News for March 14, 2000Fignon happy with Paris-NiceThe director of the Paris-Nice, Laurent Fignon today pronounced himself "happy" with his first event that concluded on Sunday. The return of the Col d'Eze mountain time trial helped define the race, and Fignon is strongly considering reintroducing the teams time trial in 2001. The "race to the sun" (no, not the Ruta del Sol) has all the elements of a successful event: a variety of stages, some fantastic scenery, a large degree of public support - many of whom came out on Sunday to watch on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, and an interesting winner in German Andreas Klöden. Of course there are improvements to be made, and "the professor" said that he was "70 percent satisfied with the event. I think that the Col d'Eze will be climbed every year. A team time trial is a possibilitiy, in particular on the first stage," said Fignon. In addition to organising next year's event, Fignon will also run the one day races, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Bourges in September and October this year.
Ullrich no-goIt has been on the cards for the past week, but now it has been confirmed that Jan Ullrich will not start in this Saturday's Milan - San Remo. Telekom boss, Walter Godefroot announced the decision today with Ullrich still competing in the Tirreno-Adriatico where he is currently 141st, nearly 42 minutes down. "There are at the moment stronger riders in the team, who will be able to help Erik Zabel win the Milan - San Remo on Saturday for the third time. Therefore, it does not worry me that Jan is not part of the team," said Godefroot according to German press agency, DPA. He always maintained that Ullrich does not have to start, although he does have the motivation. Ullrich will now join teammate Andreas Klöden in the Setmana Catalana in Spain next week and will presumably play a supporting role to the rider who just won Paris-Nice. Team director Rudy Pevenage (as usual) is certainly not worried about Ullrich's lack of condition at this time of year: "He is substantially further ahead than at this time last year. With regard to his season, everything is going according to plan," he said. Other non-starters for Milan-San Remo include Dutch rider Jeroen Blijlevens, who said that "I don't have enough speed in my legs". He will return to Holland for training "'behind the motorbike". He will make his return in the E3-Prize. Tom Steels from Mapei is another scratching. According to team management, there are "enough sprinters" in Mapei: Oscar Freire, Johan Museeuw and Stefano Zanini. Steels heard on Saturday that he wasn't required for Milan San Remo. "My victory in the final stage of Paris-Nice didn't change anything. I'm a little disappointed, but the team management decides," he said. Steels will now concentrate on the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix.
Pantani not on short listMarco Pantani, who is currently enjoying some solo training before getting back into competition, has not been named as a probable member of the Italian Olympic squad. According to national selector, Antonio Fusi, the following names are the most likely for the five man team to come to Australia in September: Michele Bartoli, Paolo Bettini, Fransesco Casagrande, Mirko Celestino, Salvatore Commesso, Giuliano Figueras, Ivan Gotti, Danilo di Luca, Davide Rebellin, Andrea Tafi and Marco Velo. This 11 rider team will be trimmed to the five later in the year, but at the moment there seems to be no place for Pantani. Fusi said though that the list is "open" and that at the last moment, riders could be substituted.
Battle for tour spots startsThere is less than three months to go before the final list of teams qualified to enter the Tour de France is announced (May 31). The battles have already begun between the smaller French teams Bonjour, Jean Delatour and Big Mat who are seeking to impress at this time of the year. Seventeen teams from division one are assured to start, with three teams to be announced. Spanish team Kelme, with Fernando Escartin is a strong contender as well, as are Memory Card Jack & Jones and Lampre Daikin. "It will be a selection based mainly on sporting grounds," said the Tour's sporting director, Jean-François Pescheux. "We will take account all the factors. For example if a team obtains the bulk of their results with a rider that will not start the Tour, then that will be taken into consideration. But the priority will go to the results," he said. Jean Delatour certainly had a good Paris-Nice, with Laurent Brochard only just losing. François Simon (Bonjour) rode well also, but Big Mat were fairly quiet. "For Delatour, it was not surprising," said Pescheux. "It is a new team, but made up of experienced riders. We were more surprised by Bonjour, who had many young riders in its ranks. Paris-Nice was the first big race, but we are only in March." Jean-René Bernaudeau (director: Bonjour) is positive however, and will not put the Tour above all else: "I prefer to play 'who wins, wins' rather than 'who loses, loses'. It is completely negative that way. We are not obsessed by the Tour - we will make it only if we deserve it and it is deserved through good performances," he said. Pescheux also rules out increasing the number of teams in the event to 21 (or more), citing security and and organisation factors: "A team is an additional 10 vehicles and 25 people. And in the race, a group of 180 riders is already very large in the first week. We will stick with this amount." Telekom forgets carThe German Telekom team forgot their second team car in the Tirreno-Adriatico stage in Aversa last Friday. The police found an unlocked Telekom-car with bikes on the roof at the start. They called the organiser, who contacted Rudy Pevenage. Driver, Mario Kummer was riding with somebody else and thought that another Telekom-employee would be driving the official second car...
