News for May 18, 2000

Giro d'Italia news

Comments after yesterday

After Mario Cipollini swerved across Jan Svorada's path in the stage 3 finale, he was declassified by the race jury (he was given 103rd in the bunch). Head of the jury, Frenchman Christian Charpigny was responsible for the decision, although Mario wasn't too keen on it (despite apologising to Svorada immediately afterwards).

"I watched the sprint again and I did not have to be disqualified," said the Lion King to La Gazzetta. "I deviated from my line because I touched the wheel of Conte. Perhaps to declassify Cipollini gives publicity to the French judge who made the decision."

There he goes again, talking about himself in the third person.

For his part, Svorada said that "it is not good to win like this - I always prefer to win by crossing the line first, but I am convinced that without the obstruction I would have done so. However I think that Mario, like me had waited too long. I did not judge the finish that well and I was surprised to be so successful."

"I'm sorry for Mario but I think he'll get over it."

Pantani watch

Ivan Gotti

The attention being paid to Pantani has affected more than a few. Last year's winner, Ivan Gotti said at the TV press conference yesterday that "I have the utmost respect for Marco, but I am here only to speak about Ivan Gotti".

"Cycling is not just about Marco Pantani. It is true that he is very popular, and also that people have welcomed his return with open arms, but all of the riders in this Giro have their Tifosi," said the normally quiet Gotti. "The peloton has always accepted Pantani - he is not silent. He speaks with everybody, and it doesn't seem to me that there are problems. "

"We will attack him on the roads, probably quite soon, but for tactical reasons, not out of dislike," commented Gotti who was also critical of the wet stage 2 to Maddaloni. "The racing conditions were impossible even though I understand that it is difficult to make decisions 'on the fly'. I hope that next time more thought is given to the protection and the health of the riders. There was one main concern for everyone: not falling."

Paolo Savoldelli

Paolo Savoldelli was a bit more direct, saying that "If there is too much attention for Pantani, the guilt lies with you journalists who have for a whole year put him in the mud. Now you have need of him, and he is hard to talk to: it would have been better not to treat him as badly before."

Pavel Tonkov

"Pantani is in good condition and it is not going to be easy to win the Maglia Rosa. He has always attracted a lot of publicity and not only now," said Tonkov, who added that "he must watch ahead and think of the next challenge on the road".

And Pantani?

The Pirate was initially quiet, trying to maintain his press silence, but he was forced to give in. He stuck to his original Giro statement, saying that he was here to ride "day by day, waiting for the decision of the roads," before explaining a little about his vow of silence that lasted a few days.

His brief comments yesterday: "A day where I was a little nervous, as the final circuit was quite tricky. I am always feeling good and am improving each day."

At the conclusion of the press conference, he informed the gathered journalists that he had "spoken with his colleagues, who are the people that need to know."

Richard wants to wear rings

Current Olympic champion, Pascal Richard was one of the Linda McCartney riders who was forced to retire before stage one as a result of food poisoning (along with Australian Ben Brooks). An Italian newspaper had the story somewhat different though - that he quit the race because of a dispute with the International Olympic committee.

While Linda McCartney's press officer, John Deering, dismissed this as "rubbish" according to Reuters, Pascal is still trying to convince the IOC that he's allowed to wear his jersey adorned with Olympic Rings. Past World Champions, for example, are allowed to put rainbow stripes on their jersey around the sleeves and neck. Should the same rule be applied to the Olympic Champion?

Richard seems to think so, and has been wearing a jersey for the past three years festooned with the Olympic rings. The IOC however, consider that they own the rings and want to fine him SFR350,000 ($US 200,000) if he continues to wear it. The Swiss rider is unmoved though and will continue to race in it unless the IOC forcibly remove it.

Track World Cup

The first round of the Track World Cup will be held this weekend in Moscow, commencing Friday May 19, and running through till Sunday May 21. Some fast times are expected, with several nations sending top teams to compete in preparation for September's Olympics.

Canada will be sending their top women, Tanya Dubnicoff (sprint) and Erin Carter (endurance) to the Cup, while Australia will be represented by Kathy Watt. She intends on building her Olympic preparation around racing and the World Cup is her main focus.

One of Watt's main rivals in the 3,000 metre pursuit will be Dutchwoman, Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, a former World Champion in this event. In addition, the Dutch team will take Anouska van der Zee and Debby Mansveld for the points race.

Irish reader and correspondent, Liam Collins, who lives in Moscow, reports that last weekend the Russian Cup saw some pretty quick times on the Moscow track. The St. Petersburg 'A' team recorded a time of 4.04.30 in winning the 4km Team Pursuit from the St. Petersburg 'B' team. The time was noteworthy due to the weather conditions in Moscow at the time, as it was 3 degrees Celsius outside the track, with occasional snow flurries, and not much warmer inside.

In the men's sprint the top ten qualifiers were all under 10.9 seconds with the top three recording 10.5 seconds.

Zabel for six

World Cup leader, Erik Zabel has said that he will ride the Munich six days this coming winter, November 9-14.

"One reason is that Munich has a good reputation but also that it is raced in the beginning of the season, and it will not disturb my preparations for next road season," Zabel said at a press conference after the signing of the contract.

It is possible that Zabel might also start in Dortmund, November 2-7, but his home town Berlin is out of the question since Zabel's that race is held at the end of the six day season, when he has started his preparation for the road.

Zabel rode his last six day race in 1996 when he won in Dortmund with Rolf Aldag. He also won in Munich the year before with Etienne de Wilde.

Østergaard stays out

The appeal committee of the Danish Cycling Union has decided that the Union was was rightful in excluding MTB rider Jan Østergaard from the World Championships last year. Østergaard was on the long team for the World's last summer but was not taken in the end after he tested for a high haematocrit level (50.2 per cent) at the European Championships earlier in summer. The DCU adopted a new anti-doping policy last summer which meant that riders with a high haematocrit level were excluded from the national team for one year and this was the reason for taking Østergaard out of the team.

Østergaard and his lawyer said that the Union had no right to exclude a rider based on such uncertain facts as a high haematocrit test. Østergaard claims that he already was on the team for the World's, while the Union says that he was only on the long team at that time. The committee pointed out that no athlete could ever count on being part of the national team, regardless of results.

Kangaroo Island Tour

After a 20 year break, the South Australian Kangaroo Island Cycling Tour will be held this year. Starting on June 10, the three day tour will be run over 300 kilometres, with up to 100 competitors. The last time the race was held was in 1980, when lack of funds forced its stoppage. The prize fund for this year is at $9,000, with the event gaining momentum from the Tour Down Under held in January.