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The conclusion of the World Cup has seen a few changes in the UCI rankings, the unofficial determinant of economics in cycling. While Erik Zabel (Telekom) is still clearly the world number one, his successor for the World Cup title, Erik Dekker (Rabobank) moved into second place overall following the Giro di Lombardia. Dekker's teammate Michael Boogerd also moved up the rankings, leaping over three riders into seventh spot overall. Lombardia winner Danilo di Luca (Cantina Tollo) went from 72nd to 33rd, while Richard Virenque (Domo) is now in the top 100 (106th - 88th) courtesy of his fourth place.
The team rankings have not changed a great deal in a week, meaning that yesterday's unofficial listing of the 16 pre-qualified teams for the Tour de France 2002 is still correct, although Saeco moves up to 'next in line' on the UCI rankings instead of Credit Agricole. This is also contingent on the fact that Festina and Liquigas will stop, and Mercury will no longer be in division I. It should be noted that although the pre-selection is decided on rankings at the close of the 2001 season, eligible Division I teams still have to register properly with the UCI by December 20.
Individuals 1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 2,387.00 pts 2 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 2,026.00 3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata 1,977.00 4 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 1,713.00 5 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom 1,680.00 6 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 1,644.00 7 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1,522.00 8 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1,493.00 9 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1,491.20 10 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1,416.00 11 Dario Frigo (Ita) 1,251.00 12 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Domo-Farm Frites 1,235.00 13 Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 1,160.00 14 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 1,084.00 15 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 1,078.50 16 David Millar (GBr) Cofidis 1,057.00 17 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 1,045.00 18 Levi Leipheimer (USA) US Postal Service 972.00 19 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 957.00 20 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Fassa Bortolo 947.00 Division I 1 Fassa Bortolo 7,932.00 pts 2 Team Deutsche Telekom 7,205.00 3 Rabobank 7,168.00 4 Mapei-Quick Step 6,775.00 5 Lotto-Adecco 6,384.00 6 iBanesto.com 6,226.00 7 Cofidis 6,134.20 8 O.N.C.E.-Eroski 6,111.00 9 US Postal Service 5,912.00 10 Domo-Farm Frites 5,780.00 11 Lampre-Daikin 5,159.00 12 Liquigas-Pata 4,799.00 13 Festina 4,781.00 14 Kelme-Costa Blanca 4,445.00 15 Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 4,314.00 16 CSC Tiscali 4,266.00 17 Euskaltel-Euskadi 4,188.00 18 Saeco Macchine Per Caffe' 4,063.00 19 Mercury 3,582.00 20 Credit Agricole 3,310.00 21 Team Coast 2,667.00 22 Mercatone Uno-Stream TV 1,664.00 Division II 1 Alessio 3,880.00 pts 2 Ag2R Prevoyance 3,036.00 3 Jean Delatour 2,733.00 4 Bonjour 2,643.00 5 Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone 2,410.00 6 La Francaise Des Jeux 1,990.00 7 Milaneza-MSS 1,854.00 8 Gerolsteiner 1,798.00 9 Bankgiroloterij-Batavus 1,632.00 10 Team Fakta 1,628.00 Division III 1 05 Orbitel 520.80 pts 2 Stabil Steiermark 489.00 3 Mikomax-Browar Staropolski 258.00 4 Kia-Suisse 255.00 5 Team Wiesenhof Leipzig 253.00 6 Barbot-Torrie 229.00 7 Agro-Adler Mark Brandenburg 227.00 8 Team Crescent 224.00 9 AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 222.00 10 PSK Remerx 202.00 Nations 1 Italy 12,029.60 pts 2 Spain 8,960.00 3 Germany 8,240.50 4 France 7,002.00 5 Belgium 6,797.50 6 Netherlands 6,656.50 7 U.S.A. 5,282.00 8 Switzerland 4,628.00 9 Australia 3,548.50 10 Russia 3,492.00 Complete rankings
Ukrainian time trial specialist Serguei Gontchar, Swiss talent Sven Montgomery and Italian stalwart Gianni Faresin will ride for the world's number one ranked team, Fassa Bortolo, next season. The three experienced riders will be a significant boost for Giancarlo Ferretti, who is looking to stay on top in 2002. In addition, Gontchar's current Liquigas teammates Denis Zanette and Marco Zanotti will probably join the squad, as well as Rinaldo Nocentini (Mapei) and Marco Velo (Mercatone Uno).
On the other hand, six riders will leave Fassa Bortolo. Dario Frigo was sacked in June, and has been signed by Tacconi Sport; Raimondas Rumsas, winner of the Giro di Lombardia in 2000, and Italians Andrea Peron, Leonardo Giordani, Marco Fincato and Luca Mazzanti have also been let go.
