News for June 17, 2000No Sud for ArmstrongUS Postal's Lance Armstrong is taking an even lower key approach to his Tour de France build up, as he announced his non-participation in the Route du Sud (2.3) today. His team will ride, but be captained by Dauphiné winner, Tyler Hamilton who is in excellent condition at the moment. For his part, Armstrong said that he had done enough preparation for the Tour after finishing 3rd in the Dauphiné and will now rest up before July 1. Other favourites for this 4 day tour include Jonathan Vaughters and Bobby Julich (CA), both of whom showed good form in the Dauphiné, and Vaughters won this race last year. In addition, the Lotto squad of Rik Verbrugghe and Kurt Van De Wouwer will take part, as will Festina's Cristophe Moreau. The race starts today with a double stage: 102.3 kilometres starting and finishing in Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the morning, followed by a 14.9 kilometre individual time trial in the afternoon. The deciding stage is likely to be the final one on June 20, as it includes three 1st category Pyreneean climbs: Col d'Aspin, Col du Vallee Louron-Azet and the Col du Haut Balestas. In addition to the above teams, Banesto, Fassa Bortolo, Ag2r-Prevoyance, Kelme, Euskaltel, Big Mat Auber 93, Cofidis, Rabobank, Française des Jeux, Besson Chaussures, Mobilvetta, and Jean Delatour will make up the number to 17. The stages
Stage 1a - June 17: Villeneuve-sur-Lot - Villeneuve-sur-Lot, 102.3 km The story behind the U-23 National ChampionshipsBy John Alsedek, cyclingnews.com correspondent For the next three days, Staten Island, N.Y. will be playing host to the first ever espoirs only National Championship. However, it very nearly didn't happen. After trailblazing Europro-turned-race promoter John Eustice spent the past year laying out suitable courses and getting all of his ducks in a row with local officials, the Staten Island police did an about-face just five weeks before the event, withholding the race permits due to concerns about public safety. Specifically pedestrian traffic (the start/finish line for the road race is just a few blocks from the dock of the famous Staten Island Ferry). The police based their concerns on two other New York area events, the Five Borough Bike Tour and the New York City Marathon, both of which attract upwards of 25,000 participants and cause tremendous traffic problems. So Eustice scrambled to find an alternate venue, while at the same time trying to convince the police that their fears were unfounded. With the assistance of St. George Civic Association member John Luisi, an avid cyclist who had been instrumental throughout the planning of the event, Eustice was able to secure modified versions of both courses. The U-23 National Championships were on once again, and with ramifications that would go far beyond this weekend. Ramifications of 'Olympic proportions'. With New York City bidding to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee will be using the U-23 Nationals as a 'test event', monitoring every phase: courses, crowds, logistics in a process that will go a long way towards deciding whether the Big Apple's bid is successful. But wait, there's more! Since Eustice has the rights to run the U-23 Nationals for the next decade, the hope is that, once local officials see for themselves that the races represent no public safety hazard, Staten Island will host the event annually, doing for the town of St. George what Philadelphia's First Union U.S. Professional Championship has done for Manayunk, home of the 'Manayunk Wall'. And that's not a bad thing.
Japan faces Olympic struggleThe Japanese are not known as one of the world powers of cycling, however they have produced some top track riders in the past, as well as inventing the Keirin. On the road, they are not as strong, as evidenced by this year's Olympic team. They are allowed just one man (Yoshiyuki Abe) and one woman (Miho Oki) in the road races, both of whom have qualified by winning the recent Japanese National Championships. It gets worse though, as Japan will not be able to send any road riders to this year's World Championships in Plouay. The reason being is that they are ranked 36th on the UCI standings, with their best rider Junichi Shibuya in 508th place (71 pts). Despite their best efforts in the Tour of Japan, they could not manage to get one UCI point. On track they may well perform better, as they have a few more spots available. Here is the current list of Japanese Olympic positions. The full team will be named on Sunday, June 18. Road Men's road race: 1 Track Men's 1km TT: 2 MTB Men: 1 Nothstein stays at homeTop US sprinter, Marty Nothstein (Autotrader.com) was delayed this morning on his journey to Mexico City for the third round of the Track World Cup. Due to inclement weather in Chicago, Nothstein could not depart from Lehigh Valley Airport and was not able to guarantee an evening flight, so he opted to miss the meet altogther. He will instead race the Morgan Stanley Dean Winter Keiran Cup to be held at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. He is however quite disappointed that he will not be able to defend his number one ranking in the World Cup standings. He did not want to arrive late as he would not be sufficiently ready to qualify tomorrow. His tentative schedule will have him racing in the Olympic Team Showdown in Trexlertown on June 23, Round four of the World Cup in Italy in July, the Nationals in Colorado in August, the Olympic Games in September, and the World Championships in October 25 - 29 in Manchester, England. |