News for January 31, 1997

Dutch money wrangle

The Dutch Cyclecrossers will talk to the KNWU in March about money; concentration for the World Championship next Sunday is more important now.

French Cross Team for Worlds

Chiotti (world champion mountainbike cross-country) will not go to Munich for the Worlds next week.

The French team will not send another rider. The French team: national champion Christophe Mengin, Dominique Arnould, David Pagnier and Jose Jauregui.

Telekom:

Compared to other top teams, the Telekom team is relatively small with only 16 riders. This is two less than last year. On Wednesday, Team Manager Walter Godefroot unveiled last year's successful team in the main office of the sponsor in Bonn.

The sponsor will stay on at least until the end of 1998.

Last year at the beginning of the Tour, the German communications sponsor considered pulling out if Godefroot could not find a co-sponsor. The success in the Tour of France: 5 stage wins (Ullrich, Zabel and Riis), the yellow jersey (Riis) and the points green jersey (Zabel) - raised their interest for another year.

The team has 10 Germans: Rolf Aldag, Udo Bolts, Bert Dietz, Christian Henn, Jens Heppner, Kai Hundertmarck, Mario Kummer, Jan Ullrich, Steffen Wesemann and Erik Zabel; Two Danes: Brian Holm and Bjarne Riis, one Swede: Michael Lafis; one Italian: Giovanni Lombardi, one Austrian: Georg Totschnig and a Belgian: Frank Corvers.

In Italian press the second Austrian Georg Totschnig was nominated as one of the five cyclist who are able to win the Giro d'Italia 1997.

But Georg Totschnig will not start. Totschnig and Udo Boelts are the two helpers of B. Riis in the Tour de France 1997, Jan Ullrich has no help function, he is the "joker" for the general classification.

Totschnig is the captain in the Tour de Suisse and Tour of Mediterraean.

14 teams in Tour of Mallorca

The Dutch cycling teams Rabo, TVM and Foreldorado will enter the Tour of Mallorca which begins on February 9. In addition to the Dutch teams the other teams are Banesto, ONCE, Kelme, Euskadi, Deportpubl, Festina, Asics, Codifis, Telekom, Nurberger and Mapei.

Among the starters there will be Tour winner Bjarne Riis, World Champion Johan Museeuw and World Time Trial Champion Alex Zulle. The Tour of Mallorca will involve 5 stages. The riders mist climb 5 Second category climbs.