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Edited by Jeff Jones
After months of negotiations, this year's Vuelta España winner Angel Casero has finally signed a contract for next season. He will definitely ride for German first division Team Coast, signing for one year on Monday. He admitted he was talking with Lampre's manager Giuseppe Saronni last Saturday, however they could not reach an agreement and by the afternoon, he had decided in favour of Team Coast.
"I have not signed the contract of my life, but a performance based contract which is motivating for a rider. I believe that it is enough at the moment," said Casero. "I have not signed for economic reasons, only for sporting reasons."
In Coast, Casero will be reunited with his former director Juan Fernandez, as well as several of his former Festina teammates. "For me, the last few years have gone well with him. I know how the team works and I have the freedom to choose my program," added Casero.
The team is not guaranteed a start in the Tour de France, but Casero hopes that their chances will be increased by having the winner of the Vuelta in the team. "I hope that Jean Mari Leblanc pays attention to us," he said. "It would not be a disaster not to go to the Tour. I like the Giro and to dispute it would be for me a new experience. If I don't race in France I have the possibility of participating in two grand tours."
Juan Fernandez declared that Casero "will be the leader of the team in the grand tours, although if during the race somebody is better, then Casero will ride in support."
The pecking order has remained virtually the same in the latest set of UCI cyclo-cross rankings, issued after round 2 of the World Cup. Still way off the front is the very much in-form Belgian Sven Nijs (Rabobank), who has 1939 points compared with Erwin Vervecken (Spaar Select) on 1572 points. Richard Groenendaal (Rabobank), Bart Wellens (Spaar Select) and Mario De Clercq (Domo-Farm Frites) all follow in the usual order.
Switzerland has overtaken Italy in the nations classifications, probably because Italy refused to send a team to the Spanish round of the World Cup.
Individuals 1 Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank 1,939.00 pts 2 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Spaar Select 1,572.00 3 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 1,485.00 4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Spaar Select 1,325.00 5 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 1,121.00 6 Petr Dlask (Cze) 844.00 7 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 762.00 8 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 714.00 9 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 709.00 10 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Spaar Select 624.00 11 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 607.00 12 Beat Wabel (Swi) 560.00 13 Wim De Vos (Ned) Spaar Select 461.00 14 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 412.00 15 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Mez Team 387.00 16 David Pagnier (Fra) 361.00 17 Arne Daelmans (Bel) Den Tip Vorselaar 292.00 18 Marc Gullikson (USA) Mongoose 275.00 18 Maarten Nijland (Ned) WTC Woerden 275.00 20 Roland Schätti (Swi) 263.00 Nations 1 Belgium 6,671.00 pts 2 Netherlands 3,043.00 3 Czech Republic 2,353.00 4 Switzerland 1,444.00 5 Italy 1,439.00 Full rankings
Erik Dekker and Leontien van Moorsel have been voted the Dutch cyclists of the year for the second year in a row. They were chosen by readers of the Wieler Revue magazine, the Wielervakbond (VVBW) and former riders from the 48 Club.
Dekker received the Gouden Spaak (Gerrit Schulte Trofee) for his wins in the World Cup, Amstel Gold Race and a stage in the Tour de France. Van Moorsel received the Zilveren Spaak (Keetie van Oosten-Hage Trofee) for her world title in the individual pursuit. Bart Brentjens was voted off-road cyclist of the year and Arno Wallaard was the best Espoir/U23 rider.
The Conseil de prévention de lutte contre le dopage (CPLD) will hear the case of Spanish cyclist Txema Del Olmo in January 2002, a spokesman announced today. Del Olmo returned a "non-negative" value for EPO following the prologue of the 2001 Tour de France, and his second urine sample confirmed the result. He was sacked by his Euskaltel-Euskadi team, but managed to sign a contract with Maia-Milaneza for next season.
Del Olmo has not yet been sanctioned by the Spanish cycling federation. His lawyer said that he did not have time to prepare his defense for today's hearing, and it was postponed.
To celebrate the arrival of Mario Cipollini to the team, Acqua & Sapone will ride in new colours in 2002. Designer Roberto Cavalli has nearly completed the jersey design, which will be black, red and white, making it "easy to distinguish in the peloton." The official presentation of the jersey will take place in early Janaury in Milan.
By Ray Marcelo, cyclingnews.com correspondent
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) track and road cycling championships that were set to take place this week in New Delhi, India have been postponed.
Cycling Federation of India (CFI) deputy secretary Mr Jagvir Singh, told Cyclingnews that troubles from the war in Afghanistan has stopped Pakistan from competing, while uncertainty surrounding upcoming national elections has marooned the Sri Lankan team.
Mr Singh also said a team from the Maldives could not attend because their cycling administration was disorganised.
Because only India and Bangladesh were ready to compete, the SAARC championships have been postponed until September 2002.
