News for December 25, 2000

Cyclingnews.com's Christmas message

Today, in Australia at any rate, is Christmas Day. It's been 38 degrees celsius for most of the week here in Sydney, making cycling a little unpleasant and the thought of a roasted Christmas turkey even more so. The air outside has alternated from oven-like to sauna-like after lacklustre attempts by some rain to cool things down. This is serious Australian Christmas weather, a far cry from the sub zero temperatures on the other side of the globe at the moment.

However, racing goes on in the cold, with the Vlaamse Druivenveldrit (Superprestige cyclocross round 6) held in Overijse, Belgium on Christmas Eve, and the Trofee "Mario de Clercq" in Wortegem on Christmas Day. Cyclocross is a sport with an unwritten rule that the poorer the conditions, the better the race - some call this off-season lunacy, but at least the races are only an hour. You can read all about cyclocross in our new section, with an interesting backgrounder by Harry Wolfson and John Stevenson, the latter of whom has recently joined the cyclingnews.com editorial team.

From cyclocross to the velodrome, who could miss the 64th edition "Grosser Weihnachtspreis" in Dortmund, Germany? Held on Boxing Day (December 26) in the Dortmunder Westfalenhalle, the track meet will attract some of Germany's top stars including Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, Robert Bartko, Jan Van Eijden and Jens Fiedler. Opposing them will be a World Team including Italians Silvio Martinello and Roberto Chiappa, Dane Jimmi Madsen, Swiss Kurt Betschart and Latvian Ainars Kiksis. There will also be a stayers race (motorpaced) with Carsten Podlesch the top favourite along with Mario Vonhof, Stefan Steinweg, Andreas Beikirch and Marco Villa.

In Australia there are the traditional Christmas carnivals in Tasmania, from December 26 (Latrobe) to January 1 (Burnie), including stops at Launceston and Devonport. Following these a little further are the Bay Series Criteriums, from January 3-7, 2001. Running parallel to this series is the first UCI stage race of the year, the Tour of Wellington in New Zealand (although the Tour of the South China Sea has its last stage on January 1). From there, the momentum increases until the European road season starts on February 4 in Mallorca

South American Christmas

Of course at the moment, road cyclists are still battling it out in Costa Rica in the Vuelta a Costa Rica that finishes on December 29. There will be no large Christmas feast for these riders, as they have to negotiate some fairly serious climbs in the coming week. On the rest day (December 24) Costa Rica's "La Nacion" newspaper quizzed some of the riders were quizzed as to what they thought about racing on Christmas Day, as the race draws near to the "Cerro de la Muerte" (Hill of Death).

Current race leader, Alvaro Lozano said that "the 24th and the 25th are always special for me. Tomorrow I will call home to see how the family is. It is the second year in a row and to tell the truth I am a little nostalgic. But this is work and it is necessary to do it."

Last year's winner and currently 6th overall is Mexican Miguel Arroyo (Chicles Canel's Turbo). He too is missing Christmas for the second year in a row. "It is an important day and you feel the absence of the family. It is a sacrifice, but it is my work; I will be compensated in future," he said.

Others, including commissaires and commentators feel the same way - they want to see their families but will make the best of the festivities in Costa Rica whilst on the race. Fortunately (when I've finished writing this and get on my bike), I will be able to visit various relations for an afternoon of merryment, and we at cyclingnews.com wish all our readers who celebrate Christmas a very happy one.

Thanks

Before closing, there are several people we wish to especially thank for their work during the course of this year, without which cyclingnews.com would not function. Firstly our main correspondents John Alsedek, Gabriella Ekström, Tim Maloney, Tomas Nilsson and of course Hans; our other correspondents, who are various, valuable and too numerous to mention; Theo Muller for his work in maintaining the team's database throughout this year; Adrian Butterworth for keeping the site running smoothly; regular diarists Marion Clignet, Tracey Gaudry, Karen Kurreck, John Lieswyn, Scott Sunderland, and Anna Wilson (Milward); John Stevenson (new co-editor/off road/technical guy) and John Sunde (marketing/ad sales); and finally, our readers for being such an incredibly supportive bunch throughout the year.

There is also a very special Christmas wish from the cyclingnews team, and that is for our stellar diarist and legendary sprinter, Marcel Wust, to have a full recovery from his terible accident this year and rejoin the peloton next year. From cyclists around the globe, get well soon Marcel - cycling needs you!

Without further ado:

Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad/Buon Natale/Scheinen Chrëschtdag/Frohe Weihnachten/Joyeux Noël/Vrolijke Kerstmis

and

Best Wishes for the New Year

Jeff Jones (Editor) and Gerard Knapp (Publisher) @ cyclingnews.com

Skilled Bay Cycling Classic

The first major Australian cycling event of the new year is the Skilled Bay Cycling Classic in Victoria. It is a series of five criteriums, each of 60 minutes duration, starting Wednesday January 3 in Williamstown. Points awarded for top ten placegetters in each race to determine the overall winner when the series concludes on Sunday January 7. Each race is preceded by separate Men's 'B' Grade and Women's Criteriums each of 45 minutes.

Race schedule

Wednesday, January 1: Williamstown (Start: 1.00pm)
Thursday, January 4: Torquay (Start: 1.00pm)
Friday, January 5: Apollo Bay (Start: 12.30pm)
Saturday, January 6: Geelong (Start: 1.00pm)
Sunday, January 7: Crown Casino (Start: 1.00pm)

Prize money: $26,000

Australian U23 team for ToW

A young Australian Under 23 team has been named to represent Australia in next month's Fuji Xerox Tour of Wellington, from January 3-7, 2001. In the past, the tour has seen several Australian riders win the event, including Robbie McEwen (1995), Corey Sweet (1997) and Hayden Bradbury (1998). Several others, such as Henk Vogels, Jay Sweet, Peter Rogers and Patrick Jonker have all ridden the tour as part of their early season preparation for Europe.

Australian U23 team

Greg Cambell (Qld)
Brad Edmunds (Vic)
Ryan Moody (Vic)
Todd Parnell (Tas)
Nathan Jones (WA)

Manager: Tom Dawson