News for December 22, 2000Problems for MapeiThree key members of the Mapei squad are still behind in their preparations for the 2001 season. Michele Bartoli, Oscar Freire Gomez and Tom Steels are currently suffering from various injuries that are hampering their progress forward. Michele Bartoli's fall in the 1999 Tour of Germany severely injured his right knee, and he spent much of the 2000 season in and out of recovery. The Italian champion was able to ride near to his best in the latter part of the season, but is now working with physiotherapist Lieven Maesschalck (Belgium) to try and achieve a full recovery. He wants to fix this problem once and for all in order to return to the "old Bartoli." Oscar Freire Gomez has gone to Monaco, where he is being treated by Mapei doctors Müller and Claudio Pecci. Since 1998 Freire has suffered from lumbar problems that make stage racing particularly difficult. So far, he has not cured himself of them, although he still managed to win 10 races this year as World Champion 1999. Now, he is doing 3-4 hours physiotherapy work per day and says that it is working. Finally, sprinter Tom Steels had a terrible latter half of 2000. After his two Tour de France wins, it was all misfortune for Steels as he was forced to pull out of the Belgian Olympic team with a virus. He recently broke a bone in his right hand, but the injury seemed to have healed well after it was encased in plaster. At the moment, he is trying to string three hours together on his training rides, following Mapei's program. He said that he is relieved at "the good feelings of recovery in a generalised manner: it has not been like this for several months." He intends on making his 2001 debut at the Tour Down Under in Australia (January 16-21). Festina trial: judgment tomorrowThe Court in Lille will hand down its verdict in the two year long Festina trial, the largest court case in the history of cycling. Eight of the nine accused are likely to receive suspended sentences ranging from 2 to 18 months in jail with fines, while the sole cyclist, Richard Virenque, is likely to be sanctioned by the Swiss Cycling Federation for six months. Virenque escaped prosecutor Gerald Vinsonneau's wrath near the conclusion of the trial on November 6, as his role in inciting others in the team to dope was not considered important enough to warrant sentencing. Judge Daniel Delegove will hand down his decision tomorrow based on the evidence and the recommendations given to him by Gerald Vinsonneau.
Former Lotto soigneur says there was dopingAn ex-Lotto soigneur, Laurent van Brussel, has said in an interview with the Gazet van Antwerpen that there was doping use in the Lotto team in the '90's. "If the riders asked for it, I gave them doping products," he said. "Team leader Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke knew about it. The bill went from the pharmacy straight to him!" Van Brussel didn't give EPO to the riders. "The first time I heard anything about EPO was with Lotto in 1996. It was not organized, but the riders had EPO on their own," he said. In May 2000, Vandenbroucke denied that Lotto had paid for doping á la Festina, stating: "That was impossible". Van Brussel also said in the interview that there was illegal money too in Lotto. "I was paid a long time with black money." Van Brussel emphasized that only a select few of the elite riders came to him for doping. Former Lotto riders who were with the team at that time have said that there was a strict anti-doping rule - anyone who was caught would be fired. For his part Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke has denied everything so far. Laurent Van Brussel was involved in a serious accident in 1996, when he was hit by a car whilst on a Lotto training camp in Lanzarote. He was in a coma for months and ended up with a partly paralyzed face and brain damage.
Beloki close to leaving FestinaJoseba Beloki is reportedly near to an agreement with Festina that will allow him to break his one year contract with them. The talented young rider who placed third in the Tour de France will have to pay his team 100 million Spanish pesetas ($US 550,000) to free himself to negotiate with other teams. It was recently reported on Spanish TV that he may ride with Banesto for three years, but this has yet to be finalised.
Mattan and Planckaert ride 'crossNico Mattan and Jo Planckaert would like to start in the Belgian cyclocross championships on January 14 in Mol. There is still one problem for them however: the championship is in the middle of a Cofidis training camp. Linda McCartney-Jacob's Creek 2001The Linda McCartney-Jacob's Creek Cycling Team have announced their 2001 team roster, with a significantly expanded squad from the 13 riders this year. Leading the team will be veteran Max Sciandri who is described as the "soul of the team", capping the year off with a fine win in the Giro del Lazio. However, Sciandri will be helped at the top by some of the new arrivals, including Spaniards Iñigo Cuesta, Juan Carlos Dominguez and Miguel Martin Perdiguero. There are more new faces too: Russell Downing, Ondrej Fadrny, Marcel Gono, Sergei Lelekin, Marlon Perez, Pete Rogers, Mark Scanlon, John Tanner and Bradley Wiggins, with only seven of the existing roster being retained. Team Roster Managers: Sean Yates, Neil Stephens Sutherland signsAustralian junior cyclist Rory Sutherland has signed a contract with the Rabobank U/23 Amateur team for 2001, under the direction of Nico Verhoeven. Sutherland placed 4th in this year's junior World Championships in Plouay and also hails from the same club (Canberra CC) as Matthew Hayman, who rides for the Rabobank elite squad.
