News for August 2, 2000

EPO test approved by medical commission

The Olympic Games in Sydney should see the introduction of urine and blood tests to detect EPO, after the International Olympic Committe medical commission approved them today. The commission examined both the French developed urine test and the Australian developed blood test and deemed them to be suitable for use in September. This comes a little over month after the urine test was almost, but not quite, given the go ahead to be used in this year's Tour de France.

A 15 member panel took two days to examine the research presented to them and agreed that for an athlete to be found guilty, both the urine and blood tests must give a positive result. However, the legal aspects will have to be approved as well, and this will be decided after meetings held on August 28-29.

Despite the potential benefits to cleaning up drugs in sports, there are still drawbacks with the above approved method. Firstly, the tests are not cheap: the French costs around $2000 per sample, and the Australian $600-800 per sample, meaning that the Australian test will be used as the initial screen. If the blood test is positive, the urine test will then be applied and if that is positive, then the athlete will be sanctioned.

The problem with this is that although the blood test will detect EPO use up to three weeks after its injection, the urine test will not: 72 hours is its reasonable limit. Given that EPO is a "long term" drug - it takes several weeks to grow new red blood cells, the effectiveness of the tests will be lessened if used just prior to the Olympics (or any other race). Out of competition urine samples will need to be taken 4-6 weeks beforehand, frozen, and tested retrospectively if the blood test is positive. Otherwise a likely scenario for guilty athletes is "positive blood test, ambiguous/negative urine test" and this is not enough to convict them according to the IOC.

French Olympic road team

The eight member French Olympic road team was selected today by the FFC, without any major surprises. Laurent Jalabert will lead the men's team with Richard Virenque, Laurent Brochard, Emmanuel Magnien and Christophe Moreau (Reserve: Francois Simon). The women will be headed by Jeannie Longo, looking to defend her Olympic road title in Atlanta, and Cathy Marsal and Magali Floc' H will join her (Reserve: Geraldine Loewenguth). The final decision on the French teams will be made after being given the all-clear from the French Commission of Elite Level Sport on August 7.

In the time trial, Laurent Jalabert and Christophe Moreau will champion the team - both are capable of placing in the top five or better, as evidenced in the last Tour de France. The remaining members are solid choices, and the French have decided to go with climber/rouleurs. The best sprinter is FdJ's Emmanuel Magnien (also the best placed rider in the French road titles - 8th) although Brochard and Jalabert have handy finishes. In addition, three of the five riders (Brochard, Jalabert and Virenque) rode together in Atlanta which will count for a little.

The women will be relying once more on Longo who will ride the time trial as well as the road race. In the former event, she has an outside medal chance and maybe able to better her bronze in Atlanta if everything goes to plan. However, Kupfernagel, Holden, Wilson, Gaudry Van Moorsel and Ziliute will be tough to beat. On the road, Longo will have a comparatively weaker team than the other nations, however if allowed to escape she is always dangerous. The course is not hilly enough to suit a real climber like her compared with certain stages of the HP Women's Challenge where she was untouchable.

US Men's Olympic road team

The five members of the US Olympic road team were finalised today by USA Cycling. Saturn's Antonio Cruz was already selected after winning the US Olympic trials, and he will join Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Fred Rodriguez and Tyler Hamilton in what looks to be a very formidable squad.

"Our men's Olympic road team will be as strong as any country in the world," said Sean Petty, USA Cycling director of athlete performance. "The athletes we are taking give us a lot of options and horsepower in the road race. I believe we have two athletes in Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton, who are capable of winning medals in the individual time trial." His words were echoed by US men's road coach, Jim Ochowicz.

Horsepower is the word for this team, although several members are more than capable domestiques. It looks as though the US have decided to play the percentage game rather than picking an extra experienced worker such as Frankie Andreu or Kevin Livingston, but this has its advantages in the lottery of the Olympics and similar single-day events. With bunch positioning being a key factor during the tight and technical road race, it will make it tough for any one team to control the race. "Get in the breaks" will be the goal.

