News for October 5, 2000
World's teamsFranceNational selectors, Charly Bérard and Patrick Cluzaud have chosen their squad to represent France in Plouay next week. 12 men were picked, headed by Laurent Jalabert and Laurent Brochard, both former World Champions. In addition Richard Virenque, Jean-Cyrille Robin, Patrice Halgand and Christophe Moreau are all considered good chances, but there were a few notable exceptions. Jacky Durand, Pascal Herve, Christophe Agnolutto, François Simon, Christophe Cappelle and Frederic Moncoutié are not on the list, which contains a few lesser lights. However, the best team does not necessarily contain all the best riders, and if the French ride together like they did in Sydney, then they have an excellent chance of bringing home a gold medal. In the women, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli will have the company of Séverine Desbouys, Géraldine Loewenguth, Fanny Lecourtois, Elizabeth Chevanne-Brunel and Cathy Marsal, with Albine Caillie down as the second rider in the time trial. Elite Men Road Race: Laurent Jalabert (ONCE) Reserve: Gilles Maignan (AG2r Prevoyance) Time Trial: Laurent Jalabert (ONCE) Elite Women Road Race: Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli Time Trial Jeannie-Longo Ciprelli SpainNational coach, Francisco Antequera named the 13 men and 6 women to contest the World Championships in Plouay. Notable absences from the men's team are Alvaro González de Galdeano and Oscar Sevilla, the former being injured while the latter is claiming "physical problems" despite winning the Trofeo Luis Ocana and the Memorial Manuel Galera recently. They are replaced by Rafael Díaz Justo and Eladio Jimenez. In the men's time trial, there are two positions available, but three pre-selections. Abraham Olano will probably take one of them, but the remaining spot is between Santos Gonzalez and Angel Casero, with the latter wanting to prove himself after his omission from the Olympic team.
Elite Men Road Race: Angel Luis Casero (Festina) Reserves: José Antonio Flecha (Relax Fuenlabrada) Time Trial (two to be chosen): Abraham Olano (ONCE) Elite Women Road Race: Fátima Blázquez (Alfa Lum) Time Trial: Dori Ruano (Valencia Terra I Mar) NetherlandsElite Men Road Race: Maarten Den Bakker (Rabobank) Time Trial: Marcel Duijn (Rabobank) Elite women Road Race: Chantal Beltman Time Trial: Marielle Van Scheppingen NorwayElite Men Road Race: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) Time Trial: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) Elite Women Road Race: Monica Valen (Grenland SK) Time Trial: Solrun Flatås (Jømna/Heradsbygd IL Sykkel) U23 Men Road Race: Kenneth Flesjå (Sandnes SK) Junior Men Road Race: Kristian Ellertsen (CK Bjørgvin) Junior Women Time Trial: Helene Tveter (Sandefjord SK) Thanks to Georg Reidarsen, Syklingens Verlden Tonkov out after crashRussia will have to do without the services of Pavel Tonkov in the World Championships next week, after he was injured in a training accident in Madrid. The Mapei rider fell while trying to avoid a dog, and injured his wrist and right side. After an initial medical examination, Tonkov was told to rest for a week. The crash also forced him out of the International Hessen Rundfahrt, that started today in Germany.
Sandstod outDane Michael Sandstod will not be riding in Plouay next week after falling out with the selectors as a result of his performances in Sydney. Sandstod rode two laps of the time trial, but pulled out after the final time check (at 7.5 km to go). He also failed to finish the road race. His replacement will be Tayeb Braikia who also hopes to represent Denmark in the madison at the World Track Championships in Manchester, October 25-29.
Hammond out, Sciandri hurtThe British team have suffered a few setbacks in the leadup to the World's. Roger Hammond broke his arm in a fall during the Circuit Franco Belge last weekend and is definitely out. Meanwhile, Max Sciandri was injured in Sydney whilst out training with David Millar after the TT. The pair collided while trying to avoid a truck, however Max returned to race in the Giro di Provincia della Lucca that started on October 3. According to the team, he "rode well with no ill-effects, but then raced home to be with his wife, who went into labour last night. It will be the Sciandris' third baby, and caps a productive year for the Linda McCartney Love Machines: Sean Yates and Matt Stephens producing little racers of their own, with David McKenzie's wife Susan due before Christmas."
No World's for BallangerDual gold medallist in Sydney, Felicia Ballanger (Fra) will not be riding the World Track Championships in Manchester later this month. She has decided to rest from a physically and mentally demanding season, and will not defend her sprint and 500m time trial titles. This renewed rumours that she would retire altogether, despite saying prior to the Olympics that she wouldn't. However, after winning both gold medals she commented, "I don't see now what more I can achieve in the sport. I really want to leave on a good note. If I lose a race, then that will probably be the only one that remains in my head." She still intends on racing in the Six Days of Grenoble and the Open des Nations before the end of the year.
