News for March 14, 2001Recent results and new features Paris-Nice reactions
After escaping from the peloton in a small breakaway, Peter Van Petegem (Mercury-Viatel) won yesterday's second stage of Paris-Nice in a sprint from Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) and put himself into the leader's white jersey. Van Petegem said, "With 50 metres to go I saw that Vinokourov wasn't making any progress. I had problems in the last 10km, but I came back with Tchmil. The parcours was like Liege-Bastogne-Liege, so you expect riders to do well who you find in the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. I always feel good at this time of year, and this time, I won!" Runner up Vinokourov said "I come to Saint-Etienne regurly, and have strong links with the town, I'd have liked to given my fans here a treat, but that's racing." Nico Mattan (Cofidis) was philosophical about losing the leader jersey. "The last stretch was hard for me; it wasn't a great day and it's a shame for our team. But two days in the jersey is already terrific for a rider of my level." Pantani questioned
Marco Pantani has been helping Italian police with their enquiries into Italian riders suspected of doping at the Sydney Olympics. Pantani, who is not under suspicion, spent two hours answering questions at a police station in Florence, according to prosecutor Pierguido Soprani. Pantani was assisting as "someone informed of the facts", Soprani said. The investigation stems from high red cell counts allegedly found in blood samples from several riders in last year's Olympic road race. Soprani's brief is an overall investigation of doping in Italian sport, under laws passed late last year criminalizing use of performace-enhancing substances. Pantani is currently preparing an appeal against a three month suspended sentence handed down last year for 'sporting fraud' after he recorded a haematocrit of 60 per cent in Milan-Turin in 1995. Pantani's Mercatone-Uno team manager Giuseppe Martinelli commented that he and Pantani were looking ahead to the season despite the "continuous absurdity" of courts and lawyers. Merckx: no fractureAxel Merckx is recovering in Clermont-Ferrand hospital after his fall in the first stage of Paris-Nice. He has an injured right knee, but it's not broken. Ullrich wants to stay with TelekomJan Ullrich has said he will renew his contract with Telekom, despite recent speculation that he would move to another team. CSC-World Online was reported to be interested in the 1997 Tour winner, but his preference is to stay with the team where he started as a pro. "It looks like I will end my career with a couple more years at Telekom," said Ullrich. "I will sign up [with Telekom] again." Ullrich's manager Wolfgang Strohband told German newspapers that "we haven't negotiated yet." Ullrich's salary is currently 2.5 million Marks (US$1.17 million); he is rumoured to want another million, though Strohband told German website Radsport-news "That number has been absolutely plucked from the air. It's normal that a salary increase should be a target. I have nothing to say about particular numbers. Strohband said of Ullrich's comments "We are not putting ourselves under pressure here. Jan is expressing his wishes. It doesn't weaken our negotiating position. The contract still runs to the end of the year." Strohband and Ullrich may not renegotiate until after the Tour de France; if Ullrich wins, he will have a strong case for a pay rise. Positive Stuttgart Six rider to be named next weekThe identity of a German rider who tested positive for caffeine at the Stuttgart Six will be revealed early next week according to German federation the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer (BDR). BDR general secretary Karsten Schütze said that the rider's b-sample was analysed at the Cologne anti-dopping laboratory on Tuesday and "if the result of the a-sample is confirmed, we will be given the name of the rider." The road and track rider is suspected of having a prohibited level of caffeine in the blood. However, the UCI classes caffeine as a 'soft' drug and levies only minor sanctions against riders found to be over the limit. In theory, five or six cups of filter coffee is enough to raise the caffeine level in the urine to the point where the drinker will fail a urine test. Ullrich answers criticsJan Ullrich has responded to criticism that he is not in great shape after his quiet ride in the Tour of Murcia. "I used Murcia for training," said Ullrich, "I just needed to ride along with the field, and not work at the front." Answering accusations that he is overweight, a problem that has plagued him in recent years in the early season, Ullrich said, "If I had my optimal body weight now, that would be too early for me to enter the Tour in form." Ullrich is aligning his entire season around a bid for Victory in the Tour de France. "There is no point pedalling into the red zone now," he added, clarifying his strategy for the season, and dismissing his 52 second deficit to Lance Armstrong in the Murcia. "He won't have it so easy in the Tour." "Lance has ridden well in the last two years," said Ullrich, before pointing out his form wasn't its best last year, "I was not 100 per cent the Ullrich of 1997." Latest US NRC RankingsUSA Cycling yesterday released its latest National Racing Calendar rankings. Top spots in both men and women's categories are occupied by non-US riders: the men's rankings led by Australian Baden Cooke of Mercury-Viatel, and the women's by Canadian Lyne Bessette of Saturn. Unsurprisingly, Mercury leads the men's team competition, and Saturn the women's
