Second edition news for March 3, 2000
CCP reduces first division teamsThe Council of professional cycling (CCP), which met for the first time Thursday in Lausanne, decided to reduce the number of top level teams to twenty in 2001, then eighteen in 2002. The organisation was created at the end of January by the UCI and includes representatives from riders, managers and organisers on its board. The reduction to eighteen first division teams by the beginning 2002 was justified by "the concern to raise the level of professionalism through the adoption of stricter selection criteria". Currently, the first division includes twenty-two teams which are automatically qualified to ride the World Cup. Seven committees were formed during this meeting: Team and rider relations (Felice Gimondi), security (Carmine Castellano), UCI classification (Walter Godefroot), calendar (Claude Jacquat), marketing, workloads, media and public relations (to be named). The calendar committee, which has Claude Jacquat, Jean-Marie Leblanc, Manolo Saiz and Francesco Moser, has set the cut-off date as October for the end of the season. Another committee will examine the workloads of the cyclists and their health concerns. The new order for the first division teams will mean that they will not be allowed to take part in category .3 or .4 races outside their "zone". The five zones are: 1) Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Great Britain; 2) Italy and Poland; 3) France, Sweden and Denmark; 4) Spain and Portugal; 5) Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. This is designed to make it easier for second division teams to compete and gain points. French cycling president, and UCI vice-president, Daniel Baal described the meeting as "constructive", saying that "the CCP has started on a good basis". However, several French teams have been critical of the reduction of the first division teams, under the motto of "big teams for big races". Roger Legeay, of Credit Agricole: "I see no beneficial effect here. It is a movement which involves a higher wage bid, and it is likely to encourage doping. Lastly, it is necessary to take account of the unpredictable events. If a team loses its leader, it will quickly fall to the second division". 2001 will be the first test of the new system.
Tour de Snowy starts tomorrowTwelve nations will assemble in Tumut tomorrow, Saturday March 4 for the start of the 2000 Tour de Snowy, one of the premier Women's Cycling races in the world. Initiated by Bob Carr, Premier of NSW in 1997 to promote the Snowy Region as a summer destination, the Tour de Snowy has been elevated to number one status by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the World controlling body following extensive representation and world television coverage of the event. The race, which has been staged for the past two years, has attracted every world and Olympic champion since 1990 and has a wonderful line-up of international teams again this year. Last year's winner, Tracey Gaudry will be there with her Timex squad, going head-to-head with with Anna Wilson and Dede Demet (USA, and 1998 winner) of Saturn. In addition, there will be strong teams from the AIS (Carrigan, Scrymgeour) New Zealand (Ulmer, Coleman), the Netherlands (Melchers), and Canada (Jeanson, Kurreck), and the Master Team/Carpe Diem from Italy (Corneo, Doppmann). The event will be run over nine stages and 473 kilometers, and will serve as an important preparation for many women in the lead up to the Olympics. As an example of how some of the teams have been preparing, take a look at the AIS road camp in Thredbo earlier this year. You will be able follow all the action of this fantastic event on cyclingnews, with daily reports, pictures and results from the official website.
The trials of a German GS II teamBy Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent The life of a GS II team follows a circular course. They are mostly assigned to races in the lesser categories and thus gain too few points to make it big. Second division teams from the great nations, France Italy and Spain, can always count on a fair chance to participate in their own country's Grand Tours and Hors Categorie races. But decent teams from countries with less cycling tradition have to settle for less. Even a first division team like Danish Memorycard Jack&Jones cannot be assured of a place in any of the Grand Tours. They will make their HC debut this weekend in the Paris-Nice. For the German GS II teams, the situation is similar. With the Pro Council now reducing the number of first division teams the future doesn't look much brighter. Team Gerolsteiner's manager Hans-Michael Holczer called the situation discriminating at his team presentation this week in Wiesbaden. His team has ten percent of the Telekom budget and is for the moment ranked as number 2 among the second division teams after an excellent performance in the Vodacom Rapport Toer in South Africa (where Tobias Steinhauser won overall and Olaf Pollack won two stages). The team's main goal for the season is the Tour of Germany, cat 2.3, but now they have heard that they have a fair chance to compete in the Tour de Suisse, HC, in June, a stage race level that the team never before has tried. With a team time trial in that race, Team Gerolsteiner's good rouleurs might really show off. Ten riders are considered to have a fair chance to ride in the Olympic Games. "The system is unfair. I have a feeling that there is an elite that doesn't want to let lesser teams advance," said Gerolsteiner's sports director Rolf Göltz who, as a Tour de France stage winner and experienced ex-pro, has managed to open some doors: last year to Paris-Roubaix. Additionally, five German GS II teams were invited to the German WC event HEW Cyclassics in Hamburg, where Nürnberger's Rafael Schweda came in second. But stage races are a completely different matter. The difference between the divisions became evident for Gerolsteiner when German public service company ARD, Telekom's co-sponsor, came to South Africa to cover the Vodacom Rapport Toer, that is Jan Ullrich. Steinhauser's overall win gained the team a couple of seconds of attention in a five minute report on German television. Anyway, the team looks forward to the coming season with optimism. Of seventeen riders only one, the only neo Uwe Hardter, is unranked on the UCI list and the points of the others puts the team far ahead of other German GS II teams. Torsten Schmidt, new from Team