However, it is understood the Indian cycling team has not trained together because all of the state teams have returned to their respective regions, following the end of India's national games last weekend.
The next event in Indian cycling is the national track championships planned to take place in "January or February" next year in the desert city of Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an inter-government body made up of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"Il campionissimo", Fausto Coppi, will have a monument erected in his honour in the city of Turin, which will be inaugurated on June 18, 2002. The statue will be made of bronze and will be 10 metres tall. Coppi is depicted raising his arms while the public applauds him.
Coppi was considered the greatest Italian cyclist of all time - he was the first man to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year (1949). He died under strange circumstances in Africa. In 1959 he visited what is now Burkina Faso to participate in a criterium in Ouagadougou. After the race, he went on a safari where it is believed that he was bitten by a mosquito. He contracted malaria, but doctors did not diagnose it in time and he died on January 2, 1960.
The president of Esport Ciclista Barcelona, organiser of the Setmana Catalana and the Escalada a Montjuïc, Joaquim Sabaté i Dausa, has died of a heart attack, aged 70. Sabaté's funeral will take place tomorrow at 16:00 in tanatorio de Sancho de Avila de Barcelona.
Swedish top amateur squad Team Mälarenergi will register with the UCI as a Trade Team 3, meaning that the team will be able to ride higher ranked races like the Tour of Sweden-Postgirot Open that has been upgraded for 2002 to 2.2.
The team's manager Patrick Serra earlier announced that the team would provide riders, as well as Serra's own services, to the new Spanish second division SIME. "The development of SIME has not been satisfying during the fall. The budget was too thin and I don't want to be in a situation where the team would fold in June," said Serra in a press statement.
He also believes that the SIME project now will have problems getting off the ground even if some Spanish riders are contracted. "We keep in touch though and it is possible that SIME might go in as a partial sponsor for Team Mälarenergi and bring some of their riders along. Everything will have to be settled before Christmas anyway," Serra says.
The team will not get any more funding from the main sponsor but counts on increased coverage for travelling expenses from the race organizers and maybe from some foreign sponsors.
The team will prepare with a training camp in Spain early January and will race in Spain and Portugal from February to April when they return to Scandinavia. There will be a new tour to Portugal in July after the Tour of Sweden and the National Championships. After another fortnight on Scandinavian roads Team Mälarenergi will once again head for southern Europe where the team will finish the season in mid October.
A number of the team's former riders will also probably race on a national level for the team, among them Kristoffer Ingeby and John Nilsson, who rode for CC Etupes in France last season and now probably goes to some other team there. The team's only female rider, Madeleine Lindberg, Farm Frites-Hartol, will also ride for Team Mälarenergi in Sweden.
Niclas Ekström (Swe)
Jukka Heinikainen (Fin)
Fredrik Johansson (Swe)
Kimmo Kaananen (Fin)
Fredrik Modin (Swe)
Henrik Oldin (Swe)
Jussi Veikanen (Fin)
Martin Vestby (Nor)
Spanish cyclists Jose Luis Rubiera (US Postal) and Manuel Beltrán (Mapei) will be amongst the starters in the second Criterium ciclista "Unión Ciclista Ciudad de la Cerámica". The event will take place on December 16 in Talavera de la Reina.
Spanish triathlon champion Iván Raña, World Time Trial Championship bronze medallist Dori Ruano, track cyclists David Cabrero and Isaac Villanueva will be present, along with Carlos Sastre, Francisco Tomás García and David Arroyo (ONCE), Miguel Angel Martín Perdiguero (Cantina Tollo), José Luis Rebollo, Félix García Casas, Luis Pérez and Juan Carlos Vicario (Festina), Iñigo Cuesta (Cofidis) and Francisco Javier Cerezo (CSC).
The Northeast Bicycle Club and Team NEBC/Cycle Loft will play host to the American Express Financial Advisors Cyclo-Cross at Wasserman Park in Merrimack, NH on December 9, 2001. The race has over $2000 in cash and prizes, and will be the last stop before the US Cyclo-Cross National Championships the following weekend in Baltimore, MD.
The race is part of the 2001/2002 Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Championship Series, and Saturn teammates Mark McCormack (current series leader, former national champion) and Tim Johnson (current national champion, former series leader) will be battling it out.
In the elite women's field, Canadian Lyne Bessette (Saturn) remains the favourite, as she has won every Verge NECCS series race she has entered. Emily Thorn (CycloCrossWorld.com) is in second place, and as defending masters national champion (and winner of last year's race), she is well-positioned to take the lead.
In the master men 35 and over, Scott Wade (Gearworks/SRP) has been dominant, finishing first or second in every race. Jesse Anthony (Saturn Development) has been equally dominating in the junior men 15-18. Neither one is undefeated, and so the title of race winner remains up for grabs.
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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