News for December 15, 2000Kappes doping acquittal rejectedThe executive committee of the German Cycling Federation (BRD) has rejected the verdict of its disciplinary committee to acquit Andreas Kappe on doping charges. "This decision is not acceptable," BRD president Manfred Boehmer said. "Kappes was clearly convicted of doping." Boehmer has asked for further investigation into the case. Kappes returned a positive test for the anabolic steroid nandrolone at the German track championships in July, but was acquitted by the BRD's disciplinary committee on Monday after tests by a Cologne laboratory showed nandrolone is a food supplement he had taken. It's Kappes second major run-in with doping after being suspended for three months in 1997.
Vandenbroucke on the comeback trail"I just want to be the old VDB" It's been a tough couple of years for Frank Vandenbroucke, with health problems, psychological problems, team disputes and personal problems all adding up to limit his on-bike performances. But he is unbowed and has told Belgian paper Het Volk that 2001 will be his comeback year. "Too many people have said I am finished, but I still have my career before me. I will prove that," he said. Vandenbrouke has suffered from depression after breaking up with his wife and being terminated without notice by his Cofidis team in March, and didn't deny he'd had a hard time, saying "it's too much to claim I am a new man. I just want to be the old VDB." His new team, Lampre, was the only one to show full confidence in him, and that confidence is clearly helping him recover. VDB has been training with Lampre in preparation for the Spring classics, and may ride the Tour, then the Vuelta as preparation for the world championships.
Road career for cross star Sven NijsHoping to follow in the wheeltracks of Adri Van der Poel, Sven Nijs (Rabobank) has told several Belgian papers he wants to try his luck on the road in the 2001 season. "I would love to have a career like van der Poel's and race on the road too," he said. The cyclo-cross World Cup winner wants to start in the spring with the one-day classics. Nijs' cross season started late this year because of a lengthy recovery from knee problems, but he plans to go straight into the road season. He will train with Rabobank in southern France in February, then tackle Het Volk in March, before lining up at the start of the Paris-Roubaix, a race many consider is halfway to being a cyclo-cross event anyway.
Kelme leaves compensation to the courtsSpeaking at the launch of the Vuelta Espana on Tuesday, Vicente Belda, the directeur sportif of Kelme, said he didn't want to discuss the departure of Roberto Heras to US Postal, but added that it would be "the courts that decide if Heras must pay Kelme some type of compensation or not." Despite the loss of Heras, Belda said the team was still strong and that Oscar Sevilla has already proven his ability to lead in the Giro, despite his relative youth. "We have to trust in riders who have stayed with the team like the Otxoa brothers, Pascual Llorente, Gutierrez, Vicioso, Botero, Cuenca, and Sevilla," he said
Supercup series comes down to the wireSunday's US cross nationals and final of the US SuperCup cyclo-cross series at Stoll Park in Overland Park, Kansas is expected to be a hard-fought battle between series leader Marc Gullickson (Mongoose) and Tim Johnson (Saturn). Only eight points separates them, so if either of the two wins the final, he also wins the series. If someone else takes the win, Johnson has to beat Gullickson into third to take the series — that would leave them tied on points, but give the series to Johnson on the tie-breaker rules. Johnson's bid for the title will be supported by Saturn team-mate1998 SuperCup Champion and 1997 National Champion Mark McCormack, while defending Supercup champion Bart Bowen, also of Saturn is currently third overall. Guullickson's posse will include team-mate and national MTB champion Steve Larson, Olympian Travis Brown (Trek/Volkswagen) and Alex Candelario (Boulder/Denver Courier), the defending national collegiate champion who has raced in Europe's pro 'cross season. Also a threat is Jonathan Page (Richard Sachs), who shattered his derailleur on the first lap in last weekend's round in Chicago. After making a bike change, however, Page turned faster laps than either Gullickson or Johnson. In the women's event, Carmen Richardson (SoBe/Headshok) and Ann Grande (Kona/Voicestream) are tied on points, but both are threatened for the nationals title by defending champion Alison Dunlap (GT). Dunlap has sat out the SuperCups this year after a busy Olympic season, but will want to retain her national champs jersey. The course is currently frozen and snow-covered, but warmer weather is predicted for the weekend, which may well lead to a mudfest.
CCC-MAT line-upThe Polish CCC-MAT team has revealed its roster for 2001.Team management are boasting a 35-40 per cent boost in budget over last season and targeting the Peace race and Tour of Poland. The line-up, with apologies for the mangling of any spellings between Polish and English computer systems, is: Piotr Przydzia (Pol) team leader BLM plans to class MTBs with 4WDsThe US Bureau of Land Management, which is essentially the Forest Service's landlord, has released a draft plan of a policy governing how off-road vehicles may be used on public land. The BLM has tentatively decided to group bikes with motorized vehicles such as motorcycles and four-wheel drive trucks with regard to access issues. The upshot will be to ban mountain bikes from any trails currently banned to motor vehicles, which includes thousands of miles of multi-use trails. This despite the obvious differences (um, a motor?) between mountain bikes and motorcycles and the efforts of IMBA officials, who are disappointed with the plan. "We have worked as partners with the BLM for a decade to carefully manage mountain biking," said IMBA executive director Tim Blumenthal. "This plan is not consistent with that partnership." The plan, called the Draft National Off-Highway Vehicle Management Strategy, is in public comment phase, so get out there and comment. Send an e-mail to: ohv_comment_manager@blm.gov. IMBA suggests pointing out the following:
The deadline for public input is January 3. For more on this see the IMBA website.
Tour Of Bright changes dateThe Alpine Cycling Club of Victoria, Australia has announced that the 2001 Tour of Bright will run a bit later in the year, moving to November 3 and 4. Warwick Hutchinson of the Alpine CC explained that adverse & cold weather conditions over the past few years produced in part by the race's traditional mid-winter date had made it increasingly difficult to find the number of volunteers required to run a safe and efficient event. He added that the new date will provide warmer weather and more daylight hours which should make for a more "polished" event.
Armstrong weighs breakfastLance Armstrong has a better use for the gram scale many weight-weenie bike riders own: he weighs everything he eats. He said in an interview: "I weigh everything before cooking it and eating it. That way I know exactly how many calories I am putting into my body as opposed to how many I am burning. For instance at breakfast I weigh my muesli, I weigh my banana and I weigh the soy milk and then make the calorie calculation. It's the same thing at lunch or dinner, I weigh it then calculate how many calories that would be."And you thought being a super-successful pro cyclist was just a matter of great genes and hard training! Millar's maillot jaune update - last day for bidsThe bidding for UK pro Dave Millar's Tour de France yellow jersey is now at 700 UK pounds and rising, with one of the leading bids coming from an Australian woman, surely pointing to the Brit's stud status in the peloton. All funds raised will be donated to the UK's David Rayner Fund, and it seems like a bargain for such a genuine piece of Tour memorabilia. To make your bid, please send an email to itsmillartime@yahoo.co.uk. or itsmillartime@yahoo.com The auction closes today, December 15. The winning bid will be announced at Dave's home page - www.itsmillartime.com |