News for October 16, 1999Danes unwilling to surrender to UCI over suspensionBy Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent In a very forward thinking move, the Danish Sports Federation will not accept the shorter doping suspensions of the UCI. When Claus Michael Mřller (TVM) was caught having used steroids this spring, he received a two year ban from the Danish Sports Federation, which the Danish Cycling Union is a member. The rules of the organization are clear: All Danish Sports organizations have the same suspension rules, and that means two years for first time offenders. The UCI on the other hand does not accept separate rules among it's members. They believe suspensions should be six to twelve months. The presidents of the two organizations will shortly meet in Osaka to settle the deal. Danish Sport Federation president Kai Holm says that his federation will not accept shorter suspensions in any sport in Denmark but is prepared to compromise e.g. the shorter time could be accepted for races outside of Denmark. The Danish Cycling Union will also not be allowed to select a rider for the national team during the Danish suspension. "Our rules are taken in democratic order. We will not yield further even if the UCI excludes the Danish Cycling Union," said Holm. How many other countries have a) the same rules b) the willingness to enforce them and c) the willingness to stand up to the UCI?
ContractsDutch rider, John den Braber has signed for a year with the 3rd division Axa Cycling Team. He will participate next week in the World Track Championships in Berlin as amateur. He has been an amateur with Axa for the past two years. La Française des Jeux has had problems with the signing of Polti's Fabrizio Guidi and is rumoured to be trying to get Lampre's Marco Serpellini instead. Max Sciandri's leaving of the team to become the leader of Linda McCartney racing Team is yet to be confirmed. BigMat is satisfied with stagiaire Sébastien Talabardon's performance and will sign him for next year. British newsAs mentioned above, the Linda McCartney Racing Team is still negotiating with Max Sciandri. Russell Downing however, is signed and will stay with the feeder team on the Isles. David McKenzie and Ben Brooks have also signed with the team for the main squad. British U-23 rider, Jamie Burrow won the U-23 World Challenge which will give him 150 points on the UCI ranking, equivalent of a World's ITT silver medal. This will put him in a position among the top 300 in the senior ranks. Spanish news Worlds track team Track cycling hasn't had a great many fans in Spain, and good results are relatively few and far between. Remember Juan Manuel Moreno's kilometer gold in Stuttgart 1991? Llaneras, Alzamora and Ruano are the only champions since then and the country has only taken seven medals all together distributed as follows: 1991 in Stuttgart: José Manuel Moreno, gold in the kilometre. However, the Spanish scored quite a coup in the World's road race, and may surprise a few countries on the track. Toni Cerdŕ's Spanish squad for the track World's consists of the following: MEN Endurance: Miguel Alzamora Xavier Florencio Isaac Gálvez Jose Francisco Jarque Joan Llaneras Carles Torrent Santos González Sprinters: David Cabrero Jose Antonio Escudero Salvador Meliá Diego Ortega Jose Antonio Villanueva. WOMEN Points: Dori RuanoMore medals for Oscar and Ivan The Government of Cantabria (with the approval of the provincial Council of Sport) has granted gold medals for Merit in Sport to their World champions and Cantabrian cyclists, Oscar Freire (road race) and Iván Gutiérrez (U23 TT). Euskaltel - Euskadi 2000 The complete squad of Euskaltel - Euskadi for 2000 will comprise the following riders. Spanish unless otherwise stated, and UCI ranking as of October 10: Gorka Arrizabalaga, neo pro Mikel Artetxe Peio Arreitunandia Ángel Castresana, 1156 Íńigo Chaurreau, 213 Txema Del Olmo, 157 Rubén Díaz de Cerio, neo pro, 1115 Unai Etxebarria, (Ven) 392 Bingen Fernández, 455 Igor Flores, 534 Iker Flores Gorka Gerrikagoitia, 1445 Ramón González Arrieta, 361 Aitor Kintana Roberto Laiseka, 87 Alberto López de Munain, 583 Alberto Martínez, 103 Iban Mayo, neo pro Mikel Pradera, 436 Samuel Sánchez Aitor Silloniz, 1392 Iosu Silloniz, neo pro, 1115 Haimar Zubeldia, 234 Director: Julián Gorospe2000 Spanish elite calendar April: 4-9: Cinturón Internacional de Mallorca
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