News for February 6, 2001Recent results and new features Cyclocross wrap up
Although there are still a few cyclocross races left in the 2000/2001 season, the World Championships on the weekend were the last major event. The freezing, icy conditions in Tabor (Cze) produced six Czech, three Belgian, two Dutch and one German medallist, with the home team dominating the junior events. Elite men's winner, Erwin Vervecken has been up till now known as the 'Poulidor and Zoetemelk' of cyclocross i.e. mostly number 2. However, this season has seen him at the top of the podium on several occasions, as his record below indicates. 1993-1994: 3rd WCh in Koksijde. Goodbye Radomir, Hello Radomir For Czech Radomir Simunek, it was his last race in Tabor. He started in his 21st World Cyclocross Championships and finished 15th. As a junior he won his first title in Wetzikon in 1980. In 1983 (Birmingham) and 1984 (Oss) he became world amateur champion. In 1991 he was world professional champion in Gieten. His son, Radomir jr., is coming up now though. He was second in the junior race in Tabor on the weekend. Post World's rankings Elite men 1 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 2008 pts 2 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1488 3 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 1386 4 Sven Nijs (Bel) 1294 5 Bart Wellens (Bel) 1244 6 Petr Dlask (Cze) 915 7 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 825 8 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 713 9 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 701 10 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 637 11 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 555 12 Beat Wabel (Swi) 432 13 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 387 14 Wim De Vos (Ned) 380 15 David Pagnier (Fra) 379 16 Arne Daelmans (Bel) 342 16 Kipcho Volckaerts (Bel) 342 18 Luca Bramati (Ita) 334 19 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) 296 20 Roland Schätti (Swi) 285 Nations 1 Belgium 6125 pts 2 Netherlands 3360 3 Czech Republic 2354 4 Italy 1548 5 Switzerland 1278 6 France 1039 7 U.S.A. 601 8 Germany 501 9 Poland 491 10 Great Britain 487 11 Spain 454 12 Denmark 400 13 Slovakia 316 14 Luxembourg 253 15 Austria 180 16 Japan 165 17 Hungary 135 18 Ireland 130 19 Canada 125 20 Ukraine 122 21 Croatia 75 22 Sweden 8 23 Russia 5 Jalabert starts afreshLaurent Jalabert will ride his first race of the season, the GP d'Ouverture kitted out in the red-black colours of CSC-World Online. The Danish squad of Bjarne Riis will see Jalabert in a new team for the first time since 1992, after almost a decade with ONCE. Jalabert decided to finally stop with Manolo Saiz in July last year during the tour de France. He said in an interview with Reuters that he made his decision on the rest day in Courchevel, and thought that he might return to a French team. Despite talks with the Bonjour and Francaise des Jeux directors, Jalabert "did not receive one solid offer." The biggest obstacle to overcome was money - the French taxation system was not particularly attractive to Jalabert, who has for the past few years lived in Switzerland. Neither was it attractive to Bonjour or FdJ, who realised that they couldn't pay him the net amount that he wanted. Then he got an offer he couldn't refuse at the World's in Plouay from Bjarne Riis. This would mean that he could join a first division team, and he accepted albeit a little apprehensively. "Since 1998, my relationship with Bjarne Riis was non-existent. We had gone through the crisis of the 1998 Tour de France in an opposite way, me by abandoning the race, while him acting as a relay between the organisers and the peloton to keep the riders on their bikes. I must say today that he is a charming guy, very attentive." After some pre-season commando training in December which Jalabert called a "surprising experiment" and six weeks off the bike, Jalabert started training again. He felt unfit, as it was a month later than he usually started training. Then followed a one week training camp in Tuscany that served to start the season for everyone. In addition to the GP Ouverture, Jalabert will race the Tour Méditerranéen, Trophé Laigueglia, Tour of Haut-Var, and Paris-Nice. "Then, I will try to dispute the Belgian races before the Tour of Flanders which I would like to win. I have the team for that. With ONCE I was also a leader in the Classics but I did not have the teammates." He will not ride Paris-Roubaix, because "Bjarne is afraid that I'll hurt myself, but next year I will be there!" And he wishes to race more in France, especially to dispel rumours that he has avoided his home country because of its strict health and drug testing laws. "The directors of CSC were very clear in December: at the instance of doping, they'll put the key under the gate."