Gilberto Simoni will ride for the Saeco Macchine per Caffe team next season. The winner of this year's Giro d'Italia signed a two year contract with the team this morning (Monday). With the signing of Simoni the Saeco has now completed its rebuilding process, creating a strong line up to replace Mario Cipollini.
The team's other big signing, Danilo Di Luca, won the Giro di Lombardia on Saturday, putting a smile on team manager Claudio Corti's face. "Simoni and Di Luca are an exciting couple, they are both born attackers. However the whole team looks good for next season. The new riders will join up with Celestino and Commesso and other solid riders which will make up a strong team."
"I expect a lot from the team next year," Corti said. "This year Saeco Macchine per Caffe' won a lot in term of quantity (30 races with the last being the Milan-Turin race won by Celestino last Wednesday). I'm sure we'll have lots of success in terms of quality as well 2002."
30 years old from Palu' di Giovo in the northern mountainous Trentino region, Gilberto Simoni turned professional in 1994 after winning the amateur Giro d'Italia and the Italian national title. After a few difficult years Simoni finished third in the 1999 Giro d'Italia and again in 2000. This year saw him finally win the Giro, pulling on the pink jersey awarded to the winner.
Former MTB World Champion, Michael Rasmussen, has signed a contract with Bjarne Riis' CSC-Tiscali team for one year. The Dane has impressed in late season races, in particular the World Road Championships where he finished 36th. After he won the World Championships in Sweden in 1999, Rasmussen said that he would be interested in riding on the road. Now, his dream has come true.
"I believe Michael can progress to become a very significant mountain rider," said Riis in an official press release. "Michael is a pure mountain climber, a rare species in Denmark and in bicycling in general. His is picked out to support Tyler Hamilton in this year's Giro d'Italia, and I'm confident that he will solve this assignment in the best possible way. I'm very happy that the contract with Michael is now in place."
The overall winner of the World Cup, Erik Dekker, has donated his vertically-striped rainbow jersey to the Fondazione Fabio Casartelli. Dekker finished second behind the ill-fated Italian in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Casartelli died during a stage in the Tour de France in 1995 when he crashed on the descent of the Portet d'Aspet.
The Fondazione Fabio Casartelli grew out of a fan club which followed his exploits after the Olympic Games. Now it is dedicated to "remembering Fabio with dignity". It is chaired by his nephew, and organises fund raising dinners and events throughout the year, including an amateur race in Fabio's home town.
Italian gas company Liquigas has announced that it will stop sponsoring cycling at the end of this season, confirming the rumours that have been circulating for several months. Liquigas started in 1998 but will end its four year involvement after this season had been "polluted by events which undermined the fundamental values of the sport."
Liquigas spokeswoman Daniela Bernacchi told Bloomberg News' Darren Tulett that "We wanted to make sure our message got over clearly. We will reconsider our position according to any changes which may come about." She did not specify what these changes would be.
Italian cycling has been under a cloud this year ever since the police raids in the Giro d'Italia. Some of the Liquigas riders were suspended for a time as a result, and the entire investigation is still continuing.
"Festina sold more watches after the 1998 Tour de France even after the team was thrown out for drug-taking," sports analyst Giovanni Palazzi (Gipi Consulting) said. "Getting your name talked about helps brand recognition, whatever the context."
Liquigas' co-sponsor Pata (a potato-chip maker) said that they would not be back in cycling. "We had customers, vendors and agents making fun of us after what happened in Sanremo," said Pata owner Remo Gobbi. "We invested in the sport to have a good return in terms of image. That's not what we got."
Italian Cycling Federation president Giancarlo Ceruti commented that "There are problems, but the majority of sponsors still choose to stay in the sport. Sponsors should stay with us to help fight the battle against the sport's evils."
The Marco Pantani sporting fraud case is coming up again, with Il Pirata attempting to clear his name after he was found guilty of said offence in December 2000. Pantani was fined 1.2 million lira (US$550) and given a three month suspended sentence by a court in Forli, which ruled that his 60.1 percent hematocrit measured after Milan-Turin in 1995 could only have come about through illegal performance enhancing methods.
The final rankings of the US Pro Cycling Tour have been issued by Threshold Sports, the organisers of the richest cycling series in the USA. Following the last race in the series, Miami Beach Classic, Saturn's Trent Klasna and Anna Millward finished on top of the rankings, while Saturn also won the men's and women's team rankings.
In the men's individual rankings, George Hincapie finished second ahead of US Postal teammate Julian Dean, followed by Mercury's Leon Van Bon and Baden Cooke. Chris Horner did not receive points for first place in Miami as he changed teams at the end of the season.
