News for February 22, 2000

Valenciana tour starts today

The Vuelta Ciclista Internacional Comunidad Valenciana (Tour of the Valencian Community) commences today with a 154 km stage in and around Segundo. The tour will see the re-entry of stars such as Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani into European competition after their winter break. In addition, Laurent Jalabert and Erik Zabel will be seeking to improve on their early season form during the five day race. Alex Zülle, Oscar Freire, Ivan Gotti, Michael Boogerd, Richard Virenque, Fernando Escartin and Abraham Olano will also be there as well, although they are likely (with the exception of Freire) to use the race as training.

Pantani's return is likely to be quiet, as is Lance Armstrong's. The former has a lot of work to do this season to try and resurrect his career and respectability after his exclusion from the Giro in June last year. Mercatone-Uno president, Felice Gimondi is happy to see his star rider in action again: "Finally, we ride," he said enthusiastically to the Italian press in Spain. "All that remains is for Marco to put his number on and start to pedal. The rest will come from himself, step by step, until we see him at his former level. Nobody must forget the contribution that Marco has made to increase the popularity of cycling," said the former champion cyclist. Despite the drug allegations, Pantani is still revered in Italy and the rest of Europe as the best climber that the world has ever seen.

"I say that Marco Pantani does not have to prove anything to anybody, and he must follow a strict program without worrying about the result," said Gimondi of Pantani's training/racing schedule for the early part of the year. "After the Vuelta Valenciana, he will be building up for the Giro d'Italia, which remains the big objective of his comeback."

Yesterday, Pantani trained for four hours on the roads around Valencia. He left the hotel a little while before his teammates went to the Trofeo Luis Puig, where he could have raced but stuck to his program. Accompanied by Roberto Pregnolato, he rode for 130 km, taking in a long climb. Will it be enough though?

Hard to turn silver into cash

Sweden's Michael Andersson surprised the world, except maybe himself, with a silver medal at the ITT World Championships in Treviso last fall. He then had been out of racing for six weeks because his Danish pro team Acceptcard was folding. The six weeks made it possible to focus on the World Championships as he never had before. The result stunned the cycling world - he finished only 14 seconds behind Jan Ullrich.

It took him four months to get a contract for this year despite his success, and Andersson finally wound up on the lowest pro level, with the third division Slovakian-Italian de Nardi team, writes Swedish cycling journalist Cege Berglund in Göteborgs-Posten.

"I haven't had much to chose from actually," said the 33 year old "Oarsman" (his first sport was rowing). "I have to get hold of a team", he told Berglund. Andersson is in Australia to test the Olympic ITT circuit and arrived last week with an unsigned contract in his bag. He then still hoped for better alternatives.

"I have been a bit naive and thought that the silver medal would have got me a much better contract."

However, Andersson signed the contract in Entrance, New South Wales, where he is training for the moment with Magnus Albertsson. De Nardi - Pasta Montegrappa is an Italian team that for tax reasons is registered in Slovakia. In the team there are already four Swedes, Anders Juhlin, Magnus Ljungblad, Esa Rosendahl and Swedish road champion Henrik Sparr. De Nardi manufactures garage doors and Montegrappa makes egg pasta.

For Andersson, there will be no great amounts of money to earn but the contract has its advantages:

"I would not have been able to focus on the Olympics in one of the big teams. De Nardi has fully accepted that I want to do all that I can to succeed in the Olympics. I also have full support from Pinarello bikes."

Andersson will spend two weeks in Australia: "It was nice to get away from all these contract troubles and do some serious training." Serious training means six or seven hours on the bike each day, starting at seven in the morning to avoid the worst heat of the day.

He has also studied the Olympic ITT circuit, where he hopes to win another medal, and was a bit worried when the women's World Champion Leontien van Moorsel ruled it out because of the many turns.

"It's not that bad. It's not my favourite type of ITT but I think I can make it. I'll have to practice, because here you must dare to go fast in the turns."

There are 19 corners on each of the three laps and the specialized ITT bike comes to use a couple of times each season but this year he will have to use it more often. "Maybe I can get an exemption to use it in some crits."

Freire starts well

Spanish World Champion, Oscar Freire (Mapei) has already shown this year that he is no flash in the pan - an opportunist who was just "lucky" to be in the right place at the right time, and have the legs on October 10 last year. Many feared that he would become anonymous, after he beat all the stars in that select group, but the 24 year old Spaniard has shown the opposite.

