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Today's fourth stage of the Vuelta was another win to Erik Zabel, who once again positioned himself behind his Telekom teammates to avoid the last minute crash and take the honours. Unfortunately, the greater news today was the appalling destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, which dominated the airwaves from 15:00 CEST. Cyclingnews has a strong following in New York, and we know there will be people badly affected by this. Our condolences and sympathies go out to anyone who is.
Santiago Botero (Kelme, 1st GC)
"There was a fall and I was the only one in front. I am very satisfied because to wear the Maillot Oro gives me a lot of confidence to confront the stage of Covadonga. I will do everything possible to hold onto it as long as I am strong enough."
"It is a rather symbolic leadership and we must not take the responsibility yet. We hope that the climbers will make the race especially Heras and Beloki, and we will go in their shadows."
David Millar (Cofidis, 2nd GC)
"I was near Botero when the crash happened just in front of me and I had to take my feet out of the pedals. I was well placed but only he got through."
Stage 4
- Live report
Stage 4 - Full
results & report
The fifth stage from Gijon to Lagos de Covadonga will present the riders with their first uphill challenge. With two category three climbs followed by a category 1 climb, there will be some damage done before the final 'special category' climb up to Lagos de Covadonga. This is the first of seven mountain top finishes, and it will be important in establishing the pecking order for the stages to come.
Riders to watch: Sevilla and Botero (Kelme), Heras and Rubiera (US Postal), Beloki, Olano and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE), Alberto Martinez, Roberto Laiseka and Iban Mayo (Euskaltel), Unai Osa, Jiménez and Mercado (iBanesto), Simoni (Lampre), Virenque (Domo), Escartin (Team Coast) and Manuel Beltran (Mapei).
The unfortunate Markus Zberg (Rabobank) had a premature end to his Vuelta yesterday after falling and injuring his left wrist and shoulder during stage 3. At first it was thought that his collarbone was broken, but it turns out that it was a dislocated shoulder. Team leader Adri van Houwelingen said that he still has to rest between "four to six weeks" and his season is therefore finished.
Van Houwelingen also admitted to a "slight overreaction" after he hit a Spanish cameraman with Zberg's helmet whilst the whole scene was being filmed.
German sprinter Marcel Wüst set the Vuelta alight in 1999 with his four stage wins, before his compatriot Jan Ullrich took over the limelight to win the race overall. Wüst's epic tale of that Vuelta makes for interesting reading two years later, although the effervescent German is unfortunately no longer racing.
"Zabel is untouchable," said Wüst in reaction to Zabel's third successive stage win. I don't see who can threaten him in the sprints in the Vuelta. My 1999 record of four stage wins in five days is in danger."
Belgian Freddy Maertens holds the outright record in a single Vuelta, with 13(!) stages in 1977. Zabel will have to win every single flat stage and a few time trials to beat this, and that is almost impossible.
"Danilo Hondo seems to be just as good as Erik, and would probably also have chances at victory. But if the big boss speaks and says to hold off, the hierarchy is clear," added Wüst who is at the Vuelta looking for more riders to add to Team Coast for next season.
Spanish newspapers report that Zabel will abandon before the Pyrenees, in order to concentrate on his other objective this season: becoming the UCI number one. He is now the "virtual leader" after racking up 210 UCI points in winning three stages. However, he will lose some points if he doesn't win the overall World Cup this year. Also, Davide Rebellin may win a few more races before the season has finished.
Erik Zabel is currently approaching 30 victories for the season, recording this third successive win in the Vuelta today. The world's best sprinter is in top condition, and if he carries on like this he will end the year as number one on the UCI rankings.
Besides being a fine road sprinter, he is also not bad on the track. He has three victories in Six Day races (Munich 1995 and Dortmund 1996 and 2000) and could well add another in Munich this year. The Munich Six is scheduled from November 8-13, and Zabel has promised the organisers that he will be there.
"I always try to give my best in each race," said Zabel. "Above all I would not like to disappoint the enthusiastic public in Munich, and will give everything again at the end of this very successful season."
Bobby Julich has found a team for next year, after his contract with Credit Agricole was not renewed. He signed today with the Deutsche Telekom team for two years, the second American to do so after Kevin Livingston this season. Julich's role will be similar to Livingston's: Help Ullrich in the mountains in next year's Tour de France.
"We are delighted to have a world class rider like Julich with us," said team manager Walter Godefroot in an official statement. "He is very valuable for the mountains. There he can go for a long time at high speed. For the Tour de France we have more strong climbers, who can do important work for Ullrich."
Telekom already has riders like Giuseppe Guerini, Alexander Vinokourov, Andreas Klöden and Kevin Livingston who can climb. Julich, who was born in Texas and spent three years (1995-1997) as Lance Armstrong's teammate, will be a useful addition. After a fine third place in the 1998 Tour, Julich lost and then regained his form, finishing 18th in this year's Tour.
After the GP Suisse Féminin and the Holland Ladies Tour, the UCI has updated its rankings list for women. Still leading is Saturn's Anna Millward, who dropped out of the Holland Ladies Tour while lying in third place in order to concentrate on the World Cup. Although she lost some certain points in doing so, the World Cup is her number one goal this season and she extended her lead on Sunday over Mirjam Melchers. Millward was also in action again today, winning the first two stages of the Tour de Suisse Féminin which finishes on Friday.
