News for February 2, 2000Spanish season 2000Whereas the French professional peloton has been largely turned inside out this year, with several new teams forming or being renamed, the Spanish squads remain largely intact.The main new developments are the formation of Costa Almeria along with the new co-sponsorship of Fuenlabrada with the Relax mattress company. The strong teams have largely maintained their players, with Zülle and Jiménez at Banesto, Jalabert, Olano and Extebarria at ONCE, Igor González de Galdeano and Santiago Blanco at Vitalicio Seguros (but no Oscar Freire), Escartin and Heras at Kelme, and Laiseka and Arrieta at Euskaltel. The objectives of the seven Spanish teams remain similar as well. The largest - Banesto and ONCE - are aiming for the Tour and the Spanish calendar, along with Kelme and Vitalicio. Costa Almeria and Fuenlabrada, and Euskaltel will be aiming for the Spanish and Portuguese races mainly, with the latter trying to gain enough points to make it into the first division in the future.
Kelme trainsKelme Costa Blanca will rally in Santa Pola for their final preparation for the Mallorca races starting this weekend in Palma. The main goals for them this season are the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espańa, with three captains on the team: Fernando Escartín, last year's revelation Roberto Heras and also Oscar Sevilla. The team consists of 22 riders and will use the Trofeo Mallorca to gain quality kilometers but also try out that most important piece of equipment: their bikes. The team has switched from Italian Gios to French Look bicycles.
Wellens and Groenendaal in new team?U23 Cyclo Cross World Champion Bart Wellens was rumoured to be signing for Collstrop but now his manager and father-in-law, Hans van Kasteren, says that Wellens might form a new cyclo cross team with the new World Champion Richard Groenendaal. "They have spoken to me and I think it can be positive," said Groenendaal who will have a discussion with his team Rabobank first though. The sponsor involved has business in Belgium and the Netherlands and the name will be announced next week, according to Kasteren.
German Tour to end in BerlinThe route for the Tour of Germany has been unveiled today at a press conference in Bonn. The race begins on May 26, with a 180 km stage from Bonn to Weisbaden and ends on June 1 in Berlin with a 130 km stage starting in Potsdam. All in all, the tour has eight stages and is 1236 km long. The total budget for the tour is DM 6.5 million ($US 3 million) Despite their misfortune in last year's event, team Telekom wants to start in the tour with stars Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel, along with all the other German professional teams. Tour of Germany 2000 Stage 1: May 26 - Bonn - Wiesbaden (180 km) Stage 2: May 27 - Wiesbaden - Pforzheim (220 km) Stage 3: May 28 - Pforzheim - Bad Dürrheim (255 km) Stage 4: May 29 - Bad Dürrheim - Stuttgart (154 km) Stage 5: May 30 - Stuttgart - Ansbach (162 km) Stage 6: May 31 - Ansbach Herzogenaurach (100 km) Stage 7: May 31 - Herzogenaurach Individual TT (35 km) Stage 8: June 1 - Potsdam - Berlin (130 km).
Women's Tour de Suisse saved The women's Tour de Suisse, as well as the last race of the World
Cup, will take place this season, despite having earlier problems with
sponsorship. A new sponsor for the races, which saw Anna Wilson clinch
her World Cup crown, has been found in the insurance company Wintethur. The European Championships derny race for elites will be held in the
Velodrome in Amsterdam for the next 3 years. It will be held on May
7, and the organisers are expecting riders such as De Wilde, Baffi,
Martinello and Kappes to be there.
A week prior to this (April 30), there will be the RAI derny race
in Amsterdam, which often attracts top road riders. This year, Michele
Bartoli and Johan Museeuw will start, and the organisor Harry Mater
hopes that world champion Freire Gomez will start as well. Gomez has
promised to come if he rides well in the Amstel Gold Race on April 22.
Courtesy of Rich Wanninger
The US Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) has named the Superdrome
in Frisco, Texas the venue for the 2000 U.S. Paralympic Trials for track
cycling. The competition which gives athletes with disabilities opportunities
to compete for their spot on the 2000 U.S. Paralympic Team will be held
in conjunction with the 2000 Olympic Track Cycling Trials from April
25-29.
"These competitive track cyclists with disabilities are incredible
athletes who have overcome obstacles in their lives and provide inspiration
to everyone watching them. They bring to the table an incredible athletic
ability and a determination and commitment to beat all the odds, and
their competitive spirit showcases the best of what sport can offer,"
said Jim Travis, Director of the Superdrome. "Many of these athletes
competed in Frisco in 1998 at the National Championships and we are
elated to have them back at the Superdrome and once again give this
region a unique opportunity to watch them."
Ex pro-cyclist, Jordi Mariné is the only candidate for the new chairman
of the Catalonian Cycling Federation, to be elected at the annual general
meeting in March. Mariné was one of the major forces behind the actions
to get rid of former president Miquel Arboç last year. Mariné is supported
by several board members.
As part of cyclingnews increasing service to its readers, we have
recently added a means whereby race organisers (of non-UCI races) can
enter the full details of their race online, which will then be available
as a listings indexed by country, followed by a brief and more detailed
description. This is intended to allow our readers to keep in touch
with races that are on in their area.
The basic listing service will be free, and we are now asking potential
race organisers to submit their details via our event
form, and to provide us with any feedback before we go "live" with
it. We anticipate this will be by the end of the first week in February.
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