First Edition Cycling News for October 19, 2004Edited by Jeff Jones Cunego UCI number 1
Following his win in the Giro di Lombardia, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) has jumped ahead of both Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) and Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) to move to the top of the UCI rankings. Cunego now has 2250.4 points, just 6.4 more than Bettini and 124.4 more than Zabel. Cunego is still scheduled to compete in the 1.3 classified Japan Cup this weekend, where he finished 6th last year, and thus has a few UCI points to defend. The star of the spring, Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), slipped a couple of places in the rankings to sixth behind Alejandro Valverde (Com. Valenciana-Kelme) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank), although his historic Amstel Gold Race/Flèche Wallonne/Liège-Bastogne-Liège triple will probably mollify him. Other riders making moves in the last week were Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros, winner of the Giro del Piemonte), who went from 44th to 28th, Marcos Serrano (Liberty Seguros, winner of Milano-Torino), who moved up from 89th to 58th, and Michael Rogers (Quick.Step-Davitamon), up from 114th to 50th. In the teams rankings, T-Mobile has been confirmed as the top team of the season with a 450 point advantage over Team CSC, with Gerolsteiner back in third. In Division II, Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme was clearly the top team with 4143 points, ahead of Domina Vacanze (3252 pts) and Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo a distant third with 2296 points. There were few changes in the nations rankings, with Italy holding its number one spot with a comfortable 1600 point advantage over Spain, with Germany, Australia and the USA rounding out the top five.
Rankings as of October 17, 2004Elite men 1 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 2245.40 pts 2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2239.00 3 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 2121.00 4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 1892.00 5 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 1818.00 6 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 1813.00 7 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1726.00 8 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 1701.00 9 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1464.00 10 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1449.00 11 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 1424.50 12 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1374.75 13 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1351.00 14 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 1322.00 15 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1318.00 16 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 1305.00 17 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1303.60 18 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1276.00 19 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 1163.45 20 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1156.00 Teams Division I 1 T-Mobile Team 8718.00 pts 2 Team CSC 8269.00 3 Gerolsteiner 7817.75 4 Saeco 7144.80 5 Rabobank 7044.80 6 US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 6932.00 7 Quick.Step-Davitamon 6812.00 8 Phonak Hearing Systems 6594.00 9 Fassa Bortolo 6371.00 10 Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 5528.00 Division II 1 Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 4143.00 pts 2 Domina Vacanze 3252.00 3 Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 2296.00 4 Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 2227.00 5 Costa De Almeria-Paternina 1960.00 Nations 1 Italy 13545.30 pts 2 Spain 11957.20 3 Germany 10077.75 4 Australia 7090.75 5 United States Of America 6600.00 Full rankings: Individuals, Teams, Nations Jenner retiresFrench-based New Zealand pro Chris Jenner has put an end to his career, just a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday. Riding for Credit Agricole up until the end of 2003, Jenner was due to ride for an American team this year, but it did not eventuate. The winner of the 2002 GP Le Télégramme told Cyclismag.com that he had "lost motivation, because everything is not rosy in cycling." Jenner will now focus his efforts on being the directeur sportif of the New Zealand U25 team that will take part in the European calendar. Besides the GP Le Télégramme in 2002, Jenner also won two stages and the overall of the Tour of Wellington in 2001, as well as a stage in the Tour de l'Ain and the Tour de l'Avenir in 1999. Arnould retiresFrench cyclo-crosser Dominique Arnould officially announced his retirement on Sunday, winning a 'cross race organised by his club in Sarrebourg. Almost 38, Arnould is taking a job with the Bouygues Télécom team in November as one of its four directeurs sportifs. "I don't realise that I'm stopping, but I won't regret this choice when I wake up tomorrow," Arnould told L'Equipe. "I was really fed up. I devoted my life to training. I gave everything to cycling. I had a career filled with sacrifices for 20 years. Physically I could have stayed at the top for another three years, but Jean-René Bernaudeau proposed to me to become one of the four directeurs sportifs of Bouygues Télécom." Arnould won the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 1993 as well as seven French Championships. His main job at Bouygues Télécom will be to look after the young riders. BankGiroLoterij no moreDutch Division I team BankGiroLoterij will cease to exist next year, after team manager Arend Scheppink couldn't find a sponsor to replace the Dutch lottery, which has been involved for the last five years. The sponsorship was due to run out this year, but despite the advance notice, Scheppink hasn't been able to fill the gap. The team currently numbers 16 riders, but so far only Matthé Pronk has found a team for next year in MrBookmaker.com. New sponsor for Stichting Holland Pro CyclingThe Dutch off-road Stichting Holland Pro Cycling team has found a new sponsor, the team confirmed today. Although the sponsor's name will not be announced until Saturday, October 23, the team did say that it was a "big Belgian sponsor that had