News for August 8, 2000Armstrong still motivatedIn his return to competition after winning the Tour de France two weeks ago, Lance Armstrong said that he was still motivated for the rest of the season. Today he started in the four stage Vuelta a Burgos, finishing 44th in the stage one mountain time trial (38 seconds behind winner Alberto Martinez). However, his big aim is still the Olympic Gold Medal in the individual time trial in Sydney. Team director, Johan Bruyneel said that "although it will not be easy to recover his form of the Tour, he is more motivated than ever. Success in the Olympic Games in the time trial is his great challenge, since he failed in the 1992 and 1996 Games." Armstrong's preparation will include the San Sebastian Classic this Saturday, the GP Zurich on August 20, the GP Eddy Merckx (with Ekimov) on August 27, the GP Fourmies on September 10, and the GP Nations on September 16. Then there is the Olympic road race on September 27 and the time trial on the 30th. The Vuelta a Burgos is not a big objective for Armstrong, and he admitted to being "a little tired" at the moment. Bruyneel said that he has not come to the Vuelta a Burgos to "...take a walk. You never go to a Tour to take a walk, he is not going to give nothing."
Beltran keen for top 5Mapei's Manuel Beltrán believes that he can finish in the top five of the Vuelta a España, after last year's effort where he managed fifth. He will be co-leader of Mapei along with Pavel Tonkov for the three week race that starts August 26. His team directors have indicated that he will be given freedom in the mountain stages to ride for himself, although he will have to work for Tonkov in the other stages. Beltran finished 11th in the Tour de France, 21.11 behind Lance Armstrong although he was as highly placed as 5th after the stage to Hautacam. "Things didn't go as I wanted them to in the last week," he said citing tendintis and a poor time trial as the main reasons. His preparation for the Vuelta includes riding the Vuelta a Burgos this week, as well as the Clasica San Sebastian this weekend.
UCI rankings - Casagrande consolidatesThe UCI rankings released after round 6 of the World Cup sees Vini Caldirola's Francesco Casagrande solidify his position at the top with 2,530 points. Remaining in second and third are Telekom's Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel, while Lance Armstrong moves back up to fourth despite losing 10 points and not racing for the past two weeks. The main beneficiaries of the HEW Cyclassics were Italian Gabriele Missaglia, who moved himself from 231st to 88th, and Fabio Baldato (93rd to 65th). In the other classifications, the leaders of the first and second division are once more Mapei-Quick Step and Credit Agricole, overtaking Telekom and Euskaltel-Euskadi respectively. Kelme are still in third position in division I. A note on points: World Cups are the second most valuable one day race in terms of UCI points. A win is worth 240, 2nd is 150 and 3rd is 120. World Championships and Olympic Games are worth far more: 400 for the win, 240 for 2nd and 200 for 3rd. Contrast this to stage races where a Grand Tour (France, Italy, Spain) is worth 500 for the overall win, including 20 for each day spent in the leader's jersey and 70 points for a stage win. By comparison, a 2.5 class stage race is only worth 25 points for the overall win. UCI Rankings: Men (August 8, 2000) 1 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Sidermec 2,530.00 pts 2 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Deutsche Telekom-ARD 2,178.75 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Deutsche Telekom-ARD 1,791.00 4 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 1,453.00 5 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola-Sidermec 1,392.00 6 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,391.00 7 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 1,341.00 8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata 1,334.00 9 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 1,333.25 10 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1,312.25 11 Abraham Olano Manzano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Deutsche Bank 1,284.75 12 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1,226.00 13 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) O.N.C.E.-Deutsche Bank 1,210.75 14 José Maria Jimenez Sastre (Spa) Banesto 1,193.00 15 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Albacom 1,165.00 16 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 1,138.00 17 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina-Lotus 1,103.00 18 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Fassa Bortolo 1,061.00 19 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 1,034.00 20 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 1,030.25 Teams: Division I: 1 Mapei-Quick Step 7,207.45 pts 2 Team Deutsche Telekom 7,169.25 3 Kelme-Costa Blanca 4,560.00 4 Fassa Bortolo 4,462.00 5 Banesto 4,375.00 6 Rabobank 4,196.75 7 O.N.C.E.