News for November 29, 2000
Pantani talks a little moreThere is never a dull moment in the life of one of Italy's most popular cycling stars, Marco Pantani. A past winner of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, Pantani has evolved from a pure climber into a genuine three week tour contender. However, his career and image during the last two years has been threatened by doping accusations, arising from high hematocrit measurements on more than one occasion. Combined with his controversial selection in the Italian Olympic team, and his erratic driving habits, Pantani's recent months have not been easy. "Il Pirata" is currently preparing for next season in Pace del Mela, a little village near Milazzo, Sicily. Privacy is hard to come by though, as he is forced to move houses every two days along with his team mates Ermanno Brignoli, Fabiano Fontanelli, Gian Mario Ortenzi and Marcello Siboni. However Italian daily, "Corriere della Sera" managed to interview him about his current and future plans. He is currently on trial in Forli for "sporting fraud", after he recorded a hematocrit level of 60.1 percent after an accident in Milan-Turin in October, 1995. In the latest development in the case, it is reported that he entered hospital with a hematocrit of 60.1, but it had dropped to 16(!) one week later due to a progressive anemia. It then returned to normal quite quickly. Head doctor of the Turin hospital, Pr. Massimo Cartesegna, told Judge Luisa del Bianco in Forli today that he was surprised at the fluctuation of Pantani's hematocrit, and had asked the two Mercatone Uno doctors who had remained beside Pantani's bedside during his stay whether they had administered EPO to him. However, he received no answer. As far as Pantani is concerned, this is all happening elsewhere, as he has not actually been in court yet. "As far as the court is concerned, that is the issue of the lawyers. They are the experts. They tell me what to do and I am satisfied," he said. "What I find difficult to accept is that even though I have never been implicated in a doping case, I am still involved in a penal process. I have become the symbol of doping when there does not exist a single test where I have tested positive," he added. "Other colleagues have had true problems and have been disqualified, but they have never been persecuted. I have become a scapegoat for everyone." The disaster of 1999 still haunts him, where he was expelled from the Giro d'Italia on the penultimate stage whilst in the lead. "I have paid enough for the guilt of the Madonna di Campiglio stage, which saw me exit a Giro that I had already won. In cycling there a strict rules. I was outside the norm, and I paid for it," he said. In 2000, he did not make a serious return to competition until the Giro, although he had one brief foray in Spain at the beginning of the year. He was thus a little underdone, but showed some form towards the end of the race, when he finished second in a stage. He then went to the Tour de France where he won two stages, "but I was never in shape" he said. He hopes to correct that in 2001 together with a slightly more organised team. One thing keeps him going, and that is his love of cycling. "Yes, more than just the work of cycling, but the love of the sport," he said. "I will add that in times of my greatest difficulties the only thing that helped was for me to ride my bicycle, as therapy for my brain. When you touch a low point, you realise that the hard work that you do to race a bike is more beautiful than you could ever have thought or imagined". Finally, he was asked whether he would trust himself as a passenger in a car driven by Pantani. "Yes, because this year I have covered more than 100,000 kilometres and I have never hurt anybody. The only time that I had an serious accident was when I was 18: I fractured two bones in my foot, but I had reason." But what about the cars he has destroyed? "The problem is that these days they are a little nervous, and my muscles become stiff and end up putting too much pressure on the accelerator. But when it is all finished, I will not even have this problem."
More from TelekomThe 25 members of Team Telekom are currently gathered in Dresden Radebeul for a pre-season training camp, where, amongst other things, they are planning their goals for the coming season. Their top two riders, Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel, presented the media with no surprises when they announced their 2001 projects. Jan Ullrich 26 year old Jan Ullrich is "obsessed" with winning a second Tour de France. He has placed second on three occasions and wants to get it right next year. "Until I win the Tour for the second time after 1997, I will not have any other goal. I have been second too many times," he said. The sponsors are behind him and the team as well, injecting another DM 3 million into the annual DM 20 million ($US 8.6 million) budget to help them achieve the ultimate prize in cycling. Kevin Livingston certainly did not come cheap, and was a valuable addition to their already powerhouse lineup. Of course, mere extra cash will not suffice to bring Jan to peak condition in time for July. He has to be spot on with his preparation, including keeping his weight under control from December through till June, not getting sick or injured, and not overdoing the early season races. In 2000, he began quite well in in February racing in Mallorca and South Africa, but then things went badly off track until June when he started in the Midi Libre and the Tour de Suisse. His second placing in the Tour de France was quite impressive considering. This year, the plan is to stay in South Africa from December 5-27, because "at this time of year we eat good meals at home and that is always particularly dangerous for me," he said. However, he will return briefly to his new house in Merdingen before travelling to Mallorca for more training. By the end of January, he will again be in South Africa. It has not yet been decided whether Jan will use the Giro as preparation for the Tour. It will be the first time in six years the Telekom have contested the Giro, and the organisers RCS Sport would certainly like to see Ullrich on the start line in Pescara. However, Telekom's sponsors would also like to see him in the Tour of Germany, which coincides with the Giro. "There are several possibilities," said Ullrich. "Now, to plan my way straight up to the Tour de France is impossible. If I ride the Giro, it will only be for Tour preparation." Team doctor, Lothar Heinrich commented that "If we want to modify something in the preparation, the Giro would fit quite well. Three weeks of competition would suit Jan well in this phase. The final decision will fall in February after we see how the preparation is going." Erik Zabel This year, the most consistent and successful rider has been Erik Zabel, with 18 wins in UCI Class races, as well as 2 Six Day races to round off the year. He has been invaluable to the team, and will probably remain with them until 2003. "We are only missing the signature on the contract," he said of his agreement with Telekom boss, Walter Godefroot. 30 year old Zabel is planning another attack on the Sprinter's "Maillot Vert" in the Tour de France in 2001. He has already won the jersey a record five times in succession. Could next year see another? Possibly, but he will have rely on himself a little more, as the team will be focused on Jan's GC chances. Ullrich commented that "if he wants one helper for the Tour, that is OK, but it would be problematic with two." However, Zabel doesn't think there will be too much of a problem. "Once per year, with the Tour, we step on each other's feet somewhat, but it has always gone well," he said. The other goal for Zabel is to defend his World Cup title, which he admitted will be a lot harder. "I am beginning my season preparation six weeks later than last year, so it will be hard to lay the foundations for the Spring Classics," he commented. Ekimov prolongs34 year old Russian Olympic Time Trial champion, Vjatceslav Ekimov, may well defend his title in Athens, 2004. It may also be with the US Postal team, who have offered to extend his contract for "as long as I would like," said Ekimov at an awards ceremony in Russia today. "I am very happy with the honour and I hope to ride well for the American team for at least four years," he told Reuters. Ekimov was one of the nine members of the US Postal team who finished the Tour de France this year, and helped Lance Armstrong to victory. George signsSouth African David George, who left US Postal this year, has signed for Italian team Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola. The team will be directed by Davide Boifava in 2001.
