News for April 3, 2001

Post Swiss pulls out

The Swiss postal service, sponsor of Swiss division II squad Post Swiss, has announced its intention not to renew the team's contract in 2002. Team manager Kurt Bürgi said he nevertheless intends to keep the team together and to retain its division II status. A new sponsor has not yet been found, however.

Post Swiss was formed in 1997 and has acted as a breeding ground for new talent, developing riders such as Markus Zberg, Niki Aebersold and Sven Montgomery.

The departure of the major sponsor did not come as a complete surprise to Kurt Bürgi, but it's still a severe setback. "In the last few weeks I have been in contact with several potential sponsors but nothing concrete has appeared. I will do everything I can to keep the team alive, and we would like to go further than in the past."

The main reason for the departure of the postal service as a sponsor is that the team spent about 124 days last year racing outside Switzerland, and only 42 days inside the country. This sort of travel is essential for an ambitious Division II team, but it doesn't fit in with the Swiss postal service's new publicity strategy, which is to support medium-sized sporting events in Switzerland and its immediate area.

Swiss Post is not out of cycling, however: its 'Postfinance' division will be a sponsor of the Tour of Switzerland for the next three years.

Boogerd bubbles

Michael Boogerd seems to be back to his best form after a fairly ordinary 2000 season, winning six races so far this year. The former world number two writes a column in Dutch daily, De Telegraaf:

"I dreamed for years that I could spint. But ever since the juniors, I was never one of the fastest in the peloton - until this season."

"I can be a quick boy. My jump has improved. Now I can make difference in the first five meters. I should have known that after my winter training where I did more power training than before. On the home trainer and on hills I worked especially on explosions. Now - after two months of this season - it seems to have worked. That's good for my confidence."

The Ronde van Vlaanderen (April 8) isn't a race for Boogerd however. "I don't know the parcours of the RVV. To be honest, I've never done the Muur van Geraardsbergen..."

The most important target for Michael is Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 22). Rabobank team doctor, Geert Leinders said that "Physically, it's too dangerous to do the RVV. If you want to do LBL you have to do the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country). But they start in Spain one day after the RVV. If there were more days between RVV and Spain, I wouldn't have any problems with a start in Spain."

Tour of Flanders riders

The Rabobank team for the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) on April 8 is Erik Dekker, Maarten den Bakker, Markus Zberg, Steven de Jongh, Aart Vierhouten, Jan Boven, and Karste Kroon. Rabobank have yet to announce who will fill the final place on the team.

Meanwhile,1999 Flanders winner Peter van Petegem will ride along side teammates, Leon van Bon, Geert van Bondt, Fabrizio Guidi, Jans Koerts, Wim Vansevenant, Gordon Fraser and Michael Sayers in the Mercury-Viatel team.

Mercury sick brigade

Several members of the Mercury-Viatel team are currently suffering from the 'flu, after a tough start to the season. Peter van Petegem, Leon van Bon, Geert van Bondt and Tobias Steinhauser are all not in the best of health - not good preparation for the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Van Bon is not overly concerned however: "But that is over a week. And Paris-Roubaix - which is more important for me - is over two weeks away."

Johan Museeuw and Michele Bartoli aren't fit either. Museeuw is recovering from intestinal flu (see Friday's news) and Bartoli has the same ailment. However, Mapei team manager Eric Vanderaerden said that "Bartoli will start in the Driedaagse van de Panne."

Lotto explains

Lotto's riders and management have offered a simple explanation for the success of the team so far this year. Reuters reports the team as saying the main element was "of course, our non-selection for the Tour de France. In a year when the Grande Boucle travels through Belgium from Dunkirk to Antwerp then to Liege it was out of the question that the national lottery should miss the competition. That would put in danger the survival of our team."

Other unselected teams have exactly one month left to convince the Tour organisers of their merits, but it looks very much as though Lotto has done the necessary work.

Wiggins triumphs in Mallorca

20 year old Bradley Wiggins, British cycling's rising young star, dominated the Cinturón Ciclista a Mallorca .

After winning the first two stages, Wiggins then defended his overall lead in the other three stages by finishing in the first five every day. On stage 3, it was one of Wiggins' hard working team-mates, Chris Newton who took the stage win, much to Bradley's and the team's delight, with Wiggins finishing third. However, the following day's mountainous fourth stage was to prove the decisive one. Finishing on the Alto de Cura a famous and feared ascent on the island, this stage was always going to provide the show-down.

Bradley rode clear on the long, tough final climb with eventual King of the Mountains winner Guillermo Ferrer from the Spanish national team and talented German rider, Enrico Poitschke, leaving the rest of the field spread over half an hour. Bradley was hoping to do something special on this stage and he did, proving his climbing legs were as good as he had hoped. When he put the pressure on, only the Spaniard and the German could stay with him.

After increasing his overall lead, Wiggins was happy to let the local Spanish star and the German to fight out the finish.

On the final stage the British team backed Bradley to the hilt and by finishing fifth he easily controlled his most dangerous rivals to clinch the final classification.

