it started, when the organisers were forced to admit he would not be taking part.

Track chat - French sprinters have safety in numbers

With the French rider Arnaud Tournant dominating the international track season, culminating with three gold medals at the Oceania Games being held in Sydney this week, other teams have been left wondering how to beat the all-conquering French team.

In some events, there are not even silver and bronze medals on offer, as the French sometimes make a clean sweep of major international events. Anthony Peden, speaking trackside at the Oceania Games immediately following his defeat in the sprint final against resurgent Australian sprinter Gary Niewand, said the country's dominance was due to "strength in numbers".

"Every time they go out on the track for any race it's like a semi final for them. They feed off each other's drive and if one rider is not going so well, there's another right behind him." He believed that the competitive team spirit was a motivating factor, something like the Australian team during the mid-90s, of which he was a member.

The sprinter, also known as "the weapon", has sinced changed citizenship and now competes for New Zealand. This year he took a silver in the keirin at the World Track Championships and is looking forward to Sydney 2000.

At the Oceania Games, he and former team mate Niewand battled it out for the gold in the Oceania mens sprint final (a separate division to the international division, won by Tournant). Both riders enjoyed the competition and were joking after a tense final race, where Peden admitted Niewand "took him to school", with the Australian coming underneath him and out-accelerating on the final straight.

Peden revealed that in the their days when they trained together, he and Niewand became known as the "Woolworths boys" among other riders. "You know what they say about Woolworths (the supermarket chain) - always fresh". Training rides would mainly consist of stopping at a cafe for a coffee and donut, and then riding home. At the Oceania Games, Niewand said that during his comeback training, most hard work was done in the gym, with riding on the road only for "recovery and enjoyment".