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Next year's Tour is already being hailed as potentially another classic edition of the world's most important bike race. Cyclingnews correspondent Tim Maloney was in Paris for the unveiling of the route; his analysis of the short but tough parcours has now been added to our Tour preview, along with full details of the route, and additional reactions from riders and team managers.
The official route for the 2002 Tour de France was unveiled in Paris today, and Cyclingnews was there to cover it. The stage list, distances and principal difficulties are available in full, together with previous information published on the 2002 Tour. What do some of the main players think of the parcours, which is one of the shortest in history? Read on.
Jean-Marie Leblanc (Race director)
On the shortness of the Tour 2002: "We were not trying to put on a performance, but the philosophy of the modern grand tours is without doubt to make them shorter than previously. One cannot pretend to fight against doping and to impose increasingly heavier workloads on the riders. We have to respect the limits in the rules. This year, by moving the starting locations, we saved on distance to some extent. This Tour is compact, and will be concentrated in particular in the final 10 days."
On selection: "As usual, the selection is problematic. There are many more candidates than places (21). The international rules have the effect that sixteen teams are already qualified. This is provided that they are operational next year and that they are candidates. For example, if their riders are too weak..."
"In principle, there is just one pre-qualified French team (Cofidis). But if we have five wild-cards, it is to ensure that French cycling is represented properly next July and that will be the case. But the qualification for the Tour de France is not a reward, it is deserved."
"I hope that the French teams will come along. We know the majority of them, consider Credit Agricole, Ag2r, Bonjour, which were excellent this year. There is every reason to think that they will again be operational in 2002."
On the Tour 2002 overall: "Noting that the 2001 Tour was appreciated by the fans and the public, the same balances will be in place. 10 days devoted to the flat, and a second part completely in the south which incorporates all the difficulties. The Tour has to be as open to the flat landers as to the time trial specialists and the climbers. We tried to build a course that gives chances to all types of riders. The ideal is that the most complete rider wins."
Christophe Moreau (Festina/Credit Agricole)
Although Christophe Moreau did not finish the 2001 Tour, he did place fourth in 2000 and managed to win the prologue in 2001. He is thus considered the best hope for a French podium finish in 2002. He will be riding for Credit Agricole next year, further bolstering their chances for a wild card selection.
At the Tour's launch today, Moreau said that "I like the course very much. It will be concentrated and balanced edition with an exhausting and hard finish."
"In the past, my 4th place came about when the race went from the Pyrenees to the Alps. I like the Pyrenees at the end of the parcours, these are mountains that I go well on. I will go with a great deal of hunger, with some unfinished business after my experience in the last Tour de France."
"More than ever, I am thinking of the podium because when one comes fourth, one always hopes for a little bit more. The competition between Armstrong and Ullrich remains very, very high. I will do everything with Crédit Agricole, my new team, to prepare for the next Tour under the best conditions."
Moreau added that Credit Agricole should qualify, "even if we are not currently in the top 10. In the new UCI classification, we will be very, very close. We are in the perfect position for a team going for a wild card."
Richard Virenque (Domo-Farm Frites)
"I have the impression that they have lessened the difficulty. I did not see any difficult mountain stages. It is never hard enough for a climber, we always want more mountains. There is still a lot to do and we will better examine the terrain for the principal difficulties."
"It is an easy Tour de France for the climbers. The major stages will certainly have to be targeted, because there are not many really hard ones. Of course, I will be very happy to take part in a race of which I was not privy to in 2001. I am in a hurry to get to the month of July. My objective will be the Tour de France and then I will try to do well in some late season classics."
On his aims in the Tour, Virenque said that he wants to win the best climber's jersey for the sixth time. "For the general classification, I will see from day to day. For me, the final victory remains hard. With so many time trials and Armstrong who has crushed this race for three years, I would be happy with a place of honour."
Virenque nominated either the stage to La Plagne or Les Deux Alpes as the most difficult in this year's Tour.
Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Daikin/Saeco)
Although he is currently in Japan for the Japan Cup this weekend, Gilberto Simoni followed the Tour's presentation via the internet and was impressed by the route. This year's Giro winner will be endeavouring to help Saeco Macchine per Caffe make selection for 2002, by no means an easy task given the number of available spots.
