|
|
|
Edited by Jeff Jones
The Cyclingnews' season review of some of the more memorable moments of 2001 continues with tech-head and mountain bike editor, John Stevenson giving his "Top 10". Australian downhillers, Cadel Evans, Endurance races, Noble House, Paris-Roubaix, Alison Dunlap, Egg Beater pedals, Shimano XTR, Campagnolo Hyperion wheels and Cyclingnews readers are all included.
There's more on the way in our season review, so stay tuned.
For a country with roughly the population of Texas and the land area of the US Lower 48, Australia continues to show remarkably strongly in international cycling of all kinds. It has highly-ranked riders in most disciplines, and particularly in downhill mountain bike racing. Rather scruffy back-of-a-spreadsheet calculations in fact put Australia number 2 in the world behind France in Men's downhilling.
France has a century of immersion in bike racing of all kinds, the Alps and the Pyrenees and Australia, well, doesn't. Australia's highest peak would vanish into the foothills of the Alps and most of the country is flat, as well as arid and almost uninhabitable. Nevertheless, there's a certain madness in the Aussie spirit that keeps throwing up downhill wildmen like Chris Kovarik, Nathan Rennie, Joel Pannozzo and Mick Hannah. Long may they follow gravity.
|
As a mountain biker and Australian resident, I should be upset that Australia's greatest cross-country rider has forsaken the dirt for the road and a contract with Mapei. I'm not. Here's why.
The World's and Olympics have eluded Evans, but he has twice won the season-long World Cup series. That indicates that Evans' talent is for consistency and season pacing, not for the ability to peak freakishly that's necessary to win these very hyped one day events.
In the Tour of Austria and Brixia Tour this year, Evans showed he has what it takes to compete in severely hilly week-long road races. That ability could take him a long way.
Road cycling is The Show. Mountain bike racing is the minor leagues. On any given weekend there are four or five major internationally significant road races. We're lucky if there's one MTB race that matters. Road racing deserves, and gets, extensive coverage in the European sporting press. Mountain biking still barely rates a mention.
For Cadel Evans, the decision must have been a no-brainer. Continue to languish in relative obscurity in one of the less-regarded branches of cycling, or see what he's really capable of, and maybe even take a shot at the biggest annual sporting event on Earth, the Tour. He takes with him, I hope, the good wishes of everyone who really loves mountain biking and wants to see One Of Us really stick it to them roadies!
More information: Cadel Evans interview
When I started racing mountain bikes, in the UK way back in the mid-80s, one thing that I loved was the mix of more and less serious racers that turned up to an event weekend. Despite the rose-tinted glasses some folks look at early mountain biking through, there were serious racers back then, with shaven legs and diets that substituted orange juice for Newcastle Brown Ale. But there were also vast hordes of Jo Mountainbikers filling up the rosters in Sport and Fun classes, camping at the venues and generally having a whale of a time.
12 and 24 hour endurance races have brought Jo Mountainbiker back to MTB racing, and reminded race organisers that regular folks can be lots of fun to run events for.
The team that never was, with the sponsor nobody could get any sense from, and the money that never quite arrived provided one thing: an endless stream of gags, digs and asides in the rec.bicycles.racing usenet group. Go here to read all about it through the Google search engine. Of course, if you actually want to know what happened to the Noble House Professional Cycling Team, then John Foster's exposé that was published on Cyclingnews is required reading.
|
The 55 riders who finished the 2001 Paris-Roubaix deserve more than just my meagre congratulations for completing the hardest edition of the race in years. In a just world, they'd all have been given the rest of the year off!
I had just one reaction to the photos that came back from Roubaix in April: "Give me 2in tyres and 4in of suspension travel. Anyone riding that on a road bike is a nutcase, a serious hardman or both."
A tip of the helmet to them all.
|
So soon after the awful events of September 11, the world mountain bike championships could have been a complete non-event. Instead, organisers rescheduled events to allow for a day of mourning and remembrance, and then Alison Dunlap did something she's long threatened to and netted a gold medal for the host nation.
In any other year, Dunlap's win would have just generated half-sarcastic comments that the US was actually still able to win something on the dirt. But when Dunlap crossed the line and literally wrapped herself in the flag none of us were unmoved by the power of the moment.
|
The MTB tech scene has been fairly stable in the last few years, and we've seen far more refinement and tweaking than serious innovation. In many ways that's a good thing. Components like disk brakes and especially suspension systems are now thoroughly sorted components rather than hit-and-miss affairs.
Nevertheless, it's refreshing when something genuinely new comes along. Crank Brothers owe a debt to Time for some basic ideas, but took the idea of a bar-engagement pedal much further than Time has done and produced something truly clever.
