Regional Cycling News for August 8, 2005Edited by Anthony Tan and Jeff Jones Thrills and spills in Bank of America Invitational
The 2nd Bank of America Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA last Saturday had all the ingredients for a recipe for disaster, as Cyclingnews' Mark Zalewski reports. Combine the biggest cash purse in the world with a tight and fast 1.2 mile downtown criterium - add 125 cyclists looking to make their year's paycheck in one race - and the result is dangerous, with riders taking chances they would usually never rationalise. But in the queen city of the south, where NASCAR is king, the people want to see high drama. (Which probably explains why the local TV highlights of the race consisted of two minutes of wrecks and thirty seconds of win footage!) Colavita-Sutter's Juan Jose Haedo upset the Health Net-Maxxis train to take out the men's race, while T-Mobile's Ina Yoko Teutenberg was just too good again for the women's field. Click here for our full report and photos of the race. More support for Amy Gillett-Safe Cycling FoundationAt Amy Gillett's public memorial service last Friday, South Australian Premier Mike Rann said his government would donate $50,000 to the Amy Gillett-Safe Cycling Foundation that was established after the road tragedy that killed her on July 18, 2005.
Premier Rann also announced the creation of the 'Amy Gillett Trophy', to be awarded to the overall winner of the women's criterium series that takes place during January each year at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. "Amy's death is a huge loss to her family and friends, but also to the South Australian sporting community," Mr Rann told AAP. Furthermore, representatives from the Bicycle Federation of Australia, Bicycle NSW, Bicycle Queensland and Bicycle South Australia pledged a further donation of $15,000 to the Amy Gillett-Safe Cycling Foundation fund. Meanwhile, significant donations have also been received from Germany. Cycling Australia reported that the organisers of the German race that Amy Gillett was to appear in have transferred AUS$24,000 into the Foundation account. This is the prizemoney from the event, the 2005 Thüringen Rundfahrt, where sponsors, riders and team management chose to donate to honour Amy's memory. The event organisers also opened an account in Germany to accept donations from the German public and will then transfer these funds to the Foundation. The race "will be remembered as the Tour of Tears by all", wrote Larissa Kleinmann (Team Stuttgart/German National Team) in her tribute to the fallen rider. (For further information about the Amy Gillett-Safe Foundation, please visit Cycling Australia's web site.) Condolences and tributesCyclingnews has four pages of tributes from cyclists and supporters from around the world who've been affected by this tragedy. Please see: Amy Gillett: Tributes, 1976-2005, Part 1, and Part 2, Part 3 (posted July 21), Part 4 (posted July 22), and Part 5 (posted July 29). Related stories:
Riders to Due Giorni MarchigianaFassa Bortolo and Selle Italia-Colombia-Univer will send the following riders to the Due Giorni Marchigiana, which begins on Tuesday with the GP Fred Mengoni and concludes the following day with the Trofeo Cittā' di Castelfidardo. Fassa Bortolo: Lorenzo Bernucci, Mauro Facci, Massimo Giunti, Volodimir Gustov, Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Sacchi, Matteo Tosatto. D.S. Mario Chiesa Selle Italia-Colombia-Univer: Mariano Giallorenzo, Marco Gili, Rafaele Illiano, Leonardo Scarselli, Philippe Schnyder, Trent Wilson
An interview with Karl MenziesThe Big Australian
Having started racing later in life, Australian rider Karl Menzies joined Advantage Benefits/Endeavor, a developmental team, in late 2004. As a team captain, Menzies is enjoying his racing in the US and recently sat down with Cyclingnews' Mark Zalewski to talk about racing Stateside. Australian Karl Menzies has been enjoying his first full year of North American racing on the newly formed Advantage Benefits/Endeavour pro team. He, along with countryman Richard England joined the squad directed by former pro Robbie Ventura - the pair met the veteran sprinter after racing around Wisconsin against him at last year's Superweek. When Ventura retired and became director of the team, he got in touch with the two and brought them to the US to ride with this pro team; a team very much focused on development. "They were just outstanding," Ventura remarked about their performance last year. For most new pro teams and their neo-pro riders, the gap between being a top amateur team and an average professional squad can be enormous. However, for Menzies and the new Advantage Benefits/Endeavor team, the first half of the season went well. The team consistently placed riders in the top ten at races like Redlands, Joe Martin, Cap Tech and Nature Valley, where Richard England won the fourth stage, and San Dimas, where Menzies placed third overall. Unlike most of his fellow riders, Menzies is not what some would call 'young' in terms of cycling. The 28-year-old has been racing on the road for many years and brings that experience to the team as a leader. He also brings physical and mental strength, which contributes greatly to his role as a role model for riders coming through the ranks. Click here for the full interview. Mactier to take on the menAs part of her preparation leading up towards next year's Commonwealth Games, Olympic pursuit silver medallist, Katie Mactier, will race with the men later this month in the Tattersall's Tour of the Murray River. Previously known as the Tour of Sunraysia, Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) head