News for November 16, 1999

Guidi saves FdJ from division II

By Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent

Fabrizio Guidi will go from Polti to La Française des Jeux, taking enough points with him to keep FdJ in the first division, probably pushing Credit Agricole to second.

The 27 year old Italian made his debut in 1995 and has won stages in the Giro and the Vuelta thanks to his good sprinting abilities. Guidi is the team's last new signing, and the line up for 2000 is:

Sandy Casar, Jimmy Casper, Nicolas Fritsch, Frédéric Guesdon, Stéphane Heulot, Xavier Jan, Yvon Ledanois, Emmanuel Magnien, Christophe Mengin, Jean-Patrick Nazon, Franck Perque, Cyril Saugrain, Jean-Michel Tessier and Nicolas Vogondy (all Fra), Patrick D'Hondt (Bel), Fabrizio Guidi (Ita), Grzegorz Gwiazdowski (Pol), Frank Høj and Lars Michaelsen (Den), Brad McGee (Aus), Sven Montgomery and Daniel Schnider (Swi)

Rolf Sørensen under EPO suspicion

According to Danish public service TV station DR, Rolf Sørensen had a haematocrit level of 51.8 per cent when he won Liége-Bastogne-Liége eight years ago. He was then riding for the Italian team Carrera. The team's doctor at that time, Giovanni Grazzi, is among those that the public prosecutor of Ferrara is investigating. The DR sports office claims to have documents showing that Rolf Sørensen's haematocrit level was 51.8 per cent after the race.

Dr Grazzi then worked as an assistant to professor Francesco Conconi, leader of the Institute for Sports Medicine in the Italian Olympic committee. He is now one of the main suspects in the case.

Rolf Sørensen denied on TV that he has used EPO: "I cannot take a position on this until I get to know anything or see anything," he said, pointing out that these things happened eight years ago.

According to DR Sports, Rolf Sørensen will be heard by Italian authorities before the end of this year.

Amore & Vita

The Italian/British squad Amore & Vita is one of the few professional teams that don't pay their all their riders a standard wage. The second division team is supported by the Vatican and one of its key messages is the "right to life". The team is more a starting point for aspiring professionals to make a name for themselves - Michele Bartoli, Mario Cipollini, and Andrea Tafi have all come through its ranks. The team is grouped into Italian and British sections and contains a large number of riders. Full details will be available soon in our "teams 2000" page.

According to BritProNews, next year's British contingent will be made up of the following: Chris King, Dan Moore, Nick Tilling, Grant Bayton, Matt Watch, Dylan Williams, Lee Davis and Matt Rogers. Harry Lodge has confirmed he will be riding next season as part of the Italian squad, while Rob Lyne is not sure whether he will ride for the Italian or English squads. As mentioned in Sunday's news, Michele Bartoli's younger brother, Mauro will be riding for the team.

Vitalicio Seguros

Spanish team Vitalicio Seguros has had an excellent year, climaxing with the World Championship title for Oscar Freire. Also there was Angel Casero taking the national title, an excellent performance from Igor González de Galdeano in the Vuelta ending second overall, and the team climbed from 18th to 14th in the rankings, leaving Kelme behind.

However, at the end of the season none of these champions were left for next year. Also, Daniel Clavero left for Polti and the two Russians Zintchenko and Smetanine are going to Portuguese teams, while Buenahora goes "home" to Colombian Nectar Selle Italia. Of Vitalicio Seguros' ten top ranked riders only four remain.

One main problem is that the sponsor's contract is running out after next season, and there's no message about the future. What remains is a team with the Galdeano brothers, Santiago Blanco, Juan Carlos Domínguez and Colombian Iván Parra, and they have got Perdiguero from ONCE. The team will be smaller, but on the other hand Igor González de Galdeano will be the undisputed leader concentrating on stage races.

The team:

José L. Aguado Rebollo (from ONCE), Santiago Blanco Gil, Francisco J. Cerezo Perales, Juan C. Dominguez, Francisco T. Garcia Rodriguez, David Garcia Marquina, Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Inigo Gonzalez de Heredia, Pedro Horrillo Munoz, Prudencio Indurain Larraya, Ernesto Manchon Sanchez, Miguel A. Martin Perdiguero (from ONCE), Ramon Medina Esparza, Juan M. Mercado Martin, Luis Perez Rodriguez (from ONCE), Gines Salmeron Martinez and Juan C. Vicario Barbera (from Fuenlabrada), all from Spain. Luis Oran Castaneda (neo), Ivan R. Parra Pinto and Victor H. Pena Grisales from Colombia, Elio Aggiano (Italy) and finally Czech Jan Hruska from Wüstenrot.