Latest Cycling News for April 5, 2005Edited by Hedwig Kröner Boonen "made right decision"On Monday, one day after his success at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, the unstoppable Tom Boonen told Belgian media at a press conference in Tielt that he made the right decision in leaving the US Postal team three years ago and signing with Quick.Step. "Looking at it now, it was the right decision," he said. "I could have stayed at US Postal two more years, but I met the right people at the right time. After that, my career just took off. Apparently, I've been getting ready for the bigger goals faster than Lance thought." When Boonen opted for the Belgian team, Armstrong suspected that he was overestimating himself, but the 24 year-old holds no grudge. "I have no hard feelings against Lance," he said.
Meanwhile, the Tour of Flanders winner flew into Tielt, where the headquarters of Latexco, the second main sponsor of Quick.Step is located, with a helicopter. "It was the idea of the sponsor," explained team manager Patrick Lefévère, who will offer Boonen an extension of contract until 2008. "Our world hasn't changed, even if some may think that Tom has gotten a "big neck" [Flemish expression for "arrogant" - ed.] now." Instead, Boonen is focusing on the races ahead (Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix), where he is now the favourite. "Had I not won Flanders, I wouldn't have been called a favourite for these races," he said, and reiterated what his team director had said: "Therefore, nothing has changed." However, the popularity of the Flandrian has grown, and so has the media's interest in him. To the extent that Boonen might have to downsize his availability for the press. "I have to protect myself from you, the press, once in a while, otherwise it will never stop," he said. "I also have a private life, and I'd like it to stay that way." Ullrich racing againT-Mobile's Jan Ullrich has finished his training sessions in Tuscany, Italy, and is back to racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Northern France as of today. The Tour de France winner of 1997 told German Radsportnews.com on the day before his season start, "My training has been very good, the weather in Tuscany being fine during the last few weeks. I'm feeling impatient now, and I look forward to racing again at the Circuit de la Sarthe just like in 2003. I trained four to six hours a day, sometimes climbing, sometimes pacing behind a motorcycle to get used to racing speeds of 50 km/h again," he said. "I took the right decisions, I think. The Vuelta a Murcia was too hard for me at the time, I was still sick. It was better to wait and start here. There were other possibilities, but I prefer to start slowly. Paris-Nice or Tirreno Adriatico didn't seem right to me," he continued. Ullrich is not thinking about his season's goal, the Tour de France yet. "The only reason why I think of it now is because we're in the region of France now where the Tour starts. My preparation schedule is as follows: Vuelta a Aragon, Vuelta a Cataluña, Tour de Suisse. I will also reconnoitre the stages in the Alps and Pyrenees and stick a training week in Italy in there. The rest (of the training) I'll do at home." Asked what his thoughts on Lance Armstrong's April 18 announcement were, Ullrich replied, "I don't want to speculate over what he will say. I don't follow these things, but we all know Lance likes to surprise people. [laughs] Maybe he wants to announce that he will ride the Giro in preparation for the Tour!" The Circuit de la Sarthe is a UCI rated 2.1 event and unfolds as follows:
Stage 1 - April 5: Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez - Varades, 197.2 km Löwik unsure for Paris-RoubaixDutch team Rabobank has announced that Gerben Löwik might not be able to participate in Paris-Roubaix this upcoming Sunday. Löwik crashed in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and injured his knee. "I'm no doctor but I can't imagine Gerben to ride like that," said team manager Frans Maassen on Monday. Maassen also said that Oscar Freire will not align at Gent-Wevelgem on Wednesday. The Spanish World Champion has been down with a 'flu and, although it was initially thought for him to return to competition in view of the classics in later April (Liège -Bastogne-Liège, Flèche Wallonne), Rabobank reconsidered its plans. NORBA #2 supports Junior programsThe second stop on this year's NORBA National circuit reaped benefits unique to the national series. All of the event's proceeds are being used to benefit the NOVA Youth Cycling Foundation, a youth mountain bike league that is integral in developing future cycling athletes. The event, which took place March 18-20, was traditionally known as the NOVA Desert Classic, but it was added to the NORBA National schedule in 2005. Race director Jerry Sieve is also the director of Team NOVA. "The