The future is assured for the Danish Team CSC-... ?The Danish Division 1 professional cycling team formerly known as MemoryCard has its future assured, according to Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidenede. The team has reportedly had a big capital injection from a new sponsor, who will share naming rights with the IT firm, CSC. The sponsor has yet to be named, but an announcement is expected within a few days. Options include World Online, Deutsche Post, Sony and possibly Olivetti although it was reported earlier that they had pulled out of a major sponsorship agreement. An extra 18 million Danish kroner ($US 2.25 million) will be fed into Professional Cycling Denmark (PCD), the company behind the team. At the end of last week John Trolle (MemoryCard Technology) sold his shares in PCD to Bjarne Riis, and with the new agreement in place Trolle is completely out of the professional cycling team. Courtesy of Ben Larsen Team Jane Cosmetics 2001By John Alsedek, cyclingnews.com correspondent While Saturn and AutoTrader.com have been garnering all sorts of attention for their off-season acquisitions, there are a number of other North American women's teams that have been quietly improving themselves as well. One of these is the San Diego, CA-based Jane Cosmetics team, which has just announced two new additions to their national squad: Catherine Cardwell (from Charles Schwab) and Julie Hanson (from Saturn). Sponsored by the teen-oriented Jane Cosmetics branch of Estee Lauder, the team originally began as a junior developmental program in 1996, winning four Junior National titles between '96-'99. However, in 2000, Team Jane Cosmetics stepped up to do a full national schedule, including the HP Laserjet Women's Challenge, First Union Liberty Classic, and the BMC Software Series; by the second half of the season, they were a force to be reckoned with, placing someone on the podium in their last four National Racing Calendar events of the season. They plan to do even better in 2001: building around a core group headed up by former Saturn star Sue Palmer-Komar (11th in the 2000 Worlds Road Race), manager Karen Menge feels that Hanson and Cardwell will fit in perfectly with Team Jane Cosmetics : "We received a lot of resumes over the past two months, but we had a very specific idea of what sort of riders we wanted to bring in. Julie was a teammate of Sue's on Saturn, a great all-around rider, and a wonderful person with a team-first attitude," said Menge. "As for Catherine, all the girls know her from racing in California, and she's a real talent- she was one of the country's top stage racers, despite 2000 being her first season on the national circuit. Riding with Julie and Sue should really help her development, as well as that of younger riders, such as Jenny Eyerman and Rebecca McClintock. We're really glad to have Julie and Catherine joining us for 2001." Full information on the Jane Cosmetics Cycling Team, including national & regional rosters, team sponsors, and schedule, will be released in early December.
A third candidate for the FCIThere will be a third party involved in the elections for the president of the Italian Federation, together with Gian Carlo Ceruti and Francesco Moser. Angelo Francini, a current councillor on the FCI will run in the battle that will eventually be resolved next year. Francini intends to run on a platform based on his knowledge of the rules. "The rough draft of the new constitution of the FCI is my realization," he said. Moser has as his priority the re-establishment of a connection between the base clubs and the federation.
CA Athletes Commission surveyThe Athletes Commission of Cycling Australia has finished collating the responses to its survey, that was made available to all members last month. A report (in PDF format), based on the results of the survey has been placed at Cycling Australia's website, and will also be presented to the CA Board of Management. The Commission has recommended that Cycling Australia use the information contained in the submission for the formation of its policies. The Athletes Commission is made up of cyclists and recently retired ex-cyclists who have expressed an interest in assisting cycling by representing the athletes perspective to Cycling Australia. If you would like to be considered for the Commission please contact Stephen Hodge, or any member of the Athletes Commission for further information. The cyclists' commission has six members representing each discipline in cycling, road, track and mountainbike. Currently, a male and female member represent each discipline. They are experienced cyclists in their own right, having been part of Australian cycling at all levels. The members are: Danny Day, track representative, d.day@onaustralia.com.au |