News for January 26, 2000

Lyons out for two years

Australian pursuiter Tim Lyons has been suspended from international cycling for two years by the International Court of Arbitration in Sport. Lyons was tested and found to have had a high testosterone level in March 1999 and was suspended from the Australian Institute of Sport in May. His team mateTim O'Shannessey, who was caught at the same occasion, will have his case come up later this year. This effectively rules out any chance of the two competing in the Olympic Games this year.

21 year old Lyons, was a gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games, and a dual junior world track champion, as well as being part of the Olympic team in Atlanta, 1996. According to the Australian Sports Drug Testing Association (ASDA), his testosterone to epitestosterone ratio was between 6:1 and 10:1, where 6:1 is the maximum allowable limit (and is still considered extremely high).

The suspension will "start" from March 25 last year, making him ineligible to compete until March 2001. Ray Godkin, the president of Cycling Australia told AAP "If anything good can come out of this, it's that it teaches people a lesson - no matter how good you are, you will be treated the same (if caught doping). We don't want these sorts of people - if they choose to cheat, there's no room for them," he said.

This was backed up by national coach, Charlie Walsh, who said: "We are better off without them. The actions of these riders is inexcusable."

Although Lyons and O'Shannessey (and Josh Kersten, who was since cleared) were initially suspended for taking medication without permission, the case was clearly more serious as evidenced by the lengthy decision.

The long sentence is quite unusual since the UCI has shorter suspension periods. The Dane Claus Michael Møller was suspended by the Danish Sports Union for two years after testing. The UCI intervened and it all ended up with Møller being banned in Denmark for two years but allowed to race internationally for foreign teams already after eight months.

Polti trains

The Italian team Polti are happily training at Terme Luigiane in Calabria, Italy, with several members taking advantage of others comparative lack of fitness to get "one up" before the real racing starts. Richard Virenque falls into the latter category, as he suffers at the legs of Andrea Nencini during one of the team's outings.

The team were delayed by bad weather in their training plans but have been able to get out for a few spins, including a 5 hour, 165 km ride around Salerno taking in two climbs (12 & 16 kms). Potential one-day star, Mirko Celestino chose to extend it a little and rode for 200 kms instead.

Virenque is apparently riding well on the climbs, even making Dutch sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens suffer a little. Ivan Gotti is still not up to scratch, and neo pro Massimiliano Razzari had to forgo training due to two broken ribs he sustained in a fall last Friday.

Cantina Tollo riders are also training around Calabria headed by local Roberto Sgambelluri, and colleagues Lui, Baronti, Colonna, Colombo, Gasperoni, Pepoli, Piovaccari, Vergnani and Mondini.

Galdeano: I cannot live on memories

The cycling revelation of the last season, Igor González de Galdeano, starred in the presentation of Vitalicio's team in Jávea in Alicante. Igor, who started training seriously in December, comments on the inevitable comparisons to Miguel Indurain and his cool and calculating style of racing:

"It's neither negative, nor positive, to be compared to Indurain. I don't really have any connection to him. I am Igor and I am still a green cyclist," de Galdeano said to European Press. "First of all I lack maturity on the road which I will acquire with the years. I am relatively young and can improve in all fields."

Except for Galdeano the team has lost several of its top riders from last season: World Champion Oscar Freire to Mapei, Spanish Champion Angel Casero to Festina, Dani Clavero to Polti and Russians Serguei Smetanine and Andrei Zintchenko to the Portuguese teams Benfica and Pecol. "It is an important season due to the uncertainty in the team when it comes to continuity, and the question is if we can match last year's results."

He hasn't experienced any flood of offers from other teams, however: "I have a year left on my contract with Vitalicio. I cannot live on memories. Last season was great for me but now I, and the team, must confirm our positions."

Igor's calendar includes a start at the Trofeo Mallorca, the Vueltas of Andalucia and Murcia, Trofeo Luis Puig, and the Catalan Week. But major goal is of course the Vuelta a España and also the Olympics.

Jiménez OK

Spaniard Jose Maria Jiménez, who broke his left thumb last week has had a successful operation to fix it. The Banesto leader is expected to return shortly to training after the operation in the Ruber clinic of Madrid. He suffered fracture last Tuesday while he was training with the team in Alhaurín di Grande in the locality of Malagueña.

Basques start at La Marseillaise

Euskaltel-Euskadi will have its official presentation at January 26 in the Kursaal Palace of San Sebastián and then train for three more days in the area, the first ride taking place directly after the presentation - 60 kms to Lasarte. The following day there will be a 200 km ride from Lasarte to Vitoria and then on Friday, 190 km, from Vitoria to Estella in Navarra. The Saturday ride will go for 190 kms to Derio.

On the 30th, the team will travel to France to participate in GP de la Marseillaise, the first European race of the year.