News for January 11, 2000

UCI presents it's antidoping strategy

The Union Cycliste International have unveiled their plan to deal with the still present drugs problem within the peloton. They are following the examples of the federations of France and Italy, who developed their own plans a year ago.

They will continue with their quarterly full blood tests that all members of the peloton must undergo. In addition, riders will have to undergo a complete cardiological examination each year. As many markers in the blood will be measured, abnormalities may result in a temporary disqualification for health reasons, whether the rider has been found guilty of drug taking or not.

Another new addition will be a personal health certificate, where details of all of the riders "normal" medicines will be kept. Thus cases like Ludo Dierckxens' expulsion from the Tour, where he was not able to submit a medical certificate for (legal) corticoids, will be easier to handle.

Final USA World's cyclocross team

USA Cycling announced Monday the final roster for the 2000 World Cyclo-Cross Championships to be held on January 29-30, in St. St. Michielsgestel, The Netherlands.

World championship veteran Dale Knapp (Tacoma, Wash., no relation) and Alex Candelario (Boulder, Colo.) were added to the elite men's roster. Knapp placed 10th at the Saturn/USCF National Cyclo-Cross Championship, while Candelario was the national collegiate champion and finished fifth overall in the SuperCup Cyclo-Cross Series. Two-time defending espoir (under-23) Tim Johnson (Middleton, Mass.) suffered a fractured collarbone in early January and will be sidelined. In 1999, Johnson became the first American to medal in the 50-year history of the World Cyclo-Cross Championship, when he won bronze.

Danias Dameion (Tacoma, Wash.) was added to the espoir roster in place of Johnson. Dameion placed seventh at the junior national championship, and finished second in the SuperCup season standings.

Final Team

Elite Men

Bart Bowen, Saturn, Albuquerque, N.M.
Alex Candelario, Boulder Denver Couriers, Boulder, Colo.
Marc Gullickson, Voo Doo/Boulder/Denver Courier, Boulder, Colo.
Dale Knapp, KONA, Tacoma, Wash.
Justin Robinson, VooDoo/Real Wheels, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Elite Women

Alison Dunlap, Team GT, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Ann Grande, Redline, Seattle, Wash.
Shari Kain, RLX Polo Sport, San Jose, Calif.
Ruthie Matthes, Trek/Volkswagen, Durango, Colo.
Carmen Richardson, Colorado Springs, Colo.,

Espoir (Under-23) Men

Donais Dameion, Redline, Tacoma, Wash.
Andy Jacques-Mayne, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
Benjamin Jacques-Mayne, The Spokesman, Berkeley, Calif.
Jed Sheckler, The Valley/GT-NW, Olympia, Wash.

Junior Men

Josh Anthony, Essex County Velo, Beverly, Mass.
Walker Ferguson, Team Devo, Norwood, Colo.
Alan Obye, Team Grimace, Mendon, Vt.
Toby Swanson, Rad Racing NW, Puyallup, Wash.
Justin Thompson, Team Devo, Avondale, Pa.

Swiss selection for World's

Courtesy of Pascal Meisser

One day after the National Championships, the Swiss Federation announced the Swiss squad the World Cyclocross Championships in the Netherlands. The following riders were named:

Elite: Beat Wabel (national champion), Roland Schaetti, Dieter Runkel, Jan Ramsauer, Alexandre Moos. Dual Swiss Champion, Thomas Frischknecht will not participate. Instead, he wants to prepare for the MTB season, as his goal is to defend or to improve on his silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Espoirs: Michael Baumgartner, Aurelien Clerc, Matthias Kern, David Rusch, Christian Trafelet.

Juniors: Roger Jakob, Gilbert Obrist, Daniel Parpan, Roger Schuppli, Simon Wüthrich.

Women: Chantal Daucourt and Alexandra Bähler

Sørensen accused

The Danish TV-station DR 1 aired a programm on Sunday, January 9, in which they accuse Rolf Sørensen of using EPO 1993, when he was with Carrera. The news is based on the current Italian investigation, which also named other Carrera riders, Claudio Chiappucci and Stephen Roche. Last year, the same TV station accused former Tour winner, Bjarne Riis of similar practices.

During the program, current president of the Danish cycling federation (DCU), Peder Pedersen, called for a general amnesty for those current competitors that confess to having taken drugs in the past. "We can only get a new beginning in this way," said Pedersen.

The 34 year-old Sørensen is currently recovering from a broken collarbone, however his current team, Rabobank claim that he has always been "100 percent" clean with them.

Deutsche Post AG no go

Although it was reported in German magazine "Die Welt", that Deutsche Post AG wished to become a co-sponsor of the Italian Saeco-Gaggia team, the company claims this was merely a rumor. The company may seek to involve itself in the future with the sport of cycle racing, following the very successful model of the US Postal Service team.

UCI MTB nations rankings

Courtesy of Patrice Quintero

The UCI have released their official nation rankings based on the 1999 World Mountain Bike Championships. The points are determined from each nation's top three finishers in each discipline. These points and rankings do not affect nation rankings for Olympic start positions.

1999 World Mountain Bike C'ships Rankings

Elite Men's Cross-country

1. Belgium		293 pts.
2. France		286
3. Denmark		285
4. Switzerland		276
5. Netherlands		273
...
13. USA			168

Elite Women's Cross-country

1. Switzerland		206 pts.
2. USA			204
3. France		203
4. Canada		200
5. Italy		200

Men U-23 Cross-country

1. Italy		249 pts.
2. Germany		219
3. Czech Republic	218
4. Norway		213
5. Canada		206
...
16. USA			11

Junior Men's Cross-country

1. Germany		251 pts.
2. USA			227
3. Switzerland		209
4. Czech Republic	207
5. Sweden		194

Junior Women's Cross-country

1. Switzerland		79 pts.
2. Poland		52
3. Canada		50
4. France		48
5. Germany		46

Elite Women's Downhill

1. USA			97 	
2. Switzerland		94
3. Great Britain	86
4. France		65
5. Canada		46

Elite Men's Downhill

1. France		280 pts.
2. USA			266
3. Sweden		250
4. Spain		233
5. Great Britain	232

Junior Women's Downhill

1. France		23 pts.
2. USA			21
3. Great Britain	17
4. Switzerland		15
5. Canada		5

Junior Men's Downhill

1. Great Britain	157 pts
2. Australia		140
3. USA			132
4. France		125
5. South Africa		113