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By Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent
For the last few years, the winner of the Elite Men's World Championship Road Race has been a surprise, an outsider - Vainsteins last year, Freire in Verona, Camenzind in Valkenburg, Brochard in San Sebastian. But this year, the tough Monsanto course will be the big equalizer. As has been the case in the Elite TT, U23 and Junior Men's races, only the strongest riders have for only a real chance at a win.
The favourites are obvious; newly crowned Elite TT winner Jan Ullrich of Germany, newly returned Richard Virenque of France who won Paris-Tours last weekend and Spaniard Oscar Freire, '99 World Champ. And World Cup leader Erik Dekker of the Netherlands must be considered as another possible winner. No matter what, as the sun sets over Lisbon on Sunday night, the challenging circuit of Monsanto will produce a worthy world champion.
The Monsanto circuit for the 2001 World Road Championship is a 12.1 km lap in situated in and around the verdant Parque Florestal de Monsanto, to the northwest of downtown Lisbon.
Certainly the toughest worlds course since Lugano in '96, the Monsanto circuit is relatively short; only 12.1 km around, which means that the Elite Men's road championship will cover 21 laps! The repeated efforts up the two climbs will certainly take their toll; with 2.5 km per lap times 21 laps this adds up to 52.5 km of climbing.
After a flat start on the rua Radial, along the north side of the park perimeter, the course starts the 1st climb on the Cote de Serafina; up Rua Padre Domingos Mauricio Santos, a 900m hill that starts steeply and winds under a railroad viaduct.
After a gradual descent, at 3.8 km begins the Cote d'Alvito, the second climb of the lap; a stair step 1.6 km ascension through pine and eucalyptus trees up to the Barrio de Alvito The 100m elevation gain with some steepish sections (up to 8%) is not that selective of a climb until you ride up it 20 times.
After the Cote d'Alvito, there is a challenging, twisty false flat section through the Parque do Alvito plateau for almost 2 km over to the Rotunda do Presidente. This section is where the key moves and counter moves have happened all week. Then it's the fast, technical descent to the Rotunda da Boavista, past the Pina de Manique football stadium and back onto the fast, downhill finishing straight on rua Radial.
With the short course, repeated tough climbs and technical character of the course, expect plenty of action for the 2001 World's.
Australia
Cadel Evans and Nathan O'Neill. In the absence of medal hope Scott Sunderland
due to illness, watch out for the in-form Cadel Evans, who has dabbled in professional
road racing for the past two years and is one talented rider. Watch O'Neill
too; his excellent 8th place in the TT shows his legs like the Monsanto circuit.
Note: Cyclingnews readers won't be completely without Scott Sunderland, as he will be providing expert commentary as the race progresses on our live report. A special treat!
Belgium
Andrei Tchmil and his Lotto teammate Serge Baguet are both explosive riders
and both are in top shape for Lisbon. Tchmil and Baguet will be co-leaders on
Sunday, with support from solid Chris Peers, dynamic Davy Bruylandts and experienced
Johan Museeuw, with wild cards Peter Van Petegem and Axel Merckx. Belgium was
disappointed after a great Worlds last year (Tchmil caught in the last kilometre)
and team boss Jose De Cauwer is looking for revenge in Lisbon.
Colombia
A small team but a tough one; with TT medallist Santi Botero and the talented
Marlon Alirio Perez, the rapid-fire Colombian radio commentators may have a
something to talk about on Sunday.
Czech Republic
Tomas Konecny could be a real sleeper; winner of a Vuelta stage and 16th overall
on GC, the young Domo-Farm Frites rider can climb, sprint and time trial. Probably
not your next World Champ, but if his legs show up, Konecny is a medal possibility.
Denmark
Old warhorse Rolf Sørensen is still looking for a contract next year, while
former World Mountain bike champ Michael "Chicken" Rasmussen will hope for a
good ride on the tough circuit will is Michael Blaudzun, 10th in the Elite TT.
Look out as well for Jorgen Bo Petersen, who has had a good year this year.
France
Tout pour Richard - that's to say Virenque, Richard Virenque, winner of Paris-Tours
last Sunday. Virenque is extremely motivated, the tough circuit suits him and
he must certainly be a favorite for Sunday. With Jalabert out for the season,
"les bleus" will play the Virenque card and it just might work. And if it does,
UCI president Verbruggen will have to present allez Richard with his medal.
Perish the thought!
