News for October 25
Festina team riders in OZ
Six Festina riders will prepare for the 1996 European season in Australia
between 7 and 28 January. Lars Michaelsen, Yva Martin, Stephen Hodge, Valerio
Tebaldi plus two others to be picked by team manager Bruno Roussel will take
part in five criteriums for the first week. The second week will be devoted to
training and the third week to the Tour of Tasmania when they will be looke
after by the former Helvetia rider Michael Wilson
Indurain Lets Go...At Last
Sunday afternoon (22 October) Miguel Indurain undertook tests, under top-secret
conditions, on the Bordeaux track. During a first ride of a quarter hour he
averaged 55.550kph (above Rominger's full-hour average of 55.291) but was
unable to finish a second test because the setting sun shining directly through
the velodrome windows was blinding him. "I couldn't see the line," he said "and
preferred not to persist." He decided he would not try again -- at least at
Bordeaux.
"On a 250m track [like this] I climb up [the banking] in the bends and
I'm not at my ease." The only covered velodrome in Europe with a 333m lap length
is in Moscow. "But," said Francis Lafargue, the Banesto manager present in
Bordeaux, "we don't know what state it is in; the only information we have on it
comes from the Russian trainer of the Colombian team and he hadn't been there
for two years." But Indurain has no intention of going there right away, with
his first child due within the month.
Final World Cup Standings
(Only includes those who qualified by riding a minimum six of the eleven races)
1. Museeuw 199
2. Tchmil 114
3. Gianetti 106
4. Bartoli 100
5. Baldato 91
6. Bugno 88
7. Fondriest 87
8. Sciandri 79
9. Armstrong 74
10. Zanini 65
11. Chappucci 62
12. Ballerini 58
13. Skibby 44
14. Elli 41
15= Ekimov 38
15= Fr. Casagrande 38
17= Capiot 36
17= Bortolami 36
19= Heppner 35
19= Cassani 35
19= Caruso 35
22. Zberg 33
23. Sorensen 32
24. Den Bakker 26
25= Furlan 25
25= Podenzana 25
27. Cenghialta 24
28. Ferrigato 23
29. Fontanelli 22
30. Tafi 20
31. Zaina 18
32. Piepoli 16
33= Konychev 14
33= Missaglia 14
35= Michaelsen 12
35= Rooks 12
37= Aldag 10
37= Imboden 10
39= Puttini 8
39= Bettin 8
41. Yates 6
French-German Team Takes Fuller Shape
The conseil-general of the Creuse region voted yesterday (October 24) to give
its support, in association with as yet unnamed French and German commercial
sponsors to a new team. The total budget will be 6.35 million French francs (1.3
million US dollars) and there will be 15 riders. Jean-Claude Cluis, the manager,
and Marc Durant, the directeur-sportif, are in advanced negotiations with Jacky
Durand. Thierry Laurent (Castorama), Herve Garel and Emmanuel Hubert (ex-Le
Groupement) and Jean-Luc Masdupuy (Aki) have also been mentioned. Three
additional places have been reserved for French riders, and over and above this
Jean-Francois Bernard and Thierry Marie could be brought in. Both of these
riders would require an additional sponsor to come in to meet their salary
requirements (as was the case with Bernard at Chazal). Six or seven German and
Italian riders would make up the rest of the team.
Coming and Goings
French rider Laurent Roux (Castorama) has signed for two years with TVM. "
Several teams in northern Europe looking for a climber contacted me," he said.
Roux will be accompanied to TVM by another Castorama rider, Stephane Petilleau.
Gilles Delion, France's last Giro di Lombardia rider in 1990, was not in
hopeful mood when spoken to before the race about his prospects for 1996. "I've
had two contacts, but the prospects are remote. If I have to stay on the
touchline, I'll devote myself to mountain bike racing."
Thirty-four-year-old Jean-Claude Colotti, who has been dropped from the GAN
line-up for 1996 is also pessimistic. "I've had a few approaches from foreign
teams but the conditions proposed have been too precarious,. If I don't get an
offer in France I'll retire. In fact I'm preparing myself for that."
Ex-Le Groupement rider Pascal Lino has signed for Italian team ZG Mobili whose
directeur-sportif is Massimo Ghirotto and general manager Moreno Argentin.
Argentin is said to be having some problems rounding out the budget for the
team, which needs another main sponsor in addition to ZG-Mobili. For this reason
he is only signing nine riders at this stage including Maurizio Fondriest and
Giorgio Furlan.
New Teams
A new Dutch team, Foreldorado-Golff, directed by Frits Schur, has so far signed
seven riders: Veenstra (ex-Motorola), Talen (ex-Mercatone-Uno), Meijs
(ex-Asfra), Van den Akker (individual pro) and neo-pros De Louw, Van Dijk and
Gilsing. An eighth rider is to be signed.
A Slovenian-based pro team sponsored by the companies Tollo and Cobo is to take
the road in 1996. There will be three Slovenian riders, but the majority will be
Italian neo-pros.
Obree a Phenomenom?
During the Bercy track meet at which Graeme Obree was beaten in the 4km pursuit
by Chris Boardman after his chainset came apart and he was foced to borrow a
bike from the Italian team he was asked by a French journalist if he could be
considered "a phenomenom". [How would one translate this very French question?]
"Phenomenon?" Obree replied. "Hmm. Let's say I wouldn't have made a good soldier
in the army."