News for December 31, 2000Beloki to ONCE for three yearsIt is official: Joseba Beloki will for the next three seasons with top Spanish team, ONCE-Deutsche Bank after reaching an agreement with them. The contract will be worth 300 million pesetas ($US 1.7 million) over the three years, but he will have to pay his current team Festina 70 million pesetas because he is breaking his one year contract with them. Beloki, who was third in the 2000 Tour de France, will be one of ONCE's key riders for the major tours along with Abraham Olano and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano. He will bring his brother, Gorka to the team, who will race for them in the latter part of the year.
UCI medical monitoring programBy Jeff Jones As of the beginning of 1999, riders in first and second division trade teams have had to undergo compulsory medical testing as part of the UCI's plan to improve rider health and curtail drug use. Although the notion of cheating isn't the world's biggest deterrent when it comes to using illegal performance enhancing drugs, the concept that it's actually bad for one's health is more so, and has been pushed by the UCI in recent years. Cheating in sports has been around since the very first Olympic Games in Greece a couple of thousand years ago. Then, athletes competed mainly for the glory, but introduce money into the equation and it becomes irresistible for some to cross the line into illegal substance abuse. It's not as simple as that of course as the recent court cases have shown - you must conform to be part of the team. This leads to statements like "It's not cheating if you don't test positive" and "I've never tested positive to a banned substance in my whole career", and the apparent belief in these statements. The UCI (and soon to be amalgamated with the IOC) list of banned substances has primarily been decided from a health point of view. From the anti-doping regulations: "to avoid all possible negative repercussions that such abuse may have on the normal running of cycling races and on the physical or psychic well-being of the riders especially by their trying artificially to increase their performance." As such, certain classes of substances are banned, viz. stimulants, narcotics, anabolic agents (androgenic anabolising steroids and non-steroidal anabolic agents), diuretics, peptide hormones, mimetics and analogues; as well as the doping methods: blood doping, pharmacological, chemical or physical manipulation. If new substances are found that fall within these guidelines, then they are added to the list. Interestingly, the Norwegian substance Actovegin has not yet been officially banned by the UCI, although it has by the IOC. It is considered a blood boosting substance by some, but there is only a fraction of scientific evidence available compared with EPO. Current health monitoring regulations Any cyclist who joins a team for the first time has to submit to a biannual examination (i.e. once every two years), usually taking place between December 1 and January 31 to coincide with the annual checkup. This is to completely assess the athlete's fitness and provide the UCI with a medical record. Tests include a cardiological examination, visual acuity, and a blood test (carried out annually). The latter includes tests for electrolytes, cholesterol, triglycerides, ferritin, full blood count, creatinine, testosterone, and cortisol. Every year, a cardiological questionnaire has to be completed by the cyclist, as well as having to undergo an electrocardiogram and a urine test. In addition to the annual examination, cyclists have to submit to three further tests throughout the year, namely a urine test and a blood test similar to the above (ferritin, C reactive protein and Erythropoetin are only measured every 6 months). There are also extra tests for riders taking part in major tours. Too much testing? Compared with other sports, cyclists are quite heavily tested. Some perceive this as unfair, giving cycling a negative image when positive tests come to light. Others argue that it is the only way forward if we want a clean sport. In other more lucrative sports, testing seems to be discouraged - cheating seems to hold sway over good health. Of course, with X million dollars, you can buy the best health care in the world. Of course, there is obvious room for improvement for drug testing in cycling. There is no approved useful long term test for EPO yet, although one was developed and tested well before the Olympic Games this year. It was based on an indirect (but accurate) method that involved modelling several blood parameters, but was not given the green light by the IOC and therefore the UCI. As performance enhancing becomes more sophisticated, this form of testing will become increasingly more important so long as athletes continue to ignore their long term health in favour of short term glory and money. Alfa Lum close to completionEleven of the twelve cyclists that will comprise the Alfa Lum squad for 2001 have now been finalised by team manager, Maurizio Ricci. As previously reported, the team will be led by Giro and Tour winner, Joane Somarriba, World TT champion Mari Holden and former World Road Champion, Edita Pucinskaite. However, the talent doesn't end there, with promising Ukranian, Tatiana Stiajkina, San Marino native Daniela Veronesi, Italian Sara Felloni and French Fany Lecourtois filling the middle ranks. Then there are the riders selected for their potential including Lithuanian Rasa Mazeikyte, Italians Serena Gazzini, Martina Corazza and Simona Grossi. The 12th rider will be chosen from Valentyna Karpenko or Tatiana Andryuschenko. The team is aiming once again to win the Grande Boucle and the Giro d'Italia, the two biggest stage races in women's cycling. They have also targetted the Hewlett Packard Women's Challenge, the Tour de l'Aude and the World Cup races. Other important races include the Tour de Snowy, Vuelta Mallorca, Vuelta Navarra, Giro del Trentino and the Giro di Toscana. Team Roster Manager: Maurizio Ricci Riders Joane Somarriba (Spa) 29 years Edita Pucinskaite (Lit) 26 years Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) 24 years Daniela Veronesi (RSM) 29 years Sara Felloni (Ita) 29 years Fany Lecourtois (Fra) 28 years Rasa Mazeikyte (Lit) 25 years Serena Gazzini (Ita) 24 years Martina Corazza (Ita) 22 years Simona Grossi (Ita) 26 years Team web site: www.team-alfalum.com Bike School Maurizio FondriestFormer World Champion and multiple World Cup winner, Maurizio Fondriest, will present a "school of cycling" next year in Montecatini Terme, Italy. Consisting of several 3-4 day courses, the school is aimed at aspiring amateurs and cyclotourists who want to better themselves in all aspects of cycling. Fondriest's Italian plan follows on from Davide Cassani's successful series of camps, as well as other schools of cycling around the world. Fondriest, along with other cycling experts will give lectures and conduct training rides throughout the camps. Standard topics that will be covered include positioning and bike setup, training methodology, nutrition, as well as physical testing of participants. In addition, there will also be mechanics and masseurs on hand to give a true "professional" feel to the camps. An introductory camp will be held between March 8-10, with the first official camp taking place just after the end of the Giro d'Italia (June 13-16). The final camp will be staged in October.
Cyclingnews.com poll - last dayVoting for your favourite ride of 2000 closes at midnight (GMT) tonight, December 31. There have been a large number of entries so far, but we're sure that we can squeeze a few more in. Don't forget, everyone who votes goes into the draw to win the Blackburn Motivator DVD training system, if you needed any extra incentive...
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