News for March 21, 2001

Javier Ochoa's condition improving

Javier Ochoa has opened his eyes and shown an improvement in his level of consciousness, according to reports on Spanish television. He has also been able to move his arms.

A statement from the Carlos Haya hospital in Malaga said Ochoa's condition remains serious but it had been possible to take him off the mechanical ventilator which had been assisting his breathing. Despite this small improvement, Ochoa remains in intensive care.

Javier Ochoa was struck by a car on February 15 while training with his brother Ricardo. Ricardo was killed in the incident and Javier has been in a deep coma for the last month.

Zijlaard-Van Moorsel not yet ready

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel doesn't want to think about World Cups just yet. She is scheduled to ride the GP Primavera, the women's Milan-San Remo, this weekend, but may decide to ride a criterium in the Dutch village of Haarsteeg instead. "It was a heavy winter. My head is still a little bit stuffy. If they say to me now: take a week's holiday, I'll be sitting in the plane tomorrow."

Since Sydney Zijlaard-Van Moorsel has had a busy program, but didn't accept everything she was offered. "If I had accepted everything, maybe I would be in the neighbourhood of a millionaire [in Guilders]. But I didn't." But with four medals from the Olympics it has been easier to find sponsors, and the Farm Frites team's budget has been increased from one million to 1.5 million Dutch Guilders (US$615,000/700,000 Euro).

Part of that budget will be invested in the future of women's cycling in the Netherlands: one project is a team of talented young riders including junior world champion Vera Koedoder. Zijlaard-Van Moorsel is a model for up-and-coming riders and for the fight against anorexia. She was an anorexia sufferer and a TV documentary about that part of her life brought a big reaction. "All young girls and women with a problem with anorexia get a personal letter or phonecall from me."

With all this activity, Van Moorsel's most restful rime over the winter has been on her bike. "Really great time, without the phone." Her attack on the world hour record is planned for September, but she has to plan around her monthly cycle: she knows from experience she can take more pain when she has her period. As her husband Michael says, "You have to listen to the laws of your body."

Longo's 46.009km hour record was made under new UCI rules mandating a conventional bike. Normally Zijlaard-Van Moorsel rides on the hoods, but that's not the most aerodynamic position, so she is training with her hands lower, and that brings in another physical problem: "Then my tits are in the way. Longo doesn't have that problem." Another impediment for Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, but it keeps her sharp: "All the Olympic titles are great, but I lost my rainbow jersey."

Milan-San Remo: Boogerd, Merckx out

Despite his fairly useful sprint performance in yesterday's stage of the Tirreno Adriatico Micheal Boogerd (Rabobank) said after that race that he won't be riding this weekend's Milan-San Remo because "it's a classic for sprinters." Last year Boogerd won the hardest stage of the Tirreno, but skipped the first World Cup, and so too this year.

Speaking to Italian journalists who disagreed with his opinion on the Primavera, Boogerd said: "San Remo? No thanks. I am going home on Wednesday. I promised my girlfriend. I'm not Eddy Merckx, I have to make choices. And I did that in January: No San Remo, but starts in the Catalonya Week and Basque as preparation for Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Amstel Gold Race. And if I want to keep my condition of this moment, I have to go at home on Wednesday: resting and training. But you have a point: I'm in a very good shape and maybe I should think about starting in Milan. But it is mentally so heavy. The stress in the last kilometer is heavier than the first 300. But this first World Cup race don't inspire me."

In other Milan-San Remo news, Servais Knaven will replace Axel Merckx in the Domo-farm Frites line-up. Merckx is still not recovered from the injuries he sustained in Paris-Nice.

Promising German rider Waldvogel killed

By Hans Will

Bavarian riders are mourning for Manuel Waldvogel, who was the victim of a horrible traffic accident on Sunday March 18. As so often happens in such cases, he had no chance against a car, which hit him head-on. Manuel Waldvogel died at just 21 years old.

He began the 2001 season pretty successfully because he wanted to become a professional racer. He was the advertisement for his club, the Biketeam Aichach 2000 and as well a very reliable rider in the Espoirs-team of the Bavarian Bicycle Association, Team Bavarian Lions. He was expected to become the leader of the team this year. He was one of the best junior riders in the Bavarian Bicycle Association, and became an important member of the Bavarian Lions Espoirs team after his victory in Werneck in 1998.