Germany
Der Grosse Mannschaft. Oh ja! Not since the days of Rudi Altig has Germany had
such a potent team for the Worlds. And after his win in Thursday's TT, Jan Ullrich
is THE favorite in Sunday's Elite road race. De Kaiser can count on seven Deutsche
Telekom teammates on Team Germany, with the big help from the experienced Hundertmarck
and in-form Kessler in the final. But Kaiser will have to finish alone, as he
could blow a small group sprint.
Great Britain
David Millar will looking for some measure of revenge for his last lap loss
in the TT, with the opportunistic and oh so experienced Max Sciandri hoping
to be in the right move.
Italy
Ahhh...La Squadra Azzuro...Vaunted Italy. Pero...maybe Italy will once again
become its own worst enemy. Rife with intrigue, trade team rivalries and other
soap opera dynamics, the Italian team could once again. Which of the five leaders
will be in the final for Italy? How about all five! Mercurial Tuscans Casagrande
and Bartoli, unpredictable Rebellin, peppery Bettini and Giro winner Simoni
could all be there, not to mention talented outsider Figueras. The big question
remains whether neo-CT Franco Ballerini can keep his squadra focused on working
for the best Italian of the day and not deteriorate into trade team rivalries.
Latvia
Defending World Champion Romans Vainsteins has only two riders in his team,
so he'll have to count on his smarts and strength to get himself in a position
to win again. His biggest problem is the parcours; there is probably just too
much climbing for him to succeed.
Netherlands
All for one and all for Orange. If all the Orangemen ride for World Cup leader
Erik Dekker, Orangemen like Boogerd, den Bakker and the rest of the Rabo-mob,
double/triple Dekker could be trading his Orange Team strip for a Rainbow Jersey
come Sunday night. Don't ever underestimate Dekker; once a winner, always a
winner.
Poland
Every year at Worlds, the Polish team gets better. With a silver last year from
big Zbig Spruch, maybe it's time for Piotr Wadecki to pick up some hardware.
With back-up like Baranowski, Chmielewski, Przydzial and neopro talent Sylvester
Szmyd, it could be champagne instead of pierogies Sunday nite in the Polish
Team hotel.
Russia
Old fox Dimitri Konyshev always rides well at the World's; the classy Russian
is a real money rider. But he is getting a bit long in the tooth and the hilly
Monsanto circuit may finally be too much for him. On the other end of the Russian
spectrum, lets see how Evgueni Petrov, last year's U23 double World Champ fares
in the big time. Another sleeper is Alex "Bobo" Botcharov; a superb climber
who is in excellent form right now.
Spain
Pure talent Oscar Freire is another major favorite for Sunday's championship;
Freire is not only fast (2nd in Paris-Tours) and can climb well. But will his
bad back hold out with the repeated climbing? Another team that seems to ride
better every at World's, Spain has a sort of home court advantage Expect mucho
Spanish fans on hand for Sunday and should Freire falter, could it be Chechu
Rubiera to the rescue for Spain?
Switzerland
With '98 World Champ Oscar Camenzind back home sorting his mail, Volta a Portugal
winner Fabian Jeker sick and Laurent Dufaux having prostate problems, it's up
to Beat Zberg to uphold the honour of Helvetia this year. Pity top Swiss talent
Sven Montgomery isn't in Lisbon.
USA
Every year, the USA sends a team to the World's and sometimes, there is even
something going on. In '98, Lance was on the comeback trail and '99 saw a fit
Chan "The Man" McRae in the winning break. This year, emerging Levi Leipheimer,
already an excellent 4th in the TT, hopes to be in the final on Sunday. And
why not? The course suits Leipheimer but will his legs show up? Only his hairdresser
knows for sure!
Footnote: Austria. Enzi Christopher writes that Gerrit Glomser (Post Swiss) will not start on Sunday, and there is nobody who wants to replace him. The remaining three Austrian team members are Peter Luttenberger, Harald Morscher and Gerhard Trampusch.
At a press conference at Team Germany's hotel Saturday morning, Jan Ullrich declared his intentions for Sunday's World Championship. A confident "I want to win tomorrow; everything I've done (since the Tour De France) was to win the World's Road Race, not the time trial."
"But it may not be possible to win alone. Tomorrow will be a big poker game; since Germany doesn't have a strong enough team to control everything. Erik Zabel is our joker; the other teams have to make the race hard because if he is there in the final, he will win. And if it's fast and hard, that's good for me. We need to make sure we have good riders in the breaks all day too."
Richard Virenque/France
"It pleases me because it is one of hardest circuits for the last ten
years. Even harder than that of Agrigente in 1994. The course is demanding."
"For me, it is ideal, because it's short, with descents which lead very quickly to the climbs. I would prefer that the race is hard from the start so as to make everyone suffer."
