First Edition Cycling News for November 19, 2005Edited by John Stevenson & Les Clarke McEwen returns to the trackBy Les Clarke
Two-time Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen will ride the Sydney Thousand track meet on November 27, nine years since last racing on the track. McEwen will ride a motor pace and scratch race at the event at Sydney's Dunc Gray Velodrome, and admits it's been "a fair while" since he's ridden on the track. Nevertheless, he says he's "looking forward to it." "I'll treat it the same as a criterium," McEwen told Cyclingnews. "I'll follow some wheels; it'll be good racing against blokes who are good on the track." It will definitely be unusual for the Sydney crowd to see a rider most fans see coming off wheels on the road, and McEwen's aware of this. "I'll be a novelty on the track, but it'll add something to the carnival," said McEwen, who won three stages in this year's Tour de France. "Specialized, in conjunction with event sponsors Avanti are helping with travel costs," he said. And they'll need to be sharp - the morning of November 27 McEwen will race the Darren Smith Memorial criterium on the Gold Coast before flying to Sydney for the Sydney Thousand. McEwen knows he's not in peak condition as it's the off season, but should be fit enough to perform well in Sydney. Tour de Romandie parcours announcedOrganisers have announced details of the 2006 Tour de Romandie. The six-stage race's 60th edition will run from April 25 to 30 next year and therefore provide an indicator of who is coming to form for the Giro d'Italia, which starts May 6. The race starts with a 3.4km prologue in Geneva and will cover a total of 681.4km before finishing with a time trial in Lausanne. On the way, riders will tackle 6,631m of climbing. Tour de Romandie 2006Stage 1 - April 25: Genève - Genève, 3.4 km England vs Scotland sprint clash in ManchesterA team sprint showdown between England and Scotland is expected to be one of the highlights of the Manchester round of the World Cup track series, December 9-11. The British team is fielding a trio of Scots in Olympic kilo champion Chris Hoy, national sprint champion Craig MacLean and young Scottish star Ross Edgar, but UCI regulations also allow trade-sponsored squads at World Cups. Enter the Science in Sport team of World team sprint champions Jason Queally and Jamie Staff and emerging sprint star Matthew Crampton, who all happen to hail from south of the border. Chris Hoy is looking forward to the clash. "The team sprint will be an important contest," he said. "Whilst we will be out to win for Great Britain it will be interesting for us Scots to test the form of the English riders. If we go head to head it will be taken very seriously as whoever comes out on top will have a psychological boost in advance of the [Commonwealth] Games in Melbourne." Racing as, in effect, national teams at Manchester will also help the teams learn to race together, which will help preparation against teams such as Australia. "In the past the Aussies have had a bit of an advantage having the experience of always competing together," said Hoy. "The World Cup will give us an opportunity to race at top level as the home nation which should level the playing field a bit and really help our preparation. We have strength in depth and with riders like Marco Librizzi boosting the squad confidence is pretty high." The Scottish and English teams will still have their work cut out to make it through to the final. The Netherlands will be fielding the team who came a narrow second to Great Britain at the world championships earlier this year with Theo Bos, Tuen Mulder and Tim Veldt set to race. Fore more information see www.worldtrackcycling.com. Boonen awardedTom Boonen has been awarded one of Belgian sport's highest honours, the Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste, which can only be given to an athlete once in his or her career. The award was in recognition of Boonen's stellar 2005 season, which included wins at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, and the world championship. Previous recipients of the award include cyclist Eddy Merckx, footballer Paul van Himst and tennis star Kim Clijsters, while last year it went to Axel Merckx for his bronze medal in the Olympic road race. New UK team seeks ridersBritish riders Ian Holt and Ross Muir are looking for riders to join them on a new UK-based team that will concentrate on track and criterium racing. The duo have had a successful 2005, with Holt winning the London GP and posting good results in overseas trips. "Crit racing is definitely on the up at the moment with the British Circuit Series being hotly contested this year and arguably generating more excitement and attracting more of the UKs top riders than the Premier Calendar series," says Holt, "We are setting up a 4 man team with the aim of winning the Circuit Series and competing seriously in crits and track races abroad." Holt and Muir were supported by Viner Bikes this year, and will announce a 2006 sponsor shortly. In the meantime, they want to hear from to hear from riders who specialise in crits at the top level, have track experience at British level or are accomplished road racers willing to give track and crits a serious go. Candidates must be strong team players willing to work as part of a tight knit squad. In return, says Holt, riders will receive a great sponsorship package and be part of a team ready to make its mark in 2006. Interested riders should email