News for October 31, 2000
Groenendaal number oneThe first set of cyclocross rankings has been issued by the UCI for the current season, and there has already been a change at the top, courtesy of Sven Nijs' injury. The young Belgian Rabobank star has been replaced by his teammate and World Champion, Richard Groenendaal (Ned) as number one. There is still a large gap to third placed Mario de Clercq, and still more to fourth (the retired Adrie Van der Poel), however Nijs will continue to lose points until he can start racing again. October 29 rankings 1 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 2,125 pts 2 Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank 2,105 3 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 1,604 4 Adrie Van Der Poel (Ned) Rabobank 1,136 5 Bart Wellens (Bel) Spaar Select 1,088 6 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 995 7 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) RVS-Liege 693 8 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Spaar Select 632 9 Beat Wabel (Swi) 626 10 Wim De Vos (Ned) Spaar Select 571 11 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx 465 12 Ben Berden (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx 432 13 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 428 14 Petr Dlask (Cze) 381 15 Marc Janssens (Bel) Palmans-Ideal 366 15 Christophe Morel (Fra) Besson Chaussures 366 17 David Seco Amundarain (Spa) 339 18 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 323 19 Dominique Arnould (Fra) 279 20 Roland Schätti (Swi) 276 Nations: 1 Belgium 6,122 pts 2 Netherlands 4,405 3 Italy 1,579 4 Switzerland 1,557 5 France 1,218 6 Czech Republic 1,198 7 U.S.A. 837 8 Spain 721 9 Germany 650 10 Poland 549
Stormy weather prevents VerbruggenThe much anticipated audience between UCI president, Hein Verbruggen and Judge Daniel Delegove in Lille, was delayed today after Verbruggen was unable to leave Manchester due to bad weather. Those that believe that "it always rains in Manchester" were proved wrong today, as according to Nick Rosenthal, his car was covered in snow and there was a blizzard raging outside his bedroom window. Mr Delegove decided to adjourn the hearing until Tuesday, although he did take time to point out again what the lawsuit was about. "It is a penal lawsuit - it is not the lawsuit of Richard Virenque and not the lawsuit of doping," he said at the beginning of the session.
Roussel's characterLater, Bruno Roussel's lawyer presented a character reference from Agnès Pierret, a former manager of the Swiss Helvetia team where Roussel was an associated directeur sportif in 1990. "He was a healthy man, one could feel it in his convictions and his actions," said Pierret. Mrs Pierret pointed out that the Swiss team was never involved with doping, although it was often ridiculed for its poor results. When Roussel left for Festina, he was "clean" according to Pierret.
There was more evidence given by a nutritionist with the Festina team from 1993-1997, Denis Riché. Roussel and Riché met in RMO, after Helvetia. There, Riché said that he was impressed by Roussel's spirit. "He was keen on heart rate curves and had great interest in feeding the riders properly," he said. However, when the two went to Festina, Riché claimed that the riders wanted more than just dietary advice. They wanted EPO. "The 'big bottoms' are in front of me, I have had enough," said Laurent Dufaux at one point, according to Riché. Riché claimed that he was shocked when Roussel asked him if he was giving them EPO in 1994, and Roussel tried to persuade the riders otherwise. He had no success according to Riché, and eventually agreed to their demands as well. In 1997, he gave Riché a letter saying that "his presence at races was no longer desired," and the dietitian resigned.
59th Six Days of DortmundThe winter Six Day season starts on November 2 with the Six Days of Dortmund (Ger) and the Six Days of Grenoble (Fra), finishing with the Six Days of Berlin next January. In the former race, there will be a total of 14 pairs, and there are several top teams on the start list. Last year's winners, Bruno Risi and Kurt Betschart (Swi) will be there, along with newly crowned World Madison Champions, Erik Weisspfenning and Stephan Steinweg (Ger). Olympic Madison Champions, Scott McGrory/Brett Aitken (Aus) will be amongst the favourites, along with Robert Bartko (Ger)/Silvio Martinello (Ita) and Guido Fulst (Ger)/Matthew Gilmore (Bel). Jens Lehmann/Sebastien Seidler (Ger), Andreas Beikirch (Ger)/Jimmi Madsen (Den) should also be competitive, and there will be a good deal of interest in the pair of Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag, who won this race in 1996. Past winners - Dortmund 1926 Fritz Knappe/Willy Rieger 1927 Willy Lorenz/Alessandro Tonani 1928 Piet van Kempen/Maurice Dewolf 1929 Karl Goebel/Alfredo Dinale 1930 Victor Rausch/Gottfried Huertgen 1931 Jan Pijnenburg/Adolf Schoen 1932 Jan Pijnenburg/Piet van Kempen 