News for March 6, 2001Recent results and new features 21st Vuelta a MurciaPantani, Armstrong amongst starters The five day, 640 kilometre Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia will be held from March 7-11, and will see top tour cyclists Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno) and Lance Armstrong (US Postal) in the same race. Don't expect too many fireworks from either however, as it is Armstrong's first race in 2001, and Pantani is certainly still in early season preparation mode. The race starts with a 148 kilometre stage from Murcia to Aguilas with a couple of small climbs, which should suit the sprinters. Stage 2 from Ceuti to Jamilla (March 8) is a little hillier, with a long steady climb starting about a third of the way into it. Stage 3 (March 9) takes the riders from Cieza to Archena on a 152.4 km journey. There are a couple of sharp climbs early on in the stage, but the rest of it is essentially flat. The penultimate stage is from Alcantarilla to Aledo (166.2 km), and gives the climbers a chance at last to show themselves. Towards the end of the stage is the first category Alto Collado Bermejo with its 1150 metre summit at 9 kilometres from the finish. Concluding the Vuelta a Murcia is a 12.3 kilometre time trial in Murcia itself, that should sort out the final GC. The stages
Stage 1 - March 7: Murcia - Aguilas, 146.9 km Tense battle brewing in the Snowy Mountains
The final three stages of the women's Tour de Snowy are shaping up to a tremendous battle between Belorussian World Champion, Zinaida Stahurskaia (GAS Sport), and Australian triple stage winner and current race leader, Anna Millward (Saturn). The gap between the two is currently 47 seconds, as Stahurskaia edged closer to Millward yesterday after winning the stage from Thredbo to Khancoban. Despite the steep 9 kilometre climb near the end of the stage, the GAS rider could only put 1'30 into Millward, before being chased down by the Australian on the descent. "I was hoping just to save enough time to keep hold of the jersey," said Millward. "I didn't really expect to catch her!" Today will be different though, with a very tough 110 kilometre leg from Khancoban to Cabramurra. Starting at 300 metres, the riders start climbing in earnest at kilometre 50, reaching an altitude of 1100 metres by the 80th kilometre. There follows a 20 kilometre descent before the last climb up to Cabramurra (1500 m), Australia's highest town. Millward has been climbing better than she thought, although Zina is looks very good as soon as the road goes uphill. "Hopefully it's down to who has the legs up that last 10 kms," said Millward yesterday. "At least we've got the numbers to play with. We've got three of the Saturn team (Millward, Erlank and Bruckner) in the top 5." Zinaida will need to put around 2 minutes (including bonuses) into Millward today to be comfortable going into the last day. The two stages left are far more suited to the Saturn rider, and she could pick up 40 seconds in bonuses if she manages to win them.
Mario Cipollini delaysMario Cipollini's problems are not over, despite his total lack of competition over the past six months. He experienced a sudden flu attack on Sunday, meaning that he will not be riding in tomorrow's Giro di Campania near Naples. He had trained 200 km on Sunday morning before beginning to feel sick with a temperature and diarrhoea. With Mario Scirea also out of action due to a tooth infection, the Saeco Macchine per Caffe' team will only field six riders. "It's a kind of flu that is very active at this time of the year," team doctor Carlo Guardascione said. "Last night Cipollini felt sick, had a temperature and suffered severe diarrhoea. He will have to rest for several days." The team will be: Salvatore Commesso, Giuseppe Calcaterra, Biagio Conte, Dario Pieri, Moldovian Igor Pugaci and Lithuanian Marius Sabaliauskas.
Wiggins' new plansEx-Linda McCartney rider, Bradley Wiggins will be riding for "Sport and Publicity, Endura and Athletes One" this year as part of a special deal when not on duty with the WCPP. The three sponsors support a London team at present but Bradley's deal is a one-off tailored especially for him. S&P's Richard Allchin and Athletes One Mike Townley said "Bradley's long term interests are all that concerns us and anything he wants to do is fine with us .In view of his amazing ride against some top teams when he finished a fine 3rd in the Tour of Rhodes he is the subject of much interest from some major continental teams, so anything could happen and we will be here for him." Another ex-Linda McCartney update: Australian David McKenzie is reportedly negotiating with Swiss amateur team
Foot and Mouth updateFollowing consultation with MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), concerning the national Foot and Mouth disease outbreak, the British Cycling Federation (BCF) will be asking Road Race, Circuit Race, Cycle-Speedway, Track Race, Cyclo-Cross and BMX organisers to cancel or postpone all events, unless they receive explicit approval to run their event from their local Animal Health Office. MAFF have advised that the 23 Animal Health Offices nation-wide are able to give up-to-date, informed advice on whether an event can be held or not. For the foreseeable future, promoters and organisers of BCF events, in the disciplines listed above, must assume that their events cannot go ahead unless they receive clear approval (unlikely) from their local Animal Health Office. In particular, the BCF is asking promoters of Mountain Bike events to postpone all events indefinitely. The first round of the BCF's National Points Series, to have been held at Thetford on March 24-25, has been postponed. The BCF will be distributing a full list of Animal Health Offices, including comprehensive contact details, in a letter to all race promoters and organisers. Aitken/McGrory chase Bendigo Madison goldOlympic champions Scott McGrory and Brett Aitken will team for the first time since their Sydney Games triumph in the $20,000 McCaig-Daikin Air Conditioning Madison at the revitalised Bendigo Gold & Opal Carnival this weekend. The McGrory - Aitken combination will face a crack field in the 80km Bendigo race - a 32-man line-up which includes Germany's world madison champion Eric Weispfennig and New Zealand Olympians Greg Henderson and Lee Vertongen. Weispfennig will team with New South Wales dynamo Mark Renshaw who won three titles at the 2000 world junior championships. "It's great to be back racing with Brett again, but this is not going to be easy," McGrory said. "I have strong connections with Bendigo and I would love to win the Madison as it is a race that has eluded me." The Bendigo Madison, first held in 1972, boasts a winners' list that reads like a who's who of cycling, with Stuart O'Grady, Dean Woods, Danny Clark, Keith Oliver, Bob Whetters, Don and David Allan and Aitken himself on the honor board. The Madison is the feature event of the two-day athletics and cycling Gold & Opal Carnival, which will be conducted in four sessions at the Tom Flood Sports Centre, Bendigo. Preliminary races will be held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with the main sessions starting at 6 o'clock both evenings. The teams 1 Scott McGrory (Vic)/Brett Aitken (SA) McCaig-Daikin Air Conditioning Helen's Cycles-Trek-Volkswagen CTThe Helen's Cycles-Trek-Volkswagen Road Cycling Team is an elite team is based out of the greater Los Angeles area, and is a member team of the Trek-Volkswagen grassroots program. The team will focus primarily on regional races in California and Arizona. Both the men's and women's teams are aiming for results at the Elite Road Championships in Redding and the Elite Criterium Championships in Chicago. Other target races high on the team's list include the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix and the California State Road Race and Criterium Championships. Team Roster Women Cheryl Roth Men Gregory Bourque Sponsors Helen's Cycles
Recent results and new features on cyclingnews |
