News for November 5, 2000
What is six-day racing?By Nick Rosenthal, cyclingnews.com correspondent The first Six Day races were exactly that - cycle races held over six days and six nights on a bicycle, on a banked cycle track. Some might say that the organisers of such events must have been cruel and uncaring people, but that would be untrue. In their kindness, they allowed the cyclists to race in teams of two. Only one rider from each team actually had to be on the track at any one time, so the second rider could eat, rest or even sleep for a few minutes. Admittedly, watching exhausted cyclists circle a track for six days did not always make for exciting racing, so the formula was refined. Nowadays, the riders race on an indoor track (or velodrome) over six successive evenings. The cyclists still race in teams of two, and only one rider needs to be in the race at any one time. Generally, the rider not actually racing will circle slowly at the top of the track, waiting for his partner to (literally) throw him into the race by a hand sling. Rather than one long race lasting all night, an evening's racing typically includes a few Madison sessions (the mainstay of the event) lasting an hour or so each, interspersed with "crowd pleasers" such as riders competing for the fastest flying lap time, or Derny races (where the cyclists are paced behind very odd little motorbikes). Only one rider from each team is needed for these events, which enables the other rider to rest before the next race. The race is won by gaining points in sprints that are held every 20 laps or so, and by gaining laps on the other riders. Gaining laps is actually more important than scoring points, as the points are only used to differentiate between teams on the same number of laps. Six Day events give riders an extra lap for every 100 points (except in the final Madison of the event), which makes the mathematics of it all even more interesting. The racing normally starts in the early evening and goes on until late in the night. There is a good social atmosphere (for the spectators, in any case!) at six-day bike races. For example, the Munich 6-Day race featured a funfair around the outside of the track, with five restaurants, too many bars to count, and a night-club in the cellar that opened at two in the morning (when the racing finished). And the Ghent Six is a wonderful place to sample a range of Belgian beers.... Note: Nick will be in Ghent for the final three nights covering it for cyclingnews. Here is the program. Friday, November 24 19.00 34th Amateur Six Saturday, November 25 19.00 34th Amateur Six Sunday, November 26 14.15 Final, 34th Amateur Six More PantaniMore details have been revealed about Marco Pantani's spectacular auto accident in Cesena yesterday, when he destroyed his car (and several others) driving the wrong way up a one way street. Within a one hour period, he managed to damage eight cars in separate accidents. On Friday morning, left his house in Cesenatico to travel to a police station in Cesena in order to renew his passport. On the way in he hit one car, followed by another on leaving the parking lot. The owner was a little disgruntled but Pantani continued on. Then came the one way street incident, where he apparently misread the sign and found himself travelling towards a delivery van at high speed. He swerved but hit it and then another car which propelled him on the roof of a third car, destroyed in the process. Three more cars were subsequently damaged. He was comparatively unhurt, and refused to go to hospital although he did wait for the police. He then took a taxi back home to Cesenatico. "I made an error because I was distracted, and the road changed into a one way street," he said. He did not take a breath test "because it was noon and no-one asked me for it." Pantani's manager, Manuela Ronchi, said that this incident could ruin Pantani's image, saying that "Marco is distracted by the constant psychological trauma that he is enduring."
Olano for the hour?Spaniard Abraham Olano may make an attempt on the World Hour record next year, according to his team manager Manolo Sáiz (ONCE). He will only do so if he is in good form, but Saiz believes that Chris Boardman's 49.441 kilometre mark can be broken, and perhaps the 50 kilometre barrier. "Boardman set the record far from his best form. I believe that it is beatable, and that 50 kilometres per hour can be surpassed at sea level, without having to go to altitude," said Saiz who commented that Ullrich and Armstrong could beat it as well. The attempt may come in April-May if Olano is in sufficiently good form.