GP Suisse winner Susanne Ljungskog (Vlaanderen-T-Interim) has moved herself into 4th place behind Millward, Stahurskaia and Melchers, while Saturn's Petra Rossner climbed up from 17th to 7th after winning the Holland Ladies tour.
In the teams and nations rankings, there were no changes with Saturn leading Acca Due O by nearly 320 points in the teams rankings, and the Netherlands still on top of Germany and Australia in the nations rankings.
Individuals 1 Anna Millward (Aus) Saturn 787.00 pts 2 Zinaida Stahurskaia (Blr) Gas Sport Team 741.00 3 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 634.00 4 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Vlaanderen-T-Interim Ladies Team 497.00 5 Judith Arndt (Ger) 473.00 6 Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Ned) Farm Frites-Hartol 463.00 7 Petra Rossner (Ger) Saturn 394.00 8 Chantal Beltman (Ned) 367.00 9 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Edilsavino 361.00 10 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn 346.00 11 Olga Slioussareva (Rus) Carpe Diem-Itera 339.00 12 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Alfa Lum R.S.M. 332.00 13 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (Fra) 322.34 14 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 315.00 15 Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) 306.67 16 Mari Holden (USA) Alfa Lum R.S.M. 292.00 17 Rasa Polikeviciute (Ltu) Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 275.00 18 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spa) Alfa Lum R.S.M. 263.00 19 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Edilsavino 261.00 20 Trixi Worrack (Ger) 213.00 Teams 1 Saturn 1,685.00 pts 2 Acca Due O-HP-Lorena Camicie 1,366.00 3 Gas Sport Team 1,071.00 4 Alfa Lum R.S.M. 1,057.00 5 Vlaanderen-T-Interim Ladies Team 904.00 6 Edilsavino 837.00 7 Farm Frites-Hartol 769.00 8 Carpe Diem-Itera 618.00 9 Team Sponsorservice 420.00 10 Autotrader.com 219.00 11 C.A. Mantes La Ville 78 210.00 12 Equipe Cycliste Rona 187.00 13 S.C. Michela Fanini Record Rox 136.00 14 Ciegi Professional Cycling Team 127.67 15 Equipe Nürnberger 110.00 16 Ondernemers Van Nature 78.00 17 La Rosa Dei Venti 76.00 18 Team Aliverti-Immobiliare Luca 60.00 19 Team Lolland-Falster 58.00 20 Bik-Toscany Sport 45.00 Nations 1 Netherlands 1,698.00 pts 2 Germany 1,507.67 3 Australia 1,120.00 4 Lithuania 1,037.00 5 Italy 853.00 Full rankings
Italian cyclists Dario Frigo and Marco Magnani have been given six month bans by the Italian cycling federation for possession of illegal performance enhancing drugs. Both riders were subjected to the raids conducted by police during the Giro d'Italia, where a large number of medical products were seized by the anti-narcotics brigade.
Frigo, who was currently in second position overall in the Giro, was sacked by his Fassa Bortolo team after admitting that he was in possession of, and used illegal drugs. Marco Magnani (Alexia Alluminio) was found guilty of a similar offence by the FCI, which is also investigating four other riders and one team doctor: Matteo Carrara, Renzo Mazzoleni and team doctor Claudio Sprengher (Team Colpack-Astro), Daniele De Paoli (Mercatone Uno) and Gabriele Massaglia (Lampre-Daikin). These people will be heard by the FCI at a later date.
Collstrop-Palmans sport director Hilaire Van Der Schueren wants to have further negotiations with Peter van Petegem before he signs him to ride out the season with the team. His first race is scheduled this Saturday (Paris-Brussels) but more discussions will be necessary between the two parties.
Collstrop stagiaire Danny Daelman will ride in Paris-Brussels, as part of his contract for the rest of the season, and Van Petegem would have to replace either Danny Baeyens or Tony Bracke.
The team is as follows: Geert Omloop, Erwin Thys, Kristof Trouve, Eric De Clercq, Roger Hammond, Hans De Meester, Danny Daelman, Marc Streel and one more rider.
BankGiroLoterij sport director Johan Capiot is having discussions this week with the Belgian Mercury riders Geert van Bondt and Wim van Sevenant. "We had good discussions earlier," said Capiot. "We are now looking at what the financial demands of the two are. If they are within our budget then I would like to have them in the team. But it must of course all be affordable.
Jan Kuyckx, winner of the last stage in the Giro della Toscana on Sunday, has signed a contract with the Vlaanderen-T-Interim team for next season. He is the third new rider to join the team after Ruud Verbakel and Jurgen Van De Walle (formerly with Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) signed earlier. Vlaanderen-T-Interim hopes to have 20 riders, including four cyclocrossers.
There's a lot more to organising a major urban bike race than inviting a bunch of racers to turn up. Cyclingnews correspondent Mark Shahinian found out the background behind the SF Grand Prix. You can read about the politics and the long-term intentions of the organisers in his special report.
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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