US National road series rankingsAs of March 13, 2000 MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS 1 Chris Horner (Mercury) 307 pts 2 Trent Klasna (Saturn) 198 3 Dave Zabriskie (7-Up/Colorado Cyclist) 150 4 Scott Moninger (Mercury) 124 5 Floyd Landis (Mercury) 108 6 Michael Barry (Saturn) 106 7 Steve Zampieri (Mercury) 100 8 Gord Fraser (Mercury) 99 9 Levi Leipheimer (U.S. Postal Service) 93 10 Clark Sheehan (7-Up/Colorado Cyclist) 83 11 Marty Jemison (U.S. Postal Service) 80 12 Todd Littlehales (Navigators) 78 13 Sylvain Beauchamp (Shaklee) 70 14 Antonio Cruz (Saturn) 69 15 David George (U.S. Postal Service) 64 16 Chris Pic (Zaxby's Cycling Team) 57 17 Michael Sayers (Mercury) 54 18 John Lieswyn (Shaklee) 54 19 Bart Bowen (Saturn) 51 20 Vasily Davidenko (Navigators) 48 21 Damon Kluck (The Spokesman) 46 22 Mark McCormack (Saturn) 41 23 Brandon Vesty (Navigators) 40 24 Kirk Willett (Mercury) 40 25 Jan Bratkowski (Mercury) 38 26 John Peters (Mercury) 36 27 Charles Dionne (Canadian Natl Team) 35 28 Cadel Evans (Volvo-Cannondale) 34 29 Dylan Casey (U.S. Postal Service) 30 30 Roland Green (Team GT) 30 31 Viktor Replinksi (Peninsula Velo) 28 32 Frank VanHaebroucke (Navigators) 28 33 Will Frischkorn (Mercury) 24 34 Justin Spinelli (Mercury) 24 35 Peter Wedge (Shaklee) 24 36 Josh Thornton (Team GT) 23 37 Graeme Miller (Shaklee) 22 38 Phil Zajicek (unattached) 20 39 Andrew Randall (Jet Fuel) 19 40 Jan Van Merle (Nutra-Fig) 18 41 Doug Ziewacz (7-Up/Colorado Cyclist) 15 42 Brian Lopes (Volvo-Cannondale) 15 43 Zbigniew Piatek (Team Mat-Ceresit-CCC) 15 44 Kevin Monahan (7-Up/Colorado Cyclist) 14 45 Dave McCook (Shaklee) 12 46 Pelle Kil (L' Equipe Cheval) 12 47 Chris Wherry (Saturn) 12 48 John Hunt (GS Lombardi) 11 49 Roberto Gaggioli (Defeet) 10 50 Ryan Guay (7-Up/Colorado Cyclist) 10 51 Marcon Gebka (Team Mat-Ceresit-CCC) 10 52 Henk Vogels (Mercury) 10 53 Christian Valenzuela (Shaklee) 9 54 Derek Wilkerson (Jelly Belly) 9 55 J.D. Durso (GS Lombardi) 8 56 Billy Innes (Kissena) 7 57 Carl Swenson (U.S. Natl Mtb Team) 7 58 David McCann (Giant Domestics) 6 59 Danny Pate (Saeco) 6 60 Matthew Koschara (Navigators) 5 61 Frank McCormack (Saturn) 5 62 Nat Faulkner (Kissena) 5 63 Shane Thellman (Mercy Fitness Cycling) 5 64 Eddy Gragus (Jelly Belly) 5 65 Roel Paulissen 5 66 Matt Kelly (GF Saab) 5 67 Mathieu Toulouse (Canadian Natl Team) 5 68 Sebastian Talabardon (Big Mat Auber 93) 5 69 Marc Gullickson (U.S. Natl Mtb Team) 5 70 Andreas Hestler (Canadian Natl Team) 5 71 Alexi Sivakov (Big Mat Auber 93) 5 72 Michael Taylor (GS Lombardi) 5 73 Patrick Heaney (GS Lombardi) 5 74 Jose Garcia 5 75 Florencio Ramos 5 76 Steve Larsen (U.S. Natl Mtb Team) 5 77 Steffen Weigold (Telekom Jary Ullrich) 5 78 Eric Wohlberg (Shaklee) 5 79 Jesus Zarate (Mercury) 4 80 Mark Hlady (Alto Velo) 3 81 Chris Baldwin (Navigators) 3 82 Colby Pearce (Shaklee) 3 83 Czeslaw Lukaszewicz (Wustenrot-ZVVZ) 3 84 Patrick Heldkamp (Redwood Empire) 2 85 Russell Hamby (Park City) 2 86 Louis Lamarsche (Cyclescience.com) 2 87 Scottie Weiss (Zaxby's Cycling Team) 2 88 Adam Livingston (Jelly Belly) 1 89 Erin Hartwell (Saturn) 1 90 Paul Martin (Navigators) 1 MEN'S TEAM RANKINGS 1 Mercury 738 2 Saturn 465 3 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist 272 4 U.S. Postal Service 267 5 Navigators 199 6 Shaklee 182 7 