News for October 2, 2000
Ullrich leads German team for World'sDual Olympic medallist, Jan Ullrich will extend his season until October 21 as he will race in Paris-Tours (Oct. 8) the World Championships (Oct. 10-15) and the Tour of Lombardy (Oct. 21). It will be hard to back up from his recent success, however Ullrich intends on using his excellent form to try and win a few more races, and possibly finish as number one in the World this season. Despite not winning gold in the Sydney time trial, Ullrich beat Lance Armstrong, his rival and nemesis in this year's Tour de France, by 26 seconds. This was a reversal of the Armstrong's advantage over the German in the final Tour time trial, and Ullrich did not forget it. However, he told DPA in Sydney that "I understand exactly how hard it must have been for him, after the Tour win, to fully concentrate on another goal." Ullrich added that "I still want a World Cup win in either Paris-Tours, or the Tour of Lombardy and there are the World Championships in Plouay. It was hard to conserve my form after the Tour - now I must use it," said Ullrich, currently at his optimum racing weight of 70 kg. The German Cycling Federation (BDR) have named Ullrich in their preliminary 18 man squad for the World's that is as follows: Jan Ullrich (Telekom) ITT Jan Ullrich (Telekom)
Belgian U23's up thereThe Belgian espoirs are in good shape at the moment, and should produce some good results in the World Championships in Plouay. Belgian coach, Jose de Cauwer was pleased with their results in the 19th and last KNWU Top Competition race, the GP Wielerrevue. Three of the top four places went to Belgian riders (Jurgen van Goolen, Jan Verstraten and Gert Steegmans). For Van Goolen, it was his 13th victory of this season. He won the GP Wilhelm Tell (a World Cup race), the Belgian TT championship and the espoirs edition of Luik-Bastenaken-Luik (Liege-Bastogne-Liege). "Mark my words: Jurgen will be a big one in the future," said de Cauwer. A lot of Belgian supporters believe that Van Goolen is the potential successor to Johan Museeuw.
Boardman's futureBritish time trial specialist, Chris Boardman has just four weeks left in his professional racing career, as he will bow out after the World Track Championships in Manchester in October. His latest result was not one of his best (11th in the Olympic time trial in Sydney), two minutes behind winner Viatcheslav Ekimov. It was Boardman's fourth and last Olympics, and he comes away with a gold medal from Barcelona (1992), and a bronze in Atlanta (1996). Boardman's 2000 season has not been filled with outstanding success, with a second place in the GP Eddy Merckx and a third in the Joseph Voegli Memorial TT (both paired TT's with Jens Voigt) his best results. He has been suffering from a bone wasting disease known as Osteopenia during the past two seasons, and that has affected his results. The treatment for the disease involves testosterone injections to boost low hormone levels, but these are banned by the UCI, a decision that Boardman accepted when he found out that he had Osteopenia. He admitted after his ride in Sydney that it is getting harder to compete at the top level, as he cannot recover fast enough from training any more. "It is difficult to take when you have won events like this to be an also-ran," he said, adding that it was "roughly respectable". His last two events will be the World Time Trial Championship in Plouay, followed by an attempt on Eddy Merckx's hour record in Manchester on October 27. If he gains this mark, to be set using a standard bike with spoked wheels, he will hold both the Absolute and the UCI Hour Records. After that he is not sure, but he has indicated that he would like to work in a coaching role in future, possibly working with current National Performance director (and Boardman's own former coach), Peter Keen. However, there is still the family to look after, and his four children.
Coast reconstructsTeam Coast, the division II team with ambitions for division I, will be an almost completely different outfit for 2001. After signing riders like Alex Zulle, Fernando Escartin, Mauro Gianetti and Niki Aebersold, team director Wolfram Lindner is still chasing more UCI points to boost them into the top division. The team have a few more surprises though that will be revealed in the near future. The sponsor definitely wants a start in the Tour de France, and division one status is of great benefit there. At the moment, only 4 of the current riders have contracts for next year: Michael Giebelmann, Malte Urban, Klaus Mutschler, and Christoph von Kleinsorgen, while the rest are still looking. Robert Bartko and Daniel Becke are likely recruits from the world record breaking German 4,000 metre pursuit team, as Coast wants a mix of promising young riders as well as experienced veterans with points. A total of 20 riders will comprise the team.
Other team newsIn Portugal, Benfica's Jorge M. Dos Santos Silva will join Porta da Ravessa while his teammate Rui P. Henriques Pereira Roque will go to LA-Pecol. On the other hand, Michele Laddomada (LA-Pecol) will probably sign with Benfica. The division III Hohenfelder-Concorde team may be up to division II next year after they have found some new sponsors. However, they will be without Corey Sweet, who has gone to Bankgiroloterij, Christian van Dartel (Coast) and Peter Rogers (Linda McCartney). Nick Gates' future with the team is uncertain at the moment. Courtesy of Cycling4all.
800.com, Tour of Willamette get bigger budgets for 2001By John Alsedek, cyclingnews.com correspondent Racing fans in the Pacific Northwest have two more reasons to smile, as Peter Kukula of Northwest Pro Cycling has just announced good news regarding a pair of Oregon cycling fixtures: the 800.COM Women's Cycling Team and the Tour of Willamette. To start with, 800.COM has both re-upped for the 2001 season, but has also increased its financial committment, thereby allowing the team, which features Cascade Classic stage winner Lysle Wilhelmi and former Olympian Maureen Vergara, to do a full national schedule next year. The situation has been further improved by an increased committment from bicycle sponsor Bianchi (the company's only major national road sponsorship); the return of 2000 team sponsors Heritage Consulting Group, Volkswagen, Profile, Spinergy, CytoMax, Vittoria, and Vetta; and a prospective additional cash sponsor that will be announced as early as mid-November. The 800.COM Women's Cycling Team will be announcing its 2001 roster in November at a press party in Portland, Oregon, with training camp to be held in Santa Rosa, California in February. Meanwhile, things are looking promising for the six day Tour of Willamette. Widely considered to be one of the country's toughest stage races, the Oregon event looks set to fix a long-standing problem - a lack of financial resources - as Northwest Pro Cycling is on the verge of finalizing agreements with two sponsors that will give the Tour of Willamette a significant influx of cash for 2001. But that's not all: there will also be a change in venue for 2001, as Cottage Grove, first visited by the race in 2000, will become the official host city of the Tour of Willamette. More information to follow in the near future. |