News for March 3, 2000
Riis stops - it's officialDanish rider, Bjarne Riis (Telekom) officially announced the end of his cycling career today on Danish television TV2. An injury to his knee would require surgery, and to come back at 35 years old would be too difficult. He has not raced since last June, when he fractured his arm during stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse. He has had a contract with Telekom since 1996, and it is due to run through this year, however he may have to 'convert' it to a managerial/coaching position with the team. The "Eagle of Herning" has won 32 races in his career, with his most noted victory being the Tour de France in 1996, where he ended Miguel Indurain's five year reign. He has also won stages in the Giro and the Tour, the Coppa Sabatini, the Amstel Gold Race along with several Danish championships. However, suspicions of doping have plagued him for the past few years, although he has always maintained his innocence. He has ridden with a number of teams: Roland (1986), Lucas (1987), Toshiba (1988), Super U (1989), Castorama (1990 and 1991), Ariostea (1992 and 1993), Gewiss (1994 and 1995) and Telekom (from 1996). His career started as a domestique for Laurent Fignon, however he took a step up in 1993 when he won stages in the Giro and the Tour, coming 5th overall in the latter, and third in 1995. In 1996, he managed to win the French race, from none other than teammate Jan Ullrich, who was nearly as strong as Riis on that occasion. He surprised many on the stage to Hautacam in the Pyrenees that year. Bjarne Riis - significant wins 1989 1990 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Armstrong out of Paris-NiceUS Postal top man, Lance Armstrong, has been forced to withdraw from this weekend's Paris-Nice, according to an official team announcement. Armstrong is suffering bronchitis, and doesn't want to risk competing and aggravating a potentially serious problem for cyclists at this time of year in Europe. He quit the Tour of Valencia last week, due to a sore throat and went home to Nice to continue training. However, during this time he felt that it was developing into something more serious. Team director Johan Bruyneel, said that: "Having Lance race Paris-Nice with bronchitis would set him back even further. He will stay in Nice to recover and train, and we hope we will start Milan-San Remo (March 18). He will then continue with his normal program, which includes upcoming races such as Semana Catalana (March 20-24) and the Tour of the Basque Country (April 3-7)." The US Postal team for Paris-Nice will now consist of Frankie Andreu, Julian Dean, Viatcheslav Ekimov, George Hincapie, Benoit Joachim, Patrick Jonker, Christian Vande Velde and Cedric Vasseur, with Jonker taking the place of Armstrong.
Oscar has back troublesWorld Champion, Oscar Freire has been having more success than the Pirate when it comes to racing at the moment, however the Mapei rider is suffering from back pain that may trouble him during the season. He will go for tests on Monday to Dr. Matteo Migliore, a neurosurgeon in Milan, but intends on riding the Tirrenio-Adriatico later on in the week. Morales medalThe recently deceased rider from the Fuenlabrada team, Saúl Morales has been presented with a posthumous medal for merits to sport, by the Spanish minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Mariano Rajoy. The rider, who was killed by a truck on stage 7 of the Tour of Argentina, made his professional debut last year with the team, but had not yet tasted significant success at this level. He recently won the mountains jeresy in the Challenge Mallorca, as well as a stage in the Volta a Catalunya.
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