News for March 20, 2001Recent results and new features UCI rankingsThe completion of Paris-Nice and the second women's World Cup over the weekend has seen a few changes to the UCI rankings for men and women. Although the top 10 men are essentially the same, some riders have climbed the ladder like Michele Bartoli (16th - 10th), Peter van Petegem (23rd - 14th), Dario Frigo (24th - 18th), Raimondas Rumsas (25th - 19th) and Michael Boogerd (30th - 22nd). In the teams rankings, Fassa Bortolo has leapt up to fourth, and will probably go higher after the conclusion of Tirreno-Adriatico (despite the loss of Ivanov to a crash). Mercury-Viatel has also done well out of Paris-Nice, moving to fifth place on the division one scale. Alessio is clearly the strongest second division team ahead of Jean Delatour and Milaneza-MSS. The women's rankings sees Anna Millward (Saturn) move to within 0.67 points of Hanka Kupfernagel (Farm Frites-Hartol), but the pair still trail world number one Diana Ziliute by 75 points. The Lithuanian will be seeking to successfully defend her title in La Primavera Rosa this weekend, her first big race of the season. Her new teammate Mirjam Melchers (Acca Due O) has moved into fourth place ahead of Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Farm Frites-Hartol), while Zinaida Stahurskaia (GAS) has displaced Joane Somarriba (Alfa Lum) in sixth place. In the women's team rankings, Acca Due O still holds sway, leading Farm Frites-Hartol by 250 points, with Alfa Lum, Saturn and GAS a further 300 points behind. Rankings at March 18, 2001 Men 1 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2,436.00 pts 2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 2,261.00 3 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Domo-Farm Frites 1,976.00 4 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 1,895.00 5 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal Service 1,782.00 6 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata 1,725.00 7 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 1,676.70 8 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,455.00 9 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 1,429.00 10 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,389.30 11 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 1,323.00 12 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) CSC-World Online 1,310.00 13 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 1,266.00 14 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Mercury-Viatel 1,205.00 15 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,192.00 16 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 1,184.00 17 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1,129.00 18 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1,111.00 19 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Fassa Bortolo 1,102.00 20 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mercury-Viatel 982.00 Division I 1 Mapei-Quick Step 1,072.00 2 Lotto-Adecco 1,055.00 3 Rabobank 1,006.00 4 Fassa Bortolo 923.00 5 Mercury-Viatel 754.00 6 Team Deutsche Telekom 713.00 7 Cofidis 641.00 8 O.N.C.E. 535.00 9 Domo-Farm Frites 488.00 10 Credit Agricole 445.00 Division II 1 Alessio 430.00 2 Jean Delatour 311.00 3 Milaneza-MSS 205.00 4 Ag2R Prevoyance 203.00 5 Bankgiroloterij-Batavus 197.00 Nations 1 Italy 13,463.70 pts 2 Spain 9,354.00 3 Belgium 7,790.00 4 Germany 7,782.25 5 France 6,682.50Women 1 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 706.00 pts 2 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Farm Frites-Hartol 631.67 3 Anna Millward (Aus) Saturn-Timex 631.00 4 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 550.50 5 Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Ned) Farm Frites-Hartol 510.00 6 Zinaida Stahurskaia (Blr) Gas Sport Team 427.00 7 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spa) Alfa Lum R.S.M. 417.00 8 Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Gas Sport Team 358.00 9 Chantal Beltman (Ned) 316.50 10 Svetlana Boubnenkova (Rus) Edilsavino 307.00 11 Mari Holden (USA) Alfa Lum R.S.M. 298.00 12 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (Fra) 292.34 13 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Vlaanderen-T-Interim Ladies Team 281.00 14 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Edilsavino 261.00 15 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Alfa Lum R.S.M. 220.50 16 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 218.50 17 Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Saturn-Timex 210.00 18 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Farm Frites-Hartol 200.00 19 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 195.00 20 Sarah Symington (GBr) 182.00 Teams 1 Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 1,670.00 pts 2 Farm Frites-Hartol 1,418.67 3 Alfa Lum R.S.M. 1,112.00 4 Saturn-Timex 1,103.00 5 Gas Sport Team 1,081.00 6 Edilsavino 750.00 7 Vlaanderen-T-Interim Ladies Team 567.00 8 Team Sponsorservice 418.00 9 Carpe Diem-Itera 251.00 10 Autotrader.com 225.00 Nations 1 Netherlands 1,533.67 pts 2 Lithuania 1,253.50 3 Germany 1,213.17 4 Australia 934.00 5 Russia 798.50 Milan-San Remo newsThis weekend sees the opening round of the men's World Cup in Italy. The 287 kilometre Milan-San Remo has been the focus of many of the top Italian teams and riders over the past few weeks. However, there are several foreigners who could easily steal the show at La Primavera. Lotto-Adecco, currently number two on the UCI team rankings, have enjoyed a solid start to the season with several wins and high placings. Their main man will be 1999 winner, Andrei Tchmil (38), who finished 13th in Paris-Nice. Tchmil put an end to Erik Zabel's two year winning streak, although Zabel came back for his third victory last year. Lotto's team consists of Belgians Andrei Tchmil, Mario Aerts, Christophe Brandt, Fabian De Waele, Thierry Marichal, Hendrik Van Dijk and Paul Van Hyfte, and Russian Guennadi Mikhailov. Erik Zabel is in top form as well, already winning five races this year. He took a couple of high placings in the first two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico, but has since been biding his time in the peloton, despite numerous bunch finishes. Barring mishap, he will certainly be the favourite for Milan-San Remo.
