News for March 18, 2000

Milan San Remo - an explosive climax

By Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent

Although Michael Boogerd may have dissed Milano San Remo as a just a trivial race where "to be explosive on the Cipressa or the Poggio - that's the only important part in this race..". Well, that's his take on the thing.

That is just the point of Milano-San Remo. In fact, Saturday's "La Classicissima" has a plainly explosive history, with an unholy buildup when the pace and focus fires up along via Aurelia towards i capi, Capo Berta and La Cipressa. If no-one is away, as has been the case the last few years on S. Giuseppe's, an incredible tension seizes the usually 60-strong pack as it passes the Santuario della Guardia and makes that suicide right hander up the Poggio.

1.6 kilometers later, after 288.3 kilometers of intense classics racing down from Milano, across the Turchino and along Aurelia Roman coastal road, Milano-San Remo builds to an incredible climax of racing on the 1600 meter uphill sprint through the greenhouses. Usually someone gets away despite the desperate pace and manages a few seconds gap over the top of Il Poggio. Down and down the descent plunges, but with a newer, more wide open finish through Corso Raimondo and onto the final brutally fast kilometer of Via Roma. We've been treated to the spectacle of 30 or so of the worlds best cyclists sprinting to an exciting finish of the seasons opening classic.

Who may be the "man" after 294 kilometers of action packed riding on March 18th? Certainly two time winner Erik Zabel of Telekom must have his "tris" on via Roma. Zabel's in great shape after a solid Tirreno and is certainly the fastest climber of all the sprinters around today. Zabel is looking for Paris-Nice winner Andreas Klöden to set a scorching pace up the Poggio, just as Klöden did to win the Col d'Eze TT stage in Paris-Nice. Their new signing, Gianmatteo Fagnini will try to deliver the choice lead out for Zabel and glory.

However, after over 7 hours of usually 42 km/h+ speeds, don't be surprised if a power packed strongman from Lithuania, Roman Vainsteins, fresh from head to head victory over Cipo in San Benedetto del Tronto, takes his first classics win. He's ready, and may pull the same winning move as Tchmil did in '99.

And what of the ONCE tandem? Abe Olano and Jaja? Can they get a gap on IL Poggio, or will Manolo go for the long game and attack before Capo Berta as the race steams through Imperia? Why not go for it? Certainly World number 1 Jalabert and a skinnier than ever Olano are probably the strongest riders in the peloton as of San Remo's Eve.

Outsiders are rife; like new fast man World Champ Oscar Freire of Mapei-Quick Step, who seems to have assumed enormous popularity already among cycling aficionados due to his "grinta" and a helluva fast sprint. But Freire may just not have the depth and experience yet to have enough power to win Milano San Remo after 294 kilometers Finally, can "SuperMarioCipolla" pull it off ? All say no except me: if Cipo can make it to via Roma and still has his legs, watch out! And if "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, gee, we'd sure have a wonderful Christmas.

No matter what the outcome, though, with great weather in the offing on Saturday, 2000's "IL Primavera" is bound to kick the classics season off to a wide-open exciting, flower filled beginning! Follow the coverage on cyclingnews.com with live updates from 14:00 CET.

Favourites prepare

"Mr 6 to 1" (and Jeff's pick), Oscar Freire from Mapei has been doing some last minute training on the course. He rode the last 65 kilometers of the route, including a couple of repeats of the Poggio. He was particular in his examination of the last kilometer of Aurelia that precedes the climb. "On the hill, position will be fundamental, but the descent is equally important and I will have to be in front there," he said, adding that it will likely come down to a fairly large sprint. "I don't believe that one can arrive solo like Jalabert: Zabel and Vainsteins are my favourites."

With little time for celebration after their Tirreno-Adriatico wins, ONCE riders Laurent Jalabert and Abraham Olano arrived in San Marino to stay in a hotel owned by former ONCE rider, Marino Lejarreta. Yesterday they headed towards the coast for an 80 kilometer spin, while today (Friday) they will ride 110 kilometers, with a few 30 to 45 second intervals thrown in at the end.

Andrei Tchmil went riding for 4 hours near his home in Garda on Thursday, including a little motor pacing at the end. Michele Bartoli rode 130 kilometers behind the motor bike on a rapidly improving knee which he reports is feeling quite good now.

Davide Rebellin only trained for an hour on Thursday, before taking a trip to the supermarket in his hometown of Padovano. He rode for three hours today, again behind a motorbike. Mirko Celestino, who had to have ultrasound treatment on his leg the last couple of days is now OK, and rode 4 hours on Thursday with a short spin today.

Ivan Gotti, after training for 70 km Thursday, went to the hairdresser today for a new cut for the new season (and his first Milan San Remo). Lampre-Daikin trained together for 120 kilometers with the exception of Missaglia, who rode just two hours and visited a chiropractor for back treatment. Finally, Mario Cipollini and his Saeco boys went for 100 kilometers from Imola to Reggio Emilia on Thursday, with a two hour ride today.

Odds on favourite, Erik Zabel will do Milan San Remo on a new bike. It's a prototype: 7.9 kilos, 200 grams lighter than a normal bike. It's made from aluminium and the wheels have 12 spokes in the front and 16 in the rear.

In an interview he spoke about his future: "At the end of my career I'm looking for a new target. I prefer the ONCE-team, but I'm also interested in the Linda McCartney-team. I like the ideas of the widow of Paul McCartney and I believe they're building a top team, which will make the Tour de France within 2 years and also all the World Cups. I love the charisma of this team. It would be great to end my career with Paul McCartney as my sponsor."