Wiggins's team-mate Steve Cummings also put in a great ride to finish sixth overall. Wiggins also won the points classification and Great Britain's WCPP dominated the team competition with Wiggins picking up a valuable prize by being the best foreign rider.

Before heading home to the UK on Monday morning, Wiggins said, "I had great legs for the race and was feeling especially strong on the hills and mountains. However because the team supported me so well, I never ever felt in any danger .They are a great bunch of guys and the race was just not a victory for me but for all the team. It was a fantastic team performance - thanks lads."

Any problems? "We have won so many trophies it is going a job to get them all home, I might even have to carry the biggest one with me on the plane!"

Bradley's victory in the race is thought to be the first international stage race victory by a 20 year old riding for Great Britain.

Cycling Manager

Watching the peloton in Cycling Manager
Image: © Cyanide Studio

If you have ever fancied yourself as a cycling Team manager, and really, who hasn't at some stage, then a new computer game "Cycling Manager" may be just the kick you need to hone your skills.

Cycling Manager will allow players to take part in all the major road racing events with all the frustrations and thrills of running a real life cycling team. Managers are able to select the races they want to compete in, trade riders and deal with the vagaries of weather, flat tires and the fitness of their team.

The look of the game is as close to a TV broadcast of a race as possible, with 4 camera angles to choose from and visualise your teams next attack. The database features 20 teams and more than 400 riders.

The game allows budding managers to play against the computer in single player mode or connect onto the Internet and play against other prospective managers.

Expected release date: July 2001 (for single season version)

Sigma Sport roll out new team and bikes

Former national champion and Linda McCartney star Matt Stephens was back as the centre of attention at the launch of Britian's newest cycling team, Sigma Sport Pro Cycle Shop. Touted as the largest team from Great Britian. Sigma Sport hope to compete and do well in the Premier Calendar races "They're a magnificent bunch to be involved with," said Stephens.

However magnificent bunch or not, the teams first big outing wasn't as successful as romantics and the Sigma team owners may have wished. Fronting the start line in Hazlemere for Buckinghamshire's top-ranked Archer Grand Prix, the 7 rider Sigma team's best placed finisher was Paul Crook, in the middle of the field. He was closley followed in by Matt Stephens and fellow Sigma rider Garry Dodd.

"I've had a bit of back trouble for a week or two, so it was important for me to finish today," Stephens explained. "It hurt a lot throughout, but I was pleased to find some strength coming over the last section of the race." One area that Stephens was particularly happy with was the team's new bikes.

"It's got to be one of the best I've ridden in my whole career. It's even comparable to the Principias at McCartney, and I see them as the benchmark. It handled beautifully today, and I'm looking forward to getting in amongst them in the weeks to come," said Stephens.

Riding for the Division 2 team Landbouwkrediet - Colnago, Gordon Macauley led from start to finish in the 120-mile race. The Belgian-based Kiwi was returning to roads he covered during the late '90s when he was based in Britain. He attacked within the first few miles and apart from one brief regrouping, led alone from start to finish, clearly showing his intentions for the season.

The next Premier Calendar event is the Lancaster Hertford GP.

Team Jamba Juice MTB/CX

Now in its second year, Team Jamba Juice is a professional and elite amateur mountain bike and cyclo-cross team with racers located throughout the US.

Unusually for a cycling team Team Jamba Juice team is a racer-owned and -operated team. All team decisions are made jointly by the members and each member plays a role on the team in addition to their responsibilities as a racer.

With a few new faces on this second year team, Jamba Juice made its season debut at Sea Otter. The team's weekend was highlighted by a 10th place overall by Mary McConneloug (pronounced "merry") and a 15th place overall by Christine "Peanut" Vardaros.

"It's great to be part of a rider owned and operated team that's competitive at the top level," said Vardaros, who started the team last year in Mill Valley, CA. "Our sponsors have been supportive and enthusiastic, and we aim to return the favor with charm, good table manners, and devastating victories."

This year, the team will focus on the NCS mountain bike races and the Super Cup cyclo-cross Series. They will also be attending some of the World Cup races. Look for them next at the Napa World Cup to be held on April 8th.

Personnel

Pro riders

Mary McConneloug
Christine Vardaros
Rhonda Quick
Michael Broderick
Doug Ott (Semi-Pro)

Expert riders

Lisa Smith
Lori Lynne Brundick
Henry O'Donnell (Junior)

Sponsors

Jamba Juice (San Francisco Headquarters)
Mill Valley Cycleworks
Porterville Citrus
Koski Engineering
SRAM
Smith Sport Optics
GU
Northwave
Pedros
Brave Soldier
Gojo Industries
Kryptonite
Rocket Power Parts

(NB: Team Jamba Juice is not connected with the Colorado-based amateur road racing team of the same name.)

April Fool!

Thanks to everyone who wrote to express their appeciation of our 'special' news on April 1. Wim Amels, A Dutch journalist with Wieler Revue, told us of the first failed drugs tests, naming a group of Benelux journalists removed from the Criterium International for over-indulgence, but we'll refrain from helping him defame his colleagues.

To everyone who asked if the Cyclingnews team would fail the proposed tests: only if the caffeine limit was set so several double espressos per day pushed us over.