First Edition Cycling News for March 10, 2005Edited by Hedwig Kröner and Jeff Jones It doesn't snow, it Reynes
Stage 3 of Paris-Nice was another bad weather shortened leg, being run over 118 km between Thiers and Craponne-sur-Arzon. After an early break, featuring (among others) David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Jörg Jaksche (Liberty) and Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery), was brought back with 10 km to go, the peloton began to wind up for a bunch sprint. But a series of attacks in the closing kilometres disrupted the Quick.Step train, and race leader Tom Boonen found himself slightly out of position with 300m to go. The big Belgian had nowhere to move as Vicente Reynes (Illes Balears) burst up the middle of the finishing straight, his unzipped outer jersey flapping in the wind, to take his first ever pro victory. Americans Guido Trenti (Quick.Step) and Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) took the minor placings. An emotional Reynes said at the finish, "I'm having a great moment of form. It's the right time to take advantage of it, but I can't believe I've done it, it's Paris-Nice!" Reynes added that Alejandro Valverde, who was favoured to take the stage win today, is still the team lead. "He's a better cyclist than I am," said Reynes, who is now third on GC behind Boonen and Dekker. As previously reported, tomorrow's fourth stage to Montélimar will be shortened as well. The start will be in Saint-Peray, close to Valence, at 14:00 and the stage will run for 108 km. Armstrong out of Paris-Nice
Lance Armstrong will not take the start of the fourth stage of Paris-Nice, as the cold, snowy weather and fatigue from jetlag has caught up with him. Discovery Channel press spokesman Jogi Muller told Cyclingnews on Wednesday evening that Armstrong will return to his home base in Girona tomorrow and will re-evaluate his race program based on how he feels. Armstrong had a lacklustre start to his European season and was lying in 62nd place after today's stage. In comparison, he last raced Paris-Nice in 1999, when he finished 61st overall. But that year marked the first of his record six Tour de France wins. Paris-Nice Stage 3Full results &
report Piil preparing for ClassicsJakob Piil was to be part of Team CSC's Paris-Nice line-up, but a crash in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne meant that he now has to try and regain his shape in Tirreno-Adriatico, which started on Wednesday in Southern Italy. "When I crashed, I knew right away I was in serious trouble," said Piil to the team's website, team-csc.com. "This was the worst thing that could happen right before the spring classics. Now my only choice is to try and make it through Tirreno-Adriatico or I won't get enough kilometres in the legs before the Tour of Flanders." Piil is not riding the Italian stage race with high expectations. "For me it's just about making it to the finish, and I'm only using this race as training. The first part of the race will be very tough, but if I can make it through the first couple of stages, I can probably make it all the way." [Piil finished 175th in the first stage - Ed.] Team CSC has several classics riders in their Tirreno-Adriatico line-up, and after a training camp in Tuscany dominated by snow and the cancellation of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, riders like Piil, Lars Michaelsen and Allan Johansen are in need of some serious racing ahead of the tough spring classics. Figueras illItalian rider Giuliano Figueras (Lampre-Caffita) is suffering from laryngitis, and cannot race Tirreno-Adriatico as he had planned. The 29 year-old, who finished second at GP Chiasso recently, has respiratory problems caused by his throat infection, already causing his abandon of Milano-Torino last Saturday. Figueras had placed 12th on general classification at Tirreno Adriatico in 2002, and eighth last year. He will take up training again as soon as possible to prepare for Milano-Sanremo, which he is scheduled to race with clear objectives. Courtesy of velo101.com First U.S. track World's in 19 yearsThe United States will host the UCI Track Cycling World Championships for only the third time in the sport's more than 100-year history and for the first time since 1986. The event will be held at the ADT Event Center March 24-27, 2005 just outside of Los Angeles in Carson, California, where 200 of the world's top riders will compete, including many 2004 Olympic Gold Medalists and seven members of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team. Hosting of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships is extremely competitive, with many of the world's top cycling nations bidding on the event years in advance. In 1986 at the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs, the UCI commended the organizing committee for a flawlessly run event. In 2005, the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and USA Cycling are aiming to exceed expectations. The newly constructed ADT Event Center velodrome, designed by Ralph Schürmann, could aid in the setting of new world records. The event promises a unique spectator experience with an uninhibited view from each of the facility's 3,500 seats. In 1986, at the last American held track cycling world championships, the meet was run on a 333-meter outdoor velodrome. In 2005, the speed and excitement of the World Championships will be enhanced by the faster, steeper Siberian pine-surfaced 250-meter ADT Event Center velodrome. For more information on the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships March 24-27, visit the USA Cycling website at www.usacycling.org Belgium sends threeBelgium will send three track riders to the World Championships in Los Angeles. Belgian coach Michel Vaarten announced Matthew Gilmore, Iljo Keisse and Wouter Van Mechelen as participating, with Gilmore and Keisse planned to collaborate in the Madison. Van Mechelen will race the Points, and Gilmore the Scratch race. The upcoming World's will be held from March 24-27, and the Belgian riders are scheduled to fly to the U.S. next Monday, March 14. Ford-Basis earns first international win