He has proven that with success in the Mallorca Challenge and the Trofeo Luis Puig, and we can expect to seem him up there in the Tour of the Valencian Community, starting today. Of course, winning the World Championships provides a nice confidence boost, as well as a large rise in salary. He is now earning approx. $US 700,000 a year, and has a three year contract with the Italian super-team.

Will the dreaded "curse" strike, or is that just a misnomer based on a few cases such as Stephen Roche (1987), Johan Museeuw (1996) and Oscar Camenzind (1998). Laurent Brochard's win in 1997 might be included amongst these as well...

USA cycling athletes of the year

Courtesy of Rich Wanninger, USA cycling

USA cycling announced its list of athletes of the year for 1999 today. A total of 20 cyclists were named, including Lance Armstrong, Marty Nothstein, Alison Dunlap, and Kent Bostick. The disciplines of cyclo-cross, mountain bike, road, track and BMX were all represented, along with elite, junior and masters riders. The criteria were based solely on the rider's 1999 accomplishments, and each winner gained $1,000 in prizemoney courtesy of VISA.

The winners:

Mountain Biking - Elite Women

Alison Dunlap, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Team GT)

Ranked second in the world; Pan American Games, first, mountain bike; World Mountain Bike Championships, fourth; UCI World Cup series, fourth overall, one race win; NORBA National Championship Series (cross-country), first overall - national champion, three race wins; NORBA National Championship Series (short-track cross-country), first overall - national champion, three race wins; Mercury Tour, third overall, three stage wins; Sea Otter Classic, first, two stage wins.

Mountain Biking - Elite Men

Eric Carter, Temecula, Calif. (Team GT)

World Mountain Bike Championships, third, downhill; UCI World Cup dual slalom series, first overall, two race wins; UCI World Cup downhill series, ninth overall; NORBA National Championship Series (downhill), third overall, top American - national champion; NORBA National Championship Series (dual slalom), second overall

Mountain Biking - Junior Women

Kathleen Pruitt, Lake Almanor, Calif. (Santa Cruz)

Junior World Mountain Bike Championships, second, downhill; UCI World Cup downhill series 39th overall; NORBA National Championship Series (pro downhill), ninth overall, three top-10 finishes; NORBA National Championship Series (junior downhill), national champion, two race wins; NORBA National Championship Series (pro dual slalom): 20th overall; NORBA National Championship Series (cross-country), one third-place finish

Mountain Biking - Junior Men

Matt Kelly, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Trek/Volkswagen)

Junior World Mountain Bike Championships, sixth; World Mountain Bike Championships, fourth, team relay; NORBA National Championship Series (pro), 13th overall, two top-10 finishes; Mercury Tour, sixth overall, one stage win.

Track - Elite Men

Marty Nothstein, Trexlertown, Pa. (autotrader.com/Cox)

Won three gold medals at Pan American Games to become first cyclist to achieve that feat; also captured same three events (match sprint, Keirin and Olympic Sprint) at EDS Elite National Track Cycling Championships; placed fifth in match sprint and sixth in Keirin at World Track Cycling Championships.;earned five top-five finishes in World Cup competition.

Track - Elite Women

Erin Veenstra, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Shaklee)

Won gold medals in the points race and individual pursuit at the 1999 Pan American Games; placed sixth at World Track Cycling Championships in points race and eighth in the individual pursuit;won individual pursuit title at EDS World Cup of Cycling; runner-up in individual pursuit at EDS Elite National Track Cycling Championships; ranked fourth in UCI World Cup rankings.

Track - Junior Men

Mike Creed, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Colorado Cyclist)

Fifth in team pursuit and 15th in individual pursuit at Junior World Track Cycling Championships; won team pursuit and individual pursuit at EDS Junior National Track Cycling Championships; won elimination race at Copa Cuba (junior), and points race (senior).

Track - Junior Women

Sarah Uhl, Perkasie, Pa. (NESCA/Trek)

First in omnium (15-16) and match sprint, plus third in individual pursuit at EDS Junior National Track Cycling Championships; captured two gold medals (500m time trial, match sprint) and one silver medal (points race) at Junior Pan American Championships; second in points race and fourth in match sprint at EDS Elite National Track Cycling Championships; fourth in individual pursuit and fifth in points race at Copa Cuba.

