Rominger gears up for one-hour recordSwiss Tony Rominger will test a new bicycle in Bordeaux next week before an attempt on the world one-hour record held by Briton Chris Boardman.Rominger will go to Bordeaux, where he set a record of 55.291 kms in November 1994, with his doctor Michele Ferrari and a mechanic. Boardman set the current world mark of 56.3759 kms in Manchester last September. ``We want to compare my 1994 bike with a new one which will be designed especially for the attempt. We will try different combinations of tyres and positions to see which one is the fastest,'' Rominger said in a statement. He added he would also go to Manchester for further tests. He has not yet set a date or place for the attempt. Boardman, Jalabert and Pantani in early testThis weekend's two-day Criterium international cycling race looks like being a major early season test for favourites Chris Boardman, Marco Pantani and Laurent Jalabert.Last year's winner Boardman starts the race -- a 188-km first stage on Saturday and an 80-km climb and 8-km time trial on Sunday -- with just a few days racing under his belt this year and may be too rusty to retain his title. But GAN team director Roger Legeay has every confidence in his man. ``He has trained at home in Britain and I'm confident as he is a rider who knows exactly what he's doing,'' he said of the world one-hour record holder. GAN also announced in Albi that they will not be sponsoring cycling after this year. For Pantani, the race marks the Italian's return to French roads for the first time since two consecutive crashes last year almost put an end to the career of the 1995 road world championships silver medallist. The Italian, now leading the Mercatone Uno team, was considered one of the world's best climbers before an accident in the Milan-Turin race last year, and he will have a lot to prove. World number two Laurent Jalabert of France, the 1995 winner here, looked the obvious favourite a week ago. But a bad crash in the final sprint of the Milan-San Remo classic last week may have hampered his chances to win again on the roads of his native region of Tarn, in southwestern France. Swiss veterans Tony Rominger and Mauro Gianetti, as well as their promising compatriot Laurent Dufaux, will be among the other favourites alongside Frenchman Luc Leblanc and Russian time trial specialist Yevgeni Berzin. |