cycling coach Dave Sanders told the Melbourne Age that Mactier needs to do 'a good road block' and that the 30 year-old is looking forward to the challenge. "She's had a good season racing tours and other events in the United States, this will be a really good hit-out for her in Australia," Sanders said. However, Sanders said the thought of Mactier winning a stage is highly unlikely. "It's not going to happen - she's got to get past riders such as Dave McKenzie," he said. "The best in Australia, who aren't racing overseas at the moment, will be there. But she'll be there, Katie will not be disgraced." South African team to compete in UKFour riders from South African Team CVT/CS, have been invited to compete in the United Kingdom. Wesley Cole, Chris Willemse Junior, Craig Butland and Jayson Berry leave for the UK on Wednesday, August 10 to race in the 9th annual Surrey League Revolutions 5-day between August 19 and 23. The CVT/CSC riders and will be joined by Tony Gibb and James Taylor from the Ploughman Craven Racing Team. Wesley Cole, captain of Team CVT/CSC, says the opportunity to meet and compete against UK and European riders will be a good measure for Team CVT/CSC. "The event will benefit us in terms of international exposure as well as experience," Cole said. With conditions in Surrey similar to those in Cape Town, the team believes it is well prepared for the coastal terrain of the race, which covers more than 650km in five days. The stages include a prologue of 3km, a time trial of 40km and four stages covering the balance. This past weekend saw team CVT/CSC racing in the fifth WPCA Winter League Road Series, the 111 kilometre race at Redhill, Simon's Town. The race, a four lap 'climb' up the notorious Redhill, was won by GT Edu-Loan-Maties rider Arno Viljoen with his team mate Mike Sowerby in second and CVT/CSC rider Chris Willemse Jnr in third place. "The race was a hard one, made even more difficult by strong winds which blew some of the riders off their bikes," said Willemse Jnr. Team CVT/CSC is currently training for the Tour de Eden, which takes place at the end of August. The team also hopes to make its mark against the national teams in the OFS Classic and 94.7 races in the coming months. USA announces complete MTB World's teamAdditional discretionary selections bring roster to 43USA Cycling finalised its team for the 2005 Mountain Bike World Championships in Livigno, Italy later this month by announcing 21 discretionary nominations, in addition to the 23 who qualified automatically. Of the previously announced automatic qualifiers, Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.) declined her nomination to the team. The two-time Olympian and 2001 world champion has announced her retirement from world-class competition after the 2005 season, where she will focus solely on domestic-based events including the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series. Discretionary picks to the men's cross country squad include 2004 U.S. Olympic Team member Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va.), Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.), Barry Wicks (Corvallis, Ore.) and current U.S. Elite National Road Race Champion Carl Decker (Bend, Ore.). The sole addition to the women's cross country team is Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo.). Irmiger has put up impressive results in cross country events on the NORBA series this year with second and third place finishes respectively at round three in Deer Valley, Utah and round four in Sandpoint, Idaho. Other additions include Nick Ranno (Boulder, Colo.), and Sam Jurekovic (Durango, Colo.) in the U23 cross country category and Michael Cummings (Snellville, Ga.), Kyle Hammaker (Marysville, Pa.), Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, Utah) and Tristen Uhl (Smithville, Texas) in the junior men's cross country discipline. The elite men's downhill squad added four as Chris Van Dine (Salt Lake, City, Utah), Gerritt Beytagh (Fletcher, N.C.), Curtis Keene (Fremont, Calif.) and David Klaassenvanoorschot (Riverside, Calif.) earned nominations. Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.), who was an automatic selection to compete in the 4-cross, was added to the elite women's downhill roster. Bronze medalist in the junior men's downhill at last year's world championships in Les Gets, France, Kyle Strait (Redlands, Calif.), was an automatic selection to the elite 4-cross squad, but also earned a discretionary pick to again ride in the junior men's downhill race. Strait joins Brendon Newton (Arvada, Colo.), and Kyle Adams (Hesperia, Calif.) as discretionary selections for the junior men's downhill. Veteran rider Mike King (San Diego, Calif.) earned a slot in the men's 4-cross. Complete U.S. Team for UCI Mountain Bike World Championships *Denotes Automatic Selections Elite Men Cross Country *Adam Craig (Bend, Ore) Elite Women Cross Country *Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.) U23 Men Cross Country *Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont.) Junior Men Cross Country *Colin Cares (Boulder, Colo.) Junior Women Cross Country *Danae York (Indio, Calif.) Elite Men Downhill *Cody Warren (Alpine, Calif.) Elite Women Downhill *Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, Calif.) Junior Men Downhill *Travis Bond (Chattanooga, Tenn.) Elite Men 4-Cross *Brian Lopes (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) Elite Women 4-Cross *Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.) (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2005) |
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