Saturn had a clean sweep of the women's individual rankings, with Millward leading home Teutenberg and Rossner.
Men individuals 1 Trent Klasna (Saturn) 483 pts 2 George Hincapie (US Postal) 276 3 Julian Dean (US Postal) 260 4 Leon Van Bon (Mercury) 245 5 Baden Cooke (Mercury) 239 *6 Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) 224 7 Fred Rodriguez (Domo Farm Frites) 220 8 Jans Koerts (Mercury) 200 9 John Lieswyn (7 Up Colorado Cyclist) 193 10 Michael Barry (Saturn) 185 11 Graeme Miller (Net Zero) 171 12 Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) 171 13 Jakob Storm Piil (CSC World On Line) 130 14 Soren Peterson (Saturn) 130 15 Gord Fraser (Mercury) 128 16 Kevin Monahan (7 Up Colorado Cyclist ) 122 17 Viatechslav Ekimov (USPS) 120 18 Harm Jansen (Saturn) 116 19 Mark McCormack (Saturn) 105 20 Oleg Grishkine (Navigators) 103 *Will be confirmed following outcome of final appeal. 75 Points from BMC/Austin have been deducted. Men's teams 1 Saturn 798 pts 2 Mercury 684 3 USPS 656 4 Navigators 419 5 7 Up 392 6 Prime Alliance 236 7 Jelly Belly 142 8 DeFeet/Lemond 121 9 Reality Bikes.com 81 10 Zaxby’s 68 Women individuals 1 Anna Millward (Saturn) 340 pts 2 Ina Teutenberg (Saturn) 335 3 Petra Rossner (Saturn) 293 4 Tina Mayolo Pic (AutoTrader.com) 209 5 Joanne Kiesanowski (Procter & Gamble) 188 6 Laura VanGilder (Verizon) 149 7 Kristy Scrymgeour (Saturn) 129 8 Roz Reekie May (UPMC) 127 9 Sandy Espeseth (Intersports) 115 10 Jenny Eyerman (Jane Cosmetics) 112 11 Kori Kelly (Procter & Gamble) 108 12 Pam Schuster (AutoTrader.com) 100 13 Lyne Bessette (Saturn) 100 14 Kim Bruckner (Saturn) 91 15 Julie Young (AutoTrader.com) 83 16 Andrea Hannos (Verizon) 78 17 Debbie Mansveld (Vlaanderen) 75 18 Pia Sundstedt (Intersports) 75 19 Kim Smith (AutoTrader.com) 68 20 Katrina Berger (AutoTrader.com) 66 Women's teams 1 Saturn 968 pts 2 AutoTrader.com 392 3 Procter & Gamble 326 4 Verizon Wireless 279 5 Intersports 241 6 jane Cosmetics 139 7 800.Com 81
This year's Amherst International, set for Saturday, October 27, is a selection race for the U.S. team that will compete in the cyclo-cross world championships in Zolder, Belgium in February, and is also the 2001 championship event for the North Atlantic region. A UCI category 3 race, Amherst International is the third leg of the seven-race Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series and will pay out $3500 in total prize money.
The fastest names on the US cyclo-cross scene are expected for the event which began 11 years ago - before 'cross was cool in the U.S. - as a University of Massachusetts dorm room project by then-student Adam Hodges Myerson, who is still promoting the race today. National champion Tim Johnson and Carmen d'Alusio will return to defend their 2000 wins and Johnson's Saturn teammates Mark and Frank McCormack will join the elite riders that include 1999 U.S. champ Marc Gullickson (Mongoose/Hyundai) and Canadian national champion Peter Wedge (Kona/Voicestream).
On the women's side, Lyne Bessette (Saturn), the Canadian road race and time trial champion who is training on a 'cross bike this fall and has won all three races she's entered, will try to keep that streak alive. Masters champion Emily Thorne (Cyclocrossworld.com), Canadian cyclo-cross champion Shauna Gillies-Smith (Gearworks/SRP), local pro Kathryn Roszko (BikeReg.com), and Kona/Voicestream powerhouses Ann Grande and Gina Hall will also challenge d'Alusio (Clif Bar).
Still true to its collegiate roots, the Amherst International course covers the rolling Orchard Hill section of the UMass campus, set in the colourful autumn scenery of western Massachusetts. The circuit features grassy, off-camber sections, short, tough climbs and a paved finishing sprint carved through a hillside that offers "stadium" seating for the thousands of dedicated New England 'cross fans that flock to this classic every year.
The Northampton Cycling Club and the UMass Bicycle Racing Club co-sponsor the event which kicks off with a citizens' race at 10 am. The elite women start at noon and the elite men follow at 1:15 pm.
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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maintenance - Wheels - how to keep them true and tight
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