News for September 1, 200055th Vuelta a España news
Bossoni's bestThis year's Vuelta has seen three riders record their best ever wins, and two of them their first in the professional ranks. Today it was the turn of Paolo Bossoni (Cantina Tollo) who upstaged Giovanni Lombardi and Oscar Freire to take the diminished bunch sprint into Valencia. At 24, Bossoni has had a two year professional career with the Italian team, with his best results prior to this being a couple of fifth placings in the 1999 Trofeo Luis Ocana and the Omloop van de Wase Scheldeboorden. However, he was a promising rider in the amateur ranks and may see himself come good in future after this morale booster. Oscar Freire was looking for his third stage win, and was in an excellent position to do so but said afterwards that he "followed the wrong wheel" referring to Fassa Bortolo's Wladimir Belli (6th). "I went with Belli on the left but the best line was on the right, and when I tried it I was too late, but third is not bad," he said.
Escartin, Tonkov Rumsas (and more) lose
Some of the top riders caught in a fall with 10 kilometres to go in today's stage were Kelme's luckless Fernando Escartin, Mapei's Pavel Tonkov and Fassa Bortolo's Raimundas Rumsas. All riders lost 44 seconds to the leaders, meaning that Tonkov slipped from 6th to 8th overall, Rumsas to 7th, and Escartin to 31st. These minor time losses can have a significant effect at the finish, as well as on the riders' morale in the meantime. The falls in the past few days have wreaked havoc on the peloton and there have been various reasons given as to their incidence. Pavel Tonkov said that it was due to the shorter stages, so that the riders were more nervous. Oscar Freire agreed in part, but blamed the wind as well. Fernando Escartin and Roberto Heras also blamed "nerves" while lamenting their own bad luck. Of course, the rain does not make things any easier as well. How many riders will be left to contest the stage 16 to El Angliru, the scene of great devastation last year? Amongst the leaders, Jan Ullrich, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Abraham Olano and Angel Casero all made it in the company of Alex Zülle, but there were only 20 or so riders left in front to contest the sprint. Ullrich is now fifth overall, but there are already rumours that he will abandon after the time trial in Tarragona in order to better prepare for the Olympics.
Mountain finish tomorrowStage seven will take the riders once more into the hills, 175 km from Valencia to Morella. It ends with a couple of second category climbs in the last 25 kilometres that will surely sort the field out (again). The highest point is the 1080 m Puerto de Querol followed shortly after by the finishing climb to Morella (980 m at 6 percent). It is a chance for someone such as Roscioli to try his luck - perhaps with a little more success than on stage five. The climbs are not nearly as tough as the Alto de Cati although some shaking out of the classification will no doubt occur.
Team newsFarm Frites rider and Vuelta stage winner Jans Koerts will (in principal) go to the US Mercury team after negotiations with Farm Frites/Domo failed to satisfy the Dutchman. "During the time when there were signs about a merger between Domo and Farm Frites, I agreed with Patrick Lefevere as there were very good financial conditions. But with the merge as it is now, things are changing. I expect that Domo will take over the contracts of Farm Frites, and that is not a step forwards for me. Therefore I was glad to get permission to look for another team," said Koerts. Domo will probably acquire the services of Mario De Clercq (Palmans), the former World Cyclocross champion. According to the Gazet van Antwerpen, Ludo Dierckxsens and Johan Verstrepen have definitely re-signed for Lampre-Daikin next year, and there is a strong possibility that Jacky Durand will ride for Lampre next year. Durand's current team, Lotto-Adecco is building up for next season. At the moment, there are 15 riders under contract: Van de Wouwer, Aerts, Dewaele, Van Hyfte, Marichal, Tchmil, Verbrugghe, Van Dijck, Eeckhout, Thys, Hans De Clercq, Baguet and neo-pro's Van Speybrouck, Gardeyn and Yves Verbrugghe. Team director Christophe Sercu wants 22 riders, so there is still room for 7 riders. Leon Van Bon has been in contact with several teams, including MemoryCard and Domo after he announced his departure from Rabobank recently. The team managers Bjarne Riis and Patrick Lefevere confirmed their interest in him. Rabobank meanwhile have re-signed Matthé Pronk and Grischa Niermann, the latter for two years.
Grand Tours updateTour de France 2001 On July 9 in 2001, the Belgian city of Antwerp will host a stage finish for the 88th Tour de France. On the following day the race will start in the Grote Markt in Antwerp, costing the city some 400,000 Euro. The Tour de France 2001 starts with an 8 km prologue in Dunkirk on July 7 followed by a 200 km stage from Saint-Omer to Boulogne-sur-Mer. The stage that finishes in Antwerp will start in Calais. There is a chance that in 2002/2003 that the Tour will visit St. Wendel, in Germany. The town in Saarland has applied to host a stage with full support from the government. St. Wendel is no stranger to hosting big bicycle events either, with MTB World Cups as well as the German Road Championships several years ago. It has also applied to host the World Cyclocross Championships in 2004. Giro d'Italia 2001 The 84th edition of the Giro starts on May 19 with a prologue of 8 km in Pescara, it was announced by the organisers, RCS sport today. Once again, it is scheduled for the evening and will be followed by a 200 kilometre first stage from Giulianova (Abruzzo) to Francavilla a Mare. The race will finish on June 10 in Milan with the full route presentation to take place later this year.
Tour of China 2000Held from September 3-6, the 2.6 class Tour of China is one of Asia's major cycling events. It commences on Sunday with a 2.6 kilometre prologue in Beijing's Tiananmen square with a criterium follwoing that afternoon. Stage two will be one of the hardest, finishing at the top of Xiezishi Mountain (660 m) kafter 184 kilometres, while stage three takes the riders up to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. The four day race finishes with a 211 kilometre stage from Huairou to Zhihui Valley to Bianquan Canyon then back to Huairou International Convention Centre. Teams from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, Macau, Hongkong, Tapei, China and the Netherlands will be amongst the starters, with the latter arriving in Beijing yesterday. Kiwi Nathan Dahlberg, Joost Legtenberg, Dennis Hammink, Remko Kramer, Anno Pedersen and Roger van der Borgh will comprise the primarily Dutch Vredestein-Gazelle team, and these will be riders to watch. According to the team, they trained 4 hours upon arrival including a five man criterium around Tiananmen Square. The following day they went for a 6 hour ride in the hills around Beijing, and are keen for the race to get underway. The Stages
Prologue - September 3: Beijing ITT, 2.6 km Crocodile Trophy: Vanderaerden abandonsDespite winning the two stages and leading by 10 minutes, Belgian Eric Vanderaerden will not win the 6th edition of the Crocodile Trophy, the world's longest and hardest mountain bike race. He abandoned (with a heavy heart according to his wife) due to an injury to his rear. |
