TransfersMarcel Luppes (25) leaves the Rabobank-team for AXA Cycling, a team that is the successor of the Europolis-team. He signed for two years.UCI Rankings after RochesterRankings after racing the Rochester Classic this past Sunday. Laurent Jalabert, from Team ONCE, remains in first place, with Andrea Tafi climbing to fourth place. With the biggest progression being Italian Gianluca Bortolami who, after his second place at la Vuelta a Galicia, climbs from 116th to 72nd. The top 20 classification as of August 17th:
1. Laurent Jalabert (FRA-ONCE) 1958 pts 2. Michele Bartoli (ITA-MGT) 1587 3. Alex Zulle (SUI-ONCE) 1517 4. Andrea Tafi (ITA-Mapei) 1490 5. Jan Ullrich (ALE-Telekom) 1460 6. Johan Museeuw (BEL-Mapei) 1434 7. Pavel Tonkov (RUS-Mapei) 1220 8. Richard Virenque (FRA-Festina) 1201 9. Erik Zabel (ALE-Telekom) 1119 10. Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS-US Postal) 1102 11. Chris Boardman (GBR-Gan) 1065 12. Francesco Casagrande (ITA-Saeco) 1031 13. Andrei Tchmill (MOL-Lotto) 1016 14. Bjarne Riis (DIN-Telekom) 1005 15. Mauro Gianetti (SUI-Francais Jeux) 965 16. Abraham Olano (ESP-Banesto) 950 17. Daniele Nardello (ITA-Mapei) 945 18. Davide Rebellin (ITA-Francais Jeux) 916 19. Toni Rominger (SUI-Cofidis) 886 20. Frank Vandenbroucke (BEL-Mapei) 878 pts GAN is outGan (insurance company) has decided to get out of cycling at the end of the year. But Roger Legeay's group which includes Chris Boardman & Frederic Moncassin will continue with a new sponsor.The fact that GAN directeur sportif Roger Legeay has deposited the required 100,000 French francs "caution reglementaire" with the French federation for the 1998 season is auspicious for the team's continuation with a new sponsor. "I will announce the name of the new sponsor in September -- towards the end of the month," Legeay said in Rochester, "I think the name will be a surprise to you..." The new sponsor is apparently willing to come in for a substantial period. "It has the habit of working for the long term," said Legeay. The Belgian Newspaper 'Het Nieuwsblad' had a short caption stating that Roger Legeay's new sponsor could be (they printed it between brackets and with a question mark) Credit Agricole German Road Team Preselection for San SebastianJan Ullrich, last winner of the Tour de France, is not in the list of German riders preselected for the World Championships which will be held at San Sebastian, Spain on October 7 to 12. Also absent from the list is sprinter Erik Zabel. The list of preselected riders was made public today by the German Cycling Federation:-Road Race: Rolf Aldag, Udo Bolts, Bert Dietz, Christian Henn, Kai Hundertmark, Mario Kummer, Steffen Wesemann, Stefan Gottschling, Danilo Hondo, Ralf Grabsch, Sascha Henrix, Joerg Jaksche, Andreas Klier, Dirk Mueller, Torsten Schmidt, Tobias Steinhauser, Jens Voigt & Narcek Wuest. -Individual Time Trial: Dirk Mueller, Uwe Peschel, Michael Rich & Andreas Walzer. -Espoirs: Bert Grabsch, Uwe Hardter, Andreas Kloeden, Holger Loew, Torsten Nitsche, Stefan Schreck, Ronny Scholz, Harry Trumheller. -Women: Judith Ardnt, Cornelia Cyrus, Mandy Hampel, Vera Hchlfeld, Natascha Klewitz, Hanka Kupfernagel, Viola Mueller Paulitz, Petra Rossner, Kerstin Scheitle, Regina Schleicher, Tanja Schmidt & Ina Yoko Teutenberg. The fact that GAN directeur sportif Roger Legeay has deposited the required 100,000 French francs "caution reglementaire" with the French federation for the 1998 season is auspicious for the team's continuation with a new sponsor. "I will announce the name of the new sponsor in September -- towards the end of the month," Legeay said in Rochester, "I think the name will be a surprise to you..." The new sponsor is apparently willing to come in for a substantial period. "It has the habit of working for the long term," said Legeay. French Teams Announce Stagiaires For End of SeasonA dozen riders -- seven French and five non-French -- have been registered with the UCI as stagiaires (apprentices who may be taken on permanently by the teams if they perform well) by French teams for the remainder of the season:
BIGMAT-AUBER 93: Stephane Berges (Fra, CC Nogent), Loic Lamouller and Mickael Menage (Fra, CM Aubervilliers) CASINO: Christophe Oriol (Fra, CC Etupes), Franck Ramel (Fra, EC Saint- Etienne-Loire), Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz, EC Saint-Etienne-Loire) COFIDIS: Grzegorg Gwiazdowski (Pol, ACBB) FESTINA: Andre Korff (Ger), Jerome Bernard (Fra, VC Lyon-Vaulx-en-Velin), Lazlo Bordogi (Hungary, AC Bisontine) GAN: Laurent Estadieu (Fra, GSC Blagnac), Christopher Jenner (NZ, US Montauban) Of the 12, New Zealander Christopher Jenner is described by L'Equipe as "the great discovery of the year among the Elite 2 riders developing in France". It is expected that he will ride the Tour de l'Avenir for GAN next month and the newspaper reckons his chances of a full pro contract will have been greatly enhanced by his win yesterday (August 18) in the latest round of the Coupe de France Mavic des Clubs over 179km at Pertre. (Second in the race was another of the new stagiaires -- Alexandre Vinokourov.) This is Jenner's second win in the race series, the first was Tarbes--Sauveterre, and he was placed third in three other races, fifth in one, and seventh in another. This puts his club, US Montauban, in an unassailable lead in the series, which is completed on September 27 with the Trophee Mavic at Saint-Trivier-sur- Moignans. Dutch get the hiccups - AgainA hiccup in paperwork has cost the Dutch cycling team valuable time on the training track just a week before the world track championships in Perth. Team members had hoped to train yesterday morning, but a transport company was prevented from releasing their bikes without the payment of a bond. Customs regulations require a surety of more than $A20,000 to be paid for 16 bikes to discourage their sale after the championships. The Dutch did not arrive with the paperwork which could have cleared them immediately."The problem is that customs wouldn't release the bikes because the value was so high", team manager Tjeed De-Vries said. "They were scared that we were going to sell the bikes here and not export them out again" The team was allowed to take the bicycles yesterday afternoon, but only after the Dutch handed in their passports as security. De-Vries said the problem had cost the team almost a day's training. Ingrid Haringa, silver medalist in the points-score event at the Atlanta Olympics last year, is among among the Dutch contingent hoping for good form at the worlds. De Vries said the Perth event would be her last championships, and she hoing to finish on a high. "She is not saying she is favourite, but she is very eager to go out there and prove herself one last time, so we have some hopes for her in the points race." |