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Edited by Jeff Jones
Marco Pantani has finally been officially cleared of the charge of "sporting fraud" under Italian law by the Appeals Court in Bologna. The court issued its judgement today after nearly a two month delay, as the decision to clear Pantani was made on October 23.
Pantani had been measured with a very high hematocrit (60.1 %) following the 1995 Milan-Turin, significantly higher than the maximum limit of 50% set by the UCI. He was subsequently charged with manipulating sporting results via the use of illegal drugs, specifically EPO, under a law introduced in Italy in 1989, and ammended in 2000.
In December 2000, Pantani was found guilty of sporting fraud and sentenced to three months in prison with deferment. He appealed the ruling and it has finally been overturned. Judge Umberto Palma said that although there was evidence to show that Pantani had doped, the facts could not be regarded as an offence under the 1989 law. If the 2000 version of the law had applied, then it would have been an offence.
Pantani has always denied using EPO throughout his career, and said that his high hematocrit in 1995 was a combination of staying at altitude in Colombia, dehydration during the Milan-Turin race, trauma following his accident in the race, and the margin of error in the hematocrit test at the hospital.
The Italian cycling federation and the UCI have come to an agreement about the selection of Italian riders in the Cyclo-cross World Cups. Italy has been absent from the competition since Round 2, when they refused to send a team to Igorre in Spain. There were also no Italians present at last weekend's Round 3 in Wortegem-Petegem in Belgium.
The dispute arose because the UCI forced the Italians to select their number one rider, Daniele Pontoni, for the opening round of the World Cup in Monopoli, Italy. Although he was successful in finishing third, the Italians didn't like this and boycotted the next two rounds. After a lot of negotiation with the UCI, Italy agreed to send a team to Round 4, the GP de France in Nommay on January 6. However, neither Daniele Pontoni or Luca Bramati will be present.
The US Postal Service team with defending Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has unofficially named five of its nine men to contest the 2002 Tour. Speaking to Belga newsagency, assistant directeur sportif Dirk Demol said that "Five riders are as good as certain to start: Lance Armstrong, Roberto Heras, José-Luis Rubiera, George Hincapie and Christian Vandevelde. For the remaining places there are around 10 riders in the reckoning. They will gain selection by achieving good results in the early season."
US Postal will hold its second training camp in Phoenix, Arizona on January 8. Their first scheduled racing appointment for the season is the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal (February 9-13). There, the team will be built around George Hincapie, who will be building his form for the early season classics.
2000 Sydney Gold Medalist, Marty Nothstein, will be carrying the Olympic Torch as it passes outside of Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday, December 20, 2001. The torch will pass through the United States on its way to Salt Lake City to light the Olympic flame at the 2002 Winter Games.
The Lotto-Adecco cycling team will not be sponsored by De Post in 2002, however it has gained another co-sponsor in ABX Logistics. An agreement was signed yesterday in Brussels between Lotto-Adecco team management and a representative of ABX. This will give Lotto a financial boost, with the team budget now around 5 million euro.
ABX is an international delivery, shipping and forwarding agency, and also sponsors an amateur team in Belgium (ABX-Go Pass-Slagino), and this will continue to function as a satellite team for Lotto-Adecco.
Cyclingnews' teams database expert Theo Muller has been hard at work constructing the complete professional team listings for 2002. Currently, the full team rosters for the 30 division I teams, including the "Top 10 Club" are available, although they will not be official until December 20. The listings include the each rider's name, date of birth, nationality, former team, UCI points and ranking at the end of 2001. Details of riders who have left the team are included, as well as other information such as the contact address, website, staff and sponsors.
More information: Cyclingnews 2002 team database
The final two teams have been named to compete in next month's Trust House Tour of Wellington by Race Director Jorge Sandoval. The two teams are the Trust House-New Zealand Track Team and the Hong Kong national team.
Hong Kong has entered one of the strongest teams in the race. The team is led by hill climbing specialist Kam Po Wong, a former King of the Mountains winner from the Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic in Australia. He also featured strongly in last year's South China Sea and will be one of the best hill climbers in next year's Tour of Wellington.
The Trust House New Zealand Track Team is led by up and coming track rider Hayden Roulston from Ashburton. Roulston is a rider who goes well on the track and on the road. He was the 2001 Division Two Road Champion in France riding for the Bressuire cycling team, also a stage winner and the King of the Mountains winner in the Essor Branton tour in France earlier this year. Roulston was a member of the NZ Pursuit team which finished 6th at the 2001 World Championships in Antwerp.
The other members of the team have a lot of national and international experience: Matt Randall, Lee Vertongen, Shane Melrose and Jason Allen. The team manager will be Gary Anderson on this his first management job since he announced his retirement from cycling earlier this year.
"The New Zealand Track team is one of the most successful teams in the history of the tour. They have won more stages in the 15 year history of the tour than any other team, and as they start their preparation towards the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002 it is great to have them here once again," said Sandoval.
Sandoval also announced today that two other international teams have confirmed their participation for the Trust House Cycle Classic, they are the Indonesian National team and an International team made up of three Australian and two German riders. Overall the tour will feature riders from The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong and New Zealand. The tour is from January 2-6, 2002.
By Rod Morris
Tasmania's most consistent - and most likely successful - cyclists will be officially recognised with a new award introduced by the Tasmanian Cycling Federation (trading as Cycling Tasmania). The CT Rider-of-the-Season award will be based on all handicap finals and scratch races held at every track carnival throughout the summer.
The award will culminate at the St Helens Carnival on January 19 where CA President Mr Greg Nunn will officially present awards to the male and female points leaders. A sliding 3-2-1 scale of points will be awarded in all races, however CT recognises the fact the fields in the Basslink Tasmanian Carnival Series from Latrobe (Boxing Day) to Burnie (New Year's Day) will be bigger and tougher and will double the points.
Five carnivals have already been held this summer and Devonport youngster Ron Crawford has taken the early lead. Crawford has pieced together 3 wins, 4 seconds and 1 third for a total of 18 points and leads from Hobart rider Jason Johnson on 11 and recent Exeter Wheel winner Simon Elliott on 10. In the female section, Belinda Goss holds a narrow lead from Tarrisha Jones and Emily Williams.
Mr Nunn said the award was an excellent way of rewarding Tasmania's leading riders and came from the suggestion of Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania Secretary Rod Morris, who has maintained cycling statistics for some years.
"The award won't be restricted to a Tasmanian rider, but it will reward cyclists who support all of our carnivals as the more appearances you make, the more chance you have of earning points," Mr Nunn said.
1 Ron Crawford 18 pts 2 Jason Johnson 11 3 Simon Elliott 10 4 Gareth Atkins 9 5 John Abblitt 8 6 Abram Manion, Ryan Sullivan 7
1 Belinda Goss 5 pts 2 Tarrisha Jones 3 3 Emily Williams 2
The Tour of the Peak has moved from 15th to 8th September. The Tour of Moray (June 8-9) is now no longer part of this Calendar of events.
Although it was too late for the first edition of the 2002 calendar, the Junior Tour of the Peak has now been added to the British Cycling/Reynolds National Junior RR Series. This event will be run on April 21.
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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maintenance - Wheels - how to keep them true and tight
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