His coach, Hubert Stoeffel, supported his talent and Mario Kummer, the former Bavarian trainer and latest director of sports affairs for Team Telekom, believed also in him. Waldvogel always transferred his optimism and his everlasting good mood to his team-mates, and they always enjoyed riding with him.

It was always a lot fun to collaborate with Manuel Waldvogel, and his friends in the team will certainly miss him.

Giro 2002

The 2002 Giro will start with a prolog in Groningen intead of a stage through the three north provinces in the Netherlands (Groningen, Drentje and Friesland). That's the wish of Giro boss Castellano, who has to take into account the maximum total kilometers set by the UCI. Groningen mayor Dick Heuvelman has no problem with this request: "A prologue is even nicer than a stage."

UK/BCF News

Some snippets from the latest British Cycling Federation newsletter:

2001 Cycle Speedway Directory

Copies of the 2001 BCF Cycle Speedway Directory, containing fixtures, clubs and regulations, are in the office and will be distributed to all affiliated Cycle Speedway clubs this week. There should be a copy for every Cycle Speedway BCF member, so see your club secretary for your copy. Additional copies are available from the BCF - please send an A5 SAE with 33p of stamps to Cycle Speedway Directory, BCF Competition Department, Stuart St., Manchester M11 4DQ.

Symington Warms up for Italian World Cup

Sara Symington showed that she is in excellent form coming into next weekend ís Primavera Rosa World Cup race in Italy with an excellent third in the Giro dei 6 Comuni in Switzerland on Sunday. The Leicestershire rider, who took 10th in the Olympic Road Race and sixth in the worlds last year, is best known for her sprinting, but coped well with the hilly Swiss course, finishing just over a minute down on Italian winner Fabiana Luperini (GAS Sport). Simone Parente, also of Italy, was second.

House 15th in Belgium WCPP Road placement

Kristian House continued his early season race programme on Sunday with an impressive 15th in the 61st Kattekoers Gent - Leper, a tough 163km race with a big field of 177 riders. Winner was Stefaan Vermeersch (Bel) with a race time of 3h53m (Av: 41,974km/h. House finished 3m 07s down.

Romford-Harlow

Romford-Harlow organiser Alan Sanders has sent us the latest on next weekend's event: "I have been out on the course today (floods all over the place) and made some changes to the route. Basically I've cut out all the roads to the east of the A113 and south of the A414 so that we do not enter the an area that is within the Foot & Mouth Infected Zone and added an extra lap of the final finishing circuit to give a race distance of 93 miles. These changes have made after consent was given by MAFF for the original route but I did not think it would be good PR for the sport if we went ahead and raced within an excluded zone. All riders will be notified of these changes when they sign on. If the situation changes over the week I will keep everybody up to date."

Cancellation: The Lincolnshire RR League Race, Epworth, scheduled for the 2nd May has been cancelled.

New Road Event in Warwickshire

Coventry Road Club have sent us details of a new event, the Spring Road Race, to be held on Saturday, 12 May 2001 and based at Maxstoke, Warwickshire. Open to 3/4/W/J the race is 70km and starts at 3pm. Entries are £8 (£10 EoL) and should be sent to David Hughes 20 Streamside Close, Allesley, Coventry CV5 9FF. Cheques should made payable to D J Hughes. Further information can be obtained from David Hughes on 024 7640 7043 or e-mail at coventryroadclub@yahoo.co.uk. The club tell us that sponsorship has been provided by two Coventry based companies, internet window firm www.u-fit.co.uk and Ride Cycles, which means a healthy prize list in excess of £400.

Latest US Rankings

The latest USCF NRC rankings show two new leaders at the top of the individual standings.

Recent Redlands Bicycle Classic champion Trent Klasna (Pine Valley, Calif. -- Saturn) has the top spot in the men's rankings. Fellow 2001 Redlands champion and Canadian Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) claimed the top ranking in the women's field this week. Tour de Snowy winner Kim Bruckner (Boulder, Colo. -- Saturn) is the top American at second.