"I approach this championship relaxed after having recovered from Paris-Tours. I could win on the flat - me, the climber! I agree that I have a 50 percent chance of winning. The presence of Ullrich will do me a big favour; he needs the race to explode. Ullrich, like Casagrande, Simoni, Bettini and Dekker, will not wait for a sprint.
Neil Stephens/Australia DS,br. "We have a really young team here in Lisbon, except for Pat Jonker, who will help the young guys like Mick Rogers and Cadel with advice. We are expecting the guys to learn tomorrow."
Jose De Cauwer/Belgian DS
"After a few races on this parcours, we can see that the best riders are winning
- it is very difficult. After talking with the riders, we have changed plans
from last year and we will follow, follow, follow and see what happens after
200 km. We've got 7 or 8 guys who will work for the best riders on the (Belgian)
team, but there is no top guy. One thing is for sure, since Verona and Plouay,
the have a good team unity on our squad."
Michael Rasmussen/Denmark
"I don't have a job yet (Rasmussen has not yet signed with CSC-Tiscali for 2002)
but I think I'm pretty close. I'll do Giro del Piemonte and Milano-Torino and
hope to do Lombardia as well. I'm ready for the road, I like this course (in
Lisbon) and since I've already done a lot in mountain biking, this is my next
step."
1 Belgium 24 2 Italy 15 3 France 8 4 Netherlands 7 5 United States 3 6 Switzerland 3 7 Spain 2 All the rest: 1
(number of victories, first year, last year) 3 Eddy Merckx (1967-1974) 3 Rik van Steenbergen (1949-1957) 3 Alfredo Binda (1927-1932) 2 Gianni Bugno (1991-1992) 2 Greg Lemond (1983-1989) 2 Freddy Maertens (1976-1981) 2 Rik van Looy (1960-1961) 2 Briek Schotte (1948-1950) 2 Georges Ronsse (1928-1929)
1 2000 Romans Vainsteins (42,971 km/h) 2 1998 Oscar Camenzind (42.822 km/h) 3 1965 Tommy Simpson (41.531 km/h) 4 1970 Jean-Pierre Monsere (41.410 km/h) 5 1985 Joop Zoetemelk (41.202 km/h)
1 Karel Kaers (Bel) 20 years - 1934 2 Jean-Pierre Monsere (Bel) 21 - 1970 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) 21 - 1993 4 Greg Lemond (USA) 22 - 1983 5 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 22 - 1967 6 Georges Ronsse (Bel) 22 - 1928 7 Benoni Beheyt (Bel) 22 - 1963 8 Georges Ronsse (Bel) 23 - 1929 9 Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) 23 - 1988 10 Oscar Freire (Spa) 23 - 1999
1 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 38 years - 1985 2 Stan Ockers (Bel) 35 - 1955 3 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 33 - 1953 4 Theo Middelkamp (Ned) 33 - 1974 5 Hans Knecht (Swi) 33 - 1946 6 Rik van Steenbergen (Bel) 32 - 1957 7 Antonin Magne (Fra) 32 - 1936 8 Ferdi Kubler (Swi) 32 - 1951 9 Rik van Steenbergen (Bel) 31 - 1956 10 Johan Museeuw (Bel) 30 - 1996
Source: Sportweek
Saturday morning saw another 36 anti-doping controls carried out by UCI officials. Riders from the French, Italian, Russian, British and Swedish teams were tested (30 men and 6 women).
After rumours in the press room concerning the future of Mercury in 2002, Cyclingnews spoke to a key UCI official about their status. "As you know, Mercury is suspended for 2001 and regarding next year, the UCI wants to make sure everything, all the open issues (concerning non-payment of riders salaries) are cleaned up before any new team linked to the former group sportif is registered."
The rumours concerned a re-registration of Mercury under a new group sportif with current team boss John Wordin excluded from the people actually operating the team, but still running the squad from the background. However, since all Division 1 and 2 teams must register directly with the UCI, it appears that this type of manoeuvre is not an option for 2002.
Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel will next Saturday start in the Isostar Beach classic. The Dutch triple Olympic gold medallist will close out her season with the race from Scheveningen to Noordwijk and back. Last month, Van Moorsel won gold in the individual pursuit at the World Track Championships in Antwerp, but chose not to race on the road in Lisbon.
At last, what many of you have been waiting to know: what was the story with Levi Leipheimer finishing third in the Vuelta. As Levi's wife, Cyclingnews columnist Odessa Gunn is fairly well qualified to get the inside scoop. Read about it and more on Levi's team for next year in the latest edition of the Odessa Files.
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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Tech
maintenance - Wheels - how to keep them true and tight
Tech letters
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