Britain's only world-ranked one-day bicycle race moves one week forward on the international calendar this year to Sunday, 6 August 95.
12 May 95
Marco Pantani is out of this year's Giro after losing a two-week injury and fitness battle. Pantani had been receiving daily treatments on his injured right knee, which was injured when he collided with a car while training. His vacancy will be filled by Sergio Barbero.
Novell Sponsorship to End
Novell, Inc. announced it will not be renewing its sponsorship of the Jan Raas Professional Cycling Team after 1995.
The sponsorship has been very effective in increasing name awareness for Novell/WordPerfect. But after three successful years as main sponsor, under WordPerfect Software for two years and Novell Software in 1995, Novell has decided to concentrate its marketing efforts on direct promotional activities, such as advertising, direct mail, educational and training forums and participation in key industry events. The recent acquisition of WordPerfect Corporation and the subsequent broadening of Novell's business model into networked applications has prompted a need for focused marketing activities which can be closely related to business growth.
"Novell has greatly enjoyed working with Jan Raas and his team, and has thoroughly appreciated the professionalism and the enthusiasm which the team has shown towards the publicity aspect of this sponsorship," said Duncan Baldwin, director of external relations Novell Europe.
Nationally and internationally, Jan Raas is now seeking a new sponsor to succeed Novell. "In this process, we are open to new trends and initiatives in sport sponsorship from within the business community. Obviously, next year's Olympic Games in Atlanta are very interesting in this respect," said Raas.
In the future, Jan Raas will be spending less time behind the wheel of the team-leader's car. "That's necessary in order to keep abreast of the changes in professional cycling. As supervisor, I'll be more involved with the overall picture so as to ensure optimal coordination of both the sporting and the commercial side," said Raas.
"On the sporting side, this involves bringing more young talent to the team, scouting and preparing for the 1996 Olympic Games in which professional cycling will be making its debut. In the business community, I sense a great deal of interest in Atlanta: the Games are widely expected to give a major boost to our sport. In the future, more emphasis will be placed on commercial activities, with a view to giving sponsors more certainty with regard to the return on their investment."
Of the 1995 season Raas says, "This season seems to be a repeat of the two previous ones. Not a bad classics period, but no victories, unfortunately. The Tour DuPont once again brought in the long-awaited result, with stage wins by Leon van Bon, Abdoujaparov and Ekimov. With our sprinter Abdoujaparov, we'll be doing everything to back up our search for a new sponsor. The new comers on the team are making out very well, I feel we have excellent prospects for renewal and rejuvenation."
May 19 - Tour de France Team selection The Societe du Tour de France has announced 15 of the 20 teams that will ride the 1995 Tour de France. The remaining five teams will be announced after the Dauphine Libere. The first 15 are:
Castorama, GAN, Le Groupement, Chazal (France); Carrera, Gewiss, Mapei, MG, Mercatone Uno (Italy); Banesto, ONCE (Spain); Motorola (VS); Lotto (Belgium); Novell (Nethrlands); Festina (Andorra).Criterium of Amiens Thierry Marie won the Amiens Criterium Tuesday night (16 May 95) in a city center crowded with some 10,000 spectators despite heavy rain, outsprinting Pillon, Cornillet and Francois Moreau. Other riders drawing the crowds included Richard Virenque and Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle.