News for November 25, 1999La Grand boucle féminine to start in Milan Next year's edition of La Grand boucle féminine will run from the 6th to the 20th of August, with the start in Milan, Italy, according to director Pierre Boué. The first day will be split into two stages - a 4.5 km team time trial in Milan's centre, followed by a 140 km road stage in the afternoon from Milan to the seaside town of Varazze. Following this, the race will return to France. The Tour will contain two individual time trials, total distance of 50 kms, and three mountain top finishes. There will be no Alps, but the race will take in the Pyrenees, the Massif Central and the Vosges, said Mr Boué. Full details will be revealed next April. The director of the race also emphasised his position on drugs and applauded the Italian Federation for their efforts in combating doping. The French and Italian Federations are leading the fight with more stringent testing, putting pressure on the UCI to follow their example. "Our organization remains a reference point in the field of prevention and penalties," said Mr Boué, adding that any cyclist testing positive during Le Grand boucle féminine would be excluded from the race for five years.
Zülle refuses to confront Keil By Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent Alex Zülle refused to come to a confrontation on Wednesday morning with Patrick Keil, at the French Investigation justice office in Lille, according to AFP. Keil wanted to hear from him about the role played by ONCE doctor Nicolas Terrados in the "systematic use" of drugs that Zülle claimed had taken place in Zülle's years at ONCE, 1990-1997. However, Zülle had had "enough of painful experiences" in the French judicial system according to his personal manager Marc Biver. It should be remembered that it was Zülle's statements against ONCE that made the French authorities open an investigation of the ONCE team doctor Terrados. On Wednesday morning, Zülle was supposed to take part in a confrontation with Dr Terrados who still works for ONCE. "Alex Zülle cannot see any reason to go to France," said manager Biver early Wednesday morning. "If the judge would like to see him he should go the official way to the Swiss authorities and hold the questioning in Switzerland." Zülle is right now in a training break and "would not like to, if possible, have anything to do with the French judicial authorities," according to Biver. Zülle was arrested during the Festina scandal overnight on the 23rd to 24th of July 1998 in Lyon. The "Festina investigator" judge Keil has had a case against ONCE team doctor Nicolas Terrados since 1998. The strict anti-doping laws of 1989 also place responsibility on those that help sportsmen to take drugs, as well as the athletes themselves. Terrados' lawyer Bernard Gorny says that the confrontation with Zülle was to be held on Terrados' request as Zülle is the only one that has stated that Terrados had anything to do with the doping in ONCE.
Pate to ride Melbourne Cup on Wheels Courtesy of Adam Murchie The Melbourne Cup on Wheels, to be held on December 5th 1999, is one of Australia's best known track meetings and has a 62 year history. The meet consists of sprint derbys, scratch races, exhibition races, pursuits, kerins and handicap races. The highlight of the meet is the Cup itself - a 2,000 m handicap race where riders start at varying distances around the track according to ability. It's an exciting and fast race to watch as the scratch markers do their utmost to catch the middle and back markers in a little over 2 minutes (6 laps of the 333 m Northcote velodrome). This will be the final time that the event will be held at Northcote before track cycling moves to the new indoor facility at Melbourne Park late in 2000. Ex-world champion and former winner of the event, Stephen Pate has confirmed he will be at the start, and Shane Kelly has also been contacted although he will be in Adelaide the night before. Last year's winner, Barry Woods will be there as well as Victorian sprint champion Troy Clarke. In the pursuits, there will be an interesting duel between World Junior Pursuit Champion, Andrew Mason and Victorian senior champion, Mark Roach. Finally, in the women's events, Rahna Demarte (bronze medallist this year, and former World Junior Champion in the 500 m time trial) will be one of the main attractions.
2000 National Elite and Collegiate track championships Courtesy of John Alsedek On November 24th, USA Cycling released the dates and venues for the 2000 Elite National Track and Collegiate Track Championships. The EDS Elite National Track Championships will be held August 22-26 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The venue will be the 7-Eleven Velodrome, which was previously host to the 1997 Nationals and the 1986 World Track Championships. The 2000 National Collegiate Cycling Association Track Championships will be held September 7-9, on the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas
Pantani bags the Giro After his brief preliminary comments at the announcement of the Giro route for next year, Marco Pantani has let fly with a little more detail as to why he doesn't like it. After his various ailments on the weekend quietened him somewhat, he spoke his thoughts to race organisers, La Gazzetta dello Sport: "For someone like me, who is a climber, what kind of a Giro is it where the four mountain stages finish at the bottom of descents? It doesn't make any sense. After the ascent of the Gavia, there is a descent into Bormio, and it is similar with the other two [Agnello and Izoard]. Nobody knows those slopes better than I do". With regard to the three mountain top finishes "The finish at Abetone is easy, the one at Pratonevoso will not be that difficult, and the mountain time trial at Sestričres can distort the results, different from those of a road race. I'll say what I think. This Giro cannot be compared to the difficulty of the 1999 race," he said. However, the pirate finished with, "I don’t like it, but I will be there". While he would probably like to see the race turned into a mountain time trial up somewhere like Mount Everest, his comments are a fairly transparent way of deflecting some pressure away from him. However, he said similar things about the 1998 Tour route, so his rivals should at least be clued in now.
New name for Drenthe Courtesy of Huub van Issum The Ronde van Drenthe, a 1.4 category race in The Netherlands, has a new name and a new sponsor. Next year, the name will be changed to Essent Ronde van Drenthe, where Essent is the new sponsor. The race will be held on April 1st, 2000.
Sgambelluri to stay with Cantina Tollo Despite considering riding for Italian team Alessio-SGM, Roberto Sgambelluri has decided to stay Cantina Tollo next year. The decision came after a meeting with team manager Vincenzino Santoni during the team's three day retreat. |