Jalabert and Museeuw to fight out Milan-San RemoFrenchman Laurent Jalabert, fresh from winning his third Paris-Nice title in a row, goes wheel to wheel with a man chasing a hat-trick of his own in this Saturday's Milan-San Remo cycling race, Belgian world champion Johan Museeuw.Museeuw will be looking for a solid start to his bid for a third successive World Cup title in the 294-kilometer race, won last year by Italian Gabriele Colombo. Yet his Mapei team director, Patrick Lefevere, admits he is nervous about Museeuw's prospects of holding off the in-form Frenchman in Saturday's first -- and longest -- classic of the season. "Johan is very fast, especially at the end of a long race," Lefevere said. "But Jalabert was well ahead in the Paris-Nice. If it comes down to a sprint between the two, it all depends if there is a small group just behind them. I hope Johan can do it but I'm not convinced." Both Museeuw and Jalabert will certainly be looking for an improvement on last year. Then, Museeuw finished eighth and Jalabert was forced to pull out with a knee injury caused in winning his second Paris-Nice title. Italian fans will be hoping that Michele Bartoli can muscle his way in amongst the two favourites though realistically he will do well to improve on his third place finish of last year. Britain's Italian-born Maximilian Sciandri will also fancy his chances after coming fourth a year ago when he lost out in a sprint by a breakway group of four headed by Colombo. One man who definitely won't be in contention is Olympic road-race champion Pascal Richard of Switzerland. Richard was knocked over by a car in training and suffered a brokem left hand and broken fingers on his right hand, as well as a fractured sternum. Milano San RemoErik Dekker will not start after he fels in Tirreno Adriatico. The Rabobank-equipe for Milano San Remo: Max van Heeswijk, Leon van Bon, Michael Boogerd, Aart Vierhouten, Rolf Sorensen, Robbie McEwen, Arvis Piziks and Michael Blaudzun.New system for World Cup 1997The UCI has introduced a new points system for the 1997 World Cup. Instead of the first 12 riders as was the case in 1996, the first 25 riders will now get points.For each race the points are as follows: 1. 100 2. 70 3. 50 4. 40 5. 36 and so on At the end of the season the first 8 riders in the overall standings will get extra UCI-points. The winner gets 150 UCI-points. In total there are 10 races (last year 11 - there is no Japan Cup in 1997). The Leeds Classic has gone and is being replaced by the Rochester International Classic. |