Ford-Basis Women's Cycling Team started the 2005 season on a roll at the Tour of New Zealand, Geelong Tour in Australia and McLane Pacific Classic. The team earned its first international victory with Nicole Freedman taking the breakaway sprint to win stage two's Masterton Road Race at the Tour of New Zealand. Kele Hulser followed suit the next day, taking fourth in the final time trial. The duo finished 11th and fifth respectively in the GC, marking Freedman's best GC finish since the Wheels 'N Tots Kids Fun Ride. Halfway across the world, back in the US, Alisha Lion won a race but is downplaying the international significance of the victory. Chrissy Ruiter finished fourth at the McLane Pacific Road Race, bridging up to the breakaway of three in the final meters of the race. "What was the promoter thinking making the race three laps instead of three laps plus five pedal strokes? Totally illogical if you ask me. I would have won, you know," noted Ruiter after the race. The Masterton road race in New Zealand featured wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour. As an American incapable of translating kilometres into any meaningful value, the wind was "wicked fast," Freedman said. "The wind launched me into the air and blew me into a ditch. Another racer flew past, into the fence. Realizing she was stuck and hidden in grass, I immediately popped back on my bike, glad to know I wouldn't finish last," she added. For the Geelong Tour, racers were housed in mobile homes at Geelong Caravan Park near the river. "Prior to the trip, I looked up the address on the Internet and an RV park kept popping up. I thought 'surely the race promoter must be confusing us with the men's pro race,'" Freedman recalled. Cape Epic expands on roadFor 2006, the organisers of the Cape Epic mountain bike stage race in South Africa have announced the expansion of their concept to an unprecedented dual stage race for mountain bikers and road cyclists. Roadies can now ride approximately 1200 kilometres under African skies, through the unspoilt nature of the Western Cape and over some of the most magnificent mountain passes in South Africa. The seven-stage road race will start on April 23, 2006, a day after the mountain bike race, and end seven days later on April 29 at Spier Wine Estate. The world's first dual stage race will share stage locations so that a town will host the road cyclists on one night, and the mountain bikers on the next, or vice versa. On one of the middle stages, both road cyclists and mountain bikers will be hosted in the same town. The final stage will end for all participants at the Spier Wine Estate near Cape Town. Due to the enormous demand and the 4-hour sell-out of Cape Epic 2005, a portion of the 2006 entries will be awarded through a public lottery system. The remainder will be allocated to wildcard entries, corporate entries, partners and sponsors as well as reserved volunteer entries from Cape Epic 2005. Prospective entrants must 'Apply to Ride' the Cape Epic 2006 before the end of May 2005 by paying a non-refundable ZAR 20 fee when registering online. A hundred percent of this 'Apply to Ride' fee will be donated to the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) that works to alleviate poverty in Africa through the promotion of cycling as a means of transport. After Tuesday, June 14, 2005, successful applicants to ride will be randomly selected in a lottery and invited to enter the race via email. In order to confirm their start place, the teams must pay the full registration fee before Friday, July 15, 2005. For further information, go to www.cape-epic.com Haul'n Ass Race Team 2005Based on its results in 2004, the Denver, Colorado based Haul'n Ass Race Team (HART) plans to make an impact in the elite ranks in 2005. With Paul Esposti of Great Britain captaining the new squad, years of racing experience in the European peloton will be brought to the young team for the new season. HART will continue its pursuit of being the premier cycling team in the Rocky Mountain region while also contesting the Quad Cities races, Super Week and Tour of the Gila. The team will also be fielding strong Category 3 and 4 squads that will be defending their Best All-around Team titles in Colorado. HART, according to its press release, is still waiting for its invitation to the Tour de France. That French mail sure is slow. Click here for the full roster (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2005) |
|
January 2009 |
Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mt Hood Classic Photo ©: Swift |