Men 1 Baden Cooke Mercury/Viatel (Australia) 104pts 2 Gord Fraser Mercury/Viatel (Canada) 74 3 Ivan Dominguez Saturn (Orlando, Fla.) 63 4 Mark McCormack Saturn (N. Easton, Mass.) 58 5 Graeme Miller NetZero (New Zealand) 43 6 Eddy Gragus Jelly Belly (Ft. Collins, Colo.) 40 7 Frank McCormack Saturn (Leicester, Mass.) 38 8 Jamie Drew Mercury/Viatel (Australia) 36 9 Harm Jensen Saturn (Netherlands) 34 10 Derek Bouchard-Hall Mercury/Viatel (Palo Alto, Calif.) 27 11 Trent Klasna Saturn (Pine Valley, Calif.) 26 12 Charles Dionne 7up/Colorado Cyclist (Canada) 19 13 Roberto Gaggioli Defeet/LeMond (Santa Rosa, Calif.) 18 14 Chris Pic Mercury/Viatel (Buford, GA) 17 Vassili Davidenko Navigators (Russia) 17 16 Chris Wherry Mercury/Viatel (Boulder, Colo) 16 Hilton Clarke NetZero (Australia) 16 Franky VanHaesebroucke Navigators (Belgium) 16 19 Kevin Monohan 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist (Wyckoff, N.J.) 13 20 Glen Mitchell New Zealand Nat. Team (New Zealand) 12 21 Will Frischkorn Mercury/Viatel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 10 Ernie Lechuga (Los Angeles, Calif) 10 23 Eric Wohlberg Saturn (Canada) 9 24 Ryan Miller Prime Alliance (Boulder, Colo.) 8 25 Dominque Perras Team DARE (Canada) 6 26 John Durso Lombardi (San Francisco) 5 Keith Horowitz Team DARE 5 James Paolinetti NetZero (Los Angeles, Calif) 5 Erik Saunders Team DARE 5 Steve Larsen Prime Alliance (Bend, Ore.) 5 Matt Yates NetZero 5 Michael Barry Saturn (Canada) 5 Scott Price Landis (Albuquerque, NM) 5 34 Matt Decanio Saturn 4 Danny Pate Prime Alliance (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 4 Jonas Carney Prime Alliance (Manitou Springs, Colo.) 4 37 Oscar Pineda 7up/Colorado Cyclist (Bronx, NY) 3 John Hunt Lombardi (San Anselmo, Calif.) 3 Michael Creed Prime Alliance (Boulder, Colo) 3 40 Ryan Lane NetZero (Camarillo, Calif.) 2 Matt Dubberley Los Gatos BRC 2 42 Dean LaBerge Marathon Racing Team (Napa, Calif) 1 Women 1 Lyne Bessette Saturn (Canada) 112pts 2 Tina Mayolo-Pic autotrader.com (Buford, Ga.) 66 3 Ina Teutenberg Saturn (Germany) 64 4 Joanne Kiesanowski Proctor & Gamble (New Zealand) 44 5 Nicole Freedman Credit Suisse (Stanford, Calif.) 41 6 Petra Rossner Saturn (Germany) 40 7 Laura Charmeda Michella Fanini 37 8 Andrea Ratkovic 800.com (Norman, Okla.) 34 9 Jenny Eyerman Jane Cosmetics (Encinitas, Calif.) 33 10 Gina Grain 800.com 30 11 Katie Safford Earthlink (Pasadena, Calif.) 28 12 Katrina Berger 800.com (Solana Beach, Calif.) 26 13 Stacey Peters 800.com (Portland, Ore.) 23 14 Suzanne Sonye Saturn (Los Angeles, Calif.) 21 15 Karine Dalmais Vit All 20 Merideth Miller Santa Cruz Spokesman 20 17 Kori Kelly Proctor & Gamble (Boulder, Colo.) 18 18 Laura Van Gilder (Pocono Pines, Pa.) 16 19 Sarah Hammer Zero Wait 10 Julie Young autotrader.com (Sacramento, Calif.) 10 21 Allie Warfel Genesse Valley Cycling (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 9 Cheryl Binney Proctor & Gamble (San Francisco, Calif.) 9 23 Cynthia Mommsen Olympic Club (Mill Valley, Calif.) 7 Nicole Demars 800.com 7 25 Carla Koehler Velo Club LaGrange 6 Brenna Wolford Santa Cruz Spokesman 6 27 Cindy Bauwers Verizon Wireless 5 unidentified rider Saturn 5 Heather Cole Soul Craft (Canada) 5 Brooke Blackwelder Team Goldy's 5 Catherine Cardwell Jane Cosmetics (Lancaster, Calif.) 5 Sue Palmer-Komar Jane Cosmetics 5 33 unidentified rider 4 Stacey Spencer Proctor & Gamble 4 Amber Neben Velo 4 Kirsten Raudenbush Helen's 4 37 Patricia Mackey Tailwinds 3 38 Meridith Mills Echelon Santa Cruz (Santa Barbara, Calif.) 2 unidentified rider 2 Mina Pizzini Proctor & Gamble (Philiadelphia) 2 41 unidentified rider 1 Monica Erdosh Palace (Newcastle, Calif.) 1 Men's Teams 1 Mercury 258 pts 2 Saturn 219 3 Net Zero 41 4 Jelly Belly 40 4 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist 35 5 Navigators 33 6 Defeet/Lemond 18 7 Team DARE 16 8 New Zealand Nat'l Team 12 9 Lombardi 8 10 Landis 5 11 Los Gatos BRC 2 Prime Alliance 2 13 Marathon Racing Team 1 Women's Teams 1 Saturn 242 pts 2 800.com 120 3 autotrader.com 76 4 Proctor & Gamble 57 5 Jane Cosmetics 43 6 Credit Suisse 41 7 Michella Fanini 37 8 Earthlink 28 9 Santa Cruz Spokesman 26 10 Vit All 20 11 Zero Wait 10 12 Genesse Valley 9 13 Olympic Club 7 14 Velo Club LaGrange 6 15 Soulcraft 5 Verizon 5 Team Goldy's 5 18 Velo 4 Helen's 4 20 Tailwinds 3 21 Echelon Santa Cruz 2 22 Palace 1
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