Mercury is the current leader in the men's team rankings, while Saturn holds on to the women's first place spot.

The next USCF NRC event, the Mercury Sea Otter Classic, takes place March 22-25 in Monterey, Calif.

USCF NRC Rankings, March 19

Men 1 Trent Klasna Saturn (Pine Valley, Calif) 252pts 2 Roland Green US Postal Service (Canada) 175 3 Chris Horner Mercury/Viatel (San Diego, Calif) 155 4 Baden Cooke Mercury/Viatel (Australia) 129 5 Levi Leipheimer US Postal Service (Windsor, Calif) 127 6 Michael Rogers Mapei-Quick Step (Australia) 103 7 Eddy Gragus Jelly Belly (Ft. Collins, Colo) 101 8 Gord Fraser Mercury/Viatel (Canada) 99 9 Cadel Evans Volvo-Cannondale (Australia) 80 10 Chris Wherry Mercury/Viatel (Boulder, Colo) 69 11 Scott Moninger Mercury/Viatel (Boulder, Colo) 64 12 Ivan Dominguez Saturn (Orlando, Fla) 63 Mark McCormack Saturn (N. Easton, Mass) 63 14 Frank McCormack Saturn (Leicester, Mass) 48 15 Vladimir Miholjevcic KRKA Telekom (Croatia) 45 16 Harm Jensen Saturn (Netherlands) 44 17 Graeme Miller NetZero (New Zealand) 43 18 Steve Larsen Prime Alliance (Bend, Ore) 40 19 Jamie Drew Mercury/Viatel (Australia) 36 20 Valter Bonka KRKA Telekom (Slovenia) 34 21 Derek Bouchard-Hall Mercury/Viatel (Palo Alto, Calif) 32 22 Danny Pate Prime Alliance (Colorado Springs, Colo) 31 23 Roel Paulissen Lotto-Addeco (Belgium) 30 24 Eric Wohlberg Saturn (Canada) 24 25 Jason McCartney (Jelly Belly) 23 26 Vassili Davidenko Navigators (Russia) 22 27 Ryder Hesjedal Subaru-Gary Fisher (Canada) 21 28 Jeroen Blijlevens Lotto-Addeco (Netherlands) 20 29 Charles Dionne 7up/Colorado Cyclist (Canada) 19 Gianpaolo Cheula Mapei-Quick Step (Italy) 19 31 Roberto Gaggioli Defeet/LeMond (Santa Rosa, Calif) 18 Ryan Miller Prime Alliance (Boulder, Colo) 18 33 Chris Pic Mercury/Viatel (Buford, GA) 17 Damon Kluck Jelly Belly (Boulder, Colo) 17 35 Hilton Clarke NetZero (Australia) 16 Franky VanHaesebroucke Navigators (Belgium) 16 37 Ernie Lechuga Corona-Citibank-Mastercard (Los Angeles, Calif) 15 38 Kevin Monohan 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist (Wyckoff, N.J.) 13 39 Glen Mitchell New Zealand Nat. Team (New Zealand) 12 40 Chann McRae Mercury/Viatel () 11 41 Will Frischkorn Mercury/Viatel (Colorado Springs, Colo) 10 Michael Barry Saturn (Canada) 10 Scott Price Schroeder/Incycle (Albuquerque, NM) 10 44 Josh Thornton US National U23 (Draper, Utah) 9 45 Michael Creed Prime Alliance (Boulder, Colo) 8 Dean Meyer Lombardi Sports-OFOTO.com (Monterey, Calif.) 