their CVs to holt.ian@gmail.com as soon as possible. Korean riders train in SydneyBy Les Clarke The Korean national track cycling team recently arrived in Sydney, beginning their preparations for the Asian cycling championships to be held in Delhi on December 11-18. The eight men and six women of the squad will use a 333m outdoor track in the Sydney suburb of Tempe in order to simulate the track in Delhi, which is also 333m. Cycling Australia coaching director Ron Bonham said the team signed on to ride the Sydney Thousand track carnival on November 27 as further preparation for the Asian cycling championships. They'll race against some of Australia's best track riders, such as Ryan Bayley, Ben Kersten and Anna and Kerrie Meares at Sydney's Dunc Gray Velodrome. Atherton awardedBritain's 17-year-old junior world downhill champion Rachel Atherton has won the Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year award in a gala ceremony held at Old Billingsgate Market in London on Thursday, November 17. The awards honour outstanding achievement at every level of women's sport. Atherton was up against nominees from mainstream sports such as football, cricket and netball, and was surprised to win. After accepting the award from Lord Sebastian Coe, who is not only a multi Olympic medalist but also Chairman of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Rachel gave an impromptu speech. After the ceremony, Atherton said, "I was honestly in shock. This is a real surprise. I honestly had no idea that I would win. It is a real honour to be nominated against other such impressive sports women, such high profile sports, so I'm really happy for the sport that we got noticed this way. They showed footage of me racing in Fort William and then Lord Coe commented how different I looked all dressed up for the awards and not in my race kit! He was really interested in the sport and asked me lots of questions." Cyprus Sunshine Cup seriesThe Cyprus Cycling Federation and Delta Wings Leisure have announced the dates of the 2006 Sunshine Cup, traditionally one of the first European MTB race series of the year. Next year is no exception, with the Sunshine Cup kicking off with a point-to-point race in Klavdia on February 19, a date when most of the rest of Europe will still be in the grip of winter. The dates of the full series are: Sunshine Cup #1 - February 19: Klavdia (1 - XCP) Tasmanian Criterium Championships starts todayBy Rod Morris An all-class field will signal an exciting start to this year's Toohey's Extra Dry Tasmanian Criterium Championships - starting today (Saturday, November 19) in Ulverstone. Two of last year's unique three-way tie - Bernard Sulzberger and Nathan Clarke - will not be afforded the status of pre-race favourites, though, given the announcement that Australia's World Cup team pursuit heroes, Mark Jamieson and Matt Goss would also line-up. Jamieson and Goss were part of the 4000 m pursuit team, which won gold at the recent Moscow round of the World Cup and Jamieson also won a silver medal in the individual pursuit at the same track carnival. Jamieson and Goss were also jointly named Tasmania's male sportsmen of the year at a function in Hobart last week. Sulzberger has enjoyed a solid year of racing at home in Australia this year, finishing second in the Tour of the Murray River, which was part of the successful Tattersall's Cup series, whilst Clarke has been strangely quiet on the racing front, but will use the Criterium Championship series in a bid to step up his preparation for the upcoming National Grid Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals. A quality field of riders will face the A Grade starter for the 35 lap Ulverstone Criterium, which will be the first of three rounds of the State title. Devonport will host Round 2 on November 26 before riders head back to Ulverstone on December 10. Last year's other three-way winner, Karl Menzies, has just returned from the Tour of New Zealand and is enjoying a two week break before heading to America, where he is about to start a new racing contract. Wesley Sulzberger - Bernard's younger brother - will be another rider to watch closely tomorrow. Sulzberger jnr finished in the top 10 in the recent Herald Sun Tour and will be looking to upstage his elder brother and the other fancied riders in Ulverstone. Devonport based riders Jarrod Harman and John Rayner will also be looking to improve on their performances on the national scene this year. A special feature of the race will be the Goodstone Sprint King Championship. Six intermediate sprint laps will carry a sliding scale of points - as well as extra prize money - towards deciding the Sprint King. Whilst the A Grade men's race will be the drawcard event on the programme, there will also be races for B Grade Men, Invitational Women, North-West Veterans and a special Aurora Devonport sponsored junior series for riders in U17, U15 and U13 age groups. Central Coast Track OpenSunday November 20 is the closing date for entries in this year's Central Coast track Open in Gosford, NSW, Australia, December 3. Promoter Paul Craft says he is expecting a great event, with $4000 in prize money up for grabs, and races for all ages. For more information see www.nsw.cycling.org.au Correction: Jacksonville Cycling ClassicThe Jacksonville Cycling Classic, listed in Thursday's announcement of the US National Racing Calendar as being held April 15 2006, will actually be held April 8.
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