-Deutsche Bank 4,115.75 8 Vini Caldirola-Sidermec 3,984.00 9 Lampre-Daikin 3,930.00 10 US Postal Service 3,422.20 Division II: 1 Credit Agricole 2,549.00 pts 2 Euskaltel-Euskadi 2,404.00 3 Cantina Tollo 1,883.00 4 Bonjour 1,467.00 5 Jean Delatour 1,304.00 Nations: 1 Italy 12,253.3 pts 2 Spain 9,570.75 3 Germany 8,596.75 4 Belgium 7,977.00 5 France 6,244.75 6 Netherlands 6,183.60 7 Switzerland 5,204.50 8 U.S.A. 4,711.75 9 Russia 4,171.00 10 Denmark 3,648.85 Women (July 30, 2000) 1 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O-Lorena Camicie 824.00 pts 2 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 804.00 3 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Radteam Kupfernagel 548.67 4 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Team Alfa Lum R.S.M. 389.00 5 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team 348.00 6 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Dutch National Team 294.00 7 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spa) Team Alfa Lum R.S.M. 279.00 8 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Acca Due O-Lorena Camicie 275.00 9 Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Gas Sport Team 270.00 10 Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Ned) Team Farm Frites-Hartol 267.00 Teams: 1 Acca Due O - Lorena Camicie 1,496.00 pts 2 Saturn Cycling Team 1,297.00 3 Team Alfa Lum R.S.M. 943.00 4 Radteam Kupfernagel 669.01 5 Gas Sport Team 633.00 Nations: 1 Germany 1,417.67 pts 2 Lithuania 1,397.00 3 Australia 1,180.00 4 Netherlands 902.00 5 Russia 671.00 6 Italy 526.00 7 France 492.34 8 Ukraine 441.00 9 Norway 403.00 10 Canada 384.00 Van Bon out then inDutchman Leon Van Bon was ambivalent about a trip to Sydney, however it appears now that he'll be going. Although he was enthusiastic at first, after the GP Ouest France in Plouay he changed his mind "That parcours for the World Championships is for me," he said after not finishing because he still had stomach problems from Le Tour. Many believe that the combination of the Olympics and World Championships is nearly impossible because there is only a fortnight in between. Dutch national coach, Gerrie Knetemann said "I don't say it's impossible, but it isn't perfect preparation. But, in my active period I won enough races without perfect preparation!". He believes that Van Bon has quite a good chance in Sydney, and he succeeded in changing his mind. "I was overruled by his decision on Sunday. I couldn't sleep for half the night, because it was such a pity that Leon won't start in Sydney. I decided to try to change his mind and I gave good arguments for a trip to Sydney. I'm happy for Dutch cycling because he will go with us to the Olympics." The Dutch road team will be announced tomorrow, with Van Bon, Dekker, Knaven, Hoffman, Van Heeswijk and Blijlevens the likely prospects.
All appeals turned downIn addition to Scott Sunderland's unsuccessful appeal to be reconsidered for the Australian Olympic team, the remaining three cyclists who lodged appeals were also turned down. Kathy Watt (Vic), Brent Dawson (NSW) and Stephen Wooldridge (NSW) were heard by the independent tribunal between July 28 and July 31 in Sydney. However, the tribunal dismissed all four appeals and found the nomination criteria was followed by the selectors. The tribunal for the Dawson, Sunderland and Wooldridge hearings comprised solicitor Deborah Healey (Chair), the former Australian Sports Commission Director of Sports Management, Geoff Strang, and 1984 Olympic cycling gold medalist, Kevin Nichols. For the Watt hearing Ms Healey and Mr Nichols were joined by the Chief Executive Officer of Baseball Australia, Neil King. Cycling Australia announced the results today and the athletes have until Wednesday to lodge appeals with their the Court of Arbritration for Sport. However, this is a costly procedure and Scott Sunderland and Stephen Wooldridge have said that they will not proceed for that reason. The selection criteria were criticised by the lawyers representing the four cyclists, "I believe the selection criteria has been drawn in such a way to invite disputes - that's not uncommon, it's in virtually every Olympic sport," said Sunderland's lawyer, Brian Doyle to AAP. Doyle added that hoped that after the Games, the Australian Olympic Committee would be prepared to listen to ideas for reforms of the criteria. Blijlevens down againPolti's Jeroen Blijlevens suffered a fall on the last descent of the Waseberg in the HEW Cyclassics on Sunday. He complained afterwards of pain in his left hand "The same hand I fell on in the Tour..." he said. He was taken to hospital, but nothing was broken. McCauley to PalmansBritish based New Zealander, Gordon McCauley has managed a stagiaire's contract with Palmans from September 1st. So far this year, he has won several 1.5 and 1.6 events in Belgium riding for Staf Boone's Kingsnorth team. If successful as a stagiaire, he may be given a full contract for next year.
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