De Cauwer doesn't agreeBelgian coach, José De Cauwer, is not happy about the espoirs selection for the World's, announced by the Belgian union (BWB) during the Olympics. Kevin van Impe wasn't selected because he started a race in Mere instead of the GP Wieler Revue, and the BWB replaced him with Stefan Wijnands. "But Wijnands isn't the only alternative for Van Impe. Stijn Devolder was second in the Belgian championships and is in good shape. I will discuss the selection again," said De Cauwer. However, there is not expected to be a big chance that De Cauwer will get his Devolder... Team newsLast year's Tour of Lombardy and HEW Cyclassics winner, Mirko Celestino will leave Polti next year for Saeco. Ag2r's Stéphane Barthe has confirmed his contract with US Postal, and signed today for a year. Stéphane Barthe (27 years, 1.79 m, 74 kg and born in Toulouse) was French champion in 1997. He has another 9 victories, including stages in the Criterium International (1997 and 2000) and in the 4 Days of Dunkirk (2000). Prior to being with Ag2r-Prévoyance he was with Casino for 3 years. Czech team, PSK Unit Expert start the 2001 season with some new faces. Leaving the team are: Michal Kalenda (Cze) and Lubor Tesar (Cze) who will join Wüstenrot-ZVVZ, and Ondrej Sosenka (Cze) who will join the Polish Mat Ceresit CCC. Slovakians Robert Nagy, Ján Riska, and Czech Frantisek Trkal will take their places in PSK Unit Expert. BankGiroLoterij-Batavus.have gained the services of Tom Desmet (Tönissteiner) and Steven De Neef (Flanders-Prefetex) for a year, while Collstrop-Palmans have contracted Frenchman Vincent Cali from Ville de Charleroi. Mälarenergi's Patrick Serra has contracted some of the best Scandinavian riders for next year, including Niclas Ekström (currently Tönisteiner). Serra told Swedish press yesterday that his team next year be the same standard as in the mid '90s, when Axelsson, Andersson, Rittsel and Ljunqvist were riding for the team. Swedish cycling awaits the next move from Serra, are people are talking about 3-5 professionals that will come back to Team Mälarenergi. He is also looking for riders from Finland and Norway. Thanks to cycling4all/other sources for this information
A Coast analysisHow many UCI points will Team Coast end up with next year? Will it be enough to assure them of a first division spot? Cyclingnews.com's team database maintainer, Theo Muller has provided the following mini-analysis. By the end of the season, the top 16 first division teams will automatically qualify for first division next year. Of the 22 teams currently in the top division, Vitalicio is disappearing, leaving 5 left who will try to qualify on a points basis. At the latest rankings, Mercatone Uno, Memorycard, Francaise des Jeux, Team Polti, and Ag2r-Prevoyance are the bottom five although these may well change by the last ranking of the year. Candidates from division II include Euskaltel-Euskadi, Credit Agricole, Linda McCartney, Mercury and Coast. It's going to be a tight battle for the remaining spots. Should Coast acquire the services of Danes, Frank Hoj and Lars Michaelsen, as well as Massimo Donati from Vini Caldirola then they will have the following points (top eight riders count for team points): Escartin (879 pts), Zülle (744),Michaelsen (641), Hoj (437), Gianetti (406), Donati (400), Roland Meier (206), Aebersold (168.25) for a total of 3881.25 points. While this would rank them 13th in division one at the moment, but they are really competing with the other teams that have around 3000 points with the option to buy more. The end of the season is always a tense time for those teams hovering near the bottom of division I.
Ballerini's futureLampre's Franco Ballerini was to have finished his career at the end of this season and become a PR manager for Mapei, however he will be on his bike in 2001 as well. Ballerini's last race will be Paris-Roubaix, the race that he won after years of trying in 1995 and 1998. After this classic his career will will be over.
World Cup schedule for 2001The only real change in next season's World Cup (road) program is the reversal of HEW Cyclassics and the Clasica San Sebastian in August. HEW will now come after the Spanish race, which is on August 11. The early part of the season will remain the same, with Milan San-Remo kicking off the Classics on March 24, followed by the Ronde van Vlaanderen (April 8), Paris-Roubaix (April 15), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 22) and the Amstel Gold Race (April 28). The races: March 24: Milano-San Remo (Ita) Superprestige presentationThe Chairman of Superprestige, Etienne Gevaert, didn't want to talk a lot about the conflict between them and the UCI during today's presentation of the coming season. Due to the fact that the series sponsors are mostly involved in businesses in Belgium and the Netherlands, the organiser cancelled races in Italy and Switzerland. "The sport of cyclocross is the loser with 8 instead of 12 races. But the 'cross in Wetzikon belongs to our classification. In cooperation with our sponsors, Kärcher and Parky, we came up with a format in order to involve this race. So there is a 'cross in Wetzikon but without SP points," said Gevaert. "Maybe we can work on a rotation system in future with some top international races. Of course, we want to negotiate with the UCI about our future. We even want to start with our programme in September, but then the UCI has to give us some space," he added. Three of the eight Superprestige races will get live coverage from Belgian commercial TV, VTM. 18 riders have a contract to compete in the SP races: World Champion Richard Groenendaal, Wim de Vos, Gerben de Knegt, Daniel Pontoni, Jiri Pospisil, Petr Dlask, Christophe Morel, David Derepas, Roland Schätti, Sven Nys, Mario De Clercq, Bart Wellens, Erwin Vervecken, Peter Van Santvliet, Ben Berden, Tom Vanoppen, Patrick Janssens and Bjorn Rondelez. Superprestige schedule: October 22: Ruddervoorde (Bel) Job opportunityCyclingnews.com is seeking a (preferably) European based editor to assist with content and production in future. A reasonable background in cycling is assumed, and HTML skills are essential along with other computer application skills. The position will be permanent part time, although it forseeably has the potential to become full time. Interested persons should contact us for more details and attach a copy of their resume. |