Ullrich negotiatesFresh from his training camp in Mallorca and now off to South Africa, Jan Ullrich is still considering his future. His contract with Telekom runs out at the end of this year, and there is a possibility that he could change teams, although his manager Wolfgang Strohband says that this is "almost impossible" as Ullrich would find it hard to match his current conditions in another team. Ullrich and team boss Walter Godefroot may wait until May to draw up a new contract, and it is likely to be for at least another three years. His current income at Telekom is said to be over DM 2 million ($US 960,000), with DM 7 million ($US 3.4 million) in endorsements and other contracts. After he retires, there is of course the option of working with the team, as Olaf Ludwig and Mario Kummer have done.
Juan Carlos Domínguez and Iñigo Cuesta get one year dealsSpanish ex-Linda McCartney cyclists, Juan Carlos Domínguez and Iñigo Cuesta have found jobs for this season, with Ibanesto.com and Cofidis respectively. Banesto manager, Jose Miguel Echávarri told European Press that Dominguez "was exactly the type of cyclist that we needed to cover the first part of the season." After his presentation in Madrid on February 9, Dominguez will make his debut with Ibanesto nine days later in the Vuelta Andalucia (Ruta del Sol). This will be followed by the Trofeo Luis Puig, Vuelta Valencia and Tirreno-Adriatico. Cuesta negotiated with Euskaltel and Mapei, before eventually taking an offer from Cofidis. He was given a one year contract with an option to extend by another year. The remaining Spanish ex-Linda McCartney cyclist is Miguel Angel Martín Perdiguero who said via his agent that "several teams are interested, but the economic offers are more important than the sporting ones."
Pantani's appealConvicted 'sports fraud', Marco Pantani, has challenged his three month sentence in a 110 page document presented today by his lawyer, Federico Cecconi. "We are refuting several considerations that were expressed in the sentence," said the lawyer. "There are elements in it, a lot in fact, that could lead to an overturning of the case." In particular, Cecconi is contesting the prosecution's claim that were "numerous conflicting elements in the step by step historical reconstruction of the incident that happened to Pantani," relating to his 60.1% hematocrit that was measured after his accident in Milan-Turin in 1995. "We are also contesting the indirect method of testing that was used by the advisors to the prosecution, that was considered by the judge to be the more correct method. This method should have taken into account other methods, such as those used in the Sydney Olympic Games, using other parameters thought to be more reliable in finding anomalies in athlete's hematic values."
