News for December 26, 2000

Update from Marcel Wüst

I hope this email finds everyone healthy and happy...all the best for x-mas and a great year 2001 by the way...

I did not get what I wanted for Xmas - the sight on my right eye is still not there, maybe 0.5 on a scale from 0 to 100. Our holiday in Oz was great and the whole family came back with the morale to wait for improvement on my eye, and waiting will be the only thing I can do, never losing the optimism that it will be as good as b4 the crash, even if the docs are not so positive about it.

I give myself until the end of June. If nothing happens, then my retirement will be announced with the start of the Tour. But there is light at the end of the tunnel: first because Festina has not let me down and offered me a job if I can't race again. Not only they make great watches, they are great people as well. And the second reason is that apart from little things, like a constant whistling in my ear, my health is almost back to normal.

So the family and I will spend the horrible German winter in Spain again, where I'll be part of the Festina training camp as well...can't wait!!

All the best and don't let your health slip away...it's the greatest thing we have, but we only realize it when we lose it.

mw

Missaglia looks ahead

30 year old Gabriele Missaglia (Lampre) has had a modest five year career as a pro, winning just six races. However, there have been some big wins including stages in the Vuelta a Pais Vasco, Giro d'Italia, Tour de Suisse and Volta a Catalunya, the Tour of Langkawi (1998) and of course the HEW Cyclassics in August this year. Missaglia feels however that the best is yet to come, as he related in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I want to at least win a great Classic, to ride well in the Giro and to race the World Championships," he said of his hopes next season. First, he has to overcome his tendency to fall off the bike, having done so nine times last season for various reasons.

He will be given a little more "freedom" by Lampre in future in order to try his hand in some of the bigger races. With his main goal being selection in the Italian World's team, he said that he will start his season a little later than normal, taking in the "second half of the Classics season, with Fleche Wallone, Liege, and Amstel before the Giro."

He does not consider himself a stage racer, despite finishing 16th in the last Giro while working for Simoni. He has also won the Tour of Langkawi, Malaysia in 1998 which was "not a big race, but hard enough."

Missaglia wants to master the Classics instead. "I must confirm myself in these, before thinking of trying more in the stage races. I feel well suited for the one day races, where I can take advantage of my smaller height and weight (166 cm for 62 kg)," he finished.

Roussel: there is still doping

Convicted former Festina Director, Bruno Roussel believes that doping is still pervasive in cycling. After the trial that finished last Friday, Roussel gave an interview with French newspaper "La Journal du Dimanche" where he said that "the cycling I knew is not very different from the present. In order to progress we will have to spend a decade or more."

Roussel was given a one year suspended sentence and a $US 7,000 fine for his role in the "Festina Affair", where he was one of the key members of the team involved in systematic doping. He thought that Richard Virenque (team captain in 1998 who was not sentenced) "had paid enough" during the proceedings, as he was "no more guilty than the others."

"The riders are not victims, they also took advantage of the doping. But in terms of giving accounts to justice, they were nobody. I have respect for the cyclists, their suffering, but they needed value...the French legislation must evolve," said Roussel, blaming the French law for being inadequate for cases like this.

Roussel echoed the sentiments of many in his words: "I do not believe in the capacity of the sporting world to judge itself. The parents cannot judge their own children." The judgment needs to come externally and independently if that is possible.

He added that the prerogative to fight doping must be "transferred to the Governments, who like the race organisers, should dedicate a portion of the TV rights to fighting the use of illicit products."

Finally, he was asked who informed French customs that Willy Voet was going to cross into France from Belgium with doping products, especially EPO. He answered that it has been "implied" already but did not want to give his name because if he did, he may be sued for defamation. "I do not want to settle accounts with that person."

Azevedo's plans

One of Portugal's top riders, Jose Azevedo, who joined the Spanish ONCE team, is planning out next season's races. ONCE wants Azevedo to ride the Giro d'Italia, and he intends on riding the Portuguese races, Volta ao Algarve and the Grande Prémio Mitsubishi in preparation. If everything goes well, he will ride the Vuelta España and the World Championships in Lisbon.

Joaquin Gomes to Nettisport

Former Benfica rider, Joaquin Gomes, will sign a contract with the new team, Union Ciclista Ibérica/Nettisport. It was looking unlikely that Gomes and several other former Benfica riders would find a team for 2001, although two of his teammates - Luís Sarreira (Cantanhede) and José de Sousa (Paredes) - did manage to sign with other teams.

Gomes attempted to form his own team, but was still awaiting a reply from his sponsors when the offer from Ibérica/Nettisport came through, one of 10 Portuguese teams in the professional peloton.