Hoj and Michaelsen to CoastDanish pair, Frank Hoj and Lars Michaelsen (both currently Francaise des Jeux) will definitely ride for team Coast next year. They will complement both Alex Zulle and Fernando Escartin who are the team's main stage race riders. Their contracts are rumoured to be worth $US 400,000. Polish team newsAtlas Lukullus Ambra will be keeping Wojciech Pawlak, Robert Radosz, Jaroslaw Ryszewski, Marcin Sapa, Tomasz Lisowicz, Marek Maciejewski and Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk and adding Jacek Mickiewicz (Mroz). The goal of the team is to have 14 riders. Number one Polish team, Mroz-Supradyn Witaminy will keep Dariusz Skoczylas, Grzegorz Wajs, Dariusz Wojciechowski, Remigius Lupeikis, Piotr Chmielewski and Kazimierz Stafiej. They will add Zbigniew Piatek (MAT Ceresit), Bogdan Bondariew (neo) and Raimondas Vilcinskas (Ltu). Piotr Wadecki will go to Domo, Arkadiusz Wojtas and Sebastian Wolski are departing to Nurnberger and Jacek Mickiewicz is also leaving the team. Eugen Wacker may return to his former Team Coast. MAT Ceresit CCC will see Marcin Gebka, Cezary Zamana, Mariusz Bilewski, Luca Belluomini, and probably Piotr Przydzial, although he had an offer from Lampre. New riders on the team are Jaroslaw Rebiewski (Legia), Dawid Krupa (neo), Ondrej Sosenka (PSK), Vladimir Smirnov and possibly Swiss rider Felice Puttini. Zbigniew Piatek is leaving. Wüstenrot-ZVVZ are aiming for 11 to 12 riders next season (from 14 this year). Only four of the original team will be retained: Jaroslav Bílek (Cze), Petr Bencík (Cze), Milos Pejcha (Cze) and Ondrej Slobodník (Svk). New riders are Lubor Tesar (Cze, PSK), Michal Kalenda (Cze, PSK), Michal Precechtel (Cze, JOKO Velamos) and neo pro's Jaromír Friede (Cze), Martin Laciak (Cze) and Michal Prusa (Cze). Other likely riders are Josh Collingwood (Jelly Belly) and Kam-Po Wong. Courtesy of cycling4all Hohenfelder stopsGerman division III team, Hohenfelder Concorde will not continue into 2001 due to lack of budget. The team has been in existence for four years with some success, however it has struggled to gain more exposure and starts in the bigger German races. It was not possible on a third division budget, and team Manager Ole Ternes did not wish to continue in this fashion. All the riders in Hohenfelder-Concorde had been given notice in September, and some have already found new contracts (Peter Rogers (Linda McCartney), Corey Sweet (Batavus) and Christian van Dartel (Coast)). The UCI team hierarchy is quite tough for the bottom division, whose members tend to struggle for media exposure and invitations to popular races. Division II teams are at least eligible for starts in the Classics and Grand Tours if they are lucky/good enough, however money is an important part of the equation. A third division team with greater aspirations has to be able to convince sponsors to make a bigger commitment, and many are unwilling to do this without a guarantee of success.
Stahurskaia transfersWorld Champion Zinadia Stahurskaia next season will ride for GAS Team along with Alessandra Cappellotto. The Tuscan Fabiana Luperini will leave Amadori's team in 2001, and join Edilsavino (with Boubnenkova and Polkanova). There is some news about world number one team, Accadue O as well. Their top rider, Diana Ziliute will debut on the track early next spring and the Italian sprinter Giovanna Troldi is supposed to be her valid "substitute".
Record attempt in Trento20 year old Alessandro Forni will try to enter the Guinness Book of Records today by climbing the Monte Bondone (location of the Charly Gaul's legendary victory in 1956) 21 times. His aim is to climb over 15,000 meters in 24 hours, to beat the current record of another Italian. It will quite hard because today the weather in Trento is awful: heavy rain, 9° and probably some snow at the top of the climb. Courtesy of Alessandro Gretter
Milburn departs USA CyclingUSA Cycling's Chief Operating Officer, Philip Milburn has resigned after 14 years in the organisation, it was announced on Friday. Milburn began his service at USA Cycling in 1987 as an intern and later joined the organization full time as director of special projects. As Chief Operating Officer, Milburn was active with property creation and fundraising through corporate sponsorships, as well as coordinating television programming for major cycling properties. "The staff and volunteers of USA Cycling wish him all the best in his future endeavors," said USA Cycling Executive Director and CEO Lisa Voight. |