Tamanini and Parente to Edil SavinoFormer Alfa Lum rider, Luisa Tamanini (dual Italian U-22 Champion in 2000) and Simona Parente (GAS) have signed with Edil Savino. The team is directed by William Dazzani and includes riders such as Fabiana Luperini, Svetlana Boubnenkova. However, one of its leaders last season, Valentina Polkhanova is "out" due to her second pregnancy. Courtesy of Alessandro Gretter Top team announced for Tour of WellingtonThe Avanti Bicycles team will be one of the best squads in the 2001 Tour of Wellington, scheduled for January 3-7, 2001. The five member team will be led by Junior World Champion, Jeremy Yates, who will ride for the Mapei development squad next year. Also, veteran Graeme Miller (34 national titles) will be riding for the team, adding his experience to Yates' youth. The other three team members are US track rider, Erin Hartwell, a dual Olympic medallist and 12 time US champion; Bryce Shapley, second place getter in the 2000 Tour of Wellington; and Robin Reid, yellow jersey wearer in this year's tour, and winner of stage one. The Avanti team are certainly well balanced on the flat and in the climbs, and will be favourite for the overall victory.
Dutch MTB coach extendsCoach Leo van Zeeland of the Dutch mountain bike team has renewed his contract with the Koninklijke Nederlandse Wielrenunie (KNWU) for two more years.
Van Moorsel sportswoman of the yearTriple Olympic gold medallist and World Record holder in the 3000 m individual pursuit, Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, has been named Dutch sportswoman of the year. The ceremony was held in the RAI in Amsterdam. It is the fourth time in her career that the Farm Frites-Hartol rider has received the honour, with her main competition this year being swimmer Inge de Bruin. Sportsman of the year did go to a swimmer: Pieter Van Den Hoogenband, while the Sports team of the year went to the National Hockey team. Van Den Hoogenband and Van Moorsel also were awarded sportsman and sportswoman of the year in 1999. A day later in Ahoy' Rotterdam, the place she lives, she was honoured as Rotterdam's sportswoman of 2000, the third year in a row that she has received this prize. In this competition she beat Margriet Matthijsse (sailing) and Fatima Moreira de Melo (hockey).
CNNSI Athlete of the yearThere are six choices in CNN Sports Illustrated's internet poll for "Athlete of the Year". The results currently show that golf is pretty popular amongst CNNSI readers, with Tiger Woods snaring 50% of the vote (so far). In second place, with around 9000 votes (24%) is Lance Armstrong, while Marion Jones, Pedro Martinez, Shaquille O'Neal and Venus Williams make up the remainder. Is golf really that popular? Make your vote count here.
But wait, there's more!
As a result of our 'Gobsmackingly Brilliant rides of 2000' section, cyclingnews.com has decided to formalise it into an online poll, where voters can win a prize if they enter. Of all the nominations that we have received, we have selected the 15 most popular performances as selected by our readers. To vote for one of these, simply fill out the details on the voting page and submit the form. You will then go into a draw to win an Exerscape-equipped Blackburn Motivator training system, as seen at Interbike 2000 and a must have for any serious indoor cyclist. The system includes a DVD for your PC, containing several exciting race videos for you to watch and interact with while you train. Featured rides include the 2000 Paris-Roubaix with Johan Museeuw, the Big Sur coastline with Marty Jemison and the hot, red rock vistas of Moab, Utah with Susan DeMattei. Votes will be taken up to midnight GMT, December 31, 2000, with the winners announced early January subject to confirmation. Cyclingnews.com will also announce its rides and riders of 2000 on that date.
Calendar and race updatesFormido sponsor women's tour Formido has renewed their sponsorship of the Netherlands Ladies Tour for 2001. They will sponsor that race for at least another year, which will be held between September 2-7. GP Umag renamed The Croatian GP Umag (Cat. 1.5) series of races, scheduled for February 2001, has undergone a name change. Due to new a new sponsorship agreement, the races will now be known as "Trophy Riviera (1, 2 etc.)". The race web site has more information regarding travelling to and watching the races. New Italian race There will be a new Italian stage race next year, the Giro della Riviera Ligure di Ponente. It is scheduled for February 21-24, and will be classed as a 2.4 stage race. Cancellations The Tour de Zimbabwe (Feb. 13-17, 2.5) and the Strombeek-Memorial Thyssen (Sep. 16, 1.5) have both been cancelled according to the UCI. There is also no Tour of Britain, a 2.3 class race |
