News for November 17, 2000

Urine samples saved

The UCI have announced that they will keep the urine samples that were taken and frozen during the Tour de France, the Vuelta, and the World Road and Track Championships, but will not allow them to be analysed yet. That will have to wait until the EPO urine test developed by the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory is validated by the IOC as a stand-alone test.

In an official statement, the UCI said that that they were "now obliged to make the results of the above-mentioned events official," and regretted that the method had not been validated.

"In view of the time that has passed, and given the impossibility of conducting analyses that might lead to disciplinary procedures, the UCI has also asked the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory to refrain from performing any analyses on the samples taken during the Tour de France, which the UCI had asked to be stored, and of which it is the sole proprietor."

They will keep the samples until a later date, pointing out that the "parties concerned in this matter will be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal consequences that any initiative connected with the analysis of these samples may provoke."

The UCI had originally decided to destroy all the samples on November 15, however pressure from the Société du Tour de France and French Youth and Sports minister, Marie-George Buffet influenced them to reconsider.

The results of the analyses could be interesting, but are unlikely to lead to any positive drug tests. The EPO urine test only has an effectiveness of 24-72 hours, while EPO itself works best taken 4 weeks previously. "The only athletes they would catch would be stupid ones," is a phrase that applies in these cases as well as to the Olympic Games.

Longo fails again

Jeannie Longo has made several attempts in Mexico City in the past few days to better her performance over the hour of 44.767 kilometres, set on November 5. However, she has been unsuccessful for various reasons: poor weather conditions, her own physical condition, and most recently, a puncture.

Longo began an attempt late on Wednesday afternoon, and was averaging 45.245 km/h after 9 kilometres, which she covered in 11'56.89. However, a rear wheel puncture caused her to abandon the attempt. Longo said that she would have to return to France today because her husband has to work.

10th Open des Nations

The velodrome of Bordeaux will host the 10th edition of the Open des Nations, running from November 17-19. The three day meet will see 64 of the world's best track cyclists in action, with a four hour program each day consisting of sprints, keirins, madisons, eliminations, points races, and flying laps. There is also a junior support race program, featuring madison action from the country's young stars.

There will be a total of four French teams, (Red, White, Blue and Espoirs) competing against 12 other international teams. The madisons will be of top quality, as the field contains World madison Champions Stephan Steinweg and Erik Weisspfennig along with Olympic Champions Scott McGrory and Brett Aitken. Also, Swiss pair Bruno Risi and Kurt Betschart, Italians Silvio Martinello and Marco Villa, Belgians Matthew Gilmore and Nicky Vermeersch, Spaniards Isaac Galvez and Juan Llaneras, Danes Jimmi Madsen and Tayeb Braikia, and Frenchmen Damien Pommereau and Robert Sassone.

They will be equalled by the sprinters, containing the likes of keirin champions Florian Rousseau and Frederic Magné, kilo master Arnaud Tournant, and sprint specialist Laurent Gané from France. Germans Jens Fiedler and Jan Van Eijden, Britons Jason Queally and Craig Maclean, and the "Internationals" Pavel Buran and Ainars Kiksis are just some of the riders who will be aiming to dethrone the French on their home turf.

An overall general classification will be awarded to each nation on the basis of points. Also Félicia Ballanger and Frederic Magné will be honoured on Friday evening before the final races of their careers.

The racing begins at 19:00 on Friday and Saturday, and 13:00 on Sunday, running for approximately 5 hours per day.

Full start list

More track

Want to know more about track racing? Cyclingnews has started a new section that is dedicated to the pure form of the sport. At the moment, there are links to a track calendar for 2000/2001, as well as introductions and explanations of most of the events, from madisons to sprinting.

More will be added to this section over time, and similar sections devoted to road, cyclocross, MTB and other aspects of cycling will follow. Each section is intended to be a collection of useful and informative articles on each discipline.

Quiles to announce Kelme's future tomorrow

Pepe Quiles, the Spanish owner of the Kelme team, will make an announcement tomorrow regarding whether the team will continue into its 22nd year in professional cycling. However, according to team manager Joan Mas, it is more likely that the company will decide the date on which they will cease their sponsorship of the team. "Kelme does not like the lack of seriousness, and they will wait to see if it improves," said Mas.

According to Mas, Pepe Quiles is still negotiating with Oscar Sevilla. "We achieved glory, but we also had a time of unpleasantness," said Mas. "We have a several teams that are chasing our riders and this is an annoying situation. They nourish themselves in the waters of Kelme and they offer them gold. Our problem is not signing riders, but retaining them."

