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The final race in the UCI World Cup is the Giro di Lombardia this Sunday. With the standings the way they are, and the non-participation of second placed Erik Zabel (Telekom), there are only two men who can win the trophy this year. In the unlikely event that Romans Vainsteins (Domo) wins this hilly classic and Erik Dekker doesn't place in the top 15, then Vainsteins will win overall. However it's more probable that Dekker, who finished fourth in the World Championships last Sunday, will win the World Cup with a very comfortable margin.
Erik Dekker has been the most consistent World Cup rider this year, failing by the narrowest of margins to win the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, but making up for it with victory in the Amstel Gold Race. He finished in the top 10 in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Clasica San Sebastian, 3rd in HEW Cyclassics, 5th in Meisterschaft von Zürich and 13th in Paris-Tours. He was out of the points in Milano-San Remo, and did not ride Paris-Roubaix.
Erik Zabel has finally decided to call it quits for the season. The world number one has won an impressive 28 UCI races this season, including two World Cup victories and six stage wins in the Tour de France and the Vuelta España. In second place is Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r) with 20 victories.
Individuals 1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 28 2 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 20 3 Scott Moninger (USA) Mercury 17 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Domo-Farm Frites 12 4 Baden Cooke (Aus) Mercury 12 4 Ondrej Sosenka (Cze) CCC-Mat 12 7 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas 11 7 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom 11 7 Angel Edo (Spa) Milanza-MSS 11 Teams 1 Mercury 84 2 Telekom 57 3 Mapei-Quick Step 47
The outcome of the 'US Postal enquiry' in France may not be known until 2002, according to the Parisian judge in charge of the investigation. The enquiry started in late 2000 after a France 3 TV program aired footage of bags containing swabs, compresses and pill packets being taken away from hotels used by the USPS team at the 2000 Tour de France.
The investigating judge, Sophie-Helene Chateau, told Darren Tulett of Bloomberg News recently that "Our expectations are not always met. I hope the inquiry will be finished before the end of the year."
Judge Chateau had indicated this past June the possibility of the investigation finishing within two months, at the time saying that there was no reason to charge any members of the team with criminal activities. However, she also said that testing of blood and urine samples would continue.
The head of the French national drug testing laboratory, Dr. Jacques De Ceaurriz, said his team had carried out tests for Erythropoietin (EPO), over six months ago. "There was some pressure to get it over with before the Tour de France," De Ceaurriz told Bloomberg News. "I can't see why it's dragging on so."
"With the blood tests, it could be that they are fishing without knowing exactly what they are looking for," he said. "That might be one of the things that slowed them down."
On the sporting front, the US Postal team is rebuilding for next season, having to find replacements for several members who are leaving the team making a total of 19 riders for its European campaign. Assistant directeur sportif Dirk Demol told Belga news agency that "Our top men, George Hincapie, Christian Vandevelde, Roberto Heras, José-Luis Rubiera and of course Lance Armstrong will stay. Whether Viatcheslav Ekimov rides for one more season, is a question that I cannot answer. If he leaves, then we have a place for an extra rider."
It is certain that Jamie Burrow and Levi Leipheimer are both leaving the team, as are Julian Dean and Tyler Hamilton (both to CSC-Tiscali), and Cédric Vasseur (Cofidis).
Angel Luis Casero has responded to speculations that he will sign with Kelme-Costa Blanca next season, after team director Vicente Belda was quoted as saying that he was being "forced to sign Casero." Casero said that the negotiations are only preliminary at the moment, although they are progressing well. "We taking with the patron, Pepe Quiles, and the manager, Joan Mas," said the winner of the Vuelta, who added that Belda's comments were likely taken out of context.
He also said that he has had conversations with ONCE, and it "wouldn't matter to him if he rode alongside Beloki, Olano and Gonzalez de Galdeano, or Sevilla. To share the leadership with Sevilla would not be a problem, since for a team it is better to have two serious options there."
Casero denied that he has requested a contract of 190 million pesetas (US$1 million) from Kelme, saying that negotiations are still going on and he did not know what he could expect economically.
Pepe Quiles on the other hand said that "Kelme does not have a single peseta to sign him. The Generalitat Valenciana is helping us, but Belda will keep his team and budget."
Both Quiles and Casero were upset by an article published that link the Vuelta winner with Kelme's doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes. It was alleged that during the Vuelta, Fuentes left a voicemail message for Casero saying that he would help him win the race. Casero has his lawyers on the case now, while Quiles called it a "campaign of destablisation" and that he trusted Fuentes implicitly.
Belgian rider Bjorn Leukemans has signed a one year contract with Collstrop-Palmans. He will make the transfer from Vlaanderen-T-Interim.
First held in 1874, Milano-Torino is Italy's oldest classic. Wednesday sees the 86th edition of the race, which was cancelled last year due to bad weather conditions. This year 202 kilometre event will feature 23 teams, many of which will ride the Giro del Piemonte the following day. However, many of the big names are saving themselves for the Giro di Lombardia World Cup race on Sunday.
Starters include Richard Virenque, Romans Vainsteins, and Axel Merckx (Domo-Farm Frites), Francesco Casagrande and Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), Joseba Beloki, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE), Jose Maria Jimenez (iBanesto), and Fernando Escartin (Team Coast).
