News for December 18, 1999
VDB too expensive? By Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent Frank Vandenbroucke will not be joining the new Italian first division team, Fassa Bartolo according to Belgian press. The problem was, curiously enough, "high financial demands" from the 25 year old Belgian. "He would have suited our team perfectly. But there are limits that I cannot and will not pass," said top Italian sports director Giancarlo Ferretti to Het Nieuwsblad yesterday. It's the same problem that kept VDB out of ONCE: "Frank would have cost more than Olano and Jalabert combined. We could not afford that," ONCE's sports director Manolo Saiz told Het Laatste Nieuws. So far, the top Spanish team and one of the top Italian teams have not been prepared to acquiesce to Frank's demands. Where to next? Rabobank have not expressed any interest, and it is doubtful that Lotto would have the cash or the desire to take him. Farm Frites perhaps? He does have a few options, but has had a tendency to burn a few of them.
USA World cyclocross squad The USA squad for Cyclo Cross World Championships was announced earlier today. The USA won its first medals at the World's for 50 years last year, with Tim Johnson's third in the U23 men's category and Matt Kelly's gold in the juniors. This year Johnson will be supported by Supercup winner, Bart Bowen, National cyclocross champion, Marc Gullickson (runner up in the Supercup), Damon Kluck (winner of the espoirs category in the Supercup) and Alex Candelario (dual collegiate champion). The USA's best placing in the Elites last year (and best ever) was Dale Knapp's 23rd. The women's squad will be led by seasoned campaigner, Alison Dunlap. Dunlap is a top class 'crosser, winning the national championship three times, and is also 2nd in the world rankings for mountain biking. She will be ably supported by the top two Supercup performers, Ann Grande and Carmen Richardson, as well as Shari Kain and Ruthie Matthes. This is the first time that there has been a World Cyclocross Championship for women. Justin Thompson (winner Supercup GC, 2nd Nationals) will form a key part of the junior squad, along with Jed Sheckler in the espoirs division. The following riders will compete in St. Michielsgestel in Holland on January 29-30 next year: Elite men Bart Bowen, Saturn, Albuquerque, N.M. Justin Robinson, VooDoo/Real Wheels, Santa Cruz, Calif. Marc Gullickson, Voo Doo/Boulder/Denver Courier, Boulder, Colo. Tim Johnson, CCB Volkswagen/Pedros/Ind. Fabrication, Middleton, Mass. Damon Kluck, Voo Doo/Real Wheels, Boulder, Colo. Elite women Alison Dunlap, Team GT, Colorado Springs, Colo. Ann Grande, Redline, Seattle, Wash. Shari Kain, RLX Polo Sport, San Jose, Calif. Ruthie Matthes, Trek/Volkswagen, Durango, Colo. Carmen Richardson, Colorado Springs, Colo. U 23 men Andy Jacques-Mayne, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. Benjamin Jacques-Mayne, The Spokesman, Berkeley, Calif. Jed Sheckler, The Valley/GT-NW, Olympia, Wash. Justin Spinelli, SRT/Cannondale, Nashua, N.H. Jackson Stewart, LGBRC/Steelman, Los Gatos, Calif. Junior men Josh Anthony, Essex County Velo, Beverly, Mass. Walker Ferguson, Team Devo, Norwood, Colo. Alan Obye, Team Grimace, Mendon, Vt. Toby Swanson, Rad Racing NW, Puyallup, Wash. Justin Thompson, Team Devo, Avondale, Pa. VDB not the only one Karsten Längerich, team and contracts expert at Danish website Cyclingworld, reports that a number of fairly good cyclists are still without contracts. Here's a list with current ranking, last team, age, points and some merits: 3. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Cofidis, 25 1818 pts 194. Michael Andersson (Swe) Acceptcard, 32 247 (2nd World Championships ITT) 201. Claus-Michael Møller (Den) TVM, 31 240 (4th in Vuelta a Andalucia & Vuelta a Murcia but then banned for doping) 283. Mario Traversoni (Ita) Saeco, 27 155 290. Andreas Kappes (Ger) Agro Adler, 34 150 (Excellent six day racer) 305. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) TVM, 31 137 383. Mirko Puglioli (Ita) Amore&Vita, 26 98 1084. Jimmi Madsen (Den) Acceptcard, 30 13 (Ranked no 1 among six day racers) Team Volvo/Cannondale, 2000 The highest ranked mountain bike team in the world, Volvo Cannondale has finalised its roster for the year 2000. The team had a fairly good year in 1999, where it won the UCI team titles in the downhill, cross-country and slalom, as well as the men's and women's World Cup cross-country Series, the women's World Cup downhill series, and the women's Downhill World Championships. They have added New Zealander Kashi Leuchs to their cross-country squad (winner of the Deer Valley round of last year's NORBA Series). He will join Australian Cadel Evans, Christoph Sauser (Switzerland), and American Tinker Juarez. The women's cross-country team will remain the seam, with Canadian Alison Sydor, Italian Annabella Stropparo and Russian Alla Epifanova. In their downhill squad, seven-time World Champion Anne-Caroline Chausson will return to lead the team. Chausson, who won the 1999 World Cup Series title along with the World Championships, won seven of the eight events in the Downhill Series this year. 1999 NORBA Dual-Slalom Champion Brian Lopes will return to defend his title in 2000, with French teammate Cedric Gracia and Swedish racer Johan Engstrom joining him. Gracia captured the final NORBA downhill event on the Mount Snow's course last summer, and finished third in the year-long World Cup Downhill Series. 2000 Volvo/Cannondale Roster: Downhill Men: Cedric Gracia (France) Brian Lopes (USA) J-han Engstrom (Swe) Downhill Women: Anne-Caroline Chausson (France) Cross-Country Men: Cadel Evans (Australia) Kashi Leuchs (New Zealand) Tinker Juarez (USA) Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) Cross-country Women: Annabella Stropparo (Italy) Alla Epifanova (Russia) Alison Sydor (Canada) Contracts Courtesy of Cycling4all Stayer specialists Daniel Potthoff (Ger) and Hans-Kurt Brand (Swi) are reported to have signed for Hohenfelder Concorde. There will be two new teams from the Czech republic when two amateur clubs turn GS III. The clubs are PSK Unit Expert and JOKO-Velamos, new names will depend on sponsors. The riders for PSK Unit Expert: Radek Dite, Petr Herman, Michal Kalenda, Tomas Lejska, Tomas Pelanek , Ondrej Sosenka, Lubor Tesar and from Wustenrot: Miloslav Kejval and Lubos Kejval. All riders are from the Czech Republic. Australian Matthew Tuck, Italian Fabio Testi and Poles Andrzej Jagielowicz and Marcin Sapa have signed for new Polish team Atlas-Lukullus-Ambra
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