News for October 12, 2000World's newsMen's TT todayThe last time trial of the World Championships will be the Elite men's 47.6 kilometre event. A start list and full preview is now available - be sure to log on to cyclingnews.com at 14:30 European time (today) to catch all the action live. British men depleted furtherGreat Britain are down to four in their men's World's squad after Mark Lovatt has had to pull out due to illness. He was called in at the last minute to replace the injured Roger Hammond, but it seems as though the substitution was 'ill advised.' The men's team for the road race currently consists of Max Sciandri, Charles Wegelius and Stuart Dangerfield, while Chris Boardman will concentrate solely on the time trial.
AustraliaElite Men Road Race Tom Leaper (Panaria) Time Trial Tom Leaper (Panaria) Elite Women Road Race Sara Carrigan Time Trial Sara Carrigan Road Race Nic Browne Time Trial Michael Rogers Junior Men Road Race Jonathon Cantwell Time Trial Ashley Humbert Road Race Jessica Amy Time Trial Jessica Amy Urine test on hold?The fate of the frozen urine samples that were collected during the 2000 Tour de France rests in the hands of the International Olympic Committee, who have ordered them to be destroyed if they cannot validate the French urine test for EPO by November 15. Although the test gained credibility prior to the Olympics, when it was meant to be used in conjunction with the Australian developed blood test/model for EPO detection, it has to be a stand-alone test for analyses of the tour samples to proceed. Unfortunately, no blood samples were taken and stored together with the urine samples during the Tour - if they were, then analysis could proceed using the combined method that has been IOC-approved. Given the difficulty that both research parties had in getting past the IOC's medical and legal commissions in August, it will be a tough battle for Dr Jacques De Céaurriz and his colleagues at the laboratory of Châtenay-Malabry to have the test approved in time. So fearful are the IOC of a false positive result, that they are reluctant to give any room to sports lawyers who will argue to the limit that the testing method was not valid, and that their client is obviously not guilty. The IOC have a legitimate concern in producing a bulletproof test, after the British Athletics Federation went bankrupt a few years ago when they lost a few Nandrolone cases. However, more than just a firm stance on doping is required from the IOC - someone has to help the EPO test actually become useful. One problem the IOC claim is the difference between "direct" and "indirect" methods: The urine based test is considered a "direct method" in that it will detect the presence of the banned substance via its pH. On the other hand, the blood test is considered "indirect" because it only detects the effects of the drug after it has been administered. A deeper investigation of the science reveals that all methods are "indirect", some more than others. It's a question of degrees... This may be irrelevant anyway, after the EPO test during the Olympics did not give any positive results. Were all the athletes clean, or did they realise that the beneficial effects of EPO would take longer to manifest themselves than the useful time window of the EPO test?
Mapei suspends ridersMapei's manager, Alvaro Crespi, has suspended three of his riders: Axel Merckx, Wilfried Peeters and Max Van Heeswijk from racing for the team for the rest of the season (for what it is). This is because they abandoned three kilometers before the finish of Stage 4a of the Hessen Rundfahrt, leaving teammate Chann McRae high and dry. McRae moved into second position in the afternoon's time trial, but wasn't in a good position to attack Tobias Steinhauser's lead in the final stage. "What they did, we call treachery to the team and the sponsor. Okay, the punishment isn't much because the season is over. But it's a signal to our riders, and also the riders for the coming seasons. We don't tolerate this kind of behaviour," said Crespi. The suspension will not prevent them racing in the World Championships this week, and all three will start in their respective teams on Sunday.
VDB blames CofidisFrank Vandenbroucke gave an interview with the French daily, Le Parisien on his current plight. He said that his sponsor Cofidis was responsible for his inactivity this season. VDB hasn't raced since his abandonment of the Tour de France on July 10. "They haven't let me start any more. Cofidis sent me the team plan with the selections for each race, but I wasn't on that list. They didn't give me any indication and I couldn't defend my case, so I don't know what I could have achieved," said Vandenbroucke. "It was very frustrating. I had strong ambitions for the end of the season and especially for Plouay. It will hurt me to see how the others ride next Sunday." For next year VDB has three potential teams to choose, however he didn't give any details. "It has to be a team which gave me confidence," he said.
Team newsBlijlevens to Lotto Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens will join the Belgian Lotto team next season. He was still under contract with Gianluigi Stanga, who is looking for a new head sponsor after Polti stopped. "Stanga told us he can't give us a guarantee that he will lead a big team next year. We are allowed to look for another team," said Blijlevens. Blijlevens wasn't that successful this year, but had several offers. "I'm going to Lotto because I think that this team is good in flat races," he added. Blijlevens' teammate of this year, Bart Voskamp, will not go to Lotto however. French and Italian transfers Festina have acquired two French riders, Carlos Da Cruz (Big Mat) and Pascal Chanteur (Ag2r). Italian second division II Mobilvetta-Rossin have signed Massimo Strazzer (Alessio), Moreno Di Biase (Cantina Tollo) and Uros Murn (KRKA). The latter team are likely to have the services of Slovenian time trial champion, Valter Bonca (Bosch) and Branko Filip (Gerolsteiner) German espoir Torsten Heikmann has been signed by Telekom. Currently he is ranked amongst the top three U23 riders in the world, and finished 15th in the U23 time trial yesterday. Top French elite squad Jean Floc' H-Mantes are signing five young riders for next season: Vincent Grenèche (23) of Dammaries-les-Lys, David Le Lay (21) of UC St Brieuc, Lloyd Mondory (19) of UV Cognac, Arnaud Morice (22) of Saint-Herblain and Alexandre Urbain (20 years) from UC Nantes. They will lose Brittany Cyclocross champion, Guillaume Benoist to the Seat de Dinan team. French second division team Besson Chaussures has an uncertain future. They are looking for more co-sponsors to keep going next season and their current riders are "on hold" so to speak. Thanks to cycling4all/velomania/other sources. |