Don't get me wrong, Shimano's XTR group is still the bee's knees, cat's whiskers and any other animal erogenous zone you care to name. But it's now been around since late 1995, and, well, we're bored of it. I know, that's petulant, childish even, but back in the early 90s I got used to a yearly cavalcade of wonders from the Big S and six years since the last revamp is just too long, darn it!
Come on, Shimano, quit resting on your laurels. You demonstrated that you could blow away all the little CNC guys; it's time to stop nerfing around with comfort bike components and wow us again.
I know they're not actually quite the lightest wheels in existence. I know that tubulars are completely impractical for the fitness/commuting riding that makes up most of my road kilometres. I know that I'd be far better off spending the money taking unpaid leave and spending a month riding in the mountains. I don't care. I have a severe case of techno-lust for Campagnolo's gorgeous carbon fiber wheels. I want a pair. Nuff said.
2001 was my first full year on Cyclingnews and I spent the whole year being amazed, time and again, at the knowledge, insight, manners, and sheer good-naturedness of our readers. We try not to make mistakes, but the sheer volume of material we handle means that errors do slip through.
When we stuff up we hear about it from a reader within minutes, and the corrections invariably run, "Hey, you guys are great, love the site, but you've made a little goof"
Our legion of unpaid proof-readers, and the overwhelmingly positive feedback we get about Cyclingnews are a real motivator. Thanks to you all.
By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent/Evening Herald/Sunday Independent
Preparations are well in hand for the staging of the Westwood Homes Kerry Youth Tour next August which will be held in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. In its short lifespan this event has caught the imagination of the Irish cycling public and has also received support from the Irish Sports Council.
The organiser Miceal Conncannon would be the first to admit that he got the idea when he saw at first hand, how the city of Manchester organised their Youth Tour.
"The intense sporting rivalry that permeates all sporting clashes between Ireland and England is a feature of both races. On top of that the race is organized in a professional manner which makes everybody associated with it feel good. It adds a touch of spice to the proceedings," said Miceal.
For the last two years Miceal has got the mix very well in all areas of the race in the Co. Kerry town and now it has international recognition. All the stages of the youth tour are held in Killorglin, Co. Kerry on the open roads which is bonus for the participants and the back up teams. The race is divided into three categories defined by year of birth. Category 1 is for riders born in 1986/87, Category 2 is for riders born in 1988/89 and Category 3 is for riders born in 1990/91.
The entry for the 2001 event was almost 200 with 85 riders starting the Category 1 race. The event is testing on a sporting level for the competitors. It is equally testing on a social level for parents and officials. Killorglin is one of the traditional strongholds of cycling in Ireland. Riders, officials and parents got a warm welcome from an enthusiastic and knowledgeable public this year.
Teams from Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Belgium, Spain and Germany are expected to take part in the 2002 event. An extra competition for a King of the Hills title will be introduced in all categories in 2002. This should add a little extra spice to the final two stages.
All club and regional teams from any part of the globe are particularly welcome to the event. Details of support towards travel costs and further race details are available from Race Director Míceal Concannon, Carhoonahone, Beaufort, Co. Kerry. Telephone: 003536444396.
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
Recently on Cyclingnews
Latest Photos - Olympic
Armstrong, Boulder & California 'cross, More Pan-Am, Canberra, Boston & REI
'cross (December 13)
Cyclingnews survey -
Reader Poll 2001 - Vote for your favourite riders
Letters
- VDB, Lance, Boring Tour, Coastal Post, Respect (December 13)
Cyclingnews Interview
- Ryan Bayley - the KFC-fuelled world champ (December 13)
Cyclingnews Interview
- David McKenzie - Macca's back (December 12)
Cyclingnews Interview
- Laurent Jalabert - Jalabert looks ahead (December 11)
Cyclingnews Interview
- Charly Wegelius - A coffee stop with Charly (December 8)
Cyclingnews
Interview - Sven Montgomery - Moving up in the world (December 6)
Cyclingnews Interview
- Rochelle Gilmore - Road scholar (December 6)
Tales from the Peloton
- 12 Hours of Oleta - MTB endurance race in Miami (December 6)
Tales from the Peloton
- Tony Cruz - back to his roots (December 7)
Marco Polo
Diary - Tour du Faso - Part II - Nathan Dahlberg's report (December 3)
Tech
maintenance - Wheels - how to keep them true and tight
Tech letters
- Headsets, Pegoretti, Carbon cage, gloves & tubes (December 10)
Tech news - Navigators
power-tap, Headsets, Carbon cages (December 7)
Tech- Recycling
- How to protect your chainstay for free
Tech Reviews:
Egg Beater pedals; Park
Tool belt; Shimano shoes;
Speedplay
Breaking
the Chain - Dope planning and testing - From Willy Voet's book
| Home Search Survey Contact us |
