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By Chris Baldwin, cyclingnews.com correspondent
"Right now I'd say he's one of the fastest, if not the fastest sprinter in the States," said Prime Alliance's General Manager Roy Knickman to Cyclingnews on Thursday. "So it's going to be up to us to keep him at the front."
Knickman was talking about this weekend's US Pro National Criterium Championship in Downer's Grove, Illinois. 130 very fast professional cyclists will be pushing and shoving around a one-mile circuit just west of Chicago for the Stars and Stripes Jersey and bragging rights as the fastest crit rider in America.
With a two-block rise in the middle, a figure-eight crossing, tight turns both left and right, and a wide-open finishing lane, riders from US Postal, Mercury, Saturn, Navigators and eight other teams, including Knickman's Prime Alliance, will be out in force Sunday, trying to claim those palmares.
"It's all a matter of going faster than everybody else," said Knickman. "Getting through those turns, riding the sidewalls of the tires and not crashing, and then sprinting on in for the win. Jonas has been having a lot of success lately and we're hoping the momentum carries on through."
Carney won the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix Criterium in California last weekend, putting the hurt on some serious competition and establishing himself as the pre-race favorite going into Downers Grove.
"He's definitely the one to beat," said Ken Carl, the Sports Grand Prix race coordinator. "Other riders to watch are last year's winner Derek Bouchard-Hall (Mercury), and two-time winner Frank McCormack from Saturn. Local boy Robbie Ventura (US Postal) is a real crowd favorite, but it could be anybody's race."
Another rider to watch will be Russian Vasili Davidenko of Navigators. A pro since 1993, Davidenko has racked up win after win in America this year, relying on a super strong team and a rocket sprint that has put him atop the podium repeatedly.
"He's as fast as Carney,' said Knickman of the Russian. "And if he's in a breakaway we will have to do everything we can to bring him back," he laughed. "We'd better!"
"We are a start-up team, just in our first year, so we don't have the kinds of depth that other teams that have been around longer might have. That's why Prime Alliance will have to watch the breaks and make sure that nobody dangerous gets away. We'll have to use everything we have to keep Jonas at the front and bring him around 3rd or 4th wheel after the last turn," he added. "He can beat anybody to the line. It's our job to get him there."
Defending national criterium champion Laura Van Guilder (Verizon) decided to sharpen up for this weekend's Downer's Grove event by riding the 3rd Annual Cycling Challenge in Denville, New Jersey. Although she skipped the higher profile Manhattan Beach Grand Prix in favour of a more local event, she did at least race in the men's Pro 1/2 event.
While this is not unheard of, Laura surprised a few observers (and riders) by winning the race, which had around 35 starters. In a fast race, Van Gilder bridged up to the winning break with three laps to go, and outsprinted John Verheul (Ideal Tile) for the win, with Wilson Vasquez taking third.
Place your bets for Sunday!
Outgoing Festina rider Christophe Moreau is hot property at the moment, with interest from several teams including German Team Coast. In an interview published in German magazine Kicker, new Coast director Marcel Wüst said that "we are negotiating with the best French rider, Christophe Moreau, fourth in the Tour of France of 2000."
With Moreau, Kicker speculates that Team Coast would have an excellent chance of starting in next year's Tour, but Wüst didn't necessarily agree. However, "Moreau would enter into the framework of our team budget," added Wüst.
Johan Bruyneel's assistant team manager at US Postal, Dirk Demol, has signed a contract for another three years with the American team. US Postal is said to be looking for three new riders to add to its squad, especially after the departure of Tyler Hamilton to CSC.
"Jens Voigt, who was on our list of possibles, isn't coming; that's for sure," said Demol to Belga newsagency. "But we have our eye on a few other riders. We can't give any names yet, since the negotiations are still going on. What I will say is that we want riders for the spring classics as well as the big tours, and in the Tour de France of course."
"We already had a lot of publicity from the Spring classics. We must also be able to manage that again in the following season. More specifically during the period that the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix and Gent-Wevelgem will be ridden. The same riders must also be part of the plan for the Tour de France."
