News for June 23, 2000

EPO test doubtful for the Tour

The new method for detecting artificial EPO will not be immediately accepted by the International Cycling Union and therefore will unlikely be used for the Tour de France starting in nine days. A commission of three independent experts evaluated the method before making their decision today. Two members of the commission think that "other aspects" must be taken into consideration before the method can be properly evaluated.

The UCI had also set up two other conditions, apart from the commission's statement: The method must be published in a scientific journal, which occurred in "Nature" June 8, and a blind test involving 220 samples must be conducted, which was done this week by the laboratory in Châtenay-Malabry where the test was invented. With two out of the three conditions met, the UCI are greatly tempted by the prospect of using it for the Tour, so they may overrule their original conditions in the next few days pending further discussion.

Reactions to this decision were primarily of disappointment. French Cycling president Daniel Baal, said that "We thought that the method was validated or very near to being so. Today, we see that there must be more work done, which makes for a difficult situation in cycling. If we don't use this possibilty, we have to continue with traditional means."

"Today there was hope, but we will be obliged to obviously continue with the traditional tests. However, for the general public, it's not the best image."

UCI president, Hein Verbruggen is optimistic though "There are eight more days in front of us. And, me, I still have hope," he said to the French daily newspaper "Le Figaro". "For the experts, this method will be applicable in the future. How long? I do not know. But I want to say to all those who are legitimately disappointed today that, as of tomorrow, we will continue the fight".

Verbruggen's words were echoed by Tour director, Jean-Marie Leblanc, who told AFP that he was "disappointed, but nonetheless hopeful. It appears that the gate is not yet close since the experts make it clear that they are only missing some aspects for a total validation, so were are undoubtably not far from the solution."

It was always going to be a tough call to get everyone to agree on the test at comparatively short notice. Although it represents a significant step in the fight to eradicate drugs and clean up the image of cycling, if not done correctly it will lead to more problems. The 50% hematocrit test has shown this on numerous occasions. While no drug test will be 100% perfect, the requirement is to leave as little as possible leeway so that the courts do not play as big a role in determining whether an athlete has cheated or not.

No Boardman in the Tour

Chris Boardman
Photo: © AFP

Crédit Agricole's Chris Boardman will not take part in the Tour de France this his last pro season. Chris has been ill since the beginning of July and will not recover in time for the prologue that he has won three times. Now he will concentrate on the time trial in the Olympics and the World's. Eight names are revealed from the Crédit Agricole squad for the Tour by manager Roger Legeay: Americans Bobby Julich and Jonathan Vaughters with overall top ten ambitions, Australian Stuart O'Grady who once more will be main challenger to Erik Zabel in the points competition with the help of Swedish Magnus Bäckstedt in the sprints, German Jens Voigt, who is the teams highest ranked rider for the moment and of course some French riders: Anthony Morin, Sébastien Hinault and Fabrice Gougot, Considered for the he ninth spot are Anthony Langella, Frédéric Finot, Thor Hushovd (Nor) and Chris Jenner (Nzl).

US Postal team for Tour de France

The US Postal team officially announced their nine man Tour de France roster today, picking six US riders and three foreigners in a similar line up to last year. The Posties are going all out to win their second Tour in a row, and have picked a strong well balanced squad: Lance Armstrong , Frankie Andreu, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Kevin Livingston, Christian Vandevelde , Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Cédric Vasseur (Fra) , and Benoît Joachim (Lux).

Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton will lead the team, although Hamilton will be riding primarily as support for Armstrong. His strength in the hills is improving, as he recently showed with a win in the Dauphiné Liberé amongst several other strong Tour contenders. He will have good support from climber Kevin Livingston, who had the misfortune to crash last year in the mountains, but still rode well in support of Armstrong. Livingston also crashed in the Tour of the Basque country this year, breaking his collarbone, but has recovered quickly according to reports.

On the flats and the rolling country, the team are adequately equipped with the likes of Andreu, Hincapie, Vande Velde, and Vasseur. The have the experienced Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov, as well as Benoît Joachim of Luxembourg who has shown good form of late.

Directeur sportif, Johan Bruyneel said that "The choice of the team was based on the experience of last year. I selected the riders for this year based on who had the experience of defending the leader's jersey last year. That was a big factor, plus the experience of Ekimov and Vasseur and the solid fitness of Joachim. It's no use going to the Tour de France with one leader and eight climbers. I learned that from last year - you need people for the high mountains, middle mountains and flats. You need a well balanced team."

Armstrong, the key man in the squad is at an advantage this year to attempt his second win. Physically, he is in good shape and mentally, he knows he can do it. "That makes a difference in the approach to the Tour," said Bruyneel.

The three differences to the team from last year include Vasseur, who wore the yellow jersey for several stages in the 1997 Tour de France; Ekimov, a former Tour stage winner and a member of the 1997 and 1998 U.S. Postal Service Tour teams; and Joachim, a second-year pro with a long history of success who recently finished second overall at the Tour of Luxembourg.

Notable exceptions to the Posties' Tour lineup include Dylan Casey, a strong time triallist who won that stage in the Tour of Luxembourg, 1999 US Pro Champion, Marty Jemison, Patrick Jonker and Norwegian Steffen Kjaergaard, a roleur bought to keep the peloton under control, who has had problems to find top form after a shoulder surgery earlier this spring.

Telekom team for the Tour

The Deutsche Telekom team have announced their Tour line up, after the conclusions of the Volta a Catalunya today. The following riders have been selected, with Jan Ullrich leading the troupe: Ullrich, Erik Zabel, Gian-Matteo Fagnini, Alberto Elli, Giuseppe Guerini, Jens Heppner, Udo Bölts, Steffen Wesemann und Alexander Vinokourov. Substitutes are Rolf Aldag, Jörg Jaksche and Georg Totschnig.

Jaksche had a good ride in the Catalunya tour, finishing 4th overall, and Toschnig won the Tour of Austria. However, Walter Godefroot has chosen to go with more seasoned Tour de France riders, as evidenced by his "conservative" line up. Ullrich should have adequate support in the mountains from Guerini, Bölts, Vinokourov and Elli. Heppner, Bölts and Wesemann will balance the team on the flats, while Erik Zabel has most of team at his disposal for lead outs, including the final man, Gian Mateo Fagnini.

Steffen Wesemann will be riding his second Tour, and he has managed to muscle his way into the line up courtesy of some strong, consistent performances throughout the year. One left out is Andreas Klöden, who is being saved for the future.

National Federations please note

This week is a busy one in terms of the various European National Championships, culminating on Sunday June 25 with most countries' road races. To expediate publication of results of these races on cyclingnews.com, we are posting a general notice here to all National Federations to send in their results to us. This can be done either via email or fax to +61 +2 9410 4608. Ensure that your country does not miss out!

Race Around Australia

Whilst the Race Across America ultra-endurance race is going on at the moment, the plans are being laid for the similar (but significantly longer) event around Australia. The race is not a solo challenge though, so no-one will be going out to break Perry Stone's record. Rather, it is a teams challenge

The record is currently 20 days and 5 hours (about half that of Stone's), set by a team of 4 riders from the British Army in 1999. That's approximately 680 kilometres per day, but this is split between riders. However, Dave Arnold from Queensland, who headed a team in 1996 to set the record then at 21 days 21 hours and 17 minutes, is planning another attempt this year, with another three lunatics. We'll keep you posted...