Saturn to open its account in LangkawiSeven members of the Saturn Cycling Team will begin their racing season with the 1605 km Tour de Langkawi (Feb. 6-18). After finishing a 10 day training camp in California's Santa Ynez Valley, the riders competing in Malaysia departed directly for the Southeast Asian peninsula - Frank McCormack, Trent Klasna, Soren Petersen, Harm Jansen, Chris Fisher, Michael Barry and Matt DeCanio. "The stages are mostly flat but there is one day (Feb. 15) with a substantial climb to the Genting Highlands, which has been pivotal in the past in the final general classification," said Saturn team manager Jim Copeland. "There is also a 27-kilometer individual time trial the following day that will be selective." The team will be aiming for some early season racing form, with the possibility of a few stage wins. Trent Klasna may be their GC man, while Frank McCormack and Dane Soren Petersen will aim at the sprints. McCormack commented on the Tour de Langkawi since its inception in 1996. "It's become more intense each year and a lot more teams show up racing to win," he said. "It's hot and humid, but the environment is awesome. We stay in great hotels and the food is great. The organization is very professional. There are a lot of spectators." American Chris Horner (Mercury) is the defending champion but there are plenty of teams eager to take the title this year, including Mapei, Saeco, CSC-World Online, AG2R, and Crédit Agricole
BMI's of Tour ridersWhat is the average weight of a pro cyclist, and how dense are they? This is not a trick question, as David Cowie (RSA) writes. I did a Body Mass Index calculation on all the riders in the 1997 Tour de France. The sample was 170, which represents the cream of the professional peloton. From the average (1.79m and 68.75kg = 21.4701) it would seem getting over the hills is important. But the TdF probably is more biased in this way. The data was posted at www.cyclingnews.com/results/1998/feb98/feb6.html I've done some more calculations based on the data available for the 2000 TdF. Comparing averages: 1997 (n=170) : 1.79m and 68.75kg = 21.4701 2000 (n=162) : 1.79m and 69.13kg = 21.5308I also did a breakdown by country (for 2000): Country Sample % Height Weight BMI Switzerland 5 3.09% 1.79 66.8 20.8482 France 36 22.22% 1.78 67.03 21.1557 Spain 22 13.58% 1.78 67.86 21.4177 Italy 30 18.52% 1.79 68.9 21.5036 Belgium 14 8.64% 1.80 70.36 21.7160 Netherlands 12 7.41% 1.80 70.75 21.8364 Germany 9 5.56% 1.79 70.67 22.0561 USA 8 4.94% 1.80 72.13 22.2623 BCF 2001 National Mountain Bike SeriesCalendar March 24/25 - Cross-Country 1: Thetford, Norfolk Notes *The 2001 series will again be classed E2 by the UCI. The top ten finishers in the Elite Cross-Country categories and top ten fastest Downhill riders (irrespective of category) will receive UCI points, enabling them to qualify for World Cup events. *Entry Fees have been held at 2000 rates for the 2001 series. *Non-members of the BCF will be able to enter non-series Cross-Country races on the day at each Cross-Country venue.
Kelme presentationSaturday's Kelme-Costa Blanca team presentation was the 22nd in the team's history, as Kelme is the oldest professional cycling team in the peloton. Held on the day prior to the team's debut in the Mallorca Challenge, it was a somewhat sober occasion as Kelme know they will have to fight hard this year to match the successes of 2000. The primary reason is of course the loss of its top riders, Joaquim Castelblanco, Javier Pascual Rodriguez, Roberto Heras, Fernando Escartin and Jose Rubiera. The team has hired seven neo pro's and two riders from other teams to partially compensate. Although team director, Vicente Belda put on a brave face at the presentation, he described it as a period of transition. "We have changed to youth and the exuberance that that entails," he spoke philosophically. "We usually say that we are all important but no-one is essential. It is simply another challenge for our veteran team that has always been characterized by its "claws" and this year is not going to be an exception". Belda stressed that it would not be easy, but they would maintain their character and never give up. "To form a team like we had last year does not happen overnight," he added. However, he believed that in two years time they would be back to the top. They still have Colombian climber Santiago Botero, who will go to the Tour de France as leader with the young Oscar Sevilla using it for experience. Both riders will also take leading roles in the Vuelta a España. The Giro d'Italia will see a younger team of Juan Cuenca, Ricardo and Javier Otxoa, and Angel Vicioso. Team Roster Manager: Joan Mas Riders Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Cane Creek/Subaru team 2001The Cane Creek/Subaru team has finalized its roster and is looking forward to competing in the 2001 season. In only two years of existence, the team has shown itself to be competitive in the Southeast and East Coast USA racing. The team's focus is to continue to build its reputation and perhaps make the step up to Tier III status next year. Cane Creek/Subaru will focus on the NRC races in the Southeast, with a late season goal of a podium finish in the Univest Grand Prix. Team Roster Team Director: Richard Dunn Riders Heath Dotson Sponsors Cane Creek Cycling Components Equipment Cane Creek Wheels, Headsets, Brakes Recent results and new features on cyclingnews |
