First Edition Cycling News for August 17, 2004

Edited by Jeff Jones

Van Moorsel will ride TT

The favorite for the race, Leontein Van Moorsel
Photo ©: epicimages.us

Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel is expected to start in the Olympic women's time trial after her bruising fall during the cycling road race on Sunday. The 34 year-old Dutch world and Olympic champion badly bruised her shoulder, elbow and hip when she crashed two laps from the finish in the road race won by Australian Sara Carrigan.

Zijlaard-van Moorsel was badly shaken and was unable to rejoin the race after landing heavily on the road near the start-finish line. She was too sore to train on Monday and intends taking part in open training for the road time trial on Tuesday.

"I will go for it," said Zijlaard-Van Moorsel on Monday. "I've not trained so hard for nothing. The time trial will hurt anyway, so a little bit more pain won't matter. When I lay on the asphalt yesterday, I thought it was over then. But this is not the way in which I want to end my career, that's why I am prepared to do it on Wednesday."

Dutch NOC official Nathaly Smeeman said on Monday, "This morning she still had a headache and her hamstring was painful."

Smeeman said Zijlaard-van Moorsel will decide after the time trial whether to compete in Saturday's 3km individual pursuit on the track, an event she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

© AAP

An interview with Michael Rogers

Time trial favourite

Micheal Rogers
Photo ©: epicimages.us

Australia's Michael Rogers, the de facto world champion after David Millar's confession of EPO use, spoke with Cyclingnews' Athens correspondent Rob Jones for a few minutes Monday evening after his first ride on the Olympic time trial course - 24 kilometres out and back run along the coast starting and finishing in Vouliagmeni, which the men do twice for a total of 48 kilometres.

Cyclingnews: Now that you have had a chance to ride the course, what are your impressions of it?

Michael Rogers: Well, it is certainly quite a hard course. The wind will be a major factor, and there are enough rolling climbs to make it very difficult. It was really gusty out there today, and in six kilometres the wind can change directions two or three times.

CN: How does it suit you, personally?

MR: For me, it couldn't be better. The climbs and the false flats will make it very, very difficult, and suited to my riding.

CN: With all the wind, does that mean any change to your setup. For example, will you reconsider using a disc?

MR: No, I certainly expect to stay with my standard setup, my standard TT wheels. I will use a disc on the back and a Mavic 5 spoke on the front.

Click here for the full interview

Wood aims for the TT

Australian Oenone Wood, who sacrificed her chance of a medal in the women's road race for the greater good of the team, was Monday confirmed as Australia's starter in Wednesday's time trial at the Athens Olympics.

World Cup leader Wood was expected to be Australia's major medal hope in Sunday's 118.8 kilometre race around Athens' city streets, but in an act of selflessness, the 23-year-old gave away her chance to help teammate Sara Carrigan, who edged out German Judith Arndt for gold in a tremendous surge to the finish. Wood will now get her chance in the individual time trial at Vouliagmeni tomorrow.

With 10km to go in Sunday's road race, Wood gave Carrigan the call to attack and chase down the gold medal, while she remained in the pack waiting for a move which didn't eventuate.

"That's what you have to do, the reason we won is because we're one of the few teams who came totally committed to working as a team," Wood said. "It was a fantastic day. We couldn't have had a better team on the day.

"That's what we said before the race, we're all committed to the team result and that's what we got, we got the gold medal. To come to the Olympics and win a gold medal and know that you've contributed to that, that's fantastic."

Team coach James Victor praised Wood for the sacrifice denied of a bronze medal by centimetres. "Oenone's teamwork, making that call for Sara to go and sitting back and letting all the other teams use their energy to chase, that's the most unselfish act you could ever ask of a teammate," Victor said.

© AAP

Australian track team arrives

The Australian men's cycling team arrived in Athens from Germany yesterday and were more than happy to talk at the airport - amongst themselves. Despite talk of a rift in the group key figures Ben Kersten and Sean Eadie seemed reasonably happy, the former waving and smiling at the assembled media and chatting with teammates.

Kersten, who has been told by coach Martin Barras he will only be a reserve for the team, had initially challenged Eadie's spot in the men's sprint.

Kersten had been due to appeal his initial non-selection for Athens on the grounds that the selection rides by Eadie and himself had been held under different conditions. The appeal was not heard however as Kersten gained a spot in the team when Jobie Djaka was dropped from the squad after he admitted lying to the Anderson enquiry into drug use at the Australian Institute of Sport.

© AAP

UCI rankings: Bettini to number one

Thanks to his win in the men's road race on Saturday, Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) has ascended to the number one spot on the UCI rankings, deposing Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), who has held the spot for most of the season. Bettini only has a 20 point lead over the incredibly consistent German, with Alejandro Valverde (Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme) in a distant third place. The Olympic silver medalist, Portuguese rider Sergio Paulinho (LA Pecol), climbed 166 places in the UCI rankings to 113th, thanks to his performance in Athens.

The teams rankings are largely unchanged, with T-Mobile on top of Division I with 6993 points, compared to Team CSC in second on 6788, Gerolsteiner in third on 5656 and US Postal-Berry Floor in fourth on 5603 points.

