From the Sunday Territorian (March 21) which is published in Darwin (up in the north of Australia) we find the headline "Croc attacks man on bike" and the byline "Tourist flees for life in flood terror"
A terrified cyclist has escaped with his life after a crocodile lunged at him on a flooded road near Kakadu. Bark Hut Inn owner Colin Fink said the man, a tourist in his early 30's, rushed into his roadhouse on Thursday saying "a croc had had a go at him". Mr Fink said the man had been shaking and upset after he came within centimeteres of a large croc lurking at the Wildman river Crossing. He said " Crocodiles are very territorial and this one has been watching all this trffic rushing by and finally had a go at the bike, because it was smaller. It is possible the croc was just trying to cross the road". Mr Fink said the mystery rider had a drink and then continued on to Darwin.
The winner Andrei Tchmil was one rider who was not satisfied with the way the tests were performed. He said: "The bottles were left open. Whereas in normal urine testing for drugs they are sealed before leaving the drug control centre."
32 riders, including Tchmil, were testing. The tests began at 4.45 in their hotels and were completed by around 6.15. The samples were taken to Como for testing and the results arrived back in Milan only a few minutes after the start of the race. The media manager for the UCI Enrico Carpani said that the traffic on the roads was heavy and delayed the return of the blood test results. No rider was suspended.
An official communique from the UCI apologised for the conduct of the tests. UCI President Heinz Verbruggen admitted today that is was inappropiate to do the tests that early and said there would be changes in the timing of the tests. He said "Since there were 32 blood tests that had to be administered and the signing in time was from 7:30 to 8:40 am, the people in charge had to start at 4:35 am ... but ... maybe they could have called less riders or call them later, for the controls." Verbruggen will send a letter to all the athletes that were affected, apologizing for the circumstances, but defending the behavior of the people doing the tests, which were run under the technical requirements and under the supervision of two UCI commissaires.
Leblanc said that: "Thirty teams have already committed to the norms including the Spanish teams ONCE-Deutsche Bank, Banesto, Vitalicio Seguros, Kelme-Costa Blanca and Euskatel-Euskadi.
1. Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Rabobank 2. Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 3. John den Braber (Ned) Axa 4. Matthe Pronk (Ned) Rabobank 5. Wolfgang Oschwald (Ger) Hohenfelder 6. Marcel Alma (Ger) Novon-RTVZ 7. Martin Henskes (Ger) Assen Roden 8. Rik Elfrink (Ned) P&O Löwik 9. Rene Post (Ned) Axa 10. Antoine de Haan (Ger) Hohenfelder Started: 300 Finished: 28
A Grade were undeterred by a bit of rain, with a $1000 prize list for the March points series the motivation was high and the pressure constant. Repeated attacks from a smallish but high quality field were brought back time and again. At ¾ distance Matt Tuck motored off the front with young law student Chris Carr tight on his wheel, the bunch appeared unsure as to the strength of the escapees, a moments hesitation was all it took for the pair to flee. With under five laps remaining "Tucky" backed off Carr’s wheel as he slid through a corner, Carr bolted and "Tucky" went back to the bunch. With Tighello and Davidson watching each other for the overall Carr slipped out off sight and won his first A grade race by a good 200 metres. 9 riders took the B Grade race apart, the sprint occurred within sight of the tail of the chasing bunch. 16 year old Adam Bonney took on the group out of the last corner and held the lead to the end. Marcus Sarto looked like a strong threat in the gutter but a deft throw from the track experienced Bonney sealed the win.
The field of 60 in C Grade kept a quick tempo throughout. Any attempt at escape was promptly shut down, the field sprinted home largely intact. A smaller field in D Grade, many veterans absent with the threat of rain. The tempo set caused few difficulty and the bunch fought out a clean sprint.
A Grade: 1. Chris Carr 2. Robert Tighello 3. Brad Davidson (VIS) 4. Danny Hollingworth 4. S Hawke Started: 28 A Grade Standings after Race 3: 1. Robert Tighello 11 points 2. Brad Davidson 7 3. Chris Carr 5 4. Leigh Egan 5 5. P. Kenny 2 6. Danny Hollingworth 1 7. Murray Fenwick 1 8. James Taylor 1 B Grade: 1. Adam Bonney 2. Marcus Sarto 3. Andrew Miller 4. David Sturt Started: 39 C Grade: 1. G. Hawke 2. S. Rush 3. S. Walker 4. J. Lobascher Started: 60 D Grade: 1. M. Drapac 2. D. Fernando 3. D. Pearce Started: 25