Road - Elite Men

Lance Armstrong, Austin, Texas (U.S. Postal Service)

Winner of the Tour de France to become only second US cyclist to accomplish that feat; winner of four stages during Tour and set fastest time in Tour de France history; finished second at Amstel Gold Race (World Cup); seventh in final UCI world rankings.

Road - Elite Women

Karen Dunne, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Celestial Seasonings)

Won gold medal in road race at 1999 Pan American Games; won 1999 USCF national criterium championship; top US finisher at First Union Liberty Classic; placed second at Wendy's International Cycling Classic; won sprinters jersey at HP LaserJet Women's Challenge; ranked 22nd in UCI World Cup rankings (top US rider).

Road - Junior Men

Brad Buccambuso, Logan, Utah (Logan Race Club)

Won road race, second in individual time trial and 14th in criterium at USCF Junior National Road Cycling Championships (17-18); member of Junior World Road Cycling Championships squad; won Tour de L'Abitibi and captured two stages; placed 27th at Tour of Austria.

Road - Junior Women

Allie Warfel, Lancaster, Pa. (Red Rose Rockets)

Won individual criterium and road race at USCF Junior National Road Cycling Championships (17-18); competed at Junior World Road Cycling Championships.

Masters - Women

Cynthia Goodman, Redondo Beach, Calif. (Landis Cyclery/Toyota)

Won two gold (500m time trial, points race) and two silver (individual pursuit, match sprint) at Masters World Championships; set world mark in 500m time trial (39.3); silver medallist at Masters World Road Cycling Championships (road race); named best all-around rider (BAR) at USCF National Masters Track Cycling Championships (gold - 500m time trial, points race, individual pursuit, team pursuit; silver - Olympic Sprint); also set two national records; silver medallist in criterium at USCF Masters National Road Championships.

Masters - Men

Kent Bostick, Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Shaklee)

Won road race, time trial and criterium in men's 45-49 at USCF National Road Cycling Championships; won 3,000-meter pursuit (setting new record) and second in the 20km points race at world track championships; named best all-around rider (BAR) at USCF Masters National Road Cycling Championships.

BMX - Women

Marie McGilvary, Tampa, Fla.

1999 NBL #1 Super Girl title for 1999; placed 2nd at Orlando (Fla.) World Cup event in elite women's competition; earned eight nationals wins.

BMX - Men

Danny Nelson, Simi Valley, Calif.

Top NBL elite male competitor in 1999; NBL #2 Pro Open in 1999; earned nine nationals wins.

Collegiate - Women

Megan Troxell, Menlo Park, Calif. (Stanford University)

Member of World Track Cycling Championship squad (11th, individual pursuit); first in two-kilometer time trial, along with second place in points race, 500m time trial and third in Italian pursuit at NCCA Championships; helped Stanford to fourth-place finish; fourth in road race and sixth in individual time trial at NCCA Championships, as Cardinal finished ; third in points race and individual pursuit at EDS Elite National Track Cycling Championships.

Collegiate - Men

Alex Candelario, Boulder, Colo. (University of Colorado)

Won 1999 road race national title and cyclo-cross crowns; helped University of Colorado win national collegiate team title in road cycling; placed fifth in SuperCup (cyclocross) Senior Men's standings.

Cyclocross - Women

Alison Dunlap, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Team GT)

Won Saturn/USCF Cyclocross National Championship; captured first place at SuperCup finals in San Francisco; earned spot on 2000 World Championship squad.

Cyclocross - Men

Matt Kelly, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Trek/Volkswagen)

Junior world champion in 1999; junior national cyclocross champion; won Weltzikon Invitational (Switzerland) to become first US rider to win an international cyclocross event; captured junior title at SuperCup event in Portland, Ore.

Crossing at floodlights

The Belgian Superprestige cyclo cross at Diegem will be held late at night under floodlights next season on December 31st. A number of helium balloons will float about ten meters over the ground along the parcours with floodlights attached.

The Diegem cyclo cross is traditionally run on the last Sunday of the year, which this year happens to be New Year's Eve. The race will start at nine in the evening and will kick off the New Year's celebrations in Diegem. According to organizers the UCI has no objections to the novelty, nor do the riders. The idea has been well recede.

Remaining four Italians to Aiello

The CONI anti-drug disciplinary committee, headed by prosecutor Aiello will question four Italian cyclists, Alexander Bertolini, Gianluca Bortalami, Gianni Faresin and Giorgio Furlan today. The four, along with Ivan Gotti (who is in Spain now) will be examined about their relationships with certain doctors and coaches in Bologna.