"I've seen the course and I like it," said Simoni. "I really hope to be able to take part in the Tour de France because I'm sure I've got a chance of winning it. There are six big mountain stages with five uphill finishes. I think I'm stronger than Armstrong in the mountains. I realised this during the Tour of Switzerland when we raced head to head."
He's not scared of the time trials either. "I know that the time trial isn't my strong point and I know I'm not as good as Armstrong and other riders but in the Giro d'Italia I showed I can look after myself in time trials. I've also got all winter ahead of me and I'm going to work hard on improving my ability against the clock."
Despite some recent reports that Domo-Farm Frites manager Patrick Lefevere was a little strapped for cash, he has managed to come up with enough to sign late season revelation, Richard Virenque, for two years. Lefevere was quoted yesterday in De Standaard as saying it would be a "small miracle" if he could sign Virenque on his current budget, as his head sponsors Domo and Farm Frites were "not convinced about the sporting publicity value of Virenque," and he not found any funds from a French backer yet.
However, there was no question that both Virenque and Lefevere wished to continue working together. In just over 2 months since he came back from his suspension, Virenque has managed to accumulate 503 UCI points, and is ranked 88th. This puts him as the fifth best rider on points in Domo, behind Vainsteins, Knaven, Konecny and Wadecki.
Lefevere will certainly welcome those points in the race to keep his all important top 10 division I ranking. Likewise, Virenque is glad because Lefevere had faith in him, and gave him a second chance to launch his career after it seemed doomed during the final episode of the Festina affair in late 2000. Virenque seized his opportunity and stunned many with his incredible win in Paris-Tours after a massive breakaway. Solid performances in the Vuelta España, World Road Championships and the Giro di Lombardia also helped his cause.
Just prior to the Tour de France 2002 launch in Paris, Virenque made it public that he had a verbal agreement with Patrick Lefevere to ride with Domo for two more seasons. "I will sign in November," said Virenque. "I did not have a choice in division I. I am happy to remain in Domo because they had confidence in me. No French team appeared. They do not believe any more in Virenque."
Eugen Wacker can also count himself lucky he got off that lightly after he was relegated to 12th in today's 11th stage of the Herald Sun Tour, as eventual stage winner Henk Vogels did not hide his disgust at the rider's tactics. "You're a disgrace," the Australian told Wacker immediately after the stage finished. Later in a television interview, Vogels said "it really sucks. He told me 'no, I don't sprint', referring to Wacker's passenger-style ride in the break, "so what does he do? Sprints."
"I really despise the guy," he said. The post-stage flare-up is yet another incident on the Sun Tour which is at least generating coverage on some media outlets, which prefer to call the race the Tour of Victoria, rather than the Herald Sun Tour, which is the name of the principal sponsor of the event, a metropolitan newspaper in Melbourne owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.
So far in the race, all the French riders have gone home after complaining about the race format (too many criteriums) as well as being mixed up in a few crashes. Race director John Craven threatened to cancel their airfares back home following an altercation with Stephane Barthe and a chair. The stage 8 criterium in Bendigo was almost abandoned due to bad weather, and only 15 riders ended up competing.
The 50th Herald Sun Tour will finish in Geelong on Sunday, with Austrian Peter Wrolich the likely winner in one of the most 'eventful' races in years.
"It's 99 per cent certain that I will carry on riding another season, and it is no secret that I have been talking to Team Fakta", says Danish doyen, Rolf Sørensen.
Sørensen got an offer from CSC-Tiscali only for the spring season, so he parted with Bjarne Riis in anger. But now he's looking on the bright side of life again. Team Fakta is also negotiating with a new European main sponsor that will operate on the level of super market chain Fakta. The deal is expected to be settled early November.
The Netherlands' second top pro team after Rabobank is BankGiroLoterij-Batavus. Currently ranked 9th in the division II UCI rankings, the team has had some good, consistent results this year. However, plans to make a bid for the first division next year have had to be shelved, after the main sponsor said it will not put any more funds into the squad.
