Latest Cycling News for September 2, 2005Edited by Jeff Jones, assisted by Sabine Sunderland De Cauwer not happy with new World's rulesBelgian National coach José De Cauwer is OK with new World Championships rules, but not with an increase in 'exotic riders'. The new rules that have been set by the UCI for the World Championships aren't to everyone's liking, even though they are aimed at promoting the globalisation of cycling, which has always been a traditional European sport. Whereas established cycling countries like Italy, France, Belgium, and Australia could send 12 riders to the World's in previous years, they are now limited to a nine man delegation. The whole of Europe has to shrink its squads, while other less successful cycling countries, like Brazil and Burkina Faso, can send more riders. José De Cauwer is not contesting the new rule, but he raises the question about how this could possibly enhance the quality of the World Championships competition. Last year only 33 non-European riders took the start, this year there will be 65 in Madrid. "In essence it doesn't make that big of a difference," De Cauwer explained in Het Nieuwsblad. "The most dominant cycling nations will have an equal amount of riders in the race. Twelve against twelve, or nine against nine: it doesn't bother me. I can't speculate on riders who 'could be' good though. No, they simply have to be good. Last year, I picked Van Huffel and Monfort because the parcours seemed to be suiting their abilities and because the World Championships were a great race for their development. That, I can't allow myself to do in Madrid. "My colleague Ballerini says that he has to leave three good riders at home now; those are just the riders which are great to control the first part of the race. He's right about that. He will take Bettini and Di Luca for that. Not to help Petacchi directly but to fill the holes in the defence. That's why it's now up to us to glue a good Nuyens to the wheel of Di Luca and a strong Gilbert to that of Bettini. Yes, it will be different racing. The most economical as possible. And we'll be praying that we don't lose important players due to stupid bad luck. There's no spare men as it is." De Cauwer argued that throwing relatively inexperienced riders into the World Championships is not the best way to develop them. "It's good to give those lesser cycling countries a hand, I admit that," he said. "But this is a bit over the top. Top riders like Arvesen and Schleck have to stay at home for guys that for sure will abandon the race after a handful of kilometres. Those riders from Burkina Faso for example; they had to be taken out of the race [an amateur kermis in Antwerp] after good 20 kilometres because they simply were too far behind. In the World Championships' race they can start all three of them. I have a lot of sympathy for those boys, but this can't be taken seriously any more. "I don't see the purpose of it all either. The level needed to be raised they said. Pro Tour, professional approach, the best riders in the best races. Isn't that a goal for the World Championships then? It like that swimmer in the Olympics who barely made it to the other side of the pool. It's pure folklore. Less financially strong federations are almost forced to make unnecessary costs. What for? Let them prove first that they are worthy of a spot at the World's. Then I will receive them arms wide open." Landis too soreThe Phonak team is now down to seven riders in the Vuelta a España. After Quique Gutierrez was forced to withdraw on Wednesday (suffering a broken rib and serious bruises after two crashes), Floyd Landis also pulled out during Thursday's sixth stage. The injuries (hand, arm and hip) that the American suffered during a crash while training last week made riding very uncomfortable, according to his team. Boonen to MonacoLike many other Belgian sport stars: Justin Henin, Axel Merckx and Stefan Everts, sprint ace Tom Boonen will make a move to the fiscal paradise of Monaco, Belgian Teletekst reported. It is known that the high tax country of Belgium doesn't cut any of its athletes any slack, and many cyclists are making a move abroad. "The financial side of it is pleasant of course, but that is not the main reason for me leaving my parental home in Balen," Boonen said. "I would like to lead a bit of a normal life again. It will be nice to walk down the street without people staring at me. Every day there's a dozen of interested fans at my front door; it's getting too much. I'm getting a bit fed up with having to tell the same story twenty times a day to people I don't know at all, or having to listen to their stories. Monaco will be a better place for me to train also, in winter I often don't have the courage to go out in the bad weather, in the South training will be easier."
Tour d'Indonesia gets UCI rankingThe Tour d'Indonesia will be held for the third year in a row, between September 12 and 21. Each year the race has grown and this year, 14 international teams and five national teams, numbering five riders each, have registered to start. The national teams of Malaysia and Thailand will be there again, along with newcomers Taiwan, Vietnam and Mongolia, who will send their national teams. The top Asian continental teams will join, as well as teams from Australia, Holland and Germany. The Indonesian national teams are Dodol Picnic (Jawa Barat), Benteng Muda (Banten), Customs Cycling Club (Jakarta), Polygon Sweet Nice (Jawa Timur), Bintang Kranggan Cycling Club (Jakarta). This year there will see a new team, Telkomsel, with Amin Suryanto, Dwi Haryanto and three riders from The Netherlands: Franck Terwel, Anno Pedersen and Remko Kramer. The route from Jakarta to Denpasar (Bali) is 1432.8 km long, split over nine stages. It's a well balanced route with some tough climbs and very hot and dry weather conditions, winding through the beautiful countryside of Java and Bali, that will really test the riders. Organised by the ISSI, the Indonesian national cycling federation, the race has been granted a UCI 2.2 status on the Asian Continental Tour. Last year's winner Nathan Dahlberg (Greenfields Fresh Milk) will be back, along with Mike Carter in a completely new team, consisting of strong international riders that should start as favourites. Dahlberg has been preparing for the Tour d'Indonesia by racing kermises in Belgium, and took advantage of the hot weather this week to race three in a row to get his legs back into condition. The strong climber Ghader Mizbani of the Giant Team might find also himself in the yellow jersey, and increase his ranking in the Asia Tour. The Jong & Laan team from The Netherlands also has some strong riders with experience in the European competition. But insiders expect that Amin Suryana, last year second in the general classification, and his new team Telkomsel will be the big surprise.
The Stages
Derny Hour Record ratifiedThe UCI has ratified Matthé Pronk and Joop Zijlaard's Derny Hour Record of 66.114 km, which was set on November 18, 2004, in Alkmaar, The Netherlands. In doing so, Pronk broke the 34 year-old record that was held by