News for December 15, 1999
Tour of Germany 2000 By Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent No less than 82 towns have been considered as stage starts and finishes for the Deutschland Tour (Tour of Germany) next year. Last year the race went from the old capital Berlin to Bonn, where the Federal Republic of Germany had its capital during the years of division. This year the symbolic route is reversed and Berlin will probably be the finishing city in the future. The exact routes are still to be decided. Race manager Roland Hofer and the German cycling union vice-resident, Olaf Ludwig will, in a couple of days travel the route by car to make the final preparations for the 1200 km Tour. The exact route will be decided next spring when all authorities have had their say. The race starts with two relatively flat "Zabel" stages, while the third stage from Pforzheim to Bad Dürrheim, 255 kms through the Schwarzwald will be the "Königsetappe" (King stage) of the race. The following shorter return stage of 155 kms to Stuttgart and the stage after to Ansbach will be fairly flat and will likely have no impact on the GC. The next day will have two stages: the first ending in the little town of Herzogenaurach, head quarters for Adidas, while the afternoon will consist of a flattish 35 kms ITT. The last stage starts with a flight from Nürnberg to Berlin. The starting place for the stage is yet to be decided, but some part of the old "Democratic Republic" is expected to be included. It is after all here that Jan Ullrich, Erik Zabel and most of the other German aces started racing. The finish will be on the Kurfürstendamm - the Champs Elysée of Berlin, in the same fashion as in the French model race. 18 to 20 teams, with eight riders in each will participate, and the aim is to get eleven or twelve first division teams and the rest from second division. Of them Nürnberger, Gerolsteiner and Team Cologne are sure to start. This time there will be a fourth jersey for the best younger rider, the others being leader, KOM and points. "Herzogenaurach and Schwarzwald sound good to me," said Jan Ullrich to TV Sat1. Also Erik Zabel, who had four second places last year, is looking forward to the race. The Berlin born sprinter would sure like to win the last stage, if none other, at home on " Ku'damm". The future of the Tour, that came back after 17 years this spring, is still not ensured. The organizers are still looking for sponsors for the 2001 tour. A good German performance, and a better weather than last time when Ullrich, Bartoli and several others were injured, in 2000 would probably help. The stages with approximate distances: Stage 1 - May 26: Bonn - Wiesbaden, 180 kms Stage 2 - May 27: Wiesbaden - Pforzheim, 220 kms Stage 3 - May 28: Pforzheim - Bad Dürrheim, 255 kms Stage 4 - May 29: Bad Dürrheim - Stuttgart, 154 kms Stage 5 - May 30: Stuttgart - Ansbach, 152 kms Stage 6 - May 31: Ansbach - Herzogenaurach, 100 kms Stage 7 - May 31: Herzogenaurach, ITT 35 kms Stage 8 - June 1: Berlin area - Berlin, 130 kms Tougher in French Switzerland: The 54th Tour de Romandie in the French speaking part of Switzerland is still classified as Hors Categorie, the step right under the grand tours, and is a traditional dress rehearsal for the Giro. It will start in a tougher manner than any of the "grands": After the 6.5 km prologue, the first stage tackles the Simplon pass which is the highest point of the tour. The day after the ITT in Orbe will be the highlight with 160 kms over the Col des Mosses (1440 m), the Col de la Croix (1,778 m) and a mountain top finish at Leysin. The distances of the race sum to 8,491 meters of climbing and 821.5 kms of road to cover. The stages of the 54th Tour de Romandie: Prologue - May 2: Locarno - Locarno, 6.5 kms Stage 1 - May 3: Locarno - Le Bouveret, 224.3 kms Stage 2 - May 4: Montreux - Chaux-Fonds, 162.1 kms Stage 3a - May 5: Neuchatel - Orbe, 66.6 kms Stage 3b - May 5: Orbe - Orbe, ITT 24.2 kms Stage 4 - May 6: Orbe - Leysin, 160.0 kms Stage 5 - May 7: Aigle - Genf, 177.8 kms New qualification for the World's There will be new rules for qualification to the World Championships road race starting from next year. 30 nations are guaranteed places in the field, and there will be no personal invitations for riders from the UCI list as it has been. All nations ranked 30th or higher will participate, with the following numbers in the field: Ranked 1-10 -12 starters There is also a chance for other nations to qualify. One rider among the top 400 qualifies their nation for one rider in the World's peloton. Two or more riders from an under-30 nation qualifies their nation for two riders in the World's. Nations with less than three riders in the whole UCI list will not be considered (Sorry, Tim Jones of Zimbabwe) Order among the women Teams in women's international events are often composed for the occasion. This will be possible also in the future but with more regulations. The following types of teams will be allowed: Trade Teams registered with the UCI: They may have two guest riders, except in World Cup races. Their ordinary trade team may not participate in the same event. Mixed teams consisting solely of riders who are members of different Trade Teams which are not taking part in the event. National teams consisting of riders of the same nationality wearing the national jersey. Members of a TT may ride for a national team if allowed by their TT if the TT is not riding the event. Federation teams composed of non-members of trade teams who hold licenses issued by the same federation. Club teams composed of riders who are members of the same club. Members of a trade team are not allowed. Regional teams composed of riders from the same region who are not members of a Trade Team. In the World Cup clubs, regional teams and federation teams from the organizing country will be allowed to ride World Cup events.
Merckx number one The Spanish sports paper "Diario AS" asked 25 Spanish ex-riders and sport directors to vote for the greatest cyclist of the century. Only one of them, current national selector Paco Antequera, had Miguel Indurain as number one, two ranked Fausto Coppi on top, while the remaining 21 voted for Eddy Merckx. The jury ranked ten riders each and 35 riders got points. Here's the top ten: 1. Eddy Merckx (Bel) 2. Miguel Indurain (Spa) 3. Bernard Hinault (Fra) 4. Fausto Coppi (Ita) 5. Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 6. Gino Bartali (Ita) 7. Luis Ocaña (Spa) 8. Felice Gimondi (Ita) 9. Greg Lemond (Usa) 10. Alfredo Binda (Ita) In another ranking, Merckx was voted "most popular Belgian of the age": 1 Eddy Merckx 2 King Boudewijn (former king of Belgium) 3 Jacques Brel (singer) |