Tour de France News for June 25, 2003 Edited by John Stevenson & Jeff Jones Gorski moves on Mark Gorski & Lance Armstrong at the 2000 Tour Photo: © Graham Watson Mark Gorski, CEO of Tailwind Sports, the management and marketing company that runs the US Postal Service team, has resigned from Tailwind to take up a new position as Executive Vice President of the Schupp Company, an advertising agency based in St. Louis, MO. Gorski, whose lifelong involvement with cycling includes a gold medal on the track at the 1984 Olympics and the signing of the US Postal Service as sponsor for Tailwind's team, joined tailwind in May 1995. He will step down officially on July 1 and Tailwind Vice President Dan Osipow will become Interim General Manager for the both the company and the team. However, Gorski will assist with team operations through the Tour de France. In a company statement, Gorski cited family considerations as the main reason for the move, adding, "I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished over the last eight years with the team. Lance Armstrong and the Team's success at the Tour de France since 1999 has been very satisfying and fulfilling, personally and professionally. To have helped Thom Weisel, Johan Bruyneel, Lance and the rest of the team attain such an incredible level of success makes me feel very fortunate." 2001 Cyclingnews interview with Mark Gorski Ullrich ready for Tour Jan Ullrich Photo: © AFP After nine of the ten stages in the Tour de Suisse, German Jan Ullrich (Team Bianchi) feels that he is now ready for the centenary Tour de France. After starting the race with a cold, Ullrich lost some time on GC before rallying to finish second in stage 6 and third in the stage 8 time trial. He now lies in 8th overall, 2'25 behind leader Alexandre Vinokourov. By comparison, the last time he raced in the Tour de Suisse was in 2000, where he also finished third in the time trial, and spent a few days in the leader's jersey before losing time in the mountains to slip to fifth overall, 2'07 behind winner Oscar Camenzind. "In the mountains and in the time trial I was in front," he told DPA. "There was a clear improvement here in comparison with the Tour of Germany." Ullrich may not ride in this Sunday's German Championships in Nürnberg, as his girlfriend Gaby is expected to give birth to their first child soon, and he wants to spend time with her before heading off to the Tour de France for three weeks. "The decision whether to renounce the start lies with Jan, and it will be made tomorrow," said sports director Rudy Pevenage. "He now has ridden two tough tours and must also completely recover from his cold. The German titles will certainly not be necessary to build his form." Pevenage added that Jan "In order to minimize the danger of crashing, Jan did not ride the time trial flat out. The riders who were in front of him yesterday will not be there in the mountains of the Tour. This was a hard tour in which he was able to rebuild his self-confidence. We are relaxed for the Tour." Rogers and McGee on target for Tour Australian riders Michael Rogers (Quick.Step-Davitamon) and Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) have both confirmed that their preparation is on track for the Tour de France, with victories in the Route du Sud and the Tour de Suisse yesterday. After winning the time trial and claiming the lead in the Route du Sud on Monday, Rogers rode well on the last and most mountainous stage to finish fourth and hold onto the leader's jersey. It's Rogers' third tour win in a month after the Tours of Belgium and Germany, and the down to earth Australian is now looking forward to his first Tour de France. "I'm having a fantastic month," said an elated Rogers. "I was a little bit nervous going into the final stage because the final climb to the finish line was one the race had never been over before and I didn't know what to expect. It was a hard 17 km uphill and the last five kilometres were really tough. I stayed with the front guys for the first couple of kilometres but then I couldn't follow their attacks so I decided to not panic and just set my own pace." "[Nicolas] Vogondy was in same boat as I was and gave me no real trouble but I was a bit concerned about the two up front which included Caucchioli [3rd on GC before the stage]," said Rogers. "I knew I had to keep them within two minutes and in the end I had them under control." Rogers now has his sights set on the yellow jersey of the centenary Tour de France. "I'm both nervous because it's my Tour debut and excited because I am taking such great form in to the race," said Rogers. "I really want to take the yellow jersey on the first day, that's my major aim, then secondly I want to finish the event." The first day is a 6.5km prologue time trial in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. "It's a very big experience for me and a very important one especially physically because I want to learn what my limits are," he said. "I still don't know that and I'd really like to have a go on one of the days in the Alps and maybe the Pyrenees as well to understand where I'm at and how far I can push myself." His team is more than satisfied with him, and together with German Patrick Sinkewitz has already signed a preliminary contract for next season. "They know I have good form and if I can take the jersey it will be fantastic but if not they are already stoked with my three wins in a row and reckon anything else will be a bonus." If Rogers survives, he also wants to do well in the penultimate stage, a 49km individual time trial from Pornic to Nantes on July 26. "The time trial should be good for me because the longer the better," said Rogers who won the tough 34 km time trial in the Route du Sud. "Belgium was good, Germany even better but the other day was not far from a perfect ride for me." "My form is just getting better and better and it was the quickest I've ever gone in a time trial in my whole life," he said. "I didn't make any mistakes and even slowed down a little the last ten kilometres because I had so much time up my sleeve and wanted to save energy for today." (See also: Cyclingnews interview with Michael Rogers ) Brad McGee Photo: © AFP Sydneysider Brad McGee is also improving his time trialing, winning the eighth stage of the Tour de Suisse yesterday, a 32.5 kilometre ride against the clock in Gossau. McGee beat Uwe Peschel (Gerolsteiner) by 23" and Jan Ullrich (Team Bianchi) by 50". "I am absolutely rapt and a little bit shocked," said McGee as he prepared for the final stage of the ten day tour. "I knew I was strong and felt good but it was a perfect ride and to do that against guys like Ullrich was amazing." The win has given McGee extra confidence for the Tour de France where last year he claimed a stage win and 48 hours after finishing in Paris claimed gold on the track in the individual pursuit at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Six weeks later was crowned individual pursuit World Champion in Denmark. "I actually feel I'm in better form this year than at the same time last year and I'll be looking at the prologue and the individual time trial but I'm up for whatever challenges come along," said McGee, who did the Tour de Suisse straight after the Dauphiné Libéré. "I suppose the big question is whether I'm going to fatigue because I've pretty much done 18 straight days of racing." "I can't see that happening though as I'm feeling great," said McGee who will head back to his French home in Nice to spend some time with his family before heading to Paris next Wednesday. "That doesn't mean a rest though because I have to keep the engine idling." "I'll be working on a few little things like sprint training with 'Cookie'," added McGee who will play a major role as a lead out man for Baden Cooke in the bunch sprints. "We actually practice lead outs and my brother Rod is over here so he'll hop on the motorbike and set the pace to mimic speed of the main bunch in the final kilometres of a Tour stage. It's the only way you can get the feeling of the speed you need." Apart from his stated ambitions McGee says he'll have an open commission during the Tour. "I'll be the 'ruck rover' in AFL terms or the 'five-eighth' if you talk rugby league with lead outs for Cookie, chasing stage wins for myself and I also want to have a crack at a couple of mountain stages to see how I go," said McGee. "I've got some climbing legs at the moment but it's more a build for the future and not an effort to this year try for an high overall placing." "You need to decide whether you're going for stages or GC (overall) because if you mix the two it ends up as a half hearted attempt at each and you might end up with nothing." Previous News    Next News (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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