News for May 17, 2000

Giro d'Italia news

Cipo blames bars

After he cut across Jan Svorada to try and win today's stage, Mario Cipollini was disqualified for sprinting erratically and was relegated to last in the peloton that he finished with. He was however, immediately apologetic to the Czech, and said that his sidewards manouevre was caused by his new handlebars slipping.

He was supported by others who said that if he had meant to hook Svorada, he would have done it properly.

Cipo and Pantani play it down

The Italian public and media are crazy about Marco Pantani. So much so that he was ranked number one sports personality in Italy in a survey last November (when he wasn't even competing). However, the Pirate is not that keen on all this attention, and neither are the other riders in the bunch according to a certain Mario Cipollini.

"I don't have anything against Marco," said the Lion King at a press conference yesterday. "But it seems to me that he gets a disproprtionate amount of attention compared to the other riders. I must say with some regret that an anti-Pantani feeling is likely to pervade the peloton."

Pantani agreed when asked about this: "They are right, there's too much spoken about me. I can only say that I don't seek it and I don't need any. I am in the Giro to find condition," he declared.

He also responded those those who accused him of monopolising the Giro for the sake of his image: "I am here to honour the Giro and its riders. The others will have to tolerate my presence."

Crashes and mud yesterday

There were falls and punctures aplenty on the stage yesterday from Terracina to Maddaloni, due to the wet, muddy conditions and the bad roads. Paolo Savoldelli (Saeco) was involved in several, and also suffered a puncture with 12 kilometres to go. However, he still held onto 8th in the overall. Another one to suffer was José Jaime "Chepe" Gonzalez Pico (Nectar-Selle Italia) who fell three times and had to go to hospital afterwards for X-rays after he finished. He was able to make the start today though.

The conditions made more than a few annoyed in the peloton. Several top riders (Tonkov, Scirea) said that the stage should have been shortened or re-routed despite the obvious havoc this would have caused.

However, it wasn't too cold or even snowing. Remember the Gavia? It's back again this year.

33% of French still high

The latest round of French medical followup tests has revealed that as much as a third of those tested may have used EPO. In a story in yesterday's "Le Monde", figures were published of the tests that were carried out at the beginning of this year.

According to the newspaper, 60 out of the 177 assessments could be indicative of EPO use due to abnormalities in the various blood parameters. However, the exact details of the results could not be revealed on the grounds of medical secrecy.

The French union (FFC) and the League of professional cyclists reacted quite angrily to this, saying that was an "incorrect interpretation of a report for the medical world".

Chiotti answers

After he and his team Giant decided to part ways last week, French mountain biker Jerome Chiotti issued the following statement to explain his plans for the future. Chiotti came under fire a few weeks ago for admitting to using EPO to win the 1996 World MTB championships in Cairns, Australia. This provoked an immediate response from French Cycling Federation president, Daniel Baal, who said that the FFC would pursue disciplinary action into the affair, possibly stripping Chiotti of his title.

Here is Chiotti's response:

"As most of the cycling community already knows, Giant and I have come to a mutually agreeable conclusion to our relationship. I appreciate Giant's support through this challenging time in my career and my only regret is that I will not be helping their team achieve its goals this season. They are well represented though and I am sure they will have much success. I wish them all the best.

"Now I must wait and see what the FFC and UCI will determine about my career. In the meantime, I remain committed to taking care of my family, clean cycling, and in time, racing again. I appreciate all those that have supported and encouraged me and I hope you will all join in cleansing this most beautiful of sports."

Bartoli's plans

After his crash in last year's Tour of Germany, former world number one, Michele Bartoli was forced to undergo a long period of recovery before he was ready to race again this year. Unfortunately for him, things didn't quite go according to plan. Even though he was seen at the head of affairs in Milan-San Remo back in March, he was still riding with a heavily bandaged knee. His team doctor thought that he would be able to continue riding like that, but it was not to be, and Bartoli was forced to re-assess his season after Gent-Wevelgem.

It was a hard decision to stop, as he was hoping for a good ride in the classics and then the Tour. He is still out of competition but according to latest reports, will be back in late May. He is doing a lot of training in the Gym and on the road, and is aiming for a good late season now, as it is unlikely that he'll be in good shape for the Tour. The Olympics and the Worlds are his two main goals, although he still would like to ride the Tour for preparation.

He signied for Mapei at the beginning of 1999, and the thought was that there would be a clash in the team with so many top riders for the classics. As it turned out, this did not happen, especially with Museeuw's injury and Bartoli will have to think more about what he wants to do next year. His contract with Mapei runs out at the end of this season, although he thinks he would like to remain with the team, provided he can recover.

Bartoli is not finished yet - by his own admission he has a good 5-6 years left and he still has the desire for victory. He will be 30 on May 27, and we could well see him in some sort of form by July.

Franky has a bad week

There's more than one Belgian Frank in the peloton, and US based Navigators rider, Franky Van Haesebroucke is one who has been on the end of a little bad luck recently. Last week, he was suffering from stomach troubles and coughing up blood, forcing him to visit the local hospital. Upon examination, doctors decided to operate on his appendix. However, as they were about to do the deed, his houskeeper (a dentist) arrived and asked for a second opinion.

Luckily for Franky, the operation wasn't necessary because he only had a stomach ulcer.

On his arrival back home, his roommate Brendon Vesty was searching the whole house for a snake (not sure what sort). After jhalf a day of searching, the snake was caught and the problems solved for the time being.

Thanks to Steve Seigneur for this story