News for September 20, 2000

Casagrande back to numero uno

As expected after abandoning the Vuelta a España, German Jan Ullrich has lost his number one position at the top of the UCI rankings. He lost over 500 points for not winning the Vuelta and is now back in 6th place. This means that Italian Francesco Casagrande is the current world number one, and he could stay there until the end of the season depending on how things pan out in the Olympics and the World's.

Erik Zabel is second, but Roberto Heras jumped up from 13th to 3rd with 1767 points. US Postal should receive a significant boost next year in the teams rankings with Heras' points. Other big movers include Angel Casero (Festina, 288th - 48th), Igor González de Galdeano (Vitalicio, 16th - 81st) and Jose Maria Jimenez (27th - 55th).

Mapei are still number on in the teams rankings, followed by Telekom and Kelme who rose back to third place. They are followed by Vini Caldirola and ONCE-Deutsche Bank, while Euskaltel Euskadi leads the second division teams.

Rankings as of September 18, 2000

1. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Vini Caldirola	2361 pts
2. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom			1817
3. Roberto Heras (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca	1767
4. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service	1729
5. Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola	1604
6. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom			1551.75
7. Oscar Freire (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step		1416
8. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata		1409

Heras' agreement

Although it is "verbal only", Roberto Heras says that he will ride with US Postal for the next two seasons. The announcement came yesterday, although it has been rumoured for several weeks now.

"I have not signed anything yet with US Postal but I am already sure of the decision. After the Tour, a preliminary contract was made and I had a series of meetings with them. I am not going for money, it is a question of loyalty," said Heras on the Spanish radio station "Wave Zero".

"I hope that everything turns out well with the American team. It is a project for several years and I am very satisfied with the decision that I have taken."

Heras was to have ridden with the Kelme team until the end of next year, however this could be overridden by a 'buyout' clause in his contract. US Postal needs to pay 200 million Spanish Pesetas ($US 600,000) to Kelme to acquire Heras, in addition to his contract.

What about a conflict between Armstrong and Heras in the Tour? "In the Tour more can be learned from coming second than by being leader of a team without knowing," added Heras somewhat cryptically.

In addition to Heras, Postal will have Jose Luis Rubiera and Víctor Hugo Peña in their squad next year.

Zubeldia's future

Haimar Zubeldia currently rides for number one ranked division II team, Euskaltel-Euksadi. The young Basque has a bright future ahead of him and the bigger Spanish teams have certainly realised this. He has had offers from ONCE and Banesto, but is also under contract with Euskaltel for another year.

President of Euskaltel, Miguel Madariaga, said that he would like to keep Zubeldia with the team, but this is by no means certain as they do not have a large budget. He indicated that one team in particular had made him quite a significant offer, and Banesto and ONCE are the clear candidates.

No Mercury for Bingen

Euskaltel were to lose Bingen Fernandez to Mercury next year, however he did not finalise his preliminary contract and it was broken off. Fernandez now is without any contract for next year but Euskaltel said that they will have him back. The team will increase to 25 riders next year, and the costs are quite large but they will be able to afford Fernandez.

Aitor Kintana on the other hand is unlikely to be retained. Although he rode well for Euskaltel in the Tour de l'Avenir, Kintana has signed with Portuguese Benfica next year.

Linda McCartney troubles?

It reported yesterday that, according to Danish newspaper Politiken, British team Linda McCartney was in "financial troubles" and this was the reason that Nikki Sorenson declined to join the team. However, Linda McCartney press manager John Deering, wished to set the record straight as the problem with rider salaries has now been solved.

"We were naturally disappointed to hear that Nikki decided not to join us next season. The timing was very unfortunate, and ultimately the reason for Nikki's decision - due to an internal problem, all staff payments were delayed. Though the situation has been rectified now, and arrangements have been made to ensure it cannot be repeated in the future, the whole thing blew up at the same time Nikki was considering his future. Perhaps understandably, he imagined the worst and decided not to join after all," said Deering.

He added that no rider or staff member has ever been left unpaid in the team's history, and that the incident demonstrated the importance of putting a structure in place to ensure it will not happen again. No Nikki, but there is an opening for 1-2 young riders for next season on the team roster.

Johnson to Saturn

US Cyclocross star and winner of this year's Mt Washington Hillclimb, Tim Johnson has signed a contract with Saturn for next year. Johnson has been riding for Mercury this year and was the top finisher in Saturday's Univest Grand Prix.

Santi Blanco back to Banesto

Former Banesto rider, Santiago Blanco has been riding with Vitalicio Seguros for the past three years, but has just signed a contract to go back to his old squad. The rider turned down offers from several strong teams, including Kelme, Polti, and Telekom.

"I thought it was the best choice for me," said Blanco to El Diario. "It was what I wanted and in addition they always treated me well. I have good memories of my time with Banesto and I would like to report those in the team where I started."

Blanco left the team in somewhat controversial circumstances, when Vitalicio took advantage of a rescission clause in his contract. He now returns, perhaps with better fortune and results than he has enjoyed.

Memorial service for Nicole Reinhart

The USA Cycling website has updated information regarding a memorial service for Nicole Reinhart this Sunday at 2:00 pm at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. All are welcome to attend.