News for March 25, 2001

Milan-San Remo round-up

Erik Zabel says his win in yesterday's Milan-San Remo was "the best of my four victories because I managed to beat Mario Cipollini and Romans Vainsteins who are both great sprinters. In the last few weeks I dreamed about winning San Remo but I only told my wife about the dream because I don't like to boast. I prefer to let my legs do the talking."

"The race really started on the Cipressa when Casagrande attacked. But I was never worried because Alexandre Vinokourov was in the move. They never got a big lead and so I knew we would catch them before the finish."

"My secret is that I love riding my bike, both racing and training."

His colleagues and rivals in the peloton have been congratulatory about the German all-rounder's achievement.

Andrei Tchmil (Lotto) put it succinctly: "I feel like I was here just so Zabel could with a fourth time." Commenting on the peloton's relaxed early pace, Tchmil said, "For 180 kilometers there was practically no race. It was less hard than usual; even the final climb was not enough to outdistance the sprinters. Only Poggio was climbed quickly, but the best was ahead. Zabel? He is a great rider."

Romans Vainstains (Domo) was unimpressed with one rider's tactics: "With 300m to go Planckaert grabbed me by the jersey. I lost all my chances. To come back against Zabel under those circumstances is impossible. I felt good on Poggio; I could not have done more."

Looking forward to the rest of the early season, Vainstains added: "It augurs well for the other classics, but there is a certain disappointment."

Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) said "My role was to cover the escapes in the final stages. It's what I did when Casagrande started in Cipressa. To win for a fourth time is exceptional."

Philippe Gaumont (Cofidis) was involved in the crash in the final sprint: "Without that fall I would have had a good position, probably in the top five or six. I was well placed."

Mario Cipollini was also disappointed: "I dream of this race and I am again second." At 34, Cipollini feels he has few chances left to win the Pimavera; to wait another year will be hard for him and for Italy.

Injuries and penalties

The aftermath of the crash in the final sprint included stuiches for Dimitri Konyshev (Fassa Bortolo) and Philippe Gaumont (Cofidis). Konyshev sustained a head wound, and Gaumont injured his right knee.

Less serious injuries, consisting of various cuts and bruises, were suffered by Stefano Zanini (Mapei), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), and Mikel Zarrabeitia (ONCE). Geert Van Bondt (Mercury)has a wounded right hand.

The race jury upheld Romans Vainstains complaint that Jo Planckaert (Cofidis) had impeded him in the sprint and penalised Planckaert br relegating him to 19th place, the lowest position in the leading group.

Inaugural San Francisco Grand Prix

BMC Software have announced details of the second last event of the four race BMC series, the San Francisco Grand Prix. Scheduled for September 9, the race is expected to be extremely popular in the Bay Area with over 100 professional riders on the start list.

The 200 kilometre race will be held over a 12 laps of a 16.6 kilometre circuit, starting on the Embarcadero, and winding through North Beach and along Fisherman's Wharf and the Marina. At the halfway point, the riders will have to negotiate the steep climb up Fillmore Street. Following this, they will travel through Russian Hill, North Beach and back to the Embarcadero.

The race will be televised live on KGO-TV (ABC-7) in San Francisco.

BMC Software Grand Prix

April 7 - BMC Downtown Criterium, Austin, TX
April 21 - BMC Tour of San Jose, CA
July 8 - BMC Tour of Arlington, MA
September 9 - BMC San Francisco Grand Prix, CA
September 16 - BMC Tour of Houston, TX

22 year old Telekom professional sentenced

The efforts of Telekom professional, Matthias Kessler, to avoid being sentenced for traffic offences appear to be in vain. He faces a fine of DM19,000 if he doesn't appeal, and a possible loss of his driving licence for eight months.

In October 1999, a 56 year old female VW bus driver was forced to stop and afterwards beaten by Kessler. He was angry because she and her little daughter in the bus had prevented him from turning off. The woman, who had serious bruises on her arm, wounds to her face and a sore leg after he kicked it, went to the doctor. But Kessler has his doubts about the truth of the doctor's certificate as well about the statement of her daughter.

"I was only arguing with the woman, but I didn't hit her!" he said.

The court had no doubts about the doctor's certificate and the observations of the daughter, and fined Kessler DM 19,000 and stripped his driver's licence for eight months.

Now, Matthias Kessler has to win some races to pay back the large sum!

Courtesy of Hans Will

Leblanc on Armstrong

Tour de France director, Jean-Marie Leblanc, has spoken frankly about Lance Armstrong and his involvement in the investigation into the US Postal Service team. In an interview with Procycling magazine, Leblanc was critical of the French, in particular some of its journalists and the judicial system.

"Even if I wasn't the director of the Tour," said Leblanc, "the Armstrong business would bother me on both a human and a moral level. A French television report on the contents of US Postal's dustbins at the Tour has formed the basis for a judicial inquiry on purely circumstantial grounds. I'm not particularly impressed by this approach, from a journalistic perspective. This method of investigation should come within the competence of the police, rather than a team of journalists."

However, he also said the US Postal had erred in employing a slighly unusual waste disposal system, viz. "surreptitiously disposing of waste from medical products at the side of the motorway."

Leblanc pondered why Armstrong had earned the anger of the French media. "I don't know why - doubtless because they're suspicious of his domination. We've seen riders even more dominant in the past, though, without anyone asking themselves questions! Intellectually, their reasoning doesn't seem logical."

Pre-season over for Tom Steels

On Friday, the decision was made that Tom Steels will not race in the next two weeks, perhaps missing Paris-Roubaix as well. The Mapei medical centre in Milan hopes that he can start in the Circuit Cycliste de la Sarthe (April 10-13), but there are dark clouds over Steels.