Tchmil is keen

The 37 year old defending World Cup and Milan San Remo champion, Andrei Tchmil (Lotto), believes he can do it again this year. He is one of the five oldest riders in the peloton, but also one of the five best in terms of Classics. After last year's victory he will be a marked man, especially if he tries to pull the same move as he did in the closing kilometer of last year's race.

He is certainly familiar with the climbs, having been training over them repeatedly of late, and is not short of condition. His ability to ride at the top for year after year fascinates many. In a Reuters interview today, he said that "When I am a hundred years old, I will give it to you," referring to the secret of his longevity. "I started riding at 15 years, and at 18 I had the choice between military service with a Kalachnikov or a military club with my bike. I won races then, but it was not my passion."

However, at 22 he was selected for the USSR national team, which contained Ugroumov, Abdoujaparov, Saďtov and many other top cyclists. "I won many good races with my club, Kichinev but I did not have a good "engine". I always waited until one of my team-members fell sick. It was a beautiful team but I do not remember it with a great amount of nostalgia. One cannot have what does not exist any more," he said.

When he was free to compete in the West after 1989 he joined a small Italian team (Alfa Lum) at age 26. He earned FF 2,500 per month ($US 400) - certainly not a great deal, even back then. However, it gave him a future and he has not looked back.

He is not thinking of retirement yet either, as he still enjoys riding and racing a great deal. He even took up ice hockey back in 1997 after a 21 year absence from another of his passions. He says that he quickly regained the old skills that he had and it was very good off season training.

He holds a reasonable hope for Milan-San Remo, but is more focussed on the Ronde van Vlaanderen, a race he adores. "I start to feel it the day before...it is an orchestra with 50 great soloists working hard. The music is beautiful but hours and hours of working. I would like to be Paganini who one day continued to play a concerto in spite of a broken string on his violin. To win, it is necessary to sacrifice all. The victory is then the combination of work and imagination," he said. The term "lyrical" comes to mind.

A final word on the current state of cycling: "If Hein Verbruggen, the president of the UCI, had not made the hard decision in 1998, nobody would be here today to speak about it. At the time everyone had bandaged eyes. Today, if he wants to, Laurent Jalabert can continue for years. He was there before, during and after the "crazy cycling". The best way to fight doping is to ban everything, but to prohibit medical care is wrong. If your car works badly, you take it along to the mechanic for a service. Today the racing cyclist racing is not entitled to a service. He goes until he breaks down."

Rebellin: don't rule him out

There are plenty of favourites in Milan - San Remo. The latest odds from the Italian bookies have Zabel at 4 to 1, Freire at 6 to 1, Tchmil and Vainsteins at 12 to 1, Jalabert and Zberg 15 to 1; Baldato, Bettini, Rebellin, Sorensen, Spruch and Van Petegem a 20 to 1, Celestino and Colombo a 25 to 1, Cipollini, Konyshev, Museeuw and Planckaert at 30 to 1, and Bartoli at 35 to 1.

The captain of the Liquigas, Davide Rebellin is not doing too badly. He has a team 100% committed to him, and he rode strongly in Tirreno Adriatico. He dismisses the 294 km distance as "easy", making it possible for an outsider to win. However, his team manager Fabio Bordonali says that his rider is fully focussed on the race, and has made it one of his big early season goals.

Van Moorsel withdraws

World champion Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel has had to withdraw from La Primavera Rosa today. The Farm Frites-Hartol rider contracted influenza after a training camp in Mallorca, and will be replaced by Anouska van der Zee.

Savoldelli postponed

Saeco's Paolo Savoldelli was called up yesterday to CONI's anti drug commission to explain his hematocrit values in last year's Giro d'Italia. However, the interrogation will have to be postponed until next week when the complete medical dossier of the rider is delivered to prosecutor Giacomo Aiello. Savoldelli was not not required to answer yesterday, as the prosecutors wished to wait for all the evidence to be brought in from the court at Bologna.

Although CONI has given the go ahead for the case to be heard, prosecutor Aiello made the decision at the last minute based on what happened with Bertolini, Bortolami, Faresin and Furlan In that case, Aiello did not have enough evidence to take things further. The matter will be discussed on March 25, the same day as Fabiana Luperini's 8 month suspension comes up for appeal. Her lawyers believe that there may be grounds for a shorter (or zero) sentence, because none of the derivatives of Nandrolone, the substance she was found positive for, were present in her urine sample.

Olano to Pais Vasco

The 40th Tour of the Basque Country (Pais-Vasco) will commence in just a few weeks, from April 3-7. ONCE's Abraham Olano has already announced his intention to compete in that race, and is full of confidence now after his Tirreno-Adriatico win. However, he is aware that there are other strong Basque riders in the squad, all of whom are capable of winning: Mikel Zarrabeitia and David Etxebarría, as well as Frenchman Laurent Jalabert who would like to repeat last year's victory. Certainly the ONCE team will go into the race as clear favourites.

The final stage is an 8.5 kilometer hill time trial between Azkoitia and Madaritza-Auzoa and is normally the decider. If Olano can maintain his good climbing and time trialling condition, then he will surely take this race.

Vale Gerard Mishkinis

Gerard Mishkinis, a member of the Brunswick Cycling Club, was killed while training on Beach Rd last Monday. Gerard was a new and enthusiastic club member and had become a regular attendee at Tuesday night track training, according to Brunswick Club secretary, Tony Ladson. The club expresses its sincere condolences to his family and friends including his club mates.

Note: this is the same road to be used for the Australian women's time trial championships today, hence the 7 am start.