News for July 30, 2000Rabobank say no to VueltaDespite being one of the 20 preselected teams in the Vuelta a Espańa, the Dutch Rabobank squad will not be participating in this year's race. Team manager Jan Raas said that "We have too many injured riders at the moment. The young riders already have done the Giro and a group of riders want to start in Sydney too. So then they can not finish the Vuelta. It makes no sense to be in the Vuelta with 2 or 3 riders in the last week. That's the reason we canceled the Vuelta from our program." Their place was taken by Jean Delatour. In the absence of Marco Pantani and his Mercatone Uno team, and US Postal without Lance Armstrong, the contenders are shaping up to be Jan Ullrich, Alex Zülle, Laurent Jalabert, Pavel Tonkov, Mario Cipollini, Ivan Gotti, Joseba Beloki, Fernando Escartin, Roberto Heras and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano.
The criterium circus continuesIf there were only 25,000 in Boxmeer, there were nearly 40,000 spectators in Heerlen (near Maastricht and German border) for the July 28 criterium. Another popular win by Erik Dekker over Servais Knaven was enough to keep the crowd thoroughly entertained as the professionals went through their paces once more. The criteriums are a kind of circus - big names have to win. If you don't follow the code, then you are not invited any more. That's the reason two riders from the Limburg region were not at the start. Max van Heeswijk (Mapei who gained a lot of exposure in the last Tour). Officially he is too expensive. However this was rubbish as he only asked 1,800 guilders ($US 750). His mistake? He won in 1998 ahead of Servais Knaven. Van Heeswijk wasn't the popular rider that season and Knaven had to win. Van Heeswijk doesn't talk about the consequences when you don't follow the code. "It's unbelievable that I'm not welcome. It is not true that I'm too expensive. In Heerlen riders get starts who have less results and exposure than me, they ask more money but get a contract. And I do not!" Raymond Meijs is more open about what happened. He finished number three in 1997. "The organiser wasn't happy with me when I finished as number three. I was angry about not being invited since that year; but that is over now."
French Olympic track teamAfter the conclusion of the French national track championships today, fourteen track riders were chosen by the FFC to represent France at the Olympic Games in Sydney. The French won four gold and two silver medals in Atlanta, and have stated that they want to at least equal this. They are very strong in all four of the women's disciplines, as well as the men's sprint events, and have a decent chance in the team pursuit. However, there were a few surprises in the selection, such as the inclusion of Philippe Gaumont in the individual pursuit, despite his long absence from the track and relatively slow time in the final. Additionally, Christophe Capelle's selection in both the points and the madison may make it tough on him in the road race, where he is preselected after winning the French title. His partner in the madison will be Robert Sassone, who normally rides with Damien Pommereau. However, the latter is on the reserves list. Similarly, Franck Perque who won the national points race was also ignored in favour of Capelle. The sprint team has yet to be finalised in terms of who will ride what event. At the moment, national sprint champion Florian Rousseau will ride the keirin along with Frederic Magné, while the trio of Laurent Gané, Vincent Quellec and Arnaud Tournant will ride the Olympic sprint. Tournant is of course to ride the kilo, and Gané and Quellec the individual sprint. This team was fairly flexible according to national coach Daniel Morelon. French Olympic Track Team Men Arnaud Tournant (Kilo/Olympic Sprint) Women Marion Clignet (Pursuit, Points) Cereal cyclistsI guess we asked for it...several readers have written in in regard to yesterday's question about which cyclists have appeared on cereal boxes. Canadian Alison Sydor made it onto the Multi Grain Cheerios box, while Lance Armstrong has appeared on the Wheaties box. Back in 1986, US national champion Doug Smith from Boulder, Colorado had his face appear on the box shortly after he'd won the title. In Britain, the Kellogg's cereal boxes have featured Robert Millar (after he won the polka dot jersey in the 1984 Tour), and Phil Anderson (after winning the Kellogg's Tour of Britain. The hunt continues... 2001 USCF Masters National's to Pacific NWNext year's United States Cycling Federation (USCF) Masters National Road Cycling Championships have been awarded to Spokane, Washington, after an announcement on Friday. The event will be held during the first half of July, and the exact competition dates will be announced at a later date. In addition, the site and dates for the USCF Masters National Tack Cycling Championships will be named in the near future. Spokane has a rich cycling tradition, and has hosted the the 1992 masters road cycling championships and 1988 elite road cycling championships, as well as the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. A few of its well known courses will be used in the Masters Championships, including that for the Downtown Spokane Criterium. The Masters event will be staged in the evening under lights. A new circuit course that follows the Spokane River through Riverside State Park will also be used. The USCF is expecting more than 900 athletes to compete.
NE: What does it meanMost of you have probably noticed certain codes in brackets after the names of races e.g. 2.HC, 2.3, 1.5 or in some cases, NE. To clarify things and to show that we're not discriminating against the rest of the world outside the Netherlands, a short explanation is in order. The codes are simply the UCI codes given to classify each race. Before the decimal point, a "1" means a one day race, while a "2" means a stage race. This is the easy part. After the decimal place, there are a variety of numbers and characters used to distinguish UCI class. In general, the higher the number after the decimal point, the lower the class of the event, hence less UCI points. For example, a 1.1 event is of much higher standing than a 1.6, the lowest ranked event in the elite men's category. HC, meaning "Hors Categorie" or above category, is higher still. The GP Ouest-France in Plouay this Sunday is a 1.HC race. Stage races follow a similar description, with 2.HC to 2.6 being the range. The three Grand Tours (France, Italy, Spain) are denoted "GT" and are higher still. With women's classifications, there is an extra decimal point. Anything with a *.9.* means a women's event. For example, 2.9.1 and 2.9.2, or 1.9.1 and 1.9.2. Espoirs (U23's) are similar, but they use *.7.* and have a limited "range" as do the women. Finally, juniors are *.8 or SC (special classification). There are several sets of letters that are used by the UCI to denote World Cups (CDM), World Championships (CM), National Championships (CN), Olympic Games (JO), Continental Championships (CC) and National Events (NE). This latter category can encompass quite a variation, depending on what country you're in. Normally it signifies non-UCI competitions where elite riders are racing. "NE" therefore does not mean North East, Nebraska, New England, or the Netherlands. This information is on all our calendar pages as well as at the bottom of the home page, but some additional explanation was in order. |