News for January 29, 2000
World cyclocross championships, St MichielsgestelNijs: not handicapped any more Although there was originally going to be no sand on the parcours before the 'handicaps', the Dutch riders wished to put sand there to prevent Sven Nijs from jumping easily over the wooden barricades (on his bike!). However, the UCI forbade it and the course will be 'as is'. Sven, top of all the important cyclocross rankings this season is the odds on favourite. "This is a similar parcours to those where I went well in Loenhout and Kalmthout," he said "I am lucky Bart Wellens is not riding in the elites, as he is in top form," he said today "This is the most important race of the season, and I am mentally very psyched up for it. It would be the best way to end my winter." Mario de Clercq: reigning champion Although he might not look like the number one favourite on paper this year, veteran Mario de Clercq (Bel) will still be hard to prise out of his rainbow jersey. He has won the title for the past two years and is looking forward to this one. "Last year was one of the best of my life after I won the jersey. When I was 16, I worked in a factory. Five years later I was a bike rider. A new life, without restrictions. The world championship was the culmination of many years hard work. It took me fifteen years of trying," he said. "I know I'm the favourite, but I am not nervous yet. On Sunday morning I will be different, but I am looking forward to it. Since my bad performance in Kalmthout, I have improved from week to week. My head is 100% in it now." "I think it will be a super-nervous World Championship, with a faster parcours than last year in Poprad. It will be shoulder to shoulder from the start. I want to be in the top three or four at the beginning. "Sven and Richard are the top favourites for the race. My hope is that the World Championship is not like a Superprestige or a World Cup. Nijs is much younger and has the time, but Groenendaal, he is nearing his peak. It will be everyone for themselves. However, I have no problem helping another Belgian teammate win, if I am not up to it. Also, don't forget Vervecken," concluded the reigning champ. Wellens: U-23 favourite again Bart Wellens, of Belgium will once again be the favorite for the U-23 title. He rates the contenders: Tom Vannoppen was second last year, and will be the main threat this year. The others? Tim Johnson is not here now. The Dutch riders Van Gils and Van den Bergh are fast starters, the Frenchman Deprepas is also a good pick, the young Belgians Commeyne and Vanthourenhout have a lot of talent. But it is logically expected that I will win." Vervecken: can he go one better? Although Mario de Clercq will be the captain of the Belgian Elite men's team for the World's, don't count out Erwin Vervecken who is coming off two silver medals in the past two years. "Captain or no captain, I ride for myself. No-one knows better that I how I will feel in the race. If Mario is riding well, then I will follow, also Pontoni," he said. "With the 'club' of four (Nijs, Van der Poel, De Clercq and Groenendaal), I should always be able to follow one of them. I have proved I can be at the finish with them," he warned. Parcours heavier than expected Richard Groenendaal: "You can't take a rest at any moment. If you go for 100 percent in two laps, you will be broken. Now (Friday afternoon) it's still dry, but when it's raining, and it has been on Friday night, the parcours will become more heavier." During the training Sven Nijs tested the barricades (he is the only rider who can jump over the barricades ON his bike) and he did it. "It's a pity", Groenendaal said after the UCI-ordered the organisers to change the parcours. Two riders left at home On Friday morning, 16 riders competing in the World's were blood tested by the UCI's 'vampires'. The riders were from the Dutch and Italian teams and none gave a high hematocrit value. However, the Italian federation tested their team prior to their departure for St Michielsgestel. The result: two were declared "unsuitable" to race due to being "over 50". National champion, Annabella Stropparo was one and U-23 rider, Matteo Cossio the other. The two will not be replaced either, which will be a blow to the Italian team.
Team presentationsCredit Agricole - the Tour with Julich The French division II 'feels like I' team, Credit Agricole, had their official presentation on Friday in Paris. They feel that they have a real chance in the Tour this year with Bobby Julich, providing he stays on the bike, and are happy that they finally have a GC rider for the big races. The team contains riders from 8 countries, and has the benefit of
new signing Jonathan Vaughters, formery of USPS. He will also presumably
be one of their top GC men. Stuart O'Grady will likely play a similar
role as he has in previous years, going for stage and one day classic
victories and that elusive green jersey in the Tour. However, this will
be the last hurrah for Briton, Chris Boardman. Boardman turned pro in 1993 and has always maintained that he would
retire at 32. A triple winner of the prologue in the Tour, as well as
an Olympic title and the world hour record are not bad efforts.