28 year old 1994 Danish national road champion Michael Blaudzun has signed with Team CSC Tiscali for the next two seasons. Another likely extension is Jakob Piil, currently in 4th overall in the Tour of Denmark and considered the best chance at winning a stage.
German cyclist Jörg Ludewig was extended his contract with Saeco Macchine per Caffe' for another year. "I am comfortable with the team mentality and also feel very connected with those responsible for Saeco Germany," said Ludewig, recent winner of the sprints jersey in the Regio Tour.
Ludewig will start this weekend in the HEW Cyclassics, as well as the upcoming Vuelta a España for Saeco.
The Dutch Axa-VVZ team has contracted former amateur Mark Vlijm (23), previously with Rabobank and Domo-Farm Frites, for next season.
Vuelta a Burgos, August 20-24
Marco Pantani (Ita), Ermanno Brignoli (Ita), Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita), Gian Mario Ortenzi (Ita), Daniel Clavero (Spa), Michael Andersson (Swe), Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) and Giuseppe Di Fresco (Ita)
HEW Cyclassics Hamburg, August 19
Igor Astarloa (Spa), Marco Velo (Ita), Cristian Moreni (Ita), Gian Mario Ortenzi (Ita), Ermanno Brignoli (Ita), Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) and Michael Andersson (Swe)
Gabriele Missaglia (Ita, last year's winner), Oscar Camenzind (Swi), Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel), Robert Hunter (RSA), Maximilian Sciandri (GBr), Marco Serpellini (Ita), Zbigniew Spruch (Pol), Johan Verstrepen (Bel). Director: Pietro Algeri.
The organisers of this year's Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic on September 15 are still hopeful of having the fees for the police control of the event reduced. Race director Robert Munday said today that official documents from Cycling NSW are on their way to Port Macquarie and the final fee structure for the race should be known early next week.
Other preparations for this year's classic are running smoothly. The King of the Mountains section of the race for A grade has been sponsored by Adina Watches. To win the competition, points have to be accumulated in the five K.O.M. sprints along the way. The first of these sprints is 50 km into the 228 km race at the top of Jackadgery Gap. Riders have their next chance for points atop the 18 km climb of the Gibraltar Range. Next on the K.O.M. list is the Softwood climb. The Waterloo Range climb greets riders as they leave Glen Innes and the final sprint is just 20 km from the finish at Wire Gully.
In past years anyone who has gained the K.O.M. crown is usually amongst the leaders at the finish line in Inverell.
Courtesy of Peter Sunderland
National coaches Hennie Kuiper and Herman Snoeijink have selected their riders for the European U23 time trial championships in Apremont, France on August 24.
U23 Men: Jens Mouris, Mart Louwers, Joost Posthuma
Women: Andrea Bosman, Sonja Pfister-Van Kuik and Bertine Spijkerman
This weekend will see thousands of spectators flock to Mount Snow to witness an annual spectacle: the finale to the five-race Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series. Mount Snow typically boasts some of the largest crowds of any cycling event in America.
Is it the international field tuning up for the world championships? Sure, that's part of it.
Is it the massive expo where companies allow sneak previews of their next season's line? Undoubtedly.
Is it the proximity to the big bike markets of Boston, New York, Philly and Montreal? Absolutely.
But the real draw to Mount Snow, as with any great sporting event, is the heritage. And with this event, it's a gonzo heritage that weaves together rebellion, punk rock, alternative sports and even some nudity.
"Mount Snow is everything that mountain biking was, is, and should be," said Chris Zigmont, marketing manager for Mavic and longtime attendee of the event. "More promoters could take a tip from this race."
Part of the Mount Snow mystique is that the event actually belongs as much to the region's bike culture as it does to the mountain itself. Through a confederation of clubs, companies, shops, promoters and journalists, for the past 14 years Mount Snow has become a lightning rod that receives a massive jolt from around the world. But in the early days, it hardly seemed to create a flicker.