After his recent Tour de France win, Armstrong will be a big favourite to win the time trial, and he has stated this to be his main goal in the Olympics. With Hamilton riding as shotgun, having the ability to relay times as he did in the Tour, Armstrong's chances are strong. Hamilton's fourth in the final Tour de France time trial shows that he is another good medal prospect as well.

In the more open road race, the US have favoured sprinters Cruz, Rodriguez and Hincapie to take the medal, although Armstrong can not be ruled out of course. Hincapie is the top ranked US cyclist in the World Cup (16th), as well as having past experience in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Three members of the team, Cruz, Hamilton and Rodriguez have had no Olympic experience, although Hamilton was a reserve for the 1996 squad.

Fred Rodriguez has had some excellent results this year, including the becoming the USPRO Champion (after finishing 2nd behind Henk Vogels in that race), as well as stages in the Four Days of Dunkirk, Tour of Switzerland and the UNIQA Classic. He also placed well in several of the Tour stages in his first time in the race, including 4th in the final stage and provided valuable leadouts to his Mapei teammates.

Antonio Cruz earned his spot on the team after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials in May in Jackson, Miss. He won the 1999 USPRO National Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois.

The team will be coached by two-time Olympic cyclist Jim Ochowicz, who was also founder, general manager and coach of the 7-Eleven and Motorola Cycling Teams (1981-96). All five cyclists will be competing in Europe during August and September prior to arriving in Sydney.

No Tchmil or Vandenbroucke

In the Belgian team, both Frank Vandenbroucke and Andrei Tchmil have indicated to national coach Jose De Cauwer that they would not be available for the Olympics. Both were on the preselection list, which was sent by the Belgian cycling union to the Belgian Olympic Committee.

VDB is completely out of form as he has been all year. Nobody expects him at a start for the rest of this season. Tchmil wants to have a perfect preparation for the World Championships in Plouay, and there is no place for the Olympics as part of that preparation. He will start in the World Cups, some one day races and the Tours of Burgos and Poland.

De Cauwer said after this that "I have four names for the road-team: Museeuw, Steels, Merckx and Van Petegem. I'm not sure about the fifth man - next Tuesday I hope to give the selection to the cycling union. But the deadline is August 12 for the Belgian Olympic Committee."

There is no chance for either Dave Bruylandts and Geert Verheyen as they are not on the preselection list. De Cauwer doesn't really care about the time trial as "we have no candidates for the top 10. Also, the time trial is on September 30 - if we ride there we'll be home on October 4, four days before Paris-Tours. 23 hours in a plane isn't good preparation," he said.

The four selected riders have already asked for a first class ticket. Even if they have to pay a part of the ticket...

Boogerd niet

Dutchman Michael Boogerd is another that won't be starting in Sydney. His late season targets are the classics and the World Championships in Plouay, which leave no room for a trip to Australia. After his fall in the Tour de France he is starting with a light training program. He will make his comeback in the Clasica San Sebastian on August 12, and will start in the Tour of the Netherlands/Ronde van Nederland also (August 21-26).

National coach Gerrie Knetemann was satisfied: "It's a reasonable decision. Michael had one week's rest after the Tour and is now 1.5 hours per day on his bike. I believe you only should go to Sydney if your condition is excellent."

Up till now, Leon van Bon and Erik Dekker are certain about an Olympic berth. Max van Heeswijk, Koos Moerenhout and Servais Knaven are candidates, but Knetemann will wait till the HEW World Cup this weekend. "Next Tuesday I will present the definitive selection," he said.

UCI status for FBD Milk Ras

By Shane Stokes*

FBD Milk Ras race organizer Dermot Dignam is shortly expected to decide whether to go ahead with plans to secure world ranking status for the round-Ireland cycling race. Dignam, who has organized the nine day event since 1979, is presently in discussion with sponsors and the Irish Sports Council regarding what he terms the "substantial" increase in race budget which would be required.