"I know that I am not a potential winner of the Tour de France. I
will therefore turn the page without regret," he said. "I have many
objectives during this year with the prologues of Paris-Nice (on March
5 with Vincennes), and of the Tour de France (on July 1 in Futuroscope)
in particular."
"Then I will try win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney in
the individual pursuit then on the road in against the clock. I will
try two weeks later with the World Road Championships in Brittany, again
against the clock. I will then judge my form to to see whether I will
ride the World Track Championships which will be held in Manchester."
"I want very much to compete at home, in front of my fans, but I cannot
allow a failure. It would be fabulous to finish with a last title."
Throughout his 'continental' professional career, Boardman has remained
with Roger Legeay, never being tempted to leave.
Saeco-Valli&Valli
The Saeco team of Mario Cipollini and Laurent Dufaux have a solid
lineup, and are expecting to repeat their results of last year. Cipo
will be the leader of course, aiming at Milan-San Remo, as well as his
favourites, the Tour and the Giro. "I am thinking of the Sydney Olympics.
After the Giro d'Italia I will decide whether to do the pursuit or if
I will aim for the road race. I would also like to do the World's in
Plouay if I can gain Fusi's confidence."
Second in last year's Giro, Paolo Savoldelli, will be the team's big
stage race hope. "I want to do well in the Giro, but also the Tour.
I've done some good training in Guadaloupe, but there I had the 'flu
with a temperature of 41. But I am calm and only missed four days of
training," he said.
Finally there is Sal Commesso, the current Italian national champion.
"Firstly, I want to honour my jersey in all the races that I will do.
I dream of the World Cup and if possible, the Paris Roubaix," he said.
Telekom
There is a new Jan Ullrich taking on this season. At the team presentation
in Bonn he was in excellent physical shape - and mood. He has now added
talking to media to his other professional skills and is quite relaxed
and open minded. He has a strong team with him, and the second largest
budget in the business, $US 10 million (DM 20 million). "I'm very happy
with my preparation and I'm really motivated for the Tour. The Olympics,
the Vuelta and the World's are my other main goals," said Ullrich.
The team has managed to sign one of the most promising riders in the
peloton, Kazakhian Alexandre Vinokourov as Ullrich's aide in the mountains.
He won the Dauphiné Libéré last year and the question is if he is content
with playing the second fiddle to Ullrich in the Tour and the Vuelta,
having his chances only in the lesser races. He blew on the first mountain
stage of last year's Tour but was among the best for the rest of the
race.
Also Erik Zabel will have a new helper. Mario Cipollini's "train engine"
Gian-Matteo Fagnini has been acquired to help Zabel to get his fifth
consecutive green jersey in the Tour, and this year maybe also a stage
win. Zabel will also have try for a third victory at the first spring
classic, Milan - San Remo where he was second last year.
Ullrich and Zabel are of course invaluable to their team, but on the
open market of the criteriums the quote for Ullrich is 60,000 marks
(30,000 USD) and half the sum for Zabel. That is what they will be paid
for appearing in the "Nacht von Hannover 2000" at the beginning of August,
where also Mario Cipollini, Marcel Wüst and local hero Grischa Niermann
will appear.
Telekom is not only a pro team. There is also an espoirs squad "Junior-Team
Jan Ullrich" managed by Peter Bäcker, the man who once discovered Jan
Ullrich's talent. Latest addition to the team is Christian Knees, bronze
winner in the juniors ITT at the Verona World's and the cyclo crosser
Steffen Weigold.
The Telekom pro squad
for 2000:
Jan Ullrich (Ger), Erik Zabel (Ger), Rolf Aldag (Ger), Udo Bolts (Ger),
Alberto Elli (Ita), Gianmatteo Fagnini (Ita), Ralf Grabsch (Ger), Giuseppe
Guerini (Ita), Jens Heppner (Ger), Danilo Hondo (Ger), Kai Hundertmarck
(Ger), Jorg Jaksche (Ger), Matthias Kessler (Ger), Andreas Kloeden (Ger),
Giovanni Lombardi (Ita), Andrej Misourov (Kaz), Jan Schaffrath (Ger),
Stephan Schreck (Ger), Georg Totschnig (Aut), Gerhard Trampusch (Aut),
Steffen Wesemann (Ger), Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz).
The all-German espoirs
team:
Benjamin Böhner, David Branstner, Samuel Faruhn, Jörg Förster, Ronny
Jahn, Stefan Kink, Christian Knees, David Knopp, Jonas Owczarek, Dirk
Reichel, Ricardo Schlemonat, Tilo Schüler, Stefan Schumacher, Steffen
Weigold, Gregor Willwohl.
By Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent
Sandro Donati, doping investigator for the Italian Olympic Committee
(CONI) said to Danish daily paper Berlingske Tidende that it is necessary
that governments, and international as well as national health organizations
enter the stage if we want to get rid of doping.
"We are forced to act since the international doping trade is very
well organized, and the sports organizations are not able to handle
these criminal groups. We could have solved the problems years ago,
when it was smaller. Now it has grown to the extent that we must be
helped by governments, health organizations, police and public persecutors."
"The doping scandals are not Italian affairs but international, but
it is in Italy that most of the law cases are conducted. Once sports
had responsible leaders that loved the sport, but some twenty years
ago a new brand of leaders emerged on the scene. They saw sports only
as a platform for a political or economic career. Old leaders were happy
that sport got more publicity, but they did not see that these new leaders
misused sports."
How can sports survive then? "Sports can live on, if the responsible
persons believe in an ethic base for sports. For businessmen like Nebiolo
and Carraro - and many others - it is impossible to understand that
there are other kinds of people involved in sports: Honest leaders that
want open and clear actions, honest trainers that wants to teach boys
and girls sports for reasons of personal development and health. But
these honest leaders have lost ground from 1980 until now, day by day.
We have now a strange generation of young athletes that train five or
six hours a day when they should train one or two before the age of
16. We have taken over the east European model. Top sports now is only
about winning at any cost."
The Lyons/O'Shannessy testosterone case that has shocked and disappointed
many Australian cyclists and officials continues to drag on. With Lyons
being suspended for two years, dating back to last March, the next one
into the court room will be Tim O'Shannessy, who expects a hearing soon.
It is probably a reflection on the legal process as a whole but it has
not done wonders for the image of Australian cycling.
Graham Fredericks, CEO of Cycling Australia, admitted that this is
a problem, saying that "Whenever the case has another step, people treat
it like a whole new affair. In reality it's the same case that's been
dragging on for the past 10 months."
"The athletes have their rights to appeal of course, and there are
many things that slow the whole process down. We're getting a bit tired
of it," he added. With Lyons considering an appeal, it may not be over
yet, although his sentence might be once the appeal is heard.
At the official opening of the Dunc Gray velodrome on January 26,
CA President Ray Godkin once again criticised the cyclists, saying that
Lyons should have known better. "It will never surprise me that you
get these sort of things with cyclists ... but we don't expect them
from people like him," he said, expressing feelings of surprise and
disappointment at the whole affair.
Lyons was suspended for an overly high T-E (testosterone-epitestosterone)
ratio, allegedly from a sports supplement mixture that he was taking
that contained steroid precursors.
After its first successful outing with the Oceania Games last year,
the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney will host another big event this evening,
starting from 7 pm. The first round of the "Qantas Cup" will feature
such stars as Gary Neiwand, Darryn Hill, Sean Eadie, Jobie Dajka, and
the Kersten brothers, Ben and Josh. The cup will form part of the selection
process for the national team for the Olympics this year, and it will
be hotly contested in all rounds.
Sprinters will be able to qualify for the national squad if they eclipse
10.5 seconds for the 200 metres while the women will need to ride under
11.6 seconds.
The Qantas Cup is a State of Origin Series with each team comprising
five cyclists, three men and two women that race head to head throughout
the entire program for points of 5-3-2-1 on each event. It will be the
third year of the Qantas Cup with NSW the defending champions following
a narrow defeat to Western Australia in the inaugural year in 1998.
The Victorians feature Neiwand, Troy Clarke, Adrian Sansonetti, Michelle
Ferris and Lyndelle Higginson, while NSW will have Eadie, Graeme Brown,
Josh Kersten, with Rochelle Gilmore joined by Fiona Dwyer.
Western Australia has on its list, dual world champion Darryn Hill,
Scott Suckling, and national champion Sandra Smith, along with Ryan
and Christine Bayley. South Australia will feature Jobie Dajka, Kane
Selin, Ben Lindsay, Rosealee Hubbard and Chelsey Zucker, while Ben Kersten
will join fellow World Champions Brent Dawson and Rahna Demarte in a
Qantas All stars team.
The final 12 member board for Le Conseil du Cyclisme Professionel
(CCP) was announced today, consisting of:
Chairman: Hein Verbruggen
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