World Championships news for October 2, 2000

Ullrich leads German team for World's

Dual 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)
Erik Zabel (Telekom)
Ralf Grabsch (Telekom)
Kai Hundertmarck (Telekom)
Danilo Hondo (Telekom)
Matthias Kessler (Telekom)
Rolf Aldag (Telekom)
Jan Schaffrath (Telekom)
Andreas Klöden (Telekom)
Grischa Niermann (Rabobank)
Tobias Steinhauser (Gerolsteiner)
Björn Glasner (Cologne)
Bert Dietz (Team Nürnberger)
Jörg Ludewig (Saeco-Valli&Valli)
Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner)
Andreas Klier (Farm Frites)
Sascha Henrix (Festina)
Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole)

ITT

Jan Ullrich (Telekom)
Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner)
Andreas Klöden (Telekom)

Belgian U23's up there

The 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.