1933 Paul Buschenhagen/Adolf Schoen 1934 Marcel Guimbretiere/Paul Broccardo 1952 I Emile Carrara/Guy Lapebie 1952 II Hugo Koblet/Armin von Bueren 1953 Lucien Gillen/Fernando Terruzzi 1954 Lucien Acou/Achiel Bruneel 1955 Hugo Koblet/Armin von Bueren 1956 Rik van Steenbergen/Emile Severeyns 1957 Fernando Terruzzi/Reginald Arnold 1958 Kay Werner Nielsen/Palle Lykke 1959 Rik van Steenbergen/Klaus Bugdahl 1960 Klaus Bugdahl/Hans Junkermann 1961 Rik van Steenbergen/Emile Severeyns 1962 Peter Post/Rik van Looy 1963 Klaus Bugdahl/Sigi Renz 1964 Rudi Altig/Fritz Pfenninger 1965 Peter Post/Fritz Pfenninger 1966 Rudi Altig/Sigi Renz 1967 Dieter Kemper/Horst Oldenburg 1968 Patrick Sercu/Rudi Altig 1969 Patrick Sercu/Peter Post 1970 Rudi Altig/Albert Fritz 1971 Dieter Kemper/Klaus Bugdahl 1972 Patrick Sercu/Alain van Lancker 1973 Patrick Sercu/Eddy Merckx 1974 Patrick Sercu/Rene Pijnen 1975 Dieter Kemper/Graeme Gilmore 1976 Patrick Sercu/Freddy Maertens 1977 Dietrich Thurau/Juergen Tschan 1978 Francesco Moser/Rene Pijnen 1979 Patrick Sercu/Dietrich Thurau 1980 Patrick Sercu/Gregor Braun 1981 Gerd Frank/Hans-Hendrik Oersted 1982 Danny Clark/Henry Rinklin 1983 Danny Clark/Tony Doyle 1984 Francesco Moser/Rene Pijnen 1985 Roman Hermann/Josef Kristen 1986 Danny Clark/Tony Doyle 1987 Danny Clark/Roman Hermann 1988 Danny Clark/Tony Doyle 1989 Andreas Kappes/Etienne de Wilde 1990 Urs Freuler/Olaf Ludwig 1991 Danny Clark/Rolf Aldag 1992 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart 1993 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart 1994 Adriano Baffi/Giovanni Lombardi 1995 Danny Clark/Rolf Aldag 1996 Rolf Aldag/Erik Zabel 1997 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart 1998 Silvio Martinello/Rolf Aldag 1999 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart Courtesy of Bernd, six day expert Telekom on holidayApart from the aforementioned Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag, most of team Telekom are currently enjoying a break at the end of the season. Although things didn't go according to plan at the World Championships (and beyond) when all the top riders became sick or injured, Telekom can still look back on their most consistent year yet. They won the World Cup, finished second in the UCI teams rankings, and took the top three placings in the Olympic road race, as well as a second in the time trial, much to the disappointment of some. In addition, Erik Zabel won the Tour de France green jersey for the fifth time, and Jan Ullrich placed second overall for the third time in his career. Currently, Jan Ullrich is in Florida with his girlfriend Gabi, teammate Andreas Klöden and his girlfriend Bettina - all are seeking to avoid the cold in Europe at this time of the year. Jan and Gabi will take a few days in New York at the end of their holiday before returning home. Steffen Wesemann, who had a terrible latter part of the season when he broke his collarbone during the Tour, is now well healed and is off to Egypt with his partner Pauline. Ralf Grabsch has gone with Doreen to California and San Francisco, and Kai Hundertmarck (with Claudia) is also in the southeastern part of the US. Finally, neo-pro, Matthias Kessler is snowboarding (in Europe). Halgand prolongsPatrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) has extended his contract for another year with the team. The French climbing champion has had his most successful season in 2000, winning six races including the Tour du Limousin. He will be a co-leader of the team with Laurent Brochard. St Quentin updateSt-Quentin Oktos will not have Jean-Philippe Duracka as its directeur sportif for 2001 as previously reported. Instead, Pascal Pfinder will lead the team in 2001. A former professional and a top climber will aim to put the team at the top in stage races. St Quentin will race largely in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands next year. It is still unsure whether Lithuanian Saulius Ruskis who has ridden for the team for the past two years, will rejoin them for next season. Courtesy of Velomania
Elsbeth Vink signs for Farm Frites-HartolDutch mountain bike specialist, Elsbeth Vink has signed a one year contract (with the option to extend to two) with the Farm Frites-Hartol team. The 27 year old rode for Specialized this year, and was a member of the national road team. After Sonia van Kuik, Elsbeth Vink is the second (of four maximum) new rider to transfer to the "Black Train" for next season. She is strong on the road as well as in MTB races, placing 4th in the Montreal World Cup and 7th in the Philadelphia World Cup this year. She will ride both road and mountainbike races in 2001. The Farm Frites-Hartol team will be assisted by 29 year old professional, Michael Van der Wolf next season. The five year Dutch pro will ride for AXA-VZW next year, in addition to assisting Michel Zijlaard with Farm Frites-Hartol in leading the team.
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