Second Edition News for August 30, 2000

Blijlevens' contract

Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens has probably been more down than up this year, and there exist plenty of rumours about his contract (or lack thereof) for next year. His current team, Polti may lose their sponsor next year due to an internal rift, but this doesn't worry the Dutchman, "If this is true, it has no consequences for me. I don't have a contract with Polti but with the team boss Stanga. So I have a still a contract for next season. Should I change some things? I don't think I'm in the position to demand anything. I would like to ask, but it is better that I am quiet after this season," he told Sportweek.

So what happened this year? "I am so tired about these questions. But I understand journalists ask them. That's their job. I'm happy the team is still behind me, they still want to ride for me. I'm not desperate. But everybody expects that I always win. You can win automatically. Look at Erik Dekker. Last year 6th in San Sebastian, while he was super. This year 3 Tour stages, San Sebastian and the Ronde van Nederland. Winning makes you less nervous; you can wait longer in the finale. Therefore it's important to win some races in the beginning of the season. That gives you a good feeling, a kind of rest. And that didn't happen to me this year."

Armstrong and Hamilton crash

Just days after winning the GP Eddy Merckx and feeling generally on track for Sydney, Lance Armstrong has been involved in a head on collision with a car, along with training partner Tyler Hamilton.

According to the report, there was nothing broken save for his Trek (in three pieces...although the brake and derailleur cables are keeping it together...). He was wearing a helmet and will be off the bike for a couple of days. An update will follow courtesy of Lancearmstrong.com.

Vuelta live

For those of you who have been inquring about live coverage of the Vuelta, the answer is: yes we will be doing certain stages beginning with stage 5 today. Coverage will commence at 15:00 European Summer Time (0:00 Australian Eastern Time (Sydney), 09:00 USA Eastern Time). A full schedule of the live stages to come is available here.

Trofeo Melinda

The ninth edition of this 1.2 Italian classic is scheduled for Thursday, August 31 and will see a quality field contest the event. It is 200 kilometres, starting in Trentino and will see several of the top Italian riders compete, including Marco Pantani, Francesco Casagrande, Michele Bartoli, Stefano Garzelli, David Rebellin, Ivan Basso, and Andrea Ferrigato, as well as Axel Merckx, Michael Boogerd, Pascal Richard, Andrei Tchmil, and Beat and Marcus Zberg. The race is well positioned for Olympic and World's preparation, hence the presence of members of the Italian road team. It will be interesting to see how Italian Olympic omission, Davide Rebellin goes in this race, as in the previous few contests he has dusted most of the Olympic candidates including Bettini, Bartoli and Pantani. Various factions of the Italian tifosi (as well as Rebellin) are not at all happy at his being left off the plane for Sydney.

The 200.6 kilometre parcours finishes in Condo with three tough circuits containing two Gam's at Ronzone and Revò. The departure is from the Piazza Regina Elena in Malè at 10.15 am.

Brooks/Stephens update

Matt 'Lucky' Stephens and Ben Brooks are a couple of Linda McCartney riders who won't be competing in the Trofeo Melinda after their respective accidents in the Giro del Veneto on the weekend. However, they are reportedly on the mend and have left the hospital at Padova.

Stephens flew home via Manchester Airport on Monday and is wearing a brace for his shoulder for the next three weeks. He does intend a late season comeback though and will start on the turbo trainer in a few days.

Brooks underwent neurological tests before being released and will now let his shoulder heal naturally, advice that was backed up by the team's new signing, Kevin Livingston, who had a similar injury in the past. Brooks will return to hospital in Toulouse on Thursday after spending a couple of days with his parents who are in Europe at the moment.

Crocodile Trophy and Vanderaerden

Former Belgian classics legend, Eric Vanderaerden is currently turning his legs over again in Australia although it over slightly different terrain to that encountered in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Eric is competing in the 6th Crocodile Trophy, a 2120 km, 15 stage (or thereabouts) event starting in Adelaide, SA and finishing in Kuranda, Qld. Vanderaerden is currently leading the race by ten minutes, although updates have been hard to obtain due to the lack of telephones en route.

The prologue in Adelaide was actually canceled due to inclement weather and the risk of a flood on the beach where they were staging the event. On Sunday, August 27, Vanderaerden won by the margin noted above, although the rest of the week's results haven't got past the pub at Mulka yet...

Vanderaerden did manage to report back home (to Belgium), "Because of the bad weather and fast approaching flood, the organisers changed the program. Two stages for 25 riders at a time, the best 5 riders of both stages rode a final for the yellow jersey. On Saturday we were transferred for 700 kilometers and the Sunday stage was 145 km over dead straight roads." He described the race as follows: "Our Slovenian teammate fell and broke his elbow. I attacked and won with ten minutes - that's necessary if you want to win the overall classification. The last stages are pure technical stages, so I will lose some time then. So in this first week I have to make it."

Univest Grand Prix

The 3rd edition of the Univest Grand Prix will take place on September 16 in Souderton, Pennsylvania, USA and this year it will be the biggest yet. The men's event is a 160 kilometre road race and will feature 35 seven man teams from both the USA and overseas. It is considered an amateur event but there'll be plenty of competition for the local riders from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, and the Netherlands.

The men's field includes the likes of Shawn McCormack (dual medallist at this year's US National's), Joe Papp, Charles Dionne (winner of the U23 Four Bridges of Elgin road race), Karl Zoetemelk (son of former Tour de France winner Joop) and defending champion Alex Lavalle (Kissena).

The women's race is 55 kilometres and the field looks to be the strongest yet, featuring defending champion, Annie Gariepy (Elita), Sue Palmer-Komar (Team Jane Cosmetics), Mina Pizzini (Procter&Gamble), and Laura Van Gilder (Charles Schwab). The latter will be one of the favourites after her win in the recent US Criterium championships.

In addition, a 100 kilometre cyclosportif event will be held some hours before the start of the men's and women's races which commence at 11 am. Please see cyclingnews.com's race listing for more.