News for July 13, 2000The Sainz doping affair fizzlesThe business involving French sports 'doctor', Bernard Sainz "Dr Mabuse" made headlines in May last year when it was alleged that he administered illegal drugs to several of his patients, including Frank Vandenbroucke and Philippe Gaumont of Cofidis, and Yvon Ledanois (Francaise des Jeux). The affair led to Cofidis suspending VDB and Gaumont, and a full investigation was launch into the dealings of Sainz and his business partner, Bertrand Lavelot, a sports lawyer. Vandenbroucke and Gaumont claimed that they did not know about any illegal products, and that the treatments given to them by Sainz were merely homeopathic treatments. VDB claimed that he was "naive" but not dishonest in using Sainz as a consultant, but he was impressed at his results. VDB had a strong first half of the season after he gave up his usual recovery products and adhered to the methods of Sainz. After his suspension, he came back quite strongly in the Vuelta although he was not involved with DR Mabuse' at that time. Sainz was accused of possessing and administering testosterone and corticoids after ten used syringes were found in his offices. "Illegal practice of medicine" was the charge against the horse breeder, and a search of his office revealed several flasks of brown liquid, suspected to also contain illegal substances. The conclusion of the case came last Monday. Analysis of the syringes revealed that testosterone and corticoids were present, but Sainz claimed they were used for other reasons. The testosterone was for "personal use" to increase sexual performance, and the corticoids were for treating his injured horses. The brown liquid in the flasks contained caffeine, vegetable extracts and alcohol - not considered to be doping products. Neither did they contain masking substances after further tests were carried out. Scientific experts could not determine the origin (human or animal) of the DNA found on the syringes belonging to Sainz so the case was shelved.
Somarriba does it againOverall winner of the women's Giro d'Italia (Giro d'Italia Femminile) last Sunday, Spaniard Joane Somarriba said that to win this year was significantly harder than last. Her 1999 victory meant that she was more heavily marked in this year's race, and was "attacked at every moment," according to an interview with the Spanish EFE newsagency. "I gained the Maglia Rosa in the time trial on Sunday (July 2) but I did not dominate like last year, when everything was decided in one stage," she said. "The key stage was the time trial because it gave me the impulse to win. When I arrived at the finish with the best time and looked at what I'd done, it was a great morale boost." She added that she rode well in the subsequent mountain stages, in particular the one to Monte Bondone where she took time out of second placed Alessandra Cappellotto (Gas Sport team) on the second last day. She plans now to recover from her efforts, which resulted in a bout of the 'flu in the final days of the Giro. Next on the agenda is the women's Thuringen Rundfahrt, in Germany which will be followed by the Tour de France (La Grand Boucle Feminin) in August. In that race, she may be helping her Lithuanian Alfa Lum teammate, Edita Pucinskaite (3rd in the Giro) who is very motivated to win it.
Tour Down Under easier in 2001The first major international stage race of the year will once again be the Tour Down Under in South Australia. This UCI class 2.3 event has been held twice previously, and will run from January 16-21 in 2001. It starts with a circuit race in Glenelg, finishing 6 days later with a similar race in Adelaide after a total of 750 kilometres of racing. The intervening stages have been scaled back a little though, as the race was considered too challenging for many competitors at such an early part of the year. Some of the hills have been taken out, although the most popular ones will be left in. Race director Mike Turtur will once again be trying to attract some big names from Europe including the Telekom team with the likes of Erik Zabel and Steffen Wesemann, winners of stages in this year's event. Also on his list this time are the US Postal team, who may be looking to get some quality training in the sun. 1998 winner and runner up in 1999, Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) is of course a major drawcard for the event, being of South Australian origin, and Turtur will be keen to line up the 26 year old. The stages (distances to be determined) Stage 1 - January 16: Glenelg Street Race Total: 750 km US National series rankings - July 10, 2000Men 1 Henk Vogels (Aus) Mercury 945 pts 2 Gord Fraser (Can) Mercury 863 3 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn 817 4 John Lieswyn (USA) Shaklee 786 5 Eddy Gragus (USA) Jelly Belly 654 6 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Mapei Quick Step 648 7 Antonio Cruz (USA) Saturn 578 8 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Shaklee 532 9 Scott Moninger (USA) Mercury 529 10 Chris Horner (USA) Mercury 438 11 Vasily Davidenko (Rus) Navigators 381 12 George Hincapie (USA) U.S. Postal Service 364 13 Graeme Miller (NZl) Shaklee 340 14 Mark McCormack (USA) Saturn 339 15 Adham Sbeih (USA) Navigators 339 16 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 327 17 Clark Sheehan (USA) 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist 314 18 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) MROZ-Supradyn 290 19 Harm Jansen (Ned) Saturn 283 20 Kevin Monahan (USA) 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist 254 Women 1 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O-Lorena 1,090 pts 2 Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) autotrader.com 1,025 3 Anna Wilson (Aus) Saturn 994 4 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn 798 5 Mari Holden (USA) Timex 672 6 Jeannie Longo (Fra) Vitall-Jeanielongo.com-Office Depot 645 7 Sarah Ulmer (NZl) Elita 638 8 Nicole Reinhart (USA) Saturn 591 9 Pam Schuster (USA) autotrader.com 553 10 Karen Kurreck (USA) Alto Velo 500 11 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn 478 12 Dede Demet Barry (USA) Saturn 425 13 Vera Hohlfeld (Ger) Acca Due O-Lorena 394 14 Katrina Berger (USA) Charles Schwab 378 15 Julie Young (USA) autotrader.com 375 16 Clara Hughes (Can) Saturn 351 17 Kim Smith (USA) Timex 348 18 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) German National Team 345 19 Andrea Ratkovic (USA) autotrader.com 341 20 Suzy Pryde (NZl) Saturn 331 Men's teams 1 Mercury 2,985 pts 2 Saturn 2,229 3 Shaklee 2,130 4 Navigators 1,235 5 Jelly Belly 1,087 6 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist 969 7 U.S. Postal Service 927 8 Mapei-Quick Step 708 9 MROZ-Supradyn 705 10 Memory Card-Jack&Jones 662 11 Saeco-Valli & Valli 573 12 Nutra-Fig 360 13 CCB Volkswagen 303 14 Mercy Fitness Cycling 274 15 Team Snow Valley 206 Women's teams 1 Saturn 3,286 pts 2 autotrader.com 2,510 3 Elita 1,531 4 Timex 1,429 5 Charles Schwab 1,422 6 HP Lithuania-France 1,235 7 German National Team 816 8 Great Britain Natl Team 736 9 Office Depot 638 10 Master Carpe Diem 510 11 Acca Due O-Lorena 440 12 Alto Velo 314 13 800.com 308 14 Procter & Gamble 308 15 Dutch National Team 293 De Bie to coach 'cross teamFormer world cyclocross champion, Danny De Bie will be the coach of the new Belgian cyclocross team, Spaar Select. The team has U23 World Champion, Bart Wellens, Peter Van Santvliet and Wim de Vos in its ranks. |