News for May 10, 2001Recent results and new features Dauphiné detailsThe parcours and teams for this year's 53rd Critérium du Dauphiné libéré were announced yesterday. 112 riders from 15 teams will start the race, which runs from June 10 to 17. Eight French teams are confirmed, along with four from Spain, two from Belgium and one from the USA.The course will be one for the climbers, with a crux stage on June 16 from Pontcharra to Briançon taking in three major cols, including the hors category Galibier and Crois de Fer, and the first category Télégraphe. Other highlights after the traditional prologue in Morzine include a long individual time trial through the vineyards and lavender fields of the Vauclause, and two flat stages which should suit the sprinters. The final stage is designed for spectators and will use the circuit at Chambery where Greg LeMond won the 1989 world's. Race organiser Thierry Cazeneuve expressed disappointment that US Postal will not be participating, saying that the team had been badly affected by the doping charges levelled against it last year by French media and had therefore decided to ride only a few French races this year. Cazeneuve also explained that the lack of Italian teams was because of the race's closeness to the Giro d'Italia. Teams AG2R, BigMat, Bonjour, Cofidis, Crédit Agricole, Domo, Euskaltel, Festina, Française des Jeux, Ibanesto.com, Jean Delatour, Kelme, Lotto, Mercury-Viatel, ONCE Stages Prologue - June 10: Morzine-Avoriaz, 4 km Kirsipuu against the oddsStage one of the Four Days of Dunkirk was Jaan Kirsipuu's sixth victory by in this race (and his seventh this season), but it's going to be hard for the injury-plagued AG2R to sustain that for the next few weeks. Team manager Vincent Lavenu had to bring considerable pressure to bear to get the necessary seven riders to the start; their number included Thierry Loder even though he was scheduled to be in hospital for a groin operation on Wednesday.Löwik pulls outDutch furniture maker Löwik will cease its involvement with cycling sponsorship after this season. The company, owned by Harry Löwik, whose son Gerben is a pro with the Rabobank team, has changed its promotional budget. Löwik has been active in cycling since 1992. This year they sponsored a top amateur team with Tegeltoko. Tegeltoko is now looking for a new partner.Mauri begins hour record preparationSpanish rider Melcior Mauri yesterday began his preparation at the Bordeaux velodrome for his planned assault on Chris Boadman's hour record. Mauri, whose record attempt is scheduled for May 19, rode several laps of the velodrome, both solo and behind a motorpace bike.Mauri has already been training on the Valencia velodrome and said he believed he could beat Boardman's mark of 49.441km "if my legs want to." The final decision will not be taken until the day before the scheduled attempt, after Mauri has been able to ride in realistic conditions. Mauri is using a custom-built Gios bike, specifically constructed to be just within the UCI-mandated minimum weight (6.82kg, 0.02kg above the minimum allowed) and spoke count (16). Vuelta a Asturias Tour warm-up for Kelme and ONCEKelme and ONCE will field the same teams in next week's Vuelta a Asturias (15-20 May) as in the Tour de France, according to race organiser Julio Alvarez. Kelme will be led by Oscar Sevilla and Santiago Botero, ONCE by new signing Joseba Beloki.The rest of the Kelme team will be: Félix Cárdenas, Aitor González de Galdeano, José Angel Vidal, José Enrique Gutiérrez, Toni Tauler and Javier Pascual Llorente. Supporting Beloki on ONCE will be: Igor González de Galdeano, Rafael Díaz Justo, Santos González, Iván Parra, Mikel Pradera, Marcos Serrano and Carlos Sastre. Alvarez said the mountainous parcours was intended to be "the scene of a great struggle between the climbers". Stages Stage 1 - May 15: Oviedo - Avilés, 154km Euskaltel-Euskadi for GP CCRLVTTour wildcard selection Euskaltel-Euskadi's next step on the long road to Paris is the Portuguese GP CCRLVT (UCI 2.5), which runs from today to May 13.Euskatel's team will consist of: Angel Castresana, Iñigo Chaurreau, Txema Del Olmo, Rubén Díaz De Cerio, Igor Flores, Gorka González, Iñigo Landaluze and Aitor Silloniz Stages Stage 1 - May 10: Nazaré-Ourém, 179.4km US Collegiate Road Nationals set to flyThe top collegiate cyclists in the United States will converge in Colorado Springs May 19-21 for the 2001 National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCCA) National Collegiate Road Cycling Championships. The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) cycling team will play host for the three-day event, which will be held at the Air Force Academy and in downtown Colorado Springs.Race director Captain Jay Lowell said that nearly 325 riders are expected to attend. USAFA, CU-Boulder, Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colo.), Marian College, Denver University, University of New Mexico, Colorado College and University of Wyoming are among the team slated to represent their schools at the National Championships. National Championship events include the criterium, road race and team time trial. The criterium is scheduled for Saturday, May 19 in the city's downtown streets. The race will be on a technical, eight-corner course. The course for the May 20 road race on the USAFA campus is modelled after the course used at the 1986 World Championships. Each nine-mile lap has approximately 950 feet of climbing and has a peak altitude of 7,250 feet. The race route starts near Falcon Stadium and passes the Cadet Area, the athletic fields and the B-52 monument. May 21's team time trial leads competitors on a 16.9 km out-and-back course that runs from the North to South Gates of the USAFA. The course has a gradual 340-foot elevation change and is generally downhill on the first leg and uphill on the second. Junior track worlds scheduleThe junior track world's, scheduled for July 25-29 at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, PA, will be the first track world championships held in the US for over a decade. Over 400 riders, coaches and officials are expected from 30 countries, and the event is predicted to bring $2 million into the local economy.Tickets are available from the Lehigh Valley Velodrome business office on (610) 967-7587. Schedule July 25: Women 500m TT Final; Olympic Sprint Final; Men 3km
Pursuit; Opening Ceremonies New signings for SotoxSeveral riders have recently signed with management company Sotox Sports Management. Dylan Casey (US Postal), Jonathan Vaughters (Credit Agricole), Christian Vande Velde (US Postal) and triathletes Tim and Nicole DeBoom have all retained the company's services.Also scribbling his John Hancock for Sotox is Frankie Andreu, who will be looking to the company to manage his transition into a post-racing career. Andreu is in the process of writing a book about his racing days, and is working as a writer, coach and as US directeur sportif for US Postal.
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