News for June 13
Tour de France Team Rosters
OK, that heading's a bit of a tease... But with La Grande Boucle 17
days off and barring broken collarbones and other disasters we can
start putting together our Tour team lists. First off the mark are
wild-card selection Aubervilliers 93-Peugeot and Lotto-Isoglass.
AUBERVILLIER's directeur sportif Stephane Javelet has announced seven
of his nine-man team. He says that he might even sign a new rider for
one of the two other places. The first seven are Laurent GENTY,
Thierry GOUVENOU, Marek LESNIEWSKI, Frederic PONTIER, Cyril SAUGRAIN
Francisque TEYSSIER, Gilles TALMANT
LOTTO's complete Tour team as announced by Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke is
Andrei TCHMIL, Scott SUNDERLAND, Thomas FLEISCHER, Oleg KOZLITINE,
Peter VERBEKEN, Peter FARAZIJN, Marc WAUTERS, Nico MATTAN and Paul VAN
Watch Out For Wheelspin, Chris!
"I've never been as strong as I am now," Chris Boardman has told GAN
directeur sportif Roger Leagay. He's not talking subjective feelings.
His current power output is 570 watts, compared with the 564 watts he
was developing when he won the Tour prologue in 1994. Power-weight
ratio is also improved, Boardman's weighing in at 68kg compared with
70kg two years ago.
Berzin On His Own?
L'Equipe's correspondent on the Tour de Suisse, Jurg Casanova, had a
nice line in irony on Evgeni Berzin after his Prologue victory
yesterday. "With the team I've got around me, it will be difficult to
defend the leader's jersey," Casanova quoted the Russian as
saying. Berzin "always has a friendly word for his team-mates" the
journalist remarked (<>).
Berzin's win -- his first ever in a Prologue but his third time trial
victory this season -- was on a twisting course with three climbs
(hence the relatively low average speed of 48.9kph) in hot
weather. Berzin was persuaded to ride the Swiss tour by his directeur
sportif Emanuelle Bombini because it was felt that he needed more
mountain rides before the Tour.
Festina: Three More Years
Festina-Lotus team manager Bruno Roussel has announced that the
Spanish watchmaker has agreed to sponsor the team until the end of the
1999 season -- agreement had already been reached for the 1997 season.
Roussel has signed a new rider for three years starting
in 1997, 20-year-old UV Fourmies rider Laurent Lefevre, who was second
in the 1994 junior world championships.
GP Eddy Merckx Reprieved
Fears that the GP Eddy Merckx would have to be abandoned this year
because of a clash with a civic event on its route have been allayed.
The 66km time trial will take place on 1 September, as usual in
Brussels but on a new route. Likely participants include last year's
winner Johan Museeuw, Johan Bruyneel, Franck Vandenbroucke and Axel
Merckx.