If Kelme do pull out, it will mean the end of the longest continuous professional team sponsorship in history. The Kelme team have been renowned for making life difficult (and interesting) for other riders, especially in the Grand Tours, and they would surely be missed. Their email address is ciclismo@kelme.es if you would like to contact them.

Pantani case continues on two fronts

Marco Pantani's battle over his high hematocrit level measured in 1995 will continue in Forli tomorrow morning under the presidency of judge Luisa del Bianco. However, his lawyers Gaetano Insolera and Bruno Guazzaloca have taken their appeal to have the judge removed to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal in Bologna rejected it yesterday.

The lawyers have claimed that the judge emitted a decree on October 20 that "anticipated his sentence of judgment" and appealed on November 6 to have him removed from the case. However, the Court of Appeal in Bologna declared it inadmissible because it should have been lodged the same day as the judge emitted the decree.

Saiz elected president of AIGCP

Manolo Saiz, (ONCE-Deutsche Bank), was re-elected to the presidency of the Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionnels (AIGCP) at their annual general meeting in Paris today. Saiz was elected for two years, while Francis Lafargue (Banesto PR officer) and Joan Mas (Kelme manager) were elected to the General Secretary and Treasurer positions respectively.

The AIGCP represents most of professional cycling at the moment, and has as its invited members the presidents of the French, Spanish and Italian federations.

Imola bids for World's 2004

The Italian city of Imola will place a bid for the World Road Championships in 2004. Next Tuesday, former World Champion Vittorio Adorni (1968) will introduce the candidacy with the stamp of the Emilia-Romagna region in Bologna. The mayor of Imola, Massimo Marchignoli, said that the city has the "necessary papers in order" for the bid, with respect to the organisational and logistic structure.

Livingston in doubt

Ex-US Postal rider, Kevin Livingston, has not yet sealed his contract with British team Linda McCartney, despite signing a preliminary agreement with them in September. General manager Julian Clark said that "I spoke to Kevin again last night, and there are still some important details to be ironed out before Kevin becomes a Linda McCartney rider. Negotiations continue. The contract is on the table."

Team manager Sean Yates added that "Of course, we want Kevin to come, but I think we will be a very strong outfit with or without him. He may decide to go to a team that can offer him a guaranteed start in the Tour de France - something that we're not yet able to do. The positive side of the situation is that we are in negotiation with a couple of other riders, so we will not be at a disadvantage whatever happens."

Kevin has promised to make a final decision about 2001 before the end of the month. Sources have linked him with the German Telekom team.

Wong almost turns pro

Top Asian cyclist, Kam-Po Wong has rejected an offer for a professional contract from Italian based team, Selle Italia-Pacific. 27 year old Wong, a recent winner of the Tour de Okinawa (for the third time) said that he "did not feel ready," despite being a top class elite rider for many years.

Selle Italia offered him a one year contract after seeing him race at the World Championships in Plouay. That combined with his prominence in Asian cycling including a stage win in the Tour de Langkawi and KOM jersey in the Commonwealth Bank Classic two years ago, made him an attractive prospect for the second division team.

Wong however rated the Asian Championships and the All China Games as important goals for him next season, and thought that Selle Italia's program might clash. "It's my dream to turn pro. I'll do it when the right time comes," he told the South China Morning Post.

"I don't want to turn pro just for the sake of acquiring that status. I want to set a better example of what I can achieve to youngsters in Hong Kong. To get good results for Hong Kong is still my top priority. I'll get better training for next year's Asian Championships and All China Games if I stay with the team as professional riders get involved more in competition than training. And the team's young riders can benefit a lot if I stay with them," he said.

Wong added that he didn't want to turn pro merely by invitation, but wanted to impress international team managers with his talent. He said he would consider turning pro in the US first, where the level of racing is not as high as in Europe.

Wong will head a Hong Kong based team in December's Tour of the South China Sea.

Lopes solo with GT

Dual slalom and downhill star, Brian Lopes, will leave Volvo-Cannondale next year for a special solo contract with GT. His contract will differ from the other team GT members, as it will incorporate an independent sponsorship deal in association with Fox.

Brian will ride a GT bike, and wear a GT-Fox uniform. However, he will still travel and stay with the rest of the GT team as part of his sponsorship. He will contest the full World Cup and NORBA series, with emphasis on the dual events.

Girard joins Vouilloz

Former U.S. MTB team coach, Stephan Girard, has become the team manager for the Vouilloz Racing Team next season. He has coached the team's star rider, Nicolas Vouilloz, for the past five years and wishes to lead the team to the next step in 2001. his duties will involve taking the team to local and international competitions, as well as coaching the various members of the team.