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Edited by Jeff Jones
Mapei's Oscar Freire Gomez was among the guests of honour at the presentation of 2002 Vuelta a España today in Madrid. For the 2001 World Road Champion, it was his last official public engagement of the season.
Together with the team's medical staff, Freire wants to concentrate on the necessary physiotherapy in order to be ready for the 2002 season. He specifically wants to reduce and prevent the back problems which have plagued him for some years. He has been unable to concentrate on this while fulfilling his public engagements recently, and this has already started to affect his back.
"I am deeply sorry not to be able to meet all my fans and supporters who have made me proud with their invitations for the next weeks," Freire said "But I think that these people will certainly understand the choice I have made with my society, because I think that, above all, everybody wants to see me a more frequent protagonist in the next season. On my behalf, I will certainly do my best to pay them back for their comprehension for these missing appointments, and I send to all of them a warm hug."
Italian sprinter, Enrico Degano, will lead the Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo team at next year's Tour de Langkawi, February 1-10. The 25 year old sprinted to stage victories on stage 2 at Kota Bharu and again on stage 5 at Kota Tinngi in the 2001 Tour de Langkawi. Later in the race, Ceramiche Panaria's Australian star, Nathan O'Neill, triumphed in the stage 10 time trial, which started and finished at Shah Alam.
O'Neill's compatriot Graeme Brown has signed for Ceramiche Panaria, and will make his professional debut with the team in Malaysia. Brown, a sprinter, won the first stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide last January, and will be hungry for stages in LTDL.
Spain's Colchon Relax Fuenlabrada has also announced its selection for the Tour de Langkawi, sending a strong line up. Six of the seven man selection rode in this year's Vuelta a España, including intermediate sprints winner, Cesar Garcia Calvo.
Other team members Oscar Laguna, Jorge Capitan, German Nieto, Jose Manuel Vazquez and David Fernandez all completed the Vuelta. David Vazquez, a second year professional who is making his Tour De Langkawi debut, completes the Colchon Relax Fuenlabrada team for Malaysia.
Enrico Degano (Ita)
Nicola Chesini (Ita)
Graeme Brown (Aus)
Nathan O'Neill (Aus)
Cristiano Parrinello (Ita)
Stefano Guerrini (Ita)
Sergey Matveyev (Ukr)
Cesar Garcia Calvo (Spa)
Oscar Laguna (Spa)
Jorge Capitan (Spa)
German Nieto (Spa)
Jose Manuel Vazquez (Spa)
David Fernandez (Spa)
Belgian cyclist of the year Rik Verbrugghe and his new Lotto teammate Peter Van Petegem will not start their racing seasons in the Ruta del Sol, as has been customary in the last few years. Van Petegem said that he prefers to train during that part of the season, also looking after his new born child, which is expected in mid-January.
Andrei Tchmil, who only intends riding until May 2002, will start in the Etoile de Bessèges (February 6-10). Tour de France stage winner Serge Baguet will commence his season a little later in the Tour Méditerranéen (February 13-17).
Other members of the Lotto team will ride in the Tour Down Under (January 15-20) and the Tour de Langkawi (February 1-10).
The Bankgiroloterij-Batavus team will start its 2002 season in the Tour of Qatar (January 21-25). Team manager Arend Scheppink received an invitation from the organisers of the race, and accepted immediately. He hopes that next season will be a successful one for his 13 man team. "In principle, we will ride only professional races next year, and we're also allowed to ride in Olympia's tour," he told ANP.
Daphne van den Brand will start this Sunday's Cyclo-cross World Cup in Wortgem-Petegem in a Ton van Bemmelen-Novilon team jersey. The national champion is transferring from Farm Frites-Hartol to its sister team, that is also part of the Rotterdam Cycling group.
Van den Brand turned professional in September 1999, and won eight races in 2001, including the Dutch national cyclo-cross championship. With Team Ton van Bemmelen-Novilon, Van den Brand will be able to concentrate on her specialty, which is cyclo-cross.
Team Ton van Bemmelen-Novilon will officially be known from January 2, 2002 as Team Ton van Bemmelen Sports-Novilon. It will be strengthened by Bik rider Wendy Kramp and Soraija Bartels. Leaving the team are Andrea Bosman, Laura Verhoeven, Sabrina Raaymakers and Vera Koedooder.
This coming Friday and Saturday sees the USA's Cyclo-cross National Championships held in Baltimore's Patterson Park. The course has been designed by Tom Stevens, and is being touted by the organisers as "possibly his greatest course ever."
"The whole thing is uphill," said John Pavlat, a SuperCup staff member who walked the course with Stevens. "It's brutal."
The course features pavement, turf, bricks, concrete stairs, dirt and a wild assortment of gullies, steep cambers and grass that has grown on top of brick sidewalks. It's estimated that the elite riders will take around seven minutes to complete each lap, with most of the time being spent on the hillside. The downhill section is punctuated with returns up the grade and technical twists that all but eliminate a chance to rest.
One of the features is a grass camber of 200 meters that is steeper than most velodromes. There are five forced dismounts on the nationals course, ranging from run-ups to barriers to a staircase.
"This is a great course for the slow-twitch riders like Marc Gullickson (Mongoose/Hyundai) and Dale Knapp (Kona/Voicestream)," said announcer Richard Fries. "But when it's fast and tricky, watch for Saturn's Tim Johnson and Mark McCormack to pounce. You can start from 50 back on this course and make it to the front; if you're strong this course is for you."
Promoter Lyle Fulkerson added that the crowd would "will see just about everything. And lots of that, from the start-finish area, is up close action."
The course will be rebuilt after Saturday for Sunday's SuperCup. That course has fewer forced dismounts, but several other berms and cambers to challenge riders.
The Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania (SCAT) and the Devonport Campus of TAFE Tasmania have worked combined to produce the official SCAT website. The site, www.tascarnivals.com, was launched in Devonport yesterday, and it contains the history, news, competitor's profiles, event calendar, and future plans of the Basslink Tasmanian Carnival Series and its four registered clubs. A link to Tourism Tasmania is also included, so mainland and international competitors and spectators can readily find accommodation listings.
The project to build the SCAT website was taken on by nine TAFE students, under the guidance of teachers Graham Ratcliffe (Team Leader), Jeff Best, Stephen O'Rourke and Pat Hawkins, and the secretary of SCAT, Rod Morris.
TAFE Teacher Jeff Best said "The project has strengthened our (TAFE) links with the community and in turn, enhanced our learning process. It has been a hands-on learning experience for everyone involved with the development of the site because the team has been faced with real life challenges."
SCAT Chairman Mr Grant Atkins said a website had been part of SCAT's long-term vision plan and was first mooted two years ago. He complimented the work of the students and was impressed with the site. "We have taken the Christmas Carnivals to the other side of the world without having to leave home," he said.
Australian road and track riders, David McKenzie and Ryan Bayley, are the two latest interviewees on Cyclingnews. David McKenzie is hoping to get back into the limelight with the launch of his new team, iteamNova.com. A complete McKenzie history is given, including the high of winning stage 7 in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, and the low of being left without a team in January 2001 when Team Linda McCartney ran out of tofu.
19 year old track sprinter Ryan Bayley won the World Keirin Championship in 2001, as well as a swag of medals at the 2000 World Junior Track Championships and the Oceania Games. He's on a KFC-fuelled mission to ride the Athens Olympics, and could go all the way to the top.
Click here for the full David McKenzie
interview.
Click here for the full Ryan Bayley
interview.
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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