Old rider dies in BrusselProsper Deprédomme (79) died last Saturday. He had the nick-name 'Youp-la-Boum'. He started his professional career in 1940. In 1946 and 1950 he won Luik-Bastenaken-Luik. Deprédomme raced with riders as Fausto Coppi and Rik van Steenbergen. He ended his carreer in 1954.Young rider dies - too young!The ex-champion of Belgium, Paul Haghedooren died on Sunday night in Knokke, Belgium) aged 38. He had a heart attack while he was jogging along the beach. In his 13 years as a professional he rode for teams Lotto, Sigma, Histor & Collstrop and was the Belgian National Champion in 1985 in a race where he surprisingly beat the the World Champion, Claude Criquelion. He was known as a rolleur which allowed him to win stages at the G.P. Impanis, The Tour of Great Britain and the Four Days of Dunquerque.He ended his professional career in 1995 and leaves a wife and two children. Oh Australian Cycling - you've done it again!The ACF (Cycling Australia) will allow electronic communication equipment in all road races under its control from the start of 1998. This is a reaction to the controversy that arose during the Women's Road Championships on Saturday when Kathy Watt was ordered to remove the equipment that she intended to use to communicate with her manager, Carey Hall.The officials were "heavy handed" and ordered Watt to remove the device within a minute of the race beginning. Watt was upset by the order. Her manager pointed out that there was no rule against the use of such devices and that Watt is allowed to use them overseas, where they are normal parts of the cycling scene. The President admitted this and said if she had have asked then there would have been no problems. Touche! Next day, she asked to use the device in the Criterium Championship and was again refused. It was very confusing. There is no rule against them, she was told if she asked it would be okay, when she asks, it is not okay, even though there is no rule against them. Go figure. Obviously, the ACF (CA) has to get some consistency in their treatment of riders. They expect to formally allow such devices at their next meeting. Edith Klep joins Van Moorsel at VKSEdith Klep has signed for one year with the VKS-team of Leontien van Moorsel. Another new rider is Hester Marieke Kroes who comes from Hartol.The VKM-team is still looking for one or two new riders for next season. Ullrich back in trainingJan Ullrich has restarted to pedal for 1998. He has been off the bike since Sepetember 14th when he raced at Karlsruhe the Gran Premio Telekom, a pairs time trial which he rode with Rolf Aldag.So he returns to the the saddle and resumes training: today in Lanzarote, the Volcanic island which is part of the Canary Islands where he will remain until the 21st, profiting from better climate than in Germany. Good sources say that Ullrich has gained nine kilos which is why he has started training earlier: the last Tour winner and his managers said that they were not excessively worried: there's plenty of time to get rid of the excess weight. Of all his illustrous predecessors to have won the Tour, Greg Lemond used to come back from the Winter with the same problem. As you may remember, the twenty-three year old from Rostock finished the Tour under a lot of stress and finished his season early. After the parties and the criteriums, Ullrich rode another month and then left on vacation to the Seychelles with his friend Gaby. But now the relaxation is finished, although after his days in Lanzarote, he has another party to attend which is being prepared in Merdingen, the city where he lives and where they have dedicated a street to him. Italians start planning earlyAlfredo Martini (Italian National Team Manager), Antonio Fusi & Dario Broccardo have been to the Netherlands recently to check out the World's route at Valkenburg.The route will be a 17.2 circuit which will be repeated 15 times for a total of 258km. Martini said: "It doesn't seem as difficult as San Sebastian. Only the wind could make it tought". There will be two difficulties: the Bemelerberg and the Cauberg. "The first measures 1,500 meters: the first 100 at 10%, another 300 at 12%, 400 at 9 to 7%, 700 at 5 to 3%. If it is attacked it is not very long". The Cauberg starts in the center of Valkenburg: they will cover 2.9km, while the last 1800 meters at the finish will be flat. There is already a WWW Site. |