Paris-Roubaix teamsThe 25 teams to contest the 99th Paris-Roubaix on April 15 (Round 3 of men's World Cup) have been announced by the organisers, La Sociètè du Tour de France. Nine of the teams are French, and six of these are from division II. There are six Italian teams, two from Spain, Belgium, USA and Germany,one Danish and one Dutch team, all of which are from the first division. The French second division teams were invited after iBanesto.com, ONCE and Mercatone Uno declined to participate. Teams France Italy Spain USA Germany Denmark Netherlands Belgium British racing updateSurrey League Easter The popular Surrey Cycle Racing League are expanding their Easter 3 day, in spite of the large number of race cancellations due to Foot and Mouth. Courses will be subject to MAFF approval, but the League will make all efforts to run the events where ever they can. The afternoon event will now be open to Elite riders, as well as 1st and 2nd cats, who are not members of the League. The morning event will ONLY be open to 2nd, 3rd and 4th category Surrey League members. This will be run on a points system, but only those riders taking part in all three stages will be eligible. The proposed courses will be: Stage 1 - Cutmill - Friday April 13, Stage 2 - Handcross - Saturday April 14 and Stage 3 - Goodwood - Sunday April 15. More details at www.surreyleague.co.uk Race Cancellations/Postponements Update Current cancellations list as of March 19. Note: all SCU (Scottish) and WCU (Welsh) events have been cancelled in March. Weekend March 24-25 Sunday March 25 Saturday March 31 Sunday April 1 Weekend April 7-8 Sunday April 8 Long weekend April 14-16 Sunday April 15 Sunday April 22 Sunday April 29
Cycling in Ireland on the way backAccording to www.ireland.com, "sport in Ireland is set to return to normality after the Department of Agriculture issued an 'all-clear' for a number of sports as measures taken to combat the spread of foot-and-mouth disease are relaxed." The department announced that "outdoor events which take place on land and involve people only" are allowed, and this includes cycle racing. However, there will be no travel between Britain and Ireland until at least after Easter.
Leigh Donovan to retire at the end of 2001US Downhill Mountain biker Leigh Donovan (Schwinn/Oakley) will retire after "almost a decade" at the top, following the World Championships in Vail, Colorado in September this year. After a start in BMX racing, Leigh signed her first pro contract in 1993 for Iron Horse, and since then has ridden for Diamond Back, Mongoose, Intense Cycles and Schwinn. She won the US Downhill Series Championship, US Slalom Championship and the Downhill World Championship in 1995, a feat which has not been surpassed. She nearly repeated her World's win in 1996 but failed by just 0.18 seconds. "It's just my time to go, that's about all it is. I don't have a specific reason, I still love getting into the start gate, I still want to win, I still get nervous, I still love the fans, I still love the industry people, I still "like" sitting on a airplane headed to outrageous places, but something inside is telling me, "this is it"," said Donovan of her impending retirement. She is not sure yet what she will do after racing, and possibly ending up owning a flower shop: "I have been spending a few hours a week at a local flower shop and boutique in San Juan Capistrano, it was my favorite store to shop at, then one day I saw a sign out front for help, I applied and she hired me, now I have been tossing around the idea of owning my own shop. I have not been putting too much energy into it, as my coach Stephane has me training way too hard to think about anything else!" "I would love to stay involved with the bicycle industry, but it is not a requirement. It would suck to have 20-something years of riding and racing bikes go down the drain, I feel I have a lot to offer, but my only mission now is to race the best I can and I can think about that afterwards."
Atlas-Lukullus-Ambra presentationPolish second division team, Atlas-Lukullus-Ambra will present its line up at the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw today. The team is fairly new and has signed several riders from other teams, including Artur Krasinski and Piotr Zaradny (Mat-Ceresit), Marcin Lewandowski (Legia), Jacek Mickiewicz and Pawel Rychlicki (Mroz) and Martin Prazdnovsky (Wustenrot). Team Roster Manager: Piero Pieroni Riders Jacek Mickiewicz (Pol) Sponsors Atlas (adhesive and chemical products)
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