News for April 18, 2001Recent results and new features
UCI rankings after Paris-RoubaixAfter last weekend's round of the World Cup, the UCI has issued its latest cycling rankings. There are no changes to the top two, except that second placed Erik Zabel has lost a few more points after failing to finish the brutal classic. Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo) now has more than a 600 point buffer to Zabel and the rest. Lance Armstrong (US Postal) has moved himself up to third, overtaking Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), while World Cup leader and World Champion Romans Vainsteins is into 4th place. Other notable UCI climbers include Raimondas Rumsas (Fassa Bortolo, 15th - 12th), David Etxebarria (Euskaltel, 36th - 21st), Alex Zulle (Coast, 42nd - 29th), Nico Mattan (Cofidis, 47th - 33rd), Peter van Petegem (Mercury-Viatel, 18th - 38th), Servais Knaven (Domo, 74th - 40th), George Hincapie (US Postal, 75th - 43rd), José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Euskaltel, 254th - 127th) and Scott Sunderland (Fakta, 163rd - 131st). Rabobank still holds sway in the team rankings, followed by Lotto, Fassa Bortolo and Domo-Farm Frites, who pushed themselves in front of Mapei for 4th spot. Rankings as of April 16, 2001 Individuals 1 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2,595.00 pts 2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 1,961.00 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 1,934.00 4 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Domo-Farm Frites 1,882.00 5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata 1,867.00 6 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal Service 1,752.00 7 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 1,676.75 8 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 1,583.00 9 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,468.00 10 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,445.35 11 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1,443.25 12 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Fassa Bortolo 1,415.00 13 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 1,376.00 14 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 1,266.00 15 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1,194.00 16 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,111.00 17 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1,064.00 18 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,041.35 19 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mercury-Viatel 988.00 20 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina 951.00 Division I 1 Rabobank 2,593.00 pts 2 Lotto-Adecco 2,255.00 3 Fassa Bortolo 1,983.00 4 Domo-Farm Frites 1,950.00 5 Mapei-Quick Step 1,932.00 6 Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 1,769.00 7 Team Deutsche Telekom 1,616.00 8 O.N.C.E. 1,268.00 9 US Postal Service 1,224.00 10 Mercury-Viatel 1,211.00 Division II 1 Alessio 968.00 pts 2 Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone 784.00 3 Jean Delatour 658.00 4 Ag2R Prevoyance 480.00 5 Milaneza-MSS 417.00 6 Bankgiroloterij-Batavus 412.00 7 La Francaise Des Jeux 383.00 8 Bonjour 318.00 9 Saturn Cycling Team 300.00 10 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 288.00 Tchmil in the wars
Andre Tchmil returned home from Paris-Roubaix with an eighth place to his credit, although he said that he never saw the front of the race after falling in the first section of cobbles. However, his bad luck continued, after he was hit by a motorhome on Monday near his home in Lake Garda, Italy. "I have a nice bruise on my elbow," said the Belgian, who thinks that he will be back in time for Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday. This latest misfortune comes after the death of his mother-in-law in Russia last week, and he wanted to win Paris-Roubaix for her. He had considered not starting in France, but was criticised heavily and consented to ride.
More Museeuw
The day following his second place in Paris-Roubaix, Johan Museeuw gave a press conference in Gent where he outlined his future ambitions in cycling. The following are some extracts of the conference. "Strangely enough I wasn't scared. My contact with the first cobbled section was without problems." He was also coy about his new 'special' bike. "I don't want to reveal the measurements. I want to keep it to myself, because next year I want to ride another Paris-Roubaix." He also asked the organises to scrap the Wallers-Arenberg section. "There are always crashes there, and Gaumont broke his femur. Three years ago, it came close to ending my career. The race will still be spectacular, but it has to be justifiable." On Sunday, Museeuw will start in Liege-Bastogne-Liege/Luik-Bastenaken-Luik. He will ride for Merckx and Bruylandts. Domo-nationBy Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent
Domo Farm-Frites was supposed to be a talent laden classics super team. Last summer, Mapei-Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevre announced that he and his Belgian band would get a divorce from Mapei and start a new team with Belgian carpet maker Domo. Johan Museeuw, who was slated to be team leader suffered a terrible leg injury in a motorcycle crash in the summer and there were doubts whether he would ride again. Lefevre then brought on second sponsor Farm Frites last fall, but had to have a delicate operation last November. Museeuw worked hard at his rehabilitation and training, but was still a major question mark. All this tumult made the off-season transition from Mapei to Domo tense difficult and as a result, Domo Farm-Frites got off to a slow start. Read Tim Maloney's full acount of the race here.
Record TV and Web audience for Paris-RoubaixThe 99th edition of Paris-Roubaix attracted an impressive 5.4 million French viewers for the finish in Roubaix, with 4 million watching the final two hours of coverage provided by France Télévision. In France, this corresponds to a market share of 52 percent, the highest ever since the race has been broadcast. The race was broadcast in the US by the Outdoor Life Network, but no audience figures are available. On cyclingnews, it was also a record day, with over 110,000 user sessions and over 240,000 page impressions served in the 24-hour period when Paris-Roubaix was held, with 65% of that audience in the USA. The site's previous record was the 2001 Milan-San Remo and before that, the 2000 Olympics men's road race. Overall traffic to cyclingnews grew by nearly 300% between 1999 and 2000. Paris-Roubaix for Australian TVIn something of a first for Australian cycling fans, Australian broadcaster SBS-TV (which also covers the Tour de France) will be screening a one-hour highlights package of the Hell of the North on Sunday, April 29 at 4pm. SBS cycling correspondent Mike Tomalaris told cyclingnews the broadcaster is looking to expand its international coverage. This will include screening two live stages of the Tour de France, in addition to the nightly half hour highlights packages, being Stage 13 on Saturday July 21 (in the Pyrenees) and Stage 20 on July 29 (Paris). "We're also negotiating to show highlights of the Vuelta later in the year," he added. The decision by UK broadcaster Channel 4 to not cover the TdF will not impact on the SBS coverage, Tomalaris added.