The 48 year event is the highlight of the Irish cycling calendar, and the upgrading of the race to a 2.5 ranked competition would have significant implications for the sport in Ireland. With valuable world ranking points on offer, the move would see a large increase in both the number and quality of foreign teams applying to take part each year. It would also provide Irish cyclists with an invaluable source of points, which govern a country's world ranking and determines if riders can participate in certain UCI events such as the world championships.

At present, Ireland is ranked 40th in the world, with only the top 30 nations securing automatic qualification for the Elite world championships in Plouay, France, in October. However, according to Dignam, the awarding of a 2.5 ranking status to the FBD Milk Ras would considerably benefit Irish cycling. "If you consider the UCI points that Ciaran Power and other riders have earned this year, then add what Irish cyclists would have got from the Ras if it was a world ranking event, we should automatically qualify a rider for the world championships," he said.

"Take last year as another example: Ireland sent a team to the B world championships in Uruguay and qualified for the Olympics through the performances there," he added. Ciaran Power and Eugene Moriarty placed third and fifth respectively in the men's road race, while Deirdre Murphy was 4th in the female event. "However, if world ranking points were in place in last year"s FBD Milk Ras, Ireland would have qualified without having to send a team to Uruguay. Those points would make things much easier for Irish cycling."

If implemented, Dignam stresses that the upgrade would not radically change the event. "The Ras is a unique race, in that it allows the club rider to compete against internationals and it is important to preserve that balance". He stresses that any increase in the standard of the field would be a gradual one, in order to help the development of Irish riders.

Dignam expects a decision to be made within the next fortnight or so, once talks are concluded with the sponsors FBD Insurances and the National Dairy Council, plus the Irish Sports Council. He explains that "the upgrade to a world ranking event would require a substantial increase in the race budget, mainly to bring the prize money in line with UCI requirements. That is something which the sponsors would have to be happy with and agree to. Once a decision is made, I can get on with planning next year's race."

*Shane Stokes is a correspondent with the Irish Times.

Tighello's protest successful

Robert Tighello, who was second over the line in the first of the Tattersalls Cup races was declassified afterwards for "unintentionally causing a four rider pile up". He lost $600 in prizemoney as well as the points for the series, but lodged an appeal following the decision. In the meantime, he became the Victorian State Road Champion, as well as winning the second round of the Cup last week.

There was good news for him on Monday however, as the Jury voted to reinstate him at the back of the bunch in the first race, giving him an extra 10 points in the series (but no prizemoney). The extra points will move him up to 5th overall now, and he will be looking to win one or more of the remaining races in the series. His next challenge will be today's 165km Tour of the Southern Grampians in Hamilton.

US Cyclocross Nationals to Kansas

USA Cycling have determined the site for this year's USCF National Cyclocross Championships, held on December 15-16. Overland Park, Kansas will host the championships, the first time since 1989 that they have been held in the Midwest. The idea is to have them centrally located in order to be accessible to cyclists from across the country.

"We are excited to bring this unique discipline of cycling to Overland Park. Stoll Park is an ideal location for the USCF National Championships and SuperCup final, and will be very spectator-friendly. The Bureau has wanted to bring a cycling event to the community for years, and we are honored to be awarded a national championship event. This event will bring in hundreds of participants, and we are looking forward to showing off our cycling friendly community," said Michelle Copeland, Sports Sales Manager, Overland Park Convention & Visitors Bureau.

We have some winners

Cyclingnews.com's Tour de France Trek competition was an enormous success and we have extracted the three winners from the thousands of entries. The winner of the Trek US Postal Team Replica Bike was Russ Baxter, a category 3 masters racer (40+) for the Conte's Cycling and Fitness/Richbrau Brewing Company team in Richmond, Virginia. The second place (the Rolf Vector Pro wheelset) went to Shawn Pischke of California, a former avid racer who had a break and is now back as a category 4. The third and final prize (the US Postal Team Shorts/Jersey) went to Michael Chow of Eastwood, Australia who said that he'll "wear the shorts with pride - if he can ever get them off his American-born wife!".

Thank you all once again for entering - a full "winners page" will be posted shortly.