News for October 15, 2000World's newsCan Freire do it again?Once again, it looks as though the 268 km men's World Championships Road Race will be held in inclement weather, with the forecast for intermittent rain and a cold 14 degrees. Despite the large number of top names absent or sick, the course and the distance are such that the winner will have certainly earned it. A surprise winner is often good for the sport, and this was certainly demonstrated by Oscar Freire of Spain last year. This season, he has been one of the best one day riders in the peloton, despite his on-off struggle with injuries. He rates Andrei Tchmil, Axel Merckx, Nico Mattan, Paolo Bettini and Max Van Heeswijk as his main rivals today. A full preview and start list for the race is available, and cyclingnews.com will be covering the entire race live, starting 1030 CET/0430 USA EDT/1930 Aust. ESST.
Tchmil confidentAndrei Tchmil has to be one of the biggest favourites on Sunday, especially in what looks to be some pretty ordinary weather. "The parcours is perfect for me. The distance is to my advantage: If it was only 200 km it would be difficult for me. But after 220, 25 percent of the bunch is out of the race. After 235 km again 25 percent. And after 250 km you have only a maximum of 20 candidates left. Then the race will start seriously. In the 19th and last lap you have pain all over your body," said one of the hardest men in cycling. "There is a minor negative point for me: the finishline is not at the end of a climb."
Dutch pep talkGerrie Knetemann didn't need more than 29 minutes and 27 seconds on the 'night before' with the Dutch team. "The discussions about tactics and prizemoney become shorter and shorter," said the coach who is in his 10th year this year. The KNWU has 30,000, 20,000 and 10,000 Dutch guilders (13,500, 9,000 and 4,500 Euro) available for gold, silver and bronze. What the 'new Dutch World Champion' gives to his teammates is unknown. Three riders will be protected: Michael Boogerd, Max van Heeswijk and Maarten den Bakker. Leon van Bon may see how it's going during the race and ride for his own chances. If he isn't too good, he rides for the three. The rest of the team (Lotz, Kroon, De Jongh, Engels, Pronk, Vierhouten, Hoffman and Koerts) will be split in two blocks: for the first and middle sections of the race. "They have to bring the three to the finale. In the last part, the three have to make a deal who will bring gold, silver and bronze...,' said Knetemann. "First I had only one rider for the title: Max van Heeswijk. He is great at the moment, but he doesn't want to be the only leader. He doesn't want to have the pressure on his shoulders. He doesn't know half how good he is. The peloton has to be glad that my head isn't on his body. He can be much more than he realises," said Knetemann. Van Heeswijk doesn't agree with the assessment, saying that "I still don't belong to the list with names like Bartoli and Tchmil. But I know I'm a name in the peloton after winning Paris-Bruxelles. I will try to save myself until the last two laps." Michael Boogerd has a special goal as this week his uncle died. "I would have liked to be at his funeral on Saturday, but my family said you have to concentrate on the World Championships. But I can't forget it. There are more important things than bloody cycling. Therefore I will try to get a nice result for my uncle," said Boogerd.
Big Brother is watchingThe KNWU (Koninklijke Nederlandse Wielrenunie) has installed real 'spies' on Sunday to see whether the Dutch riders ride for their foreign sponsor (old or new) instead of riding for their country. "We'll keep an eye on them," KNWU-chairman Joop Atsma said. "Besides the union coach we have two union members in the race. But there are two officials beside the road and one is sitting at home in front of his TV set." Riders who work too much for their foreign sponsor may be sanctioned. "A suspension or a penalty," said Atsma.
Crashes in U23 raceThe end of Friday's U23 men's Road Race saw a crash take out a large section of the bunch in the run into the finish. The ensuing chaos meant that there was a two and a half hour delay in issuing the final complete results after the jury had to sort out the photographers and the riders in the film de la course. French hope, Christophe Le Mevel was one of many injured but he got out of it lightly, as New Zealander Fraser McMaster broke his elbow and Irishman Stephen Gallagher suffered cranial trauma.
Medal table after day 5:
Gold Silver Bronze Total
Russia 2 1 1 4
Poland 1 1 1 3
Joachim positiveLuxembourg's national champion, Benoît Joachim (US Postal) has joined the ranks of cyclists testing positive after the national championships in June. Traces of Nandrolone were found in both the A and B urine samples of the 24 year old US Postal domestique, who was part of the successful defence of Lance Armstrong's yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Joachim faces a minimum six month penalty (excluding winter) and the stripping of his national title. In addition his contract will almost surely be cancelled, as US Postal have a strict anti-drug policy.
Jalabert for Team CSC/MemoryCard?According to Politiken, the Danish daily newspaper, Bjarne Riis was almost in a state of euphoria after having met with the former world No. 1, Laurent Jalabert. Apparently 'Jaja' is close to signing a contract with the Danish squad, which would save their spot in Division 1 in the coming season and increase chances for a return to the Tour de France after an otherwise modest debut. Riis is quoted in the Danish press as saying, "The written offer that we have sent fulfills the economic demands that Jalabert has made for contracts for himself and his brother Nicolas. Jalabert didn't express any reservations nor place any conditions on a possible signing with us. On that background I feel quite optimistic and I won't try to hide the fact that I am very, very happy. It would be a scoop for us and all of Danish cycling if this falls into place. And I feel that we are very close to one another." Riis continues, "It was Johnny Weltz, who created the contact to Jalabert. They were teammates at ONCE, so it was natural. This was the first time that I had spoken with Jalabert in this connection, and I even had a hope that he would agree on the spot. In the meantime I can well understand that he would like a little time to think. He would like to be able to concentrate on the World Championships and be able to make his decision one he has returned home. So now I have nothing to do but wait in suspense." "Now that we have a great sponsor like CSC in place, it would be totally perfect to secure Jalabert to the team," concluded Riis. Courtesy of Jon Jay Neufeld Major races in 2001The UCI have announced a part of their calendar for the 2001 season, containing all the major races as shown below. The major changes from this year are the reversal of the Clasica San Sebastian and HEW Cyclassics World Cups, and later dates for the three Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a Espaņa). UCI schedule March 11-18: Paris-Nice |