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Ever since his comeback to cycling almost two months ago, Richard Virenque has made no secret of the fact that he would dearly love to win the World Championships in Lisbon. Although he hadn't raced for 10 months, Virenque was clearly in reasonable shape after starting with a few criteriums, moving to the Vuelta a Burgos and Meisterschaft von Zurich, before tackling the three week Vuelta España. It was enough to get him back to racing shape, and he emphatically proved that by winning the 95th Paris-Tours on Sunday after an escape lasting 242 kilometres.
Normally in a flat classic like Paris-Tours, one would not pick a five-time Tour de France King of the Mountains to win. But while Virenque is not at his best in the mountains (yet) he still has his tenacity to fight to the end in a breakaway, and picked the perfect partner in Jacky Durand to make his escape.
As he crossed the line in Tours, marginally in front of the peloton, he pointed to the sky with his right index finger - his 'signature' victory salute. He would not reveal the words he spoke on the finish line, apart from the fact that they were the same as when he won the Tour stage to Morzine in 2000.
The win means that Virenque is now certainly a favourite for Lisbon, and this is good news for the French team which lost Laurent Jalabert to injury. Virenque is perhaps more favoured than the other top French riders, Laurent Brochard, Jean-Cyril Robin or Patrice Halgand, who have all had long seasons and may suffer on Sunday.
Virenque himself commented that "I will only be an outsider behind the Italians and the German Jan Ullrich" although he did admit to being the "freshest rider mentally in the peloton."
After spending six and a half hours battling a headwind yesterday, he may have lost some physical freshness, but that doesn't trouble him as he has the whole week to recover.
There is also the question of his team for next year. Although he is happy with Domo-Farm Frites giving him the chance to resurrect his career, he wants to command some sort of a salary again. In the Domo team this may depend on whether Johan Museeuw stays or goes. Tomorrow's Museeuw press conference in Ichtegem will be an important moment for Virenque, who should now be guaranteed of his immediate future in cycling.
German champion Jan Ullrich is hoping to make up for a frustrating season by winning a world title this week in Lisbon. Ullrich is entered in both the time trial and the road race, and he is primed to perform well.
"I was time trial world champion two years ago, but the road race title still is missing," he said before his departure. He is clearly aiming for the road race, but will be one of the most marked men on Sunday. There are no such disadvantages in a time trial.
"It's good that Erik [Zabel] gave his promise, then it is more difficult to determine on Sunday," he commented about the world number one's decision to ride. Zabel said that although he had not initially planned to ride the World's, "I still feel good and I can perhaps help."
For Ullrich, "This World Championships is for me a high point, as the Olympic Games was similarly last year. Otherwise I would not have kept myself fit for such a long time at the highest level."
Ullrich's main rivals for the title include Oscar Freire (Spain), Davide Rebellin and Paolo Bettini (Italy), Erik Dekker and Michael Boogerd (Netherlands), Richard Virenque (France) and Andrei Tchmil (Belgium).
The racing starts on Tuesday, October 9 with the Junior women's and U23 men's individual time trials. On Wednesday the Junior men and Elite women will have their time trials, followed by the Elite men on Thursday. The road events commence on Friday, again with the Junior women and U23 men. Saturday sees the Junior men and Elite women's road races, with Sunday's Elite men's race the concluding event in the World's. Cyclingnews will have the usual full coverage of all the events.
Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano has decided to withdraw from Spain's world championships team owing to a viral infection he contracted during the Vuelta España. His place will be taken by Eladio Jimenez (iBanesto.com).
Team lists
Race schedule and course
profiles
Johan Museeuw will probably announce a decision about his future tomorrow (Tuesday) at a press conference in Ichtegem. He has the choice of remaining with Domo-Farm Frites or returning to Mapei-Quick Step for what will likely be his last year as a pro cyclist. He has good relationships with both teams and given indications that he will stay with Domo. His current teammate Romans Vainsteins will stay with Domo, according to several newspapers.
Lotto top man Andrei Tchmil has named May 31, 2002 as the final day in his professional cycling career. The 38 year old (39 in January) will draw the curtains closed on what has been a consistent and successful 13 years as a classics rider, highlighted by some inspiring wins.
The Moldavian-born naturalised Belgian came to prominence in 1994 with an epic solo victory in the Paris-Roubaix mudbath, which he backed up by several more wins in major races that year. Since then he has become a specialist in the Belgian classics, culminating with a win in the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 2000. This season, bad luck seemed to have followed him in the early part of the season - always puncturing or crashing at crucial moments. His 8th place in this year's Paris-Roubaix was a fantastic ride given the terrible road conditions and a heavy fall when the race split.
Tchmil therefore will not contest the World Championships in Zolder, Belgium in 2002. "Mentally charging and motivating myself for the spring classics won't cost me much effort. This year though I already had problems preparing myself for what came after that. I concluded enough from that," said Tchmil. "In the Dauphiné Libéré I was one of the first dropped each day. It took much longer for me to gain proper condition. I have no difficulty in motivating myself one more time for the top races in March and April."
Lotto team leader Jef Braeckevelt commented that "I have seen all sorts of things that show that Andrei is ready to stop. In the Giro di Lucca for example he had frites for his evening meal. Previously he would have disagreed with that."
Andrei Tchmil still wants to stay in cycling after he retires as a rider. There is a good chance that he could work for the UCI as an intermediary between the union and the peloton.
