News for November 23, 2000

What rhymes with Dell?

Given the stellar line-up supporting a new US professional road-racing team - with involvement by legendary coach Eddie B and three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond - there has been considerable speculation as to its riders, management and finally, sponsors.

An earlier item on cyclingnews reporting that the lead sponsor will be Dell Computer was incorrect, as cyclingnews understands the sponsor will be a company "that's involved in global telecommunications". A report from the Netherlands indicates that the lead sponsor may indeed be a telco whose name rhymes with that of the PC manufacturer.

In fact, keen road cyclist and regular cyclingnews reader Susan Dell (wife of CEO Michael Dell) contacted LeMond's management and insisted that the IT firm was not involved with the team, other than being good friends with the US legend.

What can be confirmed is that it will aim to be a Division 2 team in its first year and will feature a mix of 12-15 U.S. and European riders, with Peter Van Petegem confirmed as a starter for next year.

The team will be making a major announcement next week as issues like the US election and Thanksgiving Day holiday are proving to be major distractions for those seeking maximum publicity. Reports that Kevin Livingston is to join are also incorrect, with the US rider apparently preparing to make an announcement about his new team for 2001.

More on Van Petegem

The soap hasn't quite finished...

Belgian newspaper, De Standaard says Johan Lammerts offered Peter Van Petegem a two year contract with the option for another year. However, Van Petegem only wishes to sign if he is permitted to by Farm Frites.

"I have signed enough contracts. One with Mapei, a fax contract with MemoryCard; but I'm still free. Lammerts and my lawyer are negotiating with Farm Frites. I have to know my situation around December 1, because then the new contractual year stars. If we don't find a solution, I have to go to the civil court," he said.

He can forget his salary for the last two months. "I received a letter last week and that was clear: I won't be expecting any more money," he added.

The American team made the best offer for Van Petegem: "Lammerts offered me the nicest contract because I can take 4 to 6 Belgian ex-teammates with me. If I chose Mercury, the financial part was okay and I could take Van Bondt and Vansevenant with me. With Team Coast there was only a place for me. The Germans like my 900 UCI points. The negotiations with Saeco and ONCE are over now."

Is riding for a second division team a problem? "I realize that I will miss Milan-San Remo, but I think Lammerts can arrange start permits for the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. In two years I can form a new team around me. If I say yes, the new team will start; otherwise the start of the new team will postponed for one year."

Van Petegem's ally, Cees Priem will be the advisor of the new team, "I'm going advise the team about sponsorship. For the time being I'm not interested in a function as a manager. I prefer to stay in the background for a while," said Priem.

Memory Card's future

Representatives of the Danish team Memory Card and other potential sponsors are meeting at the moment to discuss the future of the team. After the Memory Card company had performing badly on the stock market, the sponsorship of the team for the remainder of this year, as well as 2001 was placed in jeopardy.

The major co-sponsor of the team for 2001 is CSC, an American computer company. However, CSC-Memory Card may end up as CSC-Sony, CSC-WorldOnline, CSC-Deutsche Post, or CSC-Olivetti, depending on the outcome of the current negotiations.

If Memory Card do not continue next year and no other sponsor is found, the team's budget shortfall is of the order of $US 1.8 million, which is a slightly greater than Laurent Jalabert's annual salary of $US 1.7 million. Jalabert has still not obtained a bank guarantee for his salary for 2001.

Plans for Di Luca

One of the most promising Italian riders who is on his way to realising his potential is 24 year old Danilo Di Luca, of the Cantina Tollo team. A stage winner in the Giro in only his second year as a pro, there are big hopes that he can improve his performance in big stage races next season with the Giro as the main goal.

At the Cantina Tollo team's training camp, his directeur sportif, Giuseppe Petito, commented about the parcours of the Giro d'Italia 2001: "It is a strange Giro. There doesn't appear, at least on paper, to be a key day. The climbers will have to attack every time the road goes up. Pantani is the favourite but I see flexible riders like Casagrande or even my Di Luca doing well. It could be a year for a surprise."

After his success in the race this year, Di Luca said that next year he will race in order to win the Giro. Could we see him in the Maglia Rosa for some time?

Longo wants another go

Frenchwoman Jeannie Longo will fly back to Mexico City November 28 for another attempt on the world hour record, her manager Hubert Piernet announced today. Longo established a mark of 44.767 kilometres on November 5 to surpass Anna Wilson's official distance of 43.501 kilometres. She tried several times after that to break it, but was unsuccessful for various reasons.

Longo will make the attempt towards the end of next week (December 1 onwards).

Tomorrow, she will receive the rank of Commander of the Order of Merit, awarded by French president Jacques Chirac.

Joachim cleared

Luxembourg National Champion and former member of the US Postal team, Benoit Joachim, has been absolved by the Luxembourg federation for using banned substances. Joachim tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone during the Luxembourg National Championships on June 25, however it took several months for his "B" sample to be confirmed. When it was, he was immediately fired by his US Postal team as part of their zero tolerance drug policy.

However, Joachim claimed that he was innocent, and appealed to his national federation. He had submitted himself to a hair test immediately after the positive test, which found no trace of the substance. On Tuesday, the Luxembourg Federation concluded that there was "no proof that he used Nandrolone by himself" and chose not to suspend him.

Joaquin Rodriguez signs

Barcelona resident, Joaquin Rodriguez has signed his first professional contract with the ONCE-Deutsche Bank team, directed by Manolo Saiz. The contract is for three years and came about via his stay at Iberdrola, considered the training ground for ONCE riders.

He had known about the contract for quite some time, but did not wish to make it official until he had finalised all the details.

Team Giant

The Dutch Giant MTB team has intentions of becoming a third division pro team next year, so they can participate in road races. The 10 man team will lose directeur sportif for the past two seasons, Johan Lammerts, but have recently signed 1996 Olympic Champion Bart Brentjens (Subaru Specialized) for two years. In addition to Brentjens, the team includes: Dominique Arnould (Fra), Christophe Dupouey (Fra), José Antonio Hermida (Spa), Thomas Hochstrasser (Swi), Rune Hoydahl (Nor), and Jan Weevers (Ned).

Brentjens was the Dutch Champion this year, won the bronze medal at the World Championships as well as winning the Netherlands' domestic Topcompetitie this season. He once more proved that he could be back at the top after two seasons plagued by injury.

David Kenig

It was some time ago, but there has been some confusion about the overall winner of the Vuelta Argentina in February this year. Argentinian David Kenig won the overall classification from Polish Grzegorz Wajs (Mroz). However, subsquent reports stated that he was disqualified for doping. This was not the case according to the UCI, and he remains the winner of the race.