UCI rankings as of August 15, 2004

Individuals
 
1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon                     2347.00 pts
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team                               2327.00
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 2074.00
4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                           1960.00
5 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                      1863.00
6 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor      1726.00
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco                                   1679.00
8 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir    1591.00
9 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC                                    1486.00
10 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon                       1461.00
11 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo                              1450.00
12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco                                  1321.00
13 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone       1302.50
14 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                              1278.00
15 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                           1257.00
16 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team                             1243.00
17 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC                                   1241.00
18 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole                          1181.50
19 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto         1094.00
20 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros                     1063.00
 
Division I Teams
 
1 T-Mobile Team                                                6993.00 pts
2 Team CSC                                                     6788.00
3 Gerolsteiner                                                 5656.75
4 Postal Service p/b Berry Floor US                            5603.00
5 Quick.Step-Davitamon                                         5453.00
6 Saeco                                                        5434.00
7 Phonak Hearing Systems                                       5120.00
8 Rabobank                                                     4958.80
9 Fassa Bortolo                                                4729.00
10 Saunier Duval-Prodir                                        4364.00
 
Full rankings: Individuals, Teams, Nations

58th Coppa Ugo Agostoni

The 58th edition of the Coppa Ugo Agostoni-Giro della Brianza, the second race in the Tre Valli Varesine series, will take place on Wednesday, August 18 in Brianza, Italy. The race will feature Giro d'Italia winner Damiano Cunego (Saeco), who will be accompanied by teammates Danilo Di Luca, Eddy Mazzoleni, Evgeni Petrov, Leonardo Bertagnolli, Alessandro Spezialetti, Mirko Celestino and Marius Sabaliauskas.

The presence of Olympic champion Paolo Bettini is uncertain, while German champion Andreas Klöden will definitely not take part in the race, preferring to concentrate on the Championship of Zurich this weekend. T-Mobile will instead bring Paolo Savoldelli, Steffen Wesemann, Giuseppe Guerini, Cadel Evans and Daniele Nardello. Other riders expected to take part include Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet), Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola), Luca Paolini (Quick.Step), Michele Scarponi (Domina Vacanze), Pietro Caucchioli and Italian champion Cristian Moreni (Alessio-Bianchi), Emanuele Sella (Panaria), last year's winner Francesco Casagrande (Lampre), and Dario Cioni (Fassa Bortolo). In total, 200 riders from 25 teams are scheduled to start the 196.8 km race.

Recent winners

2003 Francesco Casagrande (Ita)
2002 Laurent Jalabert (Fra)
2001 Francesco Casagrande (Ita)
2000 Jan Ullrich (Ger)
1999 Massimo Donati (Ita)
1998 Andrea Tafi (Ita)
1997 Massimo Apollonio (Ita)
1996 Filippo Casagrande (Ita)
1995 Gianni Bugno (Ita)
1994 Oscar Pellicioli (Ita)
1993 Davide Cassani (Ita)
1992 Stefano Colagè (Fra)
1991 Davide Cassani (Ita)
1990 Maurizio Fondriest (Ita)

Freire to lead Rabobank in Vuelta

Rabobank has made its provisional selection for the Vuelta España in September, with sprinter Oscar Freire as team leader. Maarten den Bakker, Jan Boven, Robert Hunter, Steven de Jongh, Ronald Mutsaars, Joost Posthuma, Thorwald Veneberg, Pieter Weening, Kevin de Weert and Remmert Wielinga comprise the rest of the selection, of which two will be eliminated.

For the Eneco Tour (Tour of the Netherlands, August 24-28), Rabobank has chosen Erik Dekker as the leader, with the rest of the squad composed of Robert Bartko, Bram de Groot, Mathew Hayman, Steven de Jongh, Karsten Kroon, Marc Lotz, Roy Sentjens and Marc Wauters. One of these riders will be eliminated.

Nothstein at Lehigh this Friday

Sydney Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein will be at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome on Friday, August 20 for the Air Products & Chemicals Finals Night from 6:30-7:30PM to sign autographs and be available for pictures. He will also be appearing on the B104 Morning Show with Ken Matthews on Wednesday, August 18, at 7:30am.

"Having Marty (Nothstein) come to the Velodrome to sign autographs only one-day before his departure for the Olympic Games shows his dedication to the sport of cycling and his support for Air Products, the company that helped him get his start in this sport," said Jacob Burns, Lehigh Valley Velodrome marketing director.

Gates open at 6pm Friday, August 20, with racing to begin at 7pm. More information at: www.lvvelo.org.

Nebraska USCF State Road Race

The 2004 Sandhills Publishing Nebraska USCF State Championship Road Race will be held at Branched Oak Lake near Raymond, NE on Saturday, September 11. Races for all abilities and ages will be held with United States Cycling Federation medals awarded to the top three finishers from Nebraska in each category. There is a $1200 cash prize purse for select race categories.

The race will cover multiple laps on the roads of the 11.2 mile loop, which surrounds Branched Oak Lake. Races will range in distance from 38 miles to 72 miles.

Pre-registration is required, either at www.velosource.com or download a Standard Athlete Release Form from www.usacycling.org and mail with entry fee to:

ChannelONE Marketing
Attn: Nebraska State RR
5111 South Windlesham Court
Lincoln, NE 68516

More information: www.nebraskacycling.org.

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