Top Belgian squad Lotto-Adecco may receive a sponsorship boost next season from De Post, the Belgian national postage service. De Post currently puts in approximately BEF65 million (US$1.5 million) into football sponsorship, and is seeking to do the same in cycling. Lotto's co-sponsor Adecco will stay in 2002, to the tune of BEF20 million (US$500,000).
French riders Arnaud Tournant, Laurent Gané and Arnaud Dublé have started to turn their sizable legs over on the high altitude (3,477m) track in La Paz, Bolivia. The trio are aiming this week to lower several speed records, namely the flying 200m (9.865 sec), 500m (26.649 sec), and standing 1,000m (1.00.148) marks. Each cyclist will try for a different record. Tournant will obviously go for the 1,000m time trial, Dublé will attempt the flying 500m and Gané the 200m.
Despite the altitude, none of the riders have yet complained of adverse effects apart from a headache. "Everything is well and we are optimistic," commented Alain Bondue, the general manager of the Cofidis team which all three riders are a part of. "The track is of good construction, the cement is of very high quality."
The trio will attempt the records on Tuesday morning, October 9, local time.
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This past weekend saw the conclusion of the 2001 World Human Powered Speed Challenge, held at Battle Mountain in Nevada. Some impressive speeds were attained, notably by last year's 'winner' Sam Whittingham in the Varna Diablo, and late entrant Matt Weaver in the Kyle Edge.
On Friday, Weaver broke Sam's one kilometre and one mile records with 123 km/h (76.44 mph) and 121.72 km/h (75.51 mph) respectively. Sam raised the bar on the 200m record averaging 125.08 km/h (77.59 mph), with Weaver almost bettering this.
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However these records were obliterated on the final day, with Sam Whittingham becoming the first HPV rider to break 80 mph (129 km/h), completing the 200m in 5.55 seconds - 129.85 km/h (80.55 mph). Sam also broke the one kilometre and one mile records with 128.62 km/h (79.79) and 126.76 km/h (78.64 mph) respectively.
Olympic one kilometre TT champion Jason Queally managed to propel his Blueyonder machine to 103.71 km/h (64.34 mph) but it was well off the speeds set by Whittingham and Weaver. Female entrant Tanya Markham impressed with 82.65 km/h (51.27 mph) and 81.53 km/h (50.58 mph) in the one kilometre and one mile records respectively.
It makes 9.865 seconds for 200 metres seem slow!
Major Races and Events
September 7-29, 2002: Vuelta
a España (GT) - Preview, stage list
May 11-June 2, 2002: Giro
d'Italia (GT) - Preview, stage list, photos
July 6-28, 2002: Tour
de France (GT) - Full preview & official route details
December 8: Superprestige
Rd 5 (Cat. 1) - Erwin Vervecken
November 29-December 4: Six
Days of Noumea (6D) - Sassone/Neuville victorious
November 26-December 1: Six
Days of Zurich (6D) - Day
6 - McGrory/Gilmore/Schnider win
December 1: Melbourne
Cup on Wheels (IM) - Scott Moller, Keirin,
Sprint, Support
races
December 2: Cyclo-cross
World Cup #2 (CDM) - Sven Nijs again
November 24-December 3: Juegos
Deportivos Centroamericanos (JR) - Final results
December 8-9: Frankfurter
Rad-Cross (Cat. 2) - Alex Mudroch, UK
National Trophy Series #4 (Cat. 3) - Roger Hammond, Grote
Prijs Industrie Bosduin - Kalmthout (Cat. 1) - Bart Wellens, Int.
Radquer Obergösgen (Cat. 2) - Björn Rondelez, Trofeo
Mamma e Papa Guerciotti (Cat. 3) - Enrico Franzoi, Premio
Egondo (Cat 3) - David Seco, Irish
cyclo-cross championships - Robin Seymour
Results: local racing
Australia - CycleWest
Promotions Omnium Series #2, Eastern
Suburbs Summer Criterium Series, Carnegie
Caulfield Tuesday criterium, Southern
Cross Junior Track Open & Madison Cup, Manly
Warringah CC, George
Town Track Carnival, Carnegie
Caulfield CC, Randwick
Botany CC, Gold
Coast CATS CC, Caesar's
Illawarra CC, Caesar's
Illawarra (track)
Denmark - Danish
cyclo-cross Post Cup #3
Italy - Gran
Premio Città di Bassano
Luxembourg - GP
De Kopstal
New Zealand - Cyco
Criterium series
Spain - Elorrio
cyclo-cross
USA - Georgia
Cross Series Championship, Chimborazo
Grand Prix cyclo-cross, Boulder
Cross Rd 6, New
Mexico State Cyclo-x Champs, Sorrento
Cyclo-x & California State Champ's, Boulder
Cross Rd 5, Verge
New England series, Northampton
CC Cyclo-cross Championships, Chris
Cross International CycloCross
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Tales from the Peloton
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Tales from the Peloton
- Tony Cruz - back to his roots (December 7)
Marco Polo
Diary - Tour du Faso - Part II - Nathan Dahlberg's report (December 3)
Tech
maintenance - Wheels - how to keep them true and tight
Tech letters
- Headsets, Pegoretti, Carbon cage, gloves & tubes (December 10)
Tech news - Navigators
power-tap, Headsets, Carbon cages (December 7)
Tech- Recycling
- How to protect your chainstay for free
Tech Reviews:
Egg Beater pedals; Park
Tool belt; Shimano shoes;
Speedplay
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the Chain - Dope planning and testing - From Willy Voet's book
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