Tour de France News for May 22, 2003 Edited by Jeff Jones & John Stevenson No 23rd team for Tour Any hopes that the Tour de France might make special arrangements for a 23rd team in this year's race to accommodate Mario Cipollini and the Domina Vacanze team have been quickly dashed. Daniel Baal, director of cycling for the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), categorically rejected the idea, but noted that a slim possibility does still exist for Cipollini, pending a determination of the viability of the new Bianchi team which is due to replace Coast as title sponsor of Jan Ullrich's team. "The only possibility for Domina Vacanze is to be the 22nd team," Baal told l'Equipe. "There will be no 23rd team." While Team Coast was automatically qualified for the Tour, its structural demise prompted ASO to leave its place in the Tour open for the moment, waiting for confirmation that Bianchi can fully establish a new team in short order, or the most likely alternative: replacement by Domina Vacanze. Yes, yes to Cipo, say cyclists By Gerard Knapp The world wants Cipo Photo: © Sirotti A Cyclingnews.com survey has shown overwhelming support for the inclusion of Mario Cipollini and the Domina Vacanze-Elitron team in this year's Tour de France at the expense of French teams. Also, if another spot is made available on the Tour, the majority of cyclists surveyed would prefer to see it go to Cipollini's team, rather than the financially-challenged team of former TdF winner Jan Ullrich. Earlier this week, organizers of the Tour de France shocked the cycling world when they omitted the team of the reigning world champion, Mario Cipollini in announcing the four remaining wildcard entries for this year's Grand Boucle. The Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) named French teams Ag2r-Prevoyance, Brioches La Boulangère and Jean Delatour and Spanish squad Euskaltel-Euskadi to fill the remaining places. The omission of Domina Vacanze resulted in widespread criticism of the ASO and its selection policies, with critics ranging from four-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong through to last year's winner of the Tour's green jersey - and Cipo's principal rival - Robbie McEwen. The Cyclingnews.com survey of over 3,000 cyclists in 67 countries showed that 89.4 percent believed Cipollini's team should have been offered one of the four wildcards last Monday, with cyclists preferring to exclude Jean Delatour (69.8 percent), Brioches La Boulangère (21.3), Euskaltel-Euskadi (3.7), Ag2r-Prévoyance (1.8) and some 3.4 percent were undecided. Similarly, the same number of people (89.4 percent) also believe a 22nd team should be invited to ride in the Tour. However, the selection of that 22nd spot is not so clear cut. The survey shows that 51.2 percent want to see Cipollini and Domina Vacanze, with 37.7 percent preferring to see Jan Ullrich and Team Bianchi (formerly Coast, and currently suspended by the UCI). Beyond those two teams, there is support for the rapidly emerging Milaneza squad (5.5), while Phonak scored 4.5 percent of the votes and 1.1 percent were undecided. The response varied somewhat from country to country, with Italy registering 100 percent support for the Lion King and the USA also registering a vote 94 percent in favour of the Italian sprinter. Of the respondents from host country France, there was still 67 percent in favour of replacing one of the four wildcards with Domina Vacanze. The general view was that Cipollini deserved a spot because of his status as world champion and his popularity, not to mention his ability to provide some interest in the first week of the Tour. Many also believed he would finish the Tour if he said that was his plan. Similarly, Ullrich was favoured by over one-third of respondents as he "is the only rider who can challenge Lance", said one respondent, typical of many. However, not all believed Cipollini should be allowed to ride the Tour. One respondent from France supported the argument that French teams deserve support: "It is in the global interest of the TDF, and cycling in general to have a (sic) relatively good French cycling. It is therefore understandable that TDF privilege French teams", said one. The majority of French respondents took a worldly view of their race, with the majority wanting to see Cipollini in action. It's significant that almost all respondents to this survey could justify their selections and below we share the opinion of one French cycling fan, as this Breton covers the issues from a French point-of-view.      "Mario Cipollini is the greatest sprinter of the history. The Tour de France is the greatest race of the history and must have all the best racers at this start for the century edition. I think the Tour de France isn't a French race but a international race. The nationalist opinion of Jean-Marie Leblanc could be good for the middle of the 20th century, but not at the beginning of the 21st century.      "We're in European Union, we use all the same money, we have all the same culture. What is the signification of the national opinion now? I don't understand. I'm Breton (the little land of Robic, Petit-Breton, Hinault, Bobet, Guimard... and Arnaud Gérard - the junior world champion), I've got the French nationality, but for me this nationality have no real signification.      "France is a country different of the other in Europe, it's a country made by a lot of people from all over the world, of all over the Europe. In this country the people are very different, they haven't all the same story, the same culture. So the preference 'nationale', in cycling or in a other thing, isn't a good idea and have absolutely no signification for the French people. Look the French public at the Tour de France, the blue-white-red flag is absent. Just look this particularity when, this summer, you look TDF at the TV. And you can understand why Jean-Marie Leblanc haven't made the good choice.      "For me Delatour is a good team with some young "talent" (Lefevre, Dumoulin, Joly) and a Breton leader (Halgand) who I support when I see him on the different races in France (last year he won a stage at the Tour). But Delatour is a little team and can be considered like Panaria in Italy or Colchon Relax in Spain. If the Tour de France had only the dimension of Giro or Vuelta, Delatour must be at the start. But the Tour have an other dimension, it's like the world cup in football.      "The absence of Mario, Marco Pantani, Alex Zuelle is like the absence of the England or Argentine team for the world cup. The Tour must be the race of all the stars of cycling because the Tour is not only a race but the greatest sport show of the year. If we want some new generation of racers in France we need the presence of the famous champions at the start of the Tour. Marco Pantani and Mario Cipollini have got more supporter in France the Delatour team can have.      "The public want to see the rainbow jersey, want to see the skin head of Marco: two symbols of modern cycling. Like the "casque de cuir" of Robic or the long legs of Coppi at the middle of the 20th century." Thevenet & Hinault open 100 Years of the Tour expo A brace of Bernards Photo: © AFP Tour de France winners Bernard Hinault and Bernard Thevenet were present yesterday for the opening of an new exhibition at the 'musée de L'auto, moto, vélo' (Museum of the car, motorcycle and bicycle) in Chatellerault, France. The exhibition, 'Yellow jersey - 100 years of the Tour de France' runs until November 23, 2003. Hinault and Thevenet are pictured with bikes they rode in the Tour in 1979 and 1977 respectively, alongside Andre Darrigade, winner of the points jersey in 1961.   (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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