News for November 20, 2000

Open des Nations: France 1-2

The final night of the Open des Nations in Bordeaux saw - not unexpectedly - France finish in the top two placings in the overall classification. The "France Bleu" team of Florian Rousseau, Frédéric Magne, Damien Pommereau, and Robert Sassone finished in the number one spot on 328 points, while "France Blanc" (Laurent Gane, Arnaud Tournant, Jean Michel Tessier and Jérôme Neuville) were second on 305 points. In third place were Germany (Jens Fiedler, Stefan Steinweg, Jan Van Eijden, and Erik Weispfennig) on 295.

On the final night, French riders won the Sprint, Keirin, Flying Lap, and both Danish and standard Elimination races. Belgians Mathew Gilmore and Nicky Vermeersch managed to win the madison, while Dane Jimmi Madsen won the points race.

However, the tables are likely to be turned on the French in the upcoming Six Day races, as they have lagged behind the top madison teams in the past. The Gent Six is the next test, taking place between November 21-26, and cyclingnews will be bringing plenty of action from the last three days, via our correspondent Nick Rosenthal.

Banesto rebuilds

Ever since Miguel Indurain's departure at the beginning of 1997, the Banesto team have struggled enormously in regaining their high profile in the major tours. Money has not been a problem, but they have tried several leaders (Zülle, Olano, Jimenez, Piepoli) with only limited success, especially this year.

Next season, they will start the year "without a man who will guarantee that we will be fighting for a podium finish in the Tour or the Vuelta," according to team head, Eusebio Unzue. However, he said that the goal for next year will be to find someone to fill that role.

They will look to the younger riders like Francesco Mancebo, Unai Osa, Eladio Jiménez, Juan Miguel Mercado, but these riders still have to develop more. Leonardo Piepoli and Jose Maria Jiménez will still have responsibility in the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta. In addition, they will keep their core lineups for these races similar to this year: Piepoli, Unai Osa, Eladio Jiménez and Juan Miguel Mercado for the Giro, and Santi Blanco, Jose Maria Jiménez, Francesco Mancebo, Javier Pascal Rodriguez, Jon Odriozola, Cesar Solaun, Vicente Garcia-Acosta, Dariusz Baranowski and Tomasz Brozyna for the Tour.

The entire team will consist of 27 riders in 2001, the biggest in its history. This is due in part to the disappearance of its amateur team and they have added some new talent: Zandio, Gil, Plaza, Patxi Vila and Adolfo García.

New US team in the works?

There are rumours that a new pro team will be established in the US, directed by former national coach Eddie Borysewicz, with Greg Lemond having a major role. The main sponsor will be Dell Computers.

The team may see several riders currently without homes next season under the same roof: Peter van Petegem, Geert van Bondt Wim Vansevenant, Bart Bowen, Kirk O'Bee, Danny Pate, Michael Creed Jr. and Kevin Livingston are some names that have been bruited about.

Volvo/Cannondale 2001

Despite trimming down their roster next season, the Volvo/Cannondale Mountainbike team looks set to continue their past success. The team will consist of six riders in 2001, all of whom are top dirt performers.

In downhill and dual, the team will again be led by eight-time downhill World Champion Anne-Caroline Chausson (France), who is also the reigning World Cup champion in both downhill and dual. Cedric Gracia (France) will return to Volvo/Cannondale in 2001 as well. The charismatic Frenchman wrapped up his 2000 season in dramatic fashion, winning the year's final World Cup downhill race after taking third in the dual competition the day before. Gracia finished 2000 in second-place overall in the final World Cup dual standings, and fourth overall in World Cup downhill standings.

In cross-country, the team will again feature two-time World Cup Champion Cadel Evans (Australia);2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist and two-time Swiss National Champion Christoph Sauser; triple U.S. National Champion Tinker Juarez, and up and coming Kiwi Kashi Leuchs.

As previously reported, the team are losing Brian Lopes to GT and Alison Sydor to TREK-VW, both of whom have given the team excellent results over the years.

New Spanish women's team

There may be a new Spanish women's team in 2001, directed by Juanjo Peñalosa and sponsored by Junkers. Although an agreement hasn't yet been signed, the Junkers company will be the top sponsor in this project that will have a large budget.

The team will race primarily in Spain, as well as the major international competitions. "In the first year there will be more expenses in creating the infrastructure, and we are going to go step by step. My intention is to have eight or nine riders next year, and I already have had conversations with most of them," said Peñalosa.

Hernandez' team postponed

The new Spanish professional team directed by Carlos Hernandez has been put off until 2002, according to Meta2Mil magazine. The team's major sponsor does not want to involve itself in cycling next year, but will come on board in 2002 with sufficient funds for the team to make it to first division.

Hernandez told Meta2Mil that he would "in the next few weeks meet with the company to formalize all the agreements that we have discussed. I imagine that the company will publicly reveal itself before end of year, and throughout the year 2001 we will dedicate ourselves to developing the infrastructure of the team.

"The team will exist for at least three seasons (from 2002 to 2004) and the aim is that it is in the first division in its first year."