News for January 23, 2001Recent results and new features Riis on Ullrich"He can win the Tour if he really wants to" Former Tour de France winner and Telekom team member, Bjarne Riis, believes that Jan Ullrich is the favourite for the 2001 Tour. Riis is now the top man at the CSC-World Online team, although he maintains his contacts with the Telekom team. He commented about Ullrich's chances and preparation in an interview with DPA in Copenhagen. "If Jan really wants to, he can win the Tour. He is physically the best of them all. If he prepares well, nothing can stop him," said Riis, who added that he "no longer believed" that Marco Pantani could win, and that Lance Armstrong was the only real rival to Ullrich. "I hope that Jan modifies his preparation a little this year. He would have to ride some of the Spring Classics seriously," he said. "He should only race the Giro d'Italia as preparation for the Tour if he finds that his form is not right in April. But that is not to easy: Giro only as training." Riis' own ambitions for his CSC team in the Tour include winning the green jersey (with Jalabert) and stage wins. He also plans to figure in the World Cups with riders like Bo Hamburger or Rolf Sørensen.
16 Tour teams named tomorrowThe Sociètè du Tour de France will name the first 16 teams eligible to take part in this year's event tomorrow. The remaining four teams will be announced in April, a month before they are usually named. Currently, 10 teams have their places assured: Mapei, Telekom, Fassa Bortolo, Lampre-Daikin, Kelme, Rabobank, ONCE, Banesto, Festina and US Postal. However, Jean-Marie Leblanc has also said that there will be "at least" six French teams, meaning that Credit Agricole and Cofidis are probable starters given that they are in the first division. This would leave seven teams. Other contenders in the first division include Saeco, Mercatone-Uno, Liquigas, Domo-Farm Frites, CSC-World Online, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Mercury-Viatel, and Coast. If Leblanc adheres to the "six French teams" rule, then Ag2r, Big Mat, Bonjour, Jean Delatour, La Francaise des Jeux, and St Quentin-Oktos are the candidates from the second division.
Cyclocross rankings: Groenendaal leads the wayAfter winning the final World Cup race in France as well as the overall World Cup classification, Dutchman Richard Groenendaal has cemented himself at the top of the UCI rankings for the remainder of the 2000/2001 season. There is less than two weeks to go before the World Championships in Tabor, where Groenendaal will be defending his title. The likely challengers appear to be Belgians Mario de Clercq and Sven Nijs, although Bart Wellens, Erwin Vervecken, and Petr Dlask should all put in a strong showing. The home town crowd may lift Dlask to a higher level, but he will need a high platform if he is to stay ahead of the near-perfect Dutchman. The Dutch don't have it all their own way in the world rankings, as Belgium is by far the strongest nation with over 6000 points compared with the Netherlands' 3700. Six Belgians feature in the top 10, showing that there is considerable depth in that country. In a distant third place is the Czech Republic, with riders like Dlask, Pospisil and Jezek. Final World Cup Rankings 1 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 310 pts 2 Bart Wellens (Bel) 225 3 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 223 4 Petr Dlask (Cze) 218 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 190 6 Sven Nijs (Bel) 179 7 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 173 8 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 150 9 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 149 10 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 123UCI Rankings as of January 21, 2001 Individuals 1 Richard Groenendaal (Ned) 2,288 pts 2 Mario De Clercq (Bel) 1,443 3 Sven Nijs (Bel) 1,374 4 Bart Wellens (Bel) 1,323 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 1,176 6 Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 835 7 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) 779 8 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) 738 9 Petr Dlask (Cze) 731 10 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 544 11 Jiri Pospisil (Cze) 541 12 Beat Wabel (Swi) 487 13 Wim De Vos (Ned) 436 14 Vaclav Jezek (Cze) 352 15 Luca Bramati (Ita) 340 16 Kipcho Volckaerts (Bel) 332 17 Arne Daelmans (Bel) 322 18 Roland Schätti (Swi) 317 19 David Pagnier (Fra) 316 20 Christophe Morel (Fra) 260 Nations 1 Belgium 6,095 2 Netherlands 3,696 3 Czech Republic 2,037 4 Italy 1,545 5 Switzerland 1,375 6 France 1,056 7 U.S.A. 596 8 Great Britain 500 9 Poland 463 10 Germany 447 Tracey Gaudry changes tackAlthough things have been a little quiet on her diary front for the past months, Australian Olympic cyclist Tracey Gaudry has had other things to consider. Her biggest decision has been what career path to follow, now that the 2000 season is over and the Olympic fever has died down. Instead of continuing to live out of a suitcase in pursuit of two wheeled glory, she has decided to accept a position with accountancy and law firm, Ernst & Young in their National Business Development Unit as Manager in the Canberra office. Despite the improving status of women's professional cycling around the world it is still a tough and non-financially rewarding job, and many admit that they do it purely for the love of it. Gaudry was offered contracts in the U.S. and Europe before accepting the E&Y position, but the good news is that she'll continue riding. Gaudry told cyclingews.com that E&Y are "very supportive of my cycling, and that includes background and future, so we will deal with my cycling aspirations as time goes by." Although learning the ropes at E&Y will be her priority for now, she will still be "training in the mornings as well as helping out the juniors/juvenile/women at the local races, and doing ambassadorial things about the traps...I get to put something back in at last."
Lloyd to SunRace/Santa CruzTop US female off-road rider, Rachel Lloyd, has signed with the SunRace/Santa Cruz team for the coming season. Third at the US Cyclocross National's, Lloyd was also selected for the World Championship team to represent USA in Tabor next month. After this however, she will be getting back on the mountain bike to compete in both Downhill and Cross Country at all the NCS and North American World Cup events. These include the the Sea Otter Classic, Napa WC#1, Durango WC#5, and Mt. St. Anne WC#8, as well as all National Championship Series (NCS) events and the World Championships in Vail, Colorado.
More Tassie trackThe Tasmanian summer track carnivals are nearly over, with the next event being in Devonport on Australia Day, January 26. Throughout the series, freelance journalist Rod Morris has been providing cyclingnews.com with some excellent reports and results from each event. They are all archived in our 2000/2001 track calendar. He has produced a book on the 2000-2001 Tasmanian Cycling Carnivals, entitled "The Full Cycle". It is a comprehensive wrap up of the series, including all results and prizemoney won for all senior and junior riders. If any one is interested in obtaining the book, they can contact Rod on any of the following: Ph: (03) 6424-7838
Texas and Montana billsIt doesn't hurt to mention this more than once. The Texas Bicycle Racing Association website (http://www.txbra.org) has all the information on the following: 1. Who to contact to protest the 'no more than 3 per bunch rule' bill But wait, there's more. The following piece of legislation was introduced in Montana: A bill for an act entitled: "An act requiring bicyclists to ride against the flow of traffic when riding outside of the limits of an incorporated or unincorporated city or town..." The full text can be found at: http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2001/billhtml/HB0212.htm And information as to how to fight it: http://www.sharetheroads.com/HB212.htm
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