8 47 Pavel Zerzan Mapei-Quick Step () 7 48 Dominque Perras Team DARE (Canada) 6 Russell Stevenson Broadmark (Seattle, Wash) 6 50 John Durso Lombardi Sports-OFOTO.com (San Francisco) 5 Keith Horowitz Team DARE (Goleta, Calif) 5 James Paolinetti NetZero (Los Angeles, Calif) 5 Erik Saunders Team DARE (Santa Barbara, Calif) 5 Matt Yates NetZero 5 Christian Werner Nurnberger (Germany) 5 Boris Premuzic KRKA Telekom (Slovenia) 5 Gorik Gardeyn Lotto-Addeco (Belgium) 5 Antonio Cruz US Postal Service (Long Beach, Calif) 5 Kam Po Wong Marco Polo (Hong Kong) 5 Chris Baldwin Navigators (Fort Collins, Colo) 5 Jaroslav Bilek Wustenrot ZVVZ (Czech Republic) 5 Filippo Pozzato Mapei-Quick Step (Italy) 5 Svein Tuft Broadmark (Canada) 5 Nathan Dalberg Marco Polo (New Zealand) 5 Clark Sheehan 7up/Colorado Cyclist (Boulder, Colo) 5 Patrick Heany Lombardi Sports-OFOTO.com (Palo Alto, Calif) 5 Scotty Weiss Zaxby's (Athens, GA) 5 Kashi Leuchs Volvo-Cannondale (New Zealand) 5 Dirk Friel Zaxby's (Boulder, Colo) 5 Joel Chavez Wheelworks/Cannondale () 5 Jacob Erker Schroeder/Incycle (Canada) 5 72 Matt Decanio Saturn (Tucson, Ariz) 4 Jonas Carney Prime Alliance (Manitou Springs, Colo) 4 74 Oscar Pineda 7up/Colorado Cyclist (Bronx, NY) 3 John Hunt Lombardi Sports-OFOTO.com (San Anselmo, Calif) 3 76 Ryan Lane NetZero (Camarillo, Calif) 2 Matt Dubberley Los Gatos BRC (Los Gatos, Calif) 2 78 Dean LaBerge Marathon Racing Team (Napa, Calif) 1 Women 1 Genevieve Jeanson Rona Cycling Team (Canada) 315pts 2 Kimberly Bruckner Saturn (Boulder, Colo) 160 3 Lyne Bessette Saturn (Canada) 137 4 Katrina Berger 800.com (Solana Beach, Calif) 120 5 Alison Dunlap Team GT (Colorado Springs, Colo) 116 6 Kim Smith autotrader.com (Highlands Ranch, Colo) 103 7 Tina Mayolo-Pic autotrader.com (Buford, GA) 92 8 Jimena Florit Sun International (Argentina) 90 9 Susy Pryde autotrader.com (New Zealand) 87 10 Nicole Freedman Credit Suisse (Stanford, Calif) 66 11 Ina Teutenberg Saturn (Germany) 64 12 Caroline Alexander Total Trainer (Great Britian) 56 Andrea Ratkovic 800.com (Norman, Okla) 53 14 Sandy Espeseth Intersports (Canada) 53 15 Joanne Kiesanowski Proctor & Gamble (New Zealand) 44 16 Katie Safford Earthlink (Pasadena, Calif) 43 17 Petra Rossner Saturn (Germany) 40 18 Laura Charmeda Michella Fanini (Fulton, Calif) 37 19 Jenny Eyerman Jane Cosmetics (Encinitas, Calif) 33 20 Gina Grain 800.com 30 21 Stacey Peters 800.com (Portland, Ore) 28 22 Alison Sydor Subaru-Gary Fisher (Canada) 27 23 Suzanne Sonye Saturn (Los Angeles, Calif) 26 24 Karine Dalmais Sun International (France) 25 Merideth Miller Santa Cruz Spokesman (El Cerrito, Calif) 25 26 Jessica Phillips Team Tailwinds (Burlington, VT) 24 27 Kori Kelly Proctor & Gamble (Boulder, Colo) 18 28 Elizabeth Emery Intersports (Albuquerque, NM) 17 29 Laura Van Gilder (Pocono Pines, Pa) 16 30 Kelli Emmett Team GT (Plymouth, Mich) 15 31 Cheryl Binney Proctor & Gamble (San Francisco, Calif) 14 32 Rhonda Quick Jane Cosmetics (San Diego, Calif) 13 33 Cynthia Mommsen Santa Cruz Spokesman (Mill Valley, Calif) 12 Nicole Demars 800.com (Canada) 12 35 Sarah Hammer Zero Wait (Temecula, Calif) 10 Julie Young autotrader.com (Sacramento, Calif) 10 Annie Gariepy autotrader.com (Canada) 10 Pam Schuster autotrader.com (Northridge, Calif) 10 39 Allie Warfel Genesse Valley Cycling (Colorado Springs, Colo) 9 Judith Arndt German National Team (Germany) 9 41 Dotsie Cowden Earthlink (Venice, Calif) 8 42 Joan Wilson Santa Cruz Spokesman () 7 43 Carla Koehler Velo Club LaGrange (Los Angeles, Calif) 6 Brenna Wolford Santa Cruz Spokesman (Oakland, Calif) 6 Barbara Blatter Total Trainer (Switzerland) 6 46 Cindy Bauwers Verizon Wireless () 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 Liane Bahler German National Team (Germany) 5 Chrissy Redden Subaru-Gary Fisher (Canada) 5 Krystyna Kras Webcor (Davis, Calif) 5 Melanie McQuaid Rona Cycling Team (Canada) 5 Lysle Wilhelmi 800.com (Seattle, Wash) 5 Claire Hall-Patch Subaru-Gary Fisher (Canada) 5 Rebecca Cooke Landis/Trek/Volkswagen () 5 Lauren Smith Santa Cruz Spokesman () 5 Leah Goldstein 800.com (Canada) 5 Gabriela Gonzalez DeFerrat Total Trainer (Mexico) 5 Catherine Powers Verizon Wireless (New York, NY) 5 Tina Liebig German National Team (Germany) 5 Anne Samplonius Intersports (Canada) 5 Darnelle Moore Press Enterprise (Canada) 5 Simone Klewitz German National Team (Germany) 5 Manon Jutras Rona Cycling Team (Canada) 5 Jacqueline Brabentz German National Team (Germany) 5 Andrea Hannos Press Enterprise (Canada) 5 69 Stacey Spencer Proctor & Gamble () 4 Amber Neben Harbor Lights/Velo Motion (Irvine, Calif) 4 Kirsten Raudenbush Helen's (Santa Monica, Calif) 4 72 Patricia Mackey Team Tailwinds () 3 73 Meridith Mills Echelon Santa Cruz (Santa Barbara, Calif) 2 Mina Pizzini Proctor & Gamble (Philiadelphia, Penn) 2 75 Monica Erdosh Palace (Newcastle, Calif) 1 Men's Teams 1 Mercury 516pts 2 Saturn 470 3 US Postal Service 307 4 Jelly Belly 141 5 Mapei-Quick Step 134 6 Prime Alliance 101 7 Volvo/Cannondale 85 8 KRKA Telekom 84 9 Net Zero 71 10 Lotto-Adecco 55 11 Navigators 43 12 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist 40 13 Lombardi Sports/OFOTO.com 21 Subaru/Gary Fisher 21 15 Defeet/Lemond 18 16 Team DARE 16 17 Schroeder/Incycle 15 Corona/Citibank/Mastercard 15 19 New Zealand National Team 12 20 Broadmark 11 21 Marco Polo 10 Zaxby's 10 23 US National U23 9 24 Nurnberger 5 Wustenrot ZVVZ 5 Wheelworks/Cannondale 5 27 Los Gatos BRC 2 28 Marathon Racing Team 1 Women's Teams 1 Saturn 427pts 2 Rona Cycling Team 325 3 autotrader.com 302 4 800.com 243 5 Team GT 131 6 Sun International 115 7 Proctor & Gamble 88 8 Total Trainer 67 9 Credit Suisse 66 10 Intersports 65 11 Jane Cosmetics 56 12 Santa Cruz Spokesman 55 13 Earthlink 51 14 Michella Fanini 37 Subaru/Gary Fisher 37 16 German National Team 29 17 Team Tailwinds 27 18 Vit All 20 19 Zero Wait 10 Verizon 10 Press Enterprise 10 22 Genesse Valley 9 23 Olympic Club 7 24 Velo Club LaGrange 6 25 Soulcraft 5 Team Goldy's 5 Landis/Trek/Volkswagen 5 Webcor 5 29 Harbor Lights/Velo Motion 4 Helen's 4 31 Echelon Santa Cruz 2 32 Palace 1