The race finishes in the Fausto Coppi velodrome in Torino and is often decided by the climb (and subsequent descent) with 15 kilometres to go.
By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com
Irish cycling has received a massive boost with the news that a professional stage race in the mould of the much-missed Nissan Classic is set to take place next August.
The five-day North/South Tour of Ireland has been granted a place on the international calendar by the UCI, and has the rare privilege of being allocated a high status in its first year. Most new stage races begin as 2.4 ranked races or lower, but the Irish tour's 2.3 ranking means that it is on the same level as the prestigious Tours of Sweden and Portugal, making it attractive to professional teams.
Race organizer Pat McQuaid has yet to finalise funding, but he is confident of receiving financial backing from the Dublin and Northern Ireland governments and gaining the necessary private sponsorship for the competition, which was conceived with the aim of underlining the improved cross-border relations in Ireland. The race is due to take place from August 27 - 31, 2002.
The tour joins the Shay Elliot memorial race, a highly-regarded one day event which commemorates the achievements of Ireland's first Tour de France yellow jersey holder. The 1.5 ranked race will take place next year on April 28. Ireland could therefore have up to three UCI classed races next year, joining the 2.5 FBD Milk Ras.
Rolf Aldag, Matthias Kessler, Stephan Schreck, Alberto Elli, Roberto Sgambelluri, Andrei Mizurov and Gerhard Trampusch.
October 17 - 86th Milano - Torino, Italy
Riders: Davide Bramati, Dario Cioni, Paolo Lanfranchi, Daniele Nardello, Evgueni Petrov, Filippo Pozzato, Andrea Tafi, Charly Wegelius DS: Serge Parsani
October 18 - 88th Giro del Piemonte
Riders: Laszlo Bodrogi, Davide Bramati, Luca Paolini, Filippo Pozzato, Michael Rogers, Luca Scinto, Pavel Zerzan, Charly Wegelius. DS: Serge Parsani
The Lotto-Adecco team will finish its season on October 28 in Japan with the Japan Cup (1.3). Directeur sportif Walter Planckaert has selected Kurt Van De Wouwer, Wim Vanhuffel, Kurt Van Lancker, Christophe Brandt and Glenn D'Hollander to ride.
By Gerry McManus
Rising British star, Bradley Wiggins, visited the Hillingdon Circuit in Hayes, West London on Saturday October 13 to deliver a special cheque to the Slipstreamers Development Club.
"I love what the Slipstreamers stand for, they take kids from the age of six and teach them the skills of riding a bike and then help them develop into racing cyclists if they are that keen, it's fantastic to help them out. The team that work with the kids are very dedicated and put in a lot of very hard work, they are a great bunch of people," said Wiggins at the occasion.
The donation was made possible by British Olympic team sponsors, Kellogg's, who were very happy with Bradley's bronze medal in the team pursuit, and offered him personal support as well as for a cause of his choice. The cheque for over £1,000 will go towards the continued youth development programme in the West Thames BCF region, run by volunteers from the Prime Coaching team for the Slipstreamers.
Bradley was also given a Slipstreamers jersey which he promised next year, while riding with his new professional team Francaise de Jeux, that he would get the jersey signed by many top professionals and hand it back to the club. He also personally donated four Great Britain helmets, used in many of his many international successes this year. His current sponsors Sport & Publicity and Endura/TAL donated a special copy of his European Championship jersey for the Slipstreamers to auction off later in the year.
Bradley is continuing to train from his London home until he joins his new team members in France later in the year.
The organisers of the Noosa Triathlon Multi Sport Festival have contracted the top five Australian cyclists in the world rankings to compete in the Noosa Criterium on Saturday 3 November, one of the feature events in the Festival.
Stuart O'Grady, who narrowly missed claiming the Green Jersey at this year's Tour De France, is a former Noosa Champion and has confirmed his position on the start line for this year. He will be joined by former World Junior Champion and highest placed Australian overall at the 2001 Tour de France, Brad McGee.
Scott Sunderland blasted to a win at last year's Noosa Criterium after his seventh placing at the World Championships in Plouay. This year he has enjoyed greater success, winning the GP Pino Cerami and GP Fourmies as well as several top five placings in stage races.
Robbie McEwen, a stage winner at the 1999 Tour De France, will be present as will former World Cup Mountain Bike Champion, Cadel Evans, has been dabbling in professional road racing for the last couple of years, riding for Saeco. Evans surprised more than a few observers by winning this year's Tour of Austria, one of the most mountainous tours on the pro circuit. He also finished an impressive 26th in the recent World Road Championships in Lisbon, and was the best Australian finisher there.
Other Australians confirmed to start are Matt White (US Postal), Jay Sweet (Big Mat) plus a line up of thirty of Australia's best road cyclists.
Last and certainly not least is top British rider David Millar (Cofidis), winner of the Tour de France prologue in 2000, two stages in the Vuelta España in 2001 and silver medalist in the World Championship Time Trial in Lisbon.
Racing takes place on Saturday November 3 at 4.30pm on the multi lap Criterium circuit directly behind the Sheraton Noosa Resort.
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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