News for Jauary 18

Australian Drug Taker gets 2 Years

As reported last week, Jeff Stewart was suspended by the Australian Cycling Federation for 2 years yesterday. He was also given a 6 month international suspension. It is not clear how this will work though. The ACF has to sanction a clearance is Stewart wanted to ride overseas for a foreign federation. So in these circumstances the binding constraint will be the 2 years. Stewart is 27 and will find it hard coming back after 2 years out.

Martinello-Villa takes Bremen Six

Italian World champions Silvio Martinello and Marco Villa kept the lead all the way to the finish and took the first all-Italian win in the Bremen Six Day race. The margin to the winners last year, Bruno Risi and Kurt Betschart, was 17 points. Danish duo Jens Veggerby and Jimmy Madsen also finished on the same lap, 34 points behind. A total of 124 800 spectators for the six nights meant a new record for Bremen (124 600 in 1995.)

Bremen Six Day - Final (1/16/96):

 1. Marco Villa-Silvio Martinello (Ita)                 410 pts
 2. Bruno Risi-Kurt Betschart (Sch)                     393
 3. Jens Veggerby-Jimmy Madsen (Den)                    376

    One lap behind:
 4. Olaf Ludwig-Carsten Wolf (Ger)                      341
 5. Pierangelo Bincoletto-Etienne de Wilde (Ita/Bel)    283
 6. Danny Clark-Urs Freuler (Aus/Sch)                   229

    Seven laps behind:
 7. Matthew Gilmore-Dean Woods (Aus)                    197

    Thirteen laps behind:
 8. Gerd Dorich-Werner Stutz (Ger/Sch)                  163

    Fourteen laps behind
 9. Andreas Beikirch-Uwe Messerschmidt (Ger)            158

    Fifteen laps behind
10. Lars Teutenberg-Torsten Schmidt (Ger)               218

    Sixteen laps behind
11. Erik Weisspfennig-Andreas Walzer (Ger)              179

Raul Gomez takes the lead in Vuelta al Tachira

Colombian rider Raul Gomez won the hilly eight stage of Vuelta al Tachira, San Cristobal-La Grita (127,6 km), and also took the overall lead from Andrea Buffoni, Italy.

Next stage (9): Coloncito-La Fria, 22,7 kms individual time trial.