Astarloa wants to race the GiroMercatone Uno's Igor Astarloa has been racking up some good results in Spain recently, winning the GP Primavera on the weekend as well as a stage win and the yellow jersey in last week's Vuelta a Pais Vasco. The Spanish rider told a Basque daily newspaper that "This result gives me a lot of confidence, and I have turned things around. At the bottom of the descent I felt that the group was re-forming, I did not want to finish second again so I attacked. I got rid of Bingen Fernandez and I won clearly." Astarloa will now race the Ardennes Classics (Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege) and is aiming for a spot in Mercatone Uno's Giro d'Italia team. "I think I will have a chance to contest the Maglia Rosa there," he added.
No Waalse Pijl for Van MoorselLeontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel will not contest tomorrow's round of the Women's World Cup in Belgium, La Fleche Wallonne/Waalse Pijl. The triple Olympic Gold Medallist has not placed a high priority on the World Cup this year, as she is building her season around beating Jeannie Longo's hour record. "The World Cup is not important for me," she said. "For a long time, I thought about riding the Waalse Pijl to help my team, but there are bad weather conditions predicted and I don't want to start. I will stay here to train. Van Moorsel will probably attempt the hour record in Manchester or Sydney in September. *Note: live coverage of Fleche Wallone will be available on cyclingnews.com from 1400 CET/0500 US Pacific Time/0800 US Eastern Time/2200 Australian EST
Tour of Aragon: Armstrong and Heras startersTwo of the three major tour winners in 2000, Lance Armstrong and Roberto Heras (both US Postal) are the principal protagonists in the Tour of Aragon, a five day 2.2 class stage race that begins tomorrow, April 18. Armstrong will fly down from France after he rode in today's Paris-Camembert, and is using it as part of his build up for the Tour. Saeco's Mario Cipollini will also return to racing at the Tour of Aragon. The Tuscan sprinter is still fighting to get over his acute gastroduodenitis which forced him to miss Ghent-Wevelgem, but he is determined to keep racing The parcours favours climbers, with two of the stages being "medium" mountain stages, and the first and fourth stages finishing on first category climbs. The Stages
31st Settimana LombardaUllrich and Pantani to race Meanwhile in Italy, Jan Ullrich (Telekom) and Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno) are the main stars in the 31st Settimana Lombarda, which takes place from April 18-22. In addition, Mapei's Stefano Garzelli and Cantina Tollo's Danilo di Luca will be amongst the starters, and it will be an important part of these riders Giro d'Italia build up. The toughest stage is stage 4 (April 21) starting and finishing in Roncadelle. Four categorised climbs, including the Madonna della Neve and Colle Maddalena. Cadel Evans' European road season debut Mountain bike star, Cadel Evans, will make his 2001 European road season debut with Saeco in the Settimana Lombarda (April 18-24). Cadel raced on the road in the Redlands Classic in the US earlier this year in a Volvo Cannondale strip, but for Europe he joins the Division 1 Saeco team. The Saeco team for the Settimana Lombarda race will be selected from the younger riders: Massimiliano Mori, Francesco Secchiari, Armin Meier, Justin Spinelli, Christian Wegmann and Brad Davidson. Evans will also continue to ride for Volvo-Cannondale in the MTB World Cup. The Teams AG2R Prevoyance, Alessio, Alexia, Amore e Vita-Beretta, Atlas Lukullus Ambra, Bonjour, Cantina Tollo-Acqua e Sapone, CCC Mat, Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo, Cofidis, De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa, Deutsche Telekom, Domo-Farm Frites, Fassa Bortolo, Gerolsteiner, Lampre-Daikin, Liquigas-Pata, Mapei-Quick Step, Mobilvetta-Formaggi Trentini, Mroz-Supradyn Witaminy, Phonak Hearing Systems, Saeco Macchine per Caffè, Selle Italia-Pacific, Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola, Team Colpak Astro, Team Nurnberger. The Stages
Veenendaal-Veenendaal parcours changedDue to the foot and mouth threat in the Netherlands, Thursday's semi-classic Veenendaal-Veenendaal (April 19) will be held with some changes to the parcours. The areas of the Posbank and the Amerongse Berg are closed, but according to organiser Job van Schuppen, "There are still enough other climbs." After the start in Veenendaal, there will be two 20 kilometre laps (Rhenen-Elst); then it will go via Wageningen, Renkum and Doorwerth to Oosterbeek. Then to Heelsum, Bennekom and Wageningen again, followed by two 20 km laps again (Rhenen-Elst). After this, there will be another two laps to Oosterbeek, and another two 20 km laps (Rhenen-Elst). After over 200 km (and two finishing laps around Veenendaal), the finish will be in Veenendaal. Van Schuppen hopes the foot and mouth threat won't move closer to Veenendaal in the next few days. "But even then, we can do 20 laps around Rhenen-Elst," he said.
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