"In the fall of 1983 we started just riding around up there. We didn't know what you could do with mountain bikes yet," said Don Cuerdon, a native of Albany who moved to nearby Putney to work at the West Hill Shop. "There were still a bunch of guys riding converted old newspaper boy bikes. We were keeping ourselves to the dual tracks and the service roads. We had the whole place to ourselves. We used to ride to the top and ride down and hit those water bars at full speed and catch major air. We had no idea how much trouble we were in."
With Velo News still headquartered in nearby Brattleboro and the fabulous roads and clubs of Vermont drawing talented racers, the West Hill Shop became a wooden monastery for bike nuts. Geoff Drake (later editor at Velo News and Bicycling), Tim Blumenthal (now director of IMBA), Ed Pavelka (later editor of Bicycling), Peter Graves (who became the first "voice" of NORBA and now does television) and Jim Langley (who went on to Bicycling) either frequented the small shop or worked there along with Bevan Quinn. Cuerdon left for a few years and later returned to discover his job had been taken and the planets had lined up for a promotional, cultural and athletic revolution.
"This yuck-yuck from Iowa named Brian Stickel had taken over my job and he had this crazy idea. He started stopping by on Monday mornings and started bugging the crap out of me. 'Come on let's go over to Mount Snow. We'll cut trails.' Cuerdon recalled. "It was miserable. It was May, which is breeding season for the Vermont state bird, the black fly. The only thing that kept us amused was we knew how hard it was and that the pros were going to cry."
So Stickel created the first big mountain bike race in New England at Mount Snow. "It was Grampy's New England Mountain Bike Championships," recalled Cuerdon, who would go on to his own celebrity status as Captain Dondo of Mountain Bike Magazine. In 1987 it was part of the first NORBA National Championship Series, founded by Bob Hadley. "No, really, our first NCS was a stage race. Everybody had to ride every event on one bike: hill climb, downhill, cross-country and trials, all on one bike," said Cuerdon.
"Everything was totally rigid, there's no index shifting, and everybody does everything," said Bevan Quinn, who still runs the West Hill Shop. "That first year I remember (John) Tomac, being there and watching him ride trials, and saying, 'Man, he's doing everything and good.'"
After one year, NORBA scrapped the series in favor of a single-day national championship. The following year, the series returned. And in 1989, it returned for good and returned to Mount Snow. What had also happened at Mount Snow was the arrival of two college kids from Boston.
"Bruce (Fina) and Andrew (Herrick) showed up with some kind of a podium looking thing," said Cuerdon. "They had a sign that said 'Free Chain Lube.' Ned Overend stopped by and said this stuff is good and that was it."
"We were the first ones there," said Fina. "I was operating out of my dorm room in college." Shimano and Specialized had some parts in some vans, but that was it.
The expo had been created.
By 1991, the NORBA National Championship Series had grown in size but also in chaos. "Races never started on time and we never had prompt and accurate results," recalled Eric Moore, the current NORBA competition director. NORBA hired Brian Stickel to run the series. "Brian took the series from a state of unorganized chaos to a well-oiled machine."
But Mount Snow, then held in late June, remained Stickel's showcase event that drew huge crowds and huge fields. And all that traffic and energy and excitement surrounding the venue, from the campgrounds to the restaurants to the hotels to the ski lodge, fostered an amazing economic fountain. For a brief period, before the bike industry could meet the demand through traditional retail channels, the Mount Snow expo made machinists, clothiers, barnyard tinkerers and frame builders feel like riverboat gamblers.
"I remember the day I showed up, it was in the early 1990s, and there were logos on the sides of 18-wheelers and stuff. And I said to myself, 'Oh my God, I don't fit here any more'," said Cuerdon. "The place had changed from a place where we turned up and beat each others' brains out to where it was an annual job review for pro contracts. It was getting serious."
. Indeed there has been great racing. Tomac's defeat of Shaun Palmer in the dual slalom. Lance Armstrong's debut in a fat-tire race. The addition of the fabled "Rock Garden" to the pro downhill course. Tinker Juarez's dramatic victories. All of that seriousness had created great athletics that continued into the 21st century.