At the moment, team manager Arend Scheppink has 10 riders under contract for 2002, well below the minimum of 16 required for a first division team. This probably will rise to 12, but that will be the maximum that the budget will allow.
Director Henk Verhoef blames the Dutch media for not giving his team a fair run. "I only heard the name Rabobank," he said to ANP newsagency. "When one of our riders did well in the Tour of Germany, the papers only wrote about a rider from Rabobank who finished behind him."
He also said that TV commentators did not help the team, by not mentioning co-sponsor Batavus except for "four or five times." Batavus was the team's first head sponsor, but now functions as a co-sponsor. "Luckily there was still the Ronde van Nederland where we scored well. In the previous months there was too much anger. Then I thought: what are we doing this for? Therefore BankGiroLoterij will stay as an happy, small team. Next year we will look further."
Now that it is the end of the season, the various cycling court cases can resume without being interrupted by races. The biggest one in Italy is that arising from the police raids on the Giro d'Italia in June, and where 50 people involved in the race are under suspicion. The list released by the prosecutor's office in Florence contains names like Jan Ullrich, Unai Osa (3rd in the Giro 2001) and Ivan Quaranta. Significantly, it does not contain Giro winner Gilberto Simoni, multiple stage winner Mario Cipollini, or the controversial Marco Pantani.
Over the next few weeks, all the results from the lab tests on the seized medical products will be presented in court. Then the riders and personnel under suspicion will be questioned, followed by a possible formal accusation. Some of these (for example Jan Ullrich) are adamant that their 'illegal drugs' were actually asthma medications that are authorised by the UCI.
Malaysian cyclist Josiah Ng has, along with eleven other athletes, been given a grant by the Malaysian Olympic Committee from the International Olympic Committee Solidarity program. The sum is US$600 per month until the Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, September 29-October 14 next year.
The Japan Cup on Sunday, October 28 is one of the last single day races on the UCI calendar for 2001. The Tour de Okinawa that follows on November 11 is worth UCI points, but the Japan Cup is the last chance to see the Euro pro's in action this season. A total of six professional teams of five riders will contest the event along with 10 Japanese teams, over 10 laps of the 14.1 kilometre Forest Park Circuit course in Utsunomiya City. The riders also do an additional 10.3 kilometre lap, for a total of 151.3 kilometres.
The biggest name on the start list is Lampre-Daikin's Gilberto Simoni (soon to be Saeco's Gilberto Simoni). Daikin, a Japanese manufacturer of air conditioners, will be happy to see the team appearing in a race in Japan, especially with the likes of Simone Bertoletti, Massimo Codol, Marco Pinotti, and Marco Serpellini to join Simoni.
Saeco has sent along Biagio Conte to lead the team of five, but we may see Australian mountain biker Cadel Evans more at home on this type of circuit. Cofidis' Chris Peers and Jo Planckaert will fly the Belgian flag for the French team, supported by Peter Farazijn, Claude Lamour and Médéric Clain.
Lotto-Adecco are regulars to the Japanese races, and Walter Planckaert's team with Glenn d'Hollander and Christophe Brandt amongst others could be the ones to beat. Team Coast and Post Swiss are the final two pro teams present, with Stefan Adamsson and Aurelien Clerc the respective leaders of the two teams.
The 10 Japanese teams are as follows:
JPCA
JPCU Tochigi Medalist
Team bridgestone-Anchor
Aisan Ind. Racing team
Kinan-Maruishi
Shimano Racing Team
Miyata-Subaru Racing Team
Sumita-Ravanello-Pearl Izumi
Nakagawa-FET
Rigida DPX-Bianchi
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Alison Dunlap is a champion off-road cyclist. A winner of many national MTB and cyclo-cross titles, she finally scored the big one this year on September 16 in Vail, Colorado when she won the World MTB cross country title. It was an emotional win, given the terrible events that had shaken the USA just five days before, and one that she will not forget.
Cyclingnews' Rob Karman caught up with her shortly after her triumph, and she recounted her experiences this year that led to it. That interview will be posted shortly, but cyclingnews readers should note that Rob's photo on the right is available in a full size poster format, and Alison herself will be at the VeloSwap meet in Denver, Colorado on October 27 to sign posters.
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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