Sprinter Djamolidine Abdoujaparov -- also known as the Tashkent Terminator, the Uzbek Express or just plain Abdu -- is leading the new Dutch-based Novell cycling team. Duncan Baldwin, director of external relations for Novell, is hopeful Abdu and his the team can deliver. "Cycling is the third most watched sport on television in Europe, behind soccer and tennis," he said. "For us it's a very attractive way of raising our profile in Europe." Jan Raas, team manager, is building his $5 million (U.S.) team around Abdoujaparov as the professional cycling season gets begins this month.
As for his reputation as a dangerous sprinter, "If you want to win you have to take all the risks. For me, it is best if I can win a big sprint when all the top riders are there," Abdu said. As for the Tour, "Winning the yellow jersey is not for me," he said. "I plan to make my mark with the green and stage wins. One or two days in yellow at the beginning of the race are possible."
12 February 1995
From the National Cycling Centre, Manchester, 11 Feb 95 -- Chris Boardman confirmed his position as the world's No.1 pursuiter by beating Tony Rominger in their 4,000 meters match race. Boardman trailed by nearly 2.5 seconds as Rominger covered the opening kilometer in 00:01:12.130. But, to the delight of a sold-out audience of 4,000 fans, Boardman had outpaced Rominger by a fifth of a second at 2000 meters, going through two kilometers in 2:20.096.
Continuing to pull ahead, Boardman completed the 16 laps in 4:36.030 with Rominger just over two seconds down in 4:38.244. Rominger was riding the track for the first time since breaking the world hour record in November. "I have not touched my track bike since then and am behind with my road racing preparation," he said. "I only started serious training three weeks ago."
Other news
Defending champions Kurt Betschart and Bruno Risi retained the European Madison title at the Manchester velodrome. The two Swiss finished a lap ahead of silver-medalists Pierangelo Bincoletto and Franco Villa of Italy in the 50 kms race, which closed two days of competition at the Superdrome 1 meeting. The Italians snatched second place by beating third-placed Etienne De Wilde and Laurenzo LaPage in the final sprint after 200 laps, which were covered at an average speed of 33.798 mph.