News for December 15


Full lineup for Team Polti '96.

Confirmed: Mauro Gianetti (Sch), Giovanni Lombardi, Gianluca Pianegonda, Rossano Brasi, Mirco Gualdi, Mirco Crepaldi, Sergej Outchakov (Ukr), Georg Totschnig (Aut), Dirk Baldinger (Ger), Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) and Daisuke Imanaka (Jap).

New: Luc Leblanc (Fra), Davide and Simone Rebellin, Giuseppe Guerini, Mirko Celestino (neo), Gerrit De Vries (Ned), Fredric Guesdon (Fra), Quaranta (neo).

Leaving: Roberto Pistore (MG-Technogym), Giovanni Fidanza and Oscar Pellicioli (Carrera), Mario Scirea (Saeco).

Team Manager: Gianluigi Stanga.

Direttori sportivi: Giosue Zenoni and Vittorio Algeri.

Cantina Tollo-CO.BO.

The team will be managed by ex-professionials Stefano Giuliani and Palmiro Masciarelli, (direttori sportivi). It will be registered in Slovenia and riding Moser bicycles.

The 19 riders for 1996: G. Petito, Pierdomenico, D'Ascenzo, Cembali, P. Valoti, Arzilli, Dante, Di Francesco, Di Rienzo, Di Silvestro, Gentili, Leone, Paluan, Pozzi, Ramacciotti, Recanati, Spinozzi, Hvastija, Rovscek.

19 riders for Gewiss-Playbus in 1996.

Confirmed: Eugenio Berzin (Rus), Vladislav Bobrik (Rus), Dario Bottaro, Ermanno Brignoli, Bruno Cenghialta, Ivan Cerioli, Gabriele Colombo, Francesco Frattini, Ivan Gotti, Nicola Minali, Jon Odriozola (Spa), Mauro Santaromita, Alberto Volpi and Stefano Zanini. New: Davide Perona, Rosario Fina, Giuseppe Tartaggia (neo), Andrea Brognara (neo) and Simone Bertoletti (neo).

Team managers: Bombini, Miozzo and Rosola. Medical team: Mazzoni, Besnati and Sturla (consultant).

Spain

Miguel Indurain, Abraham Olano, and Fernando Escartin have all been awarded the Trofeo Marca Sprint as the most outstanding cyclists of the season.

Busy schedule for Indurain and Olano.

Miguel Indurain and Abraham Olano have busy schedules even in the off-season. Besides training, they have to make time for receptions, dinners and receiving awards.

On Monday, 18 Dec. 95, both will be present in Madrid when the Spanish king Juan Carlos gives a reception honouring the Spanish cycling team that took two gold and two silver medals at the World championships in Colombia.

Immediately afterwards, Olano will leave for a month of training in the South African summer (with others including Rominger, Cipollini and Furlan).

On Dec. 19, Indurain's home town of Pamplona will present their two Tour de France stages, one finish and one start. Naturally, Indurain will be present.

Indurain will be at the Olympic museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, the following day to receive the Olympic Order in silver, as the first Spanish athlete ever. Eddy Merckx is another cyclist who has received that decoration. Present will be IOC chairman Juan-Antonio Samaranch, UCI boss Hein Verbruggen, Jean-Marie Leblanc from the Societe du Tour de France and the Spanish minister of sports Rafael Cortas Elvira. (The Olympic order in gold is reserved for heads of state and other very high dignitaries.)

How about training then? Olano is as said in South Africa. For 31-year old Indurain it will be the same procedure as the last few years. Between receptions he squeezes in about one hour of riding a day, low intensity, under the control of doctor-trainer Sabino Padilla. It's reported that he will not be in competition until mid-February at the earliest.

Australian Olympic Squads

Men's Road Team:
   Neil Stephens (ONCE-ACT), Stephen Hodge (Festina-ACT), Scott Sunderland
(Lotto-NSW), Patrick Jonker (ONCE-SA), Henk Vogels (Rabobank-WA), Robbie
McEwen (Rabobank-Qld), Damian McDonald (AIS-VIC), Brett Dennis (AIS-Qld),
Paul Brosnan (AIS-Qld), Matt White (AIS-NSW), Deane Rogers (AIS-ACT), Jay
Sweet (AIUS-SA), Marcel Gono (AIS-Vic), Josh Collingwood (AIS-NSW).

Women's Road Team:
   Kathy Watt (AIS-VIC), Tracey Watson (AIS-VIC), Anna Wilson (AIS-Vic),
Lyn Nixon (AIS-WA), Elizabeth Tadich (AIS-Vic), Kathy Reardon (AIS-Qld),
Charlotte Pordham (AIS-NSW), Karen Barrow (VIC).

Mountain Bike Team:
   Cadel Evans (AIS-Vic), John Gregory (AIS-Vic), Paul Rowney (AIS-NSW),
Rob Woods (GT-NSW), Garry Payne (Pro-Flex-NSW), Janine Feyaerts (AIS-WA),
Mary Grigson (AIS-ACT), Alexandra Alty (Apollo-Vic).

   * The 14-rider men's road team contains six of Australia's seven
Europe-based professionals. Number seven, Stuart O'Grady, will compete on
the track in Atlanta.

   * The seven-rider women's road team will be led by 1992 Olympic champion
Kathy Watt. It will not be until early next year before it is decided
whether Watt should try to race on the road and track in Atlanta, as she
did in Barcelona, or concentrate only on the road.

   * Mountain biking will make its Olympic debut in Atlanta and the
nine-rider Australian team named today is led by John Gregory and Cadel
Evans.

   * Team members will fight it out in several selection races over the
next few months before the final selection of five men and three women for
the road, and two men and one woman for mountain biking is named, probably
in May or June of 1996.