Chicky World, Tobias Steinhauser. Returning home from four years of water carrying, last year with Mapei, and Uwe Peschel coming back from a 1999 season filled with injuries, might be considered captains, but in this team "jeder hat seine chance" - any one has his chances. The line up for 2000, with latest UCI ranking: Torsten Schmidt (Ger) 165 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) 194 Michael Rich (Ger) 216 Branko Filip (Slo) 288 Peter Wrolich (Aut) 325 Svein Gaute Hølestøl (Nor) 357 René Haselbacher (Aut) 379 Thomas Mühlbacher (Aut) 418 Olaf Pollack (Ger) 418 Sven Teutenberg (Ger) 423 Volker Ordowski (Ger) 451 Andreas Walzer (Ger) 558 Eduard Gritsoun (Rus) 578 Scott McGrory (Aus) 1214 Andreas Sauerborn (Ger) 1419 Uwe Peschel (Ger) 1419 Uwe Hardter (Ger) - Mangement: Hans-Michael and Renate Holczer. Sports director: Rolf Göltz. Equipment: Klein/Shimano Autotrader.com moves upBy John Alsedek, cyclingnews.com correspondent The AutoTrader.com women's team, formerly known as the Cox Atlanta Velo Cycling Club, are already making their mark on the US scene, as they attempt to challenge the strength of Saturn and Timex. The squad contains a few Timex members from last year, including Anke Erlank, Pam Schuster, and Julie Young. After riding solidly in the National Racing Calendar opener in Merced, California, AutoTrader.com thoroughly dominated NRC event #2, the three-day Another Dam Race, in Parker, Arizona. Competing against a field including the also-improved Charles Schwab squad and Team Elita of Canada, the AutoTrader.com riders essentially won the race during the stage one hillclimb. New recruits Andrea Ratkovic, Anke Erlank, and Tina Mayolo all finished in the top six, as did longtime team member Kimberly Bruckner. From then on, all they needed to do was defend Ratkovic's lead. Despite valiant efforts by Harbor Light's Katrina Berger and Elita's Sophie St. Jacques, they did just that, as Ratkovic won by her original nine-second margin over Berger, with Mayolo, Erlank, and Bruckner all finishing in the top seven. Their next NRC event is this weekend's Sequoia Classic, in Visalia, California.
Skaters follow cyclistsThe international speed skating union, ISU, has followed cycling and skiing in introducing blood level tests. In the upcoming single distance world championships in Nagano, Japan, all participants will be tested. Testing was first tried at the overall World Championships in Milwaukee earlier this season and will now be standard procedure at major events. Norway and the Netherlands are the traditionally dominant nations but also Germany, Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States are among the nations with hopes for gold medals. Speed skating has also a tradition as a winter sport for cyclists in Northern Europe.
Alayna Burns goes under Olympic qualifying timeAustralian pursuit cyclist Alayna Burns has become the first female cyclist this year to go under the Olympic qualifying time of 3:38 for the 3000m pursuit set by the national federation. Burns rode a 3.39 two weeks ago at the South Australian state championships in Adelaide, but yesterday rode a 3.37.27 to go under the time. With the Australian championships set to start on March 22, 19 year-old Burns will come up against the likes of Lucy Tyler-Sharman (who will ride) and Kathy Watt, who has been trimming her time in Perth. Watt will have another attempt at the distance this evening. According to AAP, Tyler-Sharman will receive financial support for the national titles and may meet with coaching staff to discuss a training program for the lead-up to the Olympics.
Australian Madison TitleTomorrow night at Melbourne's Northcote velodrome will see some of Australia's best track endurance riders contest the Australian madison championships. Sixteen two man teams, including a team from UK and one from New Zealand are down to start the event, sponsored by Buffalo Sports at 6:30 pm. Past winners of this event, Stephen Pate and Brett Aitken, are among the favourites. Pate, who is teaming up with Baden Cooke, is keen to impress in this event to try for Olympic selection for the endurance events. Aitken has also big hopes for Sydney, where he aims to team up with Scott McGrory in the Madison. McGrory was scheduled to ride with Aitken in this event, but had to return to Europe for Team commitments. For this event, Aitken is riding with Gene Bates. The UK team will have Junior World Champion Brad Wiggins and former World Pursuit Champion Colin Sturgess riding together, and they are sure to attract attention from the other competitors. The historic Forges Wheelrace is also being run in conjunction with the Madison. This event, won by many of Australia’s great cyclists is entering its 21st year. With all the Madison competitors competing in the Forges Wheelrace, it sees 6 riders starting from the prestigious Scratch mark. This is one event that Stephen Pate has not won, and the question remains as to whether this is the year. He will have to produce a special ride to win this year. As the final major event to be held on the Northcote velodrome, the riders are sure to turn the action on. The event begins at 6.30 p.m. with junior racing and the Forges Wheelrace to be followed by the Madison which is scheduled to commence at 9.30 p.m. Start List Brett Aitken/Gene Bates (Dimmeys) USA creates development squadThe USA cycling federation has voted to create a development foundation at their latest board meeting last Tuesday. The USACDF, as it will be known as, is intended on being a non-profit, charitable fund raising entity for cycling, to benefit its athletes in all disciplines of cycling. The USACDF has evolved from the Junior Development Cycling Foundation (JDCF), which began in 1997 and has raised approximately $225,000 for junior athlete development. Fund raising in the USACDF will be geared at helping athletes at the junior and espoir levels. This will be the first time that USA cycling has engaged in this level of development, having previously relied upon US Olympic Committee grants. "There are a lot of prospective donors who want to support cycling and now we have a formal vehicle for them to contribute," said Ron Kiefel, U.S. Professional Racing Organization (USPRO) representative to the USAC Board of Directors.
Further details regarding the USACDF, including Board of Directors, fund-raising goals and programs that will benefit from funding, will be announced June 24.
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