But the East Coast bike crowd had an antidote for that seriousness which had drained some of the spirit of this renegade sport.
While camping in the parking lot, a group of New York City riders from Team Brooklyn dared one another to ride through the campground naked. After a few laps of drawing whoops and hollers, a race unfolded and a good time was had by all. The Naked Crit had been born.
Each year thereafter more and more riders turned up, both men and women, to race on a gravel criterium course through a campground. A totally guerilla affair, the Naked Crit has had everything from live bands to fireworks. Bags of cash are passed around, with women competitors being well compensated for their efforts. And the crowds for this Saturday night tradition - an event somewhere between Lady Godiva and the Running of the Bulls - typically swell to several thousand spectators. The participants typically include a few industry leaders as well as some top pro's.
As with so much of the Mount Snow mystique, the Naked Crit's explosive growth proved serendipitous. Of all 50 states in America, only one allows for the full public display of nudity: Vermont. The local cops show up, keep the peace, and smile.
"Now it's just huge. It's everything short of being on the entry form," said Quinn.
So as the Dover, Vt., prepares for the 14th edition of Mount Snow and the finals of the Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series, don't be surprised to find a few new wrinkles. With a new promoter, GaleForce Marketing, the series has already added some exciting elements. There's the Short-Track Cross Country Race, dubbed by one announcer as the "half hour hurricane of pain." And this year is the four-up "Mountain Cross" race on Sunday. But through all the prepared hoopla, journalists should watch the fans just as much as they watch the racers. At Mount Snow, the crowd is the likely source of the next innovation.
Major Races and Events
September 7-29, 2002: Vuelta
a España (GT) - Preview, stage list
May 11-June 2, 2002: Giro
d'Italia (GT) - Preview, stage list, photos
July 6-28, 2002: Tour
de France (GT) - Full preview & official route details
December 8: Superprestige
Rd 5 (Cat. 1) - Erwin Vervecken
November 29-December 4: Six
Days of Noumea (6D) - Sassone/Neuville victorious
November 26-December 1: Six
Days of Zurich (6D) - Day
6 - McGrory/Gilmore/Schnider win
December 1: Melbourne
Cup on Wheels (IM) - Scott Moller, Keirin,
Sprint, Support
races
December 2: Cyclo-cross
World Cup #2 (CDM) - Sven Nijs again
November 24-December 3: Juegos
Deportivos Centroamericanos (JR) - Final results
December 8-9: Frankfurter
Rad-Cross (Cat. 2) - Alex Mudroch, UK
National Trophy Series #4 (Cat. 3) - Roger Hammond, Grote
Prijs Industrie Bosduin - Kalmthout (Cat. 1) - Bart Wellens, Int.
Radquer Obergösgen (Cat. 2) - Björn Rondelez, Trofeo
Mamma e Papa Guerciotti (Cat. 3) - Enrico Franzoi, Premio
Egondo (Cat 3) - David Seco, Irish
cyclo-cross championships - Robin Seymour
Results: local racing
Australia - CycleWest
Promotions Omnium Series #2, Eastern
Suburbs Summer Criterium Series, Carnegie
Caulfield Tuesday criterium, Southern
Cross Junior Track Open & Madison Cup, Manly
Warringah CC, George
Town Track Carnival, Carnegie
Caulfield CC, Randwick
Botany CC, Gold
Coast CATS CC, Caesar's
Illawarra CC, Caesar's
Illawarra (track)
Denmark - Danish
cyclo-cross Post Cup #3
Italy - Gran
Premio Città di Bassano
Luxembourg - GP
De Kopstal
New Zealand - Cyco
Criterium series
Spain - Elorrio
cyclo-cross
USA - Georgia
Cross Series Championship, Chimborazo
Grand Prix cyclo-cross, Boulder
Cross Rd 6, New
Mexico State Cyclo-x Champs, Sorrento
Cyclo-x & California State Champ's, Boulder
Cross Rd 5, Verge
New England series, Northampton
CC Cyclo-cross Championships, Chris
Cross International CycloCross
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