whole purpose of this race in reality was to benefit the youth cycling foundation," he explained. "We're very happy to do this and it is something that is very beneficial to get young people into cycling." The NOVA Youth Cycling Foundation is strictly youth specific and currently supports young riders in five states. The Team NOVA mountain bike program provides race support, training instruction, and guidance based on a multi-level development system. In addition to these levels of support, the program also awards team participation scholarships on the basis of need. Recipients are able to participate fully in the developmental activities with reduced or no registration fees. The mission of the NOVA Youth Cycling Foundation is simple: Provide the funding necessary to build structure needed for a national developmental system. Based on the assumption that a large talent pool of young athletes is essential for consistent international success, the foundation strives to search for and create cycling's future stars. Initiatives are paying off, as evidenced by the results of Team NOVA rider Rachel Throop (Escondido, Calif.). The 16-year-old has been a team member for five years and placed third in last year's junior expert class at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. 17-year-old Trevor Downing (Crestline, Calif.) won the 2004 California State Championship and 14-year-old Jessica Maier (Glendale, Ariz.) won a national championship jersey in 2004. To learn more about the NOVA Youth Cycling Foundation, visit www.teamnova.org Ride with Drapac-PorscheThe Drapac - Porsche Development Program based in Australia is giving its supporters an opportunity to enjoy a ride and a coffee/chat with the team members on Sunday, May 1, 2005. Team members and management will be meeting at Café Racer (Marine Parade, St Kilda) at 8:00 am and departing on a leisurely 45 kilometre return ride to Mordialloc. The ride will return to Café Racer for coffee at an estimated time of 10:00 am. The pace of the ride will be under strict control and will be kept to a comfortable speed to enable everybody to enjoy the outing. Everybody is encouraged to join the group and get to know the team a little better. No RSVP is required but you may call/email to confirm your attendance if you wish. For more information contact René Bueman, program manager, Drapac - Porsche Development Program at renebueman@iprimus.com.au PA Scholastic Cycling League kicks off 2005 seasonHigh school and middle school students from throughout south central Pennsylvania are starting the second year of their own bicycle racing league, heading to the Oesterling Farm in Marysville, PA on Wednesday, April 6, for the first race in this year's PA Scholastic Cycling League's (PASCL) spring mountain bike season. A six week long series, with stops in Marysville, Carlisle, and Hershey, and culminating in a weekend championship on Saturday, May 21 for all PA students, will offer cross country, short track, individual time trial, and team relay challenges. PASCL categories mirror those of traditional school sports with Jr. High (7th-8th grade), Jr. Varsity (9th-10th), and Varsity (11th-12th) classes offered for both male and female athletes. Taking place on Wednesday nights starting at 6:00 PM, with registration at 5:30, these events are open to any and all PA middle and high school students. "What we are trying to do is based on what is already done at the college level, but modified for Jr. High and Sr. High students," said Mike Kuhn, organizer of PASCL. "Our intent is to build a league just for secondary level students, make it easy for kids to get into and try out the sport, and get it into PA schools. I don't expect huge turnouts in any particular region just yet, but in a few years I hope we will see several hundred or more high school students racing road, mountain, and cross bikes in districts across the state. The biggest obstacles right now are informing schools, students, parents, and communities that this league exists and finding people to help expand the league." All events in the PASCL Series are NORBA sanctioned and all participants in league races will be covered under the NORBA insurance program with an entry fee of no more than $15 per event. For more information on the league or how to get involved, go to www.highspeedcycling.com Bid to save Fantasy IslandThe Fantasy Island Conservation Alliance in Tucson, Arizona, is trying to save a nationally-known MTB area known as Fantasy Island from development, which will be sold to the highest bidder - most likely, a home and/or business developer. Words of support can be sent via e-mail to Tucson's mayor, Bob Walkup. For his e-mail address and more information about Fantasy Island, go to www.savefantasyisland.org (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2005) |
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