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Edited by Jeff Jones
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This Sunday, December 30, sees the sixth round (of eight) of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series held in Diegem, Belgium. It's the first big 'cross race for two weeks, and many fans will be looking at Sven Nijs to maintain or increase his lead in the series. The current standings see Nijs well on top with 131 points, followed by SpaarSelect riders Bart Wellens (107) and Erwin Vervecken (105). However, although Nijs will start as the favourite, it won't be plain sailing for Belgian as he has suffered several defeats in recent weeks.
Challenges will come from Vervecken, Wellens, Tom Vannoppen and Mario De Clercq, all of whom are in good form. Ever since announcing that he would be continuing in cyclo-cross, Mario De Clercq has hit a purple patch, winning four races in 12 days including the Wortegem-Petegem World Cup. Although De Clercq is unlikely to take over the lead in the SuperPrestige series, he may be able to move himself into the top 3 overall with a few good rides.
After Diegem, the series takes a long break until the final two rounds in Harnes (February 10) and Vorselaar (February 23).
Elite Men 1 Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank 131 pts 2 Bart Wellens (Bel) Spaar Select 107 3 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Spaar Select 105 4 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 93 5 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 89 6 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 73 7 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) Rabobank 70 8 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 65 9 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Spaar Select 56 10 Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) 50 Juniors 1 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) 129 pts 2 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) 117 3 Nick Sels (Bel) 92 4 Jef De Boeck (Bel) 83 5 Krsztztof Kuzniak (Pol) 55 6 Nard van der Sanden (Ned) 39 7 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) 34 8 Jan Soetens (Bel) 30 9 Guus Magielse (Ned) 27 10 Giovanni Saman (Bel) 27
Despite being cleared recently of sporting fraud, Marco Pantani is still of interest to the Italian courts. The Cesenatico resident was one of the many riders who received notification on December 24 in relation to the Giro d'Italia raids last June. It is the first time since the investigation was started by Florentine Judge Luigi Bocciolini that Pantani has been named among the suspects. The questioning of the several dozen riders and team personnel involved in the affair is expected to commence in mid-January.
A panel of Spanish sports journalists has selected women's Tour de France winner Joane Somarriba and basketball player Pau Gasol as the Spanish female and male sportspeople of the year. The Spanish also nominated Lance Armstrong and tennis player Jennifer Capriati as the best athletes in the world.
Being midsummer, the Christmas period in Australia is regularly marked by bushfires, with the east coast often the worst hit. This year, the Sydney region has experienced the worst fires since 1994, with large amounts of bushland to the north, south and west of the city engulfed in flame, resulting in the loss of over 150 houses. The hot and windy weather conditions on Christmas Day saw the whole city covered in smoke, and an eerie orange sunlight bathed many families' Christmas lunch.
Although many of the fires have been controlled in the last five days, today's 37 plus degree temperatures and more high winds on the outskirts of Sydney are expected to make things difficult for the thousands of volunteer firefighters from all around the country. Fortunately, no-one has yet been seriously injured by the fires.
Australian cyclist Rochelle Gilmore was one of those affected in the Christmas Day fires, as her family's home in Stanwell Tops (to the south of Sydney) was completely incinerated by fire. The contents of the house were lost, including two speed boats, a car, and six motorbikes.
Gilmore is currently on a heavy racing schedule, competing in the Victorian Christmas track carnivals followed by the Skilled Geelong Bay Classic (January 2-6, 2002). Although she missed the Boxing Day carnival in Echuca due to the fires, she moved on to successfully start her campaign in Bendigo (December 27) where she won four races. She followed that up with a victory in the 4 km handicap in Ararat (December 28) and hopes to win more when the series moves to Maryborough for two days before heading to Mooroopna and Shepparton for the final 2 days of racing.
Danish Team Glud & Marstrand Horsens have signed a 1 year contract with Jacob Nielsen. Nielsen had a good season in 2001 with third overall in the Danish Post Cup and a victory in the German Signal Iduna. He has been given leave of absence from his studies as an engineer to concentrate 100% on cycling in 2002. Team Glud & Marstrand Horsens sees Jacob Nielsen as an important addition to the team in order to win the Post Cup for the third year in 2002.
Courtesy of Søren Vig & Frank Rud Jensen/www.cykel-sport.dk
By Gerard Knapp
After abandoning last year's Paris-Dakar Rally during the 12th stage, the French rider Frederic Moncassin has saddled up again on another KTM and set off from Arras, France, on December 28 bound for the African town of Dakar in Senegal, some 9,436 kilometres away.
The former sprinter and maillot jaune of the Tour de France, with numerous victories to his credit, retired from professional cycling in 1999 but has maintained his two-wheeled sporting outlet, courtesy of a KTM 650.
After stage 2, Fred was in 26th position overall. However, the early stages of the rally are mainly long transition rides across France and Spain of up to 900km, with only short timed stages from six to 35km making up the timed part of the race which determines the overall standings.
Obviously, it is too dangerous to use the public roads of Europe for an all-out race for motorcycles, cars, buggies and trucks - that has to wait until the convoy hits the African continent and they head seriously off-road. Once in Africa, the riders and drivers face desert racing stages of around 500km per day.
The race concludes on January 13, 2002, with the final 14th stage in Dakar, Senegal.
What was the best performance of 2001? Who was the best rider? It's time for you, the readers of Cyclingnews, to tell us the stand-out riders, rides and equipment of the year. However you need to act soon as entries close December 31, 2001.
Go to our Reader Poll page to cast your vote for the Legend of Cycling; the Cycling Personality of the Year; Photograph of the Year; the best teams and male and female riders across a range of disciplines, and the best bikes and equipment.
Click here to vote now! Results will be announced in the New Year.
Note: Please answer all categories and complete your form (including your name and email) to ensure your vote is counted. This is to ensure the accuracy of the poll as you may only vote once. Your details will not be revealed to any other party.
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
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