News for May 1, 2000

Zabel for Henninger Turm

The World Cup leader's last race of his first season block will be the Rund um den Henninger Turm, to be contested today in Frankfurt, Germany. Although it was previously a round of the World Cup, in recent years it has been downgraded a notch to category 1.1, but Zabel would probably enjoy keeping the UCI points that he won here last year.

He considers World Champion Oscar Freire to be his most dangerous rival, although the Mapei rider has had a busy weekend in Italy (Larciano on Saturday) and the RAI Derny race on Sunday. He supposedly has a cold, but will likely line up on Monday for the 206 kilometre German race.

On the other hand, Zabel has the benefit of a very strong and motivated team with Elli, Fagnini, Aldag, Bölts, Heppner, Hundertmark and Alexandre Vinokourov, with Ullrich distinctly lacking. Freire isn't too badly off either, with Merckx, Van Heeswijk and Beltran to help. However, with all their recent success, a good result in this race might see the German Telekom team topple Mapei from their number one spot.

Zabel has had a very solid season so far and will take a break this week after Henninger. "Easy riding for one week," he says. Then, he'll ride the Tour of Bavaria on May 17 and the Tour of Germany shortly afterward as he builds up for the next goal, the sprint jersey and stage victories in the Tour de France.

A certain Jan Ullrich is also trying to gain some form for the Tour. He will ride (but not 'race') the Tour of Germany, before putting a bit more into the Midi Libre. Zabel thinks he can do it though, because last year "Jan only had four weeks training up until his win in the Vuelta. I believe that the Tour de France is definitely within reach for him."

Heppner for the Tour of Germany

Last year's winner, Jens Heppner will spearhead Telekom's attempt at gaining the second edition of their national race. Although he almost finished his career as the result of a training accident, the 35 year old has recovered and looks forward to this year's race, starting on May 26 in Bonn. His team is almost obliged to win, and their will try their utmost to please the large number of Telekom-mad German cycling fans.

"I'm looking forward to the Tour of Germany, and I hope that I will be in the lead," he said to Radsport-news.com. "I can't speak of a win yet of course, as we have many good riders in the team."

"We carry a large responsibility for the tour, as we are the only first division team from Germany at the start. We are obliged to support our fans and sponsors."

His crash with a car last year caused a broken leg and resultant epileptic fits, and he wasn't sure whether he'd be able to ride, let alone race, again. However, he received good treatment for it, but still feared he might suffer relapses of the epilepsy. He has ridden a good season so far, finishing well in Liege and the Rund um Köln, and will continue with the Tour of Germany with hopes of making the team for the Tour de France. This is another step up however, and he will have to prove himself in three weeks time if he is to once more support Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel in the French race.

SRB troubles

With just two weeks to go before their next meeting, the Swiss Cycling Federation (SRB) are trying to work themselves out of an ever increasing debt, which has led to the resignation of several top ranking members. In the 1999 financial year, they lost approximately CHF 1 million (US$600,000) and are now over 2.4 million francs in debt. The loss sustained in the Tour de Suisse last year was over CHF 500,000 - a remarkable turnaround for a race that has made a profit for 30 years.

However, at the meeting scheduled for May 13, Berne businessman, Fritz Boesch wants to run for president in order to fix up the situation before the Tour de Suisse hits in June. He wants to form a board made up of Rocco Cattaneo, Andreas Wild, Bruno Ehrensperger, Hanspeter Mueller, Peter Pfenninger, Bruno Walliser Jr., Michel Savary and Max Weber to help him solve the 'temporary problem of liquidity'.

Another Swiss rider out of Romandie

The Tour of Romandie starts in two days on May 2 and is one of the premier events in Switzerland. The recent withdrawal of Oscar Camenzind (virus) has been compounded by Mauro Gianetti's announcement that he won't be riding. The Vini Caldirola rider has been suffering from bronchial pneumonia since the Amstel Gold race and can not train at the moment. He will probably return to action in the Tour of Berne (May 14) before the Tours of Japan and Switzerland.

Jeroen Blijlevens' bike

The following are the details of the machine of Polti's Dutch sprinter, Jeroen Blijlevens. They were published in the Dutch magazine, "Wieler Revue", and as you can see, there's nothing too fancy about his components.

Frame: Fausto Coppi KP1 Plus, Columbus Altec 2 plus headframe with carbon
wishbone rear stays, 52 cm.
Fork: Columbus Nivacrom
Handlebar: ITM Racing Team 42 cm
Stem: ITMBig One Ahead
Groupset: Shimano Dura Ace STI 9-speed
Cranks: Shimano Dura Ace 172.5 mm
Rims: Fir ST 120 (shallow) or Fir Antara Carbon (deep)
Rear cluster: Shimano Dura Ace 11-21
Saddle: Selle Bassano Boxter
pedalen: Shimano SPD-R
Tyres: Areo Viper 23, tubulars
stuurlint: Silva
Clothing: Santini
Shoes: Shimano SH-R212
Helmet: Met Stradivarius
Sunglasses: Carrera
Computer: Cateye Mity 3

Tyler-Sharman riding well in the US

Although she is ineligible to ride for the US Olympic squad, Miami based Lucy Tyler-Sharman still showed that she had the legs by defeating her compatriots in two events of the US Olympic trials over the weekend. On Friday night, she won the points race, backing that up with a win in the miss-and-out on Saturday. On both occasions, she beat Colombia's Maria Calle, with the closest US competitor, Nicole Reinhart (Saturn) in third.

She has not been given permission yet to compete for the US in the Olympics however, and her Australian options have evaporated. At the moment, she is living in Miami and is unlikely to return to Perth, Australia in the near future.