Zaxby's Cycling Team 59 8 Team GT 53 9 Volvo-Cannondale 49 10 Canadian National Team 45 11 The Spokesman 36 12 GS Lombardi 29 13 Peninsula Velo 28 14 MCC 25 15 Nutra-Fig 18 16 Jelly Belly 15 17 L' Equipe Cheval 12 18 Kissena 12 WOMEN'S RANKINGS 1 Alison Dunlap (Team GT) 257 pts 2 Tina Mayolo (autotrader.com) 178 3 Lyne Bessette (Saturn) 174 4 Nicole Reinhart (Saturn) 144 5 Elizabeth Emery (Charles Schwab) 121 6 Caroline Alexander (Great Britain Natl Team) 113 7 Leigh Hobson (Charles Schwab) 109 8 Andrea Ratkovic (autotrader.com) 107 9 Katrine Berger (Harbour Lights) 106 10 Annie Gariepy (Elita) 89 11 Julie Hanson (Saturn) 80 12 Kimberly Bruckner (autotrader.com) 74 13 Anke Erlank (autotrader.com) 73 14 Cynthia Ferguson (Alto Velo) 65 15 Jennifer Eyerman (Jane Cosmetics) 65 16 Cybil DiGuistini (Elita) 64 17 Clara Hughes (Saturn) 62 18 Chantal Daucourt (GF Saab) 61 19 Karen Dunne (Elita) 60 20 Pam Schuster (Timex) 53 21 Sophia St. Jacques (Elita) 50 22 Laura Van Gilder (Charles Schwab) 46 23 Marie Holjer (Charles Schwab) 45 24 Alison Sydor (Volvo-Cannondale) 45 25 Catherine Caldwell (Charles Schwab) 42 26 Heather Albert (Charles Schwab) 40 27 Petra Rossner (Saturn) 40 28 Annelle Chapman (Jane Cosmetics) 35 29 Stacey Peters (800.com) 33 30 Caren Spore (Davis Bike Club) 26 31 Nicole Freedman (Charles Schwab) 24 32 Barbara Blatter (GF Saab) 24 33 Julie Young (autotrader.com) 23 34 Shannon Hutchison (autotrader.com) 22 35 Cheryl Binney (Proctor & Gamble) 22 36 Jimena Florit (Ralph Lauren Polo Sport) 19 37 Lara Ruthven (TX Cyclesport) 17 38 Chrissy Redden (GF Saab) 17 39 Melanie Dorion (Elita) 16 40 Maria Calle (Columbia National Team) 15 41 Carmen Richardson (Volvo-Cannondale) 15 42 Cynthia Mommsen (The Olympic Club) 14 43 Shari Kain (Ralph Lauren Polo Sport) 13 44 Suzanne Marshall (Los Gatos BRC) 12 45 Gina Hall (Sycip) 12 46 Ruthie Matthes (U.S. Natl Mtb Team) 11 47 Laura Shuford (autotrader.com) 10 48 Kori Kelly (Proctor & Gamble) 10 49 Mary Grigson (GF Saab) 9 50 Dede Demet Barry (Saturn) 8 51 Lysle Wilhelmi (800.com) 8 52 Mina Pizzini (Proctor & Gamble) 7 53 Jane Deapas (Pacific Sunset Velo) 6 54 Lanie Mason (Safekids/Canyon Wed) 6 55 Patricia McKay (Tailwinds) 5 56 Pamela Traynor (Berkeley BC) 5 57 Lesley Tomlinson (Ralph Lauren Polo Sport) 5 58 Ann Trombley (U.S. Natl Mtb Team) 5 59 Suzanne Sonye (Team Helens) 5 60 Nicole Gingles (800.com) 5 61 Tracey Brunger (Great Britain Natl Team) 5 62 Niki Pippin (Team Helens) 5 63 Leah Goldstein (800.com) 5 64 Alla Epifanova (Volvo-Cannondale) 5 65 Heather Cole (Proctor & Gamble) 5 66 Alison Bergison (Goldy's) 4 67 Odessa Gunn (Timex) 4 68 Monica Erdosh (unattached) 4 69 Cynthia Carroll (800.com) 4 70 Erin Carter (Elita) 4 71 Jenna Loyd (Berkeley BC) 3 72 Cory Irmes (Team Bicycle Trip) 3 73 Traci Brown (Colorado Road Club) 3 74 Kathleen Lenno (Monterey Velo) 2 75 Gabriela Ferrat (Mexican National Team) 2 WOMEN'S TEAM RANKINGS 1 Saturn 500 2 autotrader.com 455 3 Charles Schwab 361 4 Elita 279 5 Great Britain Natl Team 118 6 GF Saab 111 7 Harbour Lights 106 8 Jane Cosmetics 100 9 Alto Velo 65 10 Volvo-Cannondale 65 11 Timex 57 12 800.com 55 13 Proctor & Gamble 44 14 Ralph Lauren Polo Sport 37 15 Davis Bicycle Club 26 16 Colombian National Team 15 17 The Olympic Club 14 18 Los Gatos BRC 12 19 TX Cyclesport 12 20 Team Helens 10 |