signed on for the next four years." In future, the new team will be active in all off-road disciplines, including Cross Country, Cyclo-Cross, Marathon, Downhill, 4x and Freeride. "We're unbelievably happy with the new sponsor," said team manager Ralf van Heugten. "For us, this means that within four years we can grow to a team at the world level, with our top aim being qualification for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008." Stahurskaia suspendedBelarusian champion Zinaida Stahurskaia has been indicted for doping by a court in Pistoia, Italy. The incident dates back to June 8, 2003, when Stahurskaia was tested after her win in the Circuito di Massarosa. The results showed levels of ephedrine greater than the limit, and she has been given a two month suspension. Stahurskaia also tested positive to a stimulant during the 2001 Giro d'Italia femminile. Lampre rides the FinestreLampre's Gianluca Bortolami, together with RAI TV commentator Davide Cassani and Marco Marzano, winner of this year's Baby Giro, and accompanied by Lampre DS Fabrizio Bontempi, will ride the hardest climb of the 2005 Giro d'Italia: the Colle delle Finestre. The ride will start in the morning from Susa and finish in the early afternoon at Lake Laux at Usseaux. The Colle delle Finestre joins the Valley of Susa with the Val Chisone. It starts at approximately 500m above sea level and climbs for 18.6 km at an average of 9.1% to finish at 2178m. It's a relentless climb on poorly paved roads, never getting steeper than 11.5% but never getting shallower than 7.8%. The descent to Usseaux will take the riders down to 1416m. USAC's team for Track World CupUSA Cycling has announced its roster for the opening round of the 2004-05 UCI Track World Cup Classics in Moscow, from November 5-7. The team consists of six men and two women: Stephen Alfred (Capitola, Calif.), Kevin Belz (Plano, Texas), Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif.), Jame Carney (Boulder, Colo.), Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo.) and Anton Quist (Arlington, Va.) comprise the men's squad while Becky Conzelman (Allentown, Pa.) and Annette Hanson (Kirkland, Wash.) will represent the women's team. None of the US Olympic team will be part of the World Cup squad, which has high hopes for sprint specialist Michael Blatchford. Blatchford won a silver medal in the 2004 Junior World Championships, placing second behind Australia's Shane Perkins. Earlier in the season, Blatchford set a new U.S. and Pan American record in the 200m qualifying round at the Pan American Championships in Ecuador where he won the overall sprint title. He followed up that with a junior national title in the match sprint in June. After dominating the juniors, 18 year-old Blatchford went on to capture the elite men's sprint title, besting Olympian Giddeon Massie last month. In Moscow, Blatchford will contest the individual sprint as well as the team sprint. Joining Blatchford on the team sprint squad are Kevin Belz and Stephen Alfred. Belz will also ride the keirin and Alfred will double up with the individual sprint. Anton Quist, a former masters world champion, earned a spot on the team after his national title in the kilometre time trial in September. In addition to the kilo, Quist has also been named to the team sprint squad. Jame Carney has been a regular for the U.S. team in international competition in recent years, recently winning the national title in the points race and rode on the winning team pursuit squad. In Moscow, Carney will ride the scratch race, the madison and the points race. Brad Huff will team up with Carney for the madison and will also ride the individual pursuit. Becky Conzelman captured elite national titles in the scratch race, the 500m time trial, and the match sprint in 2004 and is an accomplished sprinter on the road. In Moscow, Conzelman will ride these events as well as the keirin. Finally, Annette Hanson, the reigning women's USCF elite national champion in the individual pursuit, will contest both the pursuit and the points race in Moscow. Full rosterMen Stephen Alfred (Sprint, Team Sprint) Women Becky Conzelman (500m, Sprint, Keirin) Hoy awardedScottish Olympic kilo champion Chris Hoy has been awarded the Emirates Lonsdale Trophy for Scottish Sportsperson of the Year for the second successive year. Hoy was given the gong ahead of bowler Alex Marshall and swimmer Ian Edmond. Page a fatherAmerica's top European-based cyclo-crosser Jonathan Page (Cervelo-HotTubes-Adidas-Mavic) became a father for the first time on Sunday, October 17. At 9:15am, his wife Cori gave birth to the couple's first child: Emma Anne-Louise Page. She weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces (just under 3 kg), measured 18 inches (45cm) and is healthy and happy. Later that day Jonathan was instructed by Cori to race the first Superprestige race in Ruddervoorde, Belgium, where he placed 11th. Kona 24 Hour Global Series for three yearsThe Kona Bicycle Company has announced a three year deal as the title sponsor for the newly created Kona 24 Hour Global Series. The 2005 marathon series includes three 24 hour races in three countries: England (home of the original Sleepless in the Saddle), Australia, and the United States, with plans for expansion into central Europe for 2006 and 2007. Next year the Snow Mountain Ranch, USA race will crown the G24 global champion. The G24 championship is awarded to solo riders at one race a year: the USA event in 2005, Australia in 2006, UK in 2007. This is a solo category for men and women. There are also plans for the Snow Mountain event to establish a collegiate championship for colleges in the USA as well as shop/mechanics category (an unusual category which will incorporate a mechanical task to be completed by the rider just before the start/finish area between 1:00am and 2:30am). Race organiser Patrick Adams explained that, "For most of the cyclists at the events, it is not about winning. It's about attaining new personal heights, new visions, and discovering new strengths that they didn't know they had. It sounds crazy, but many of the participants thank me for putting them through hell." The schedule Race 1 - August 13/14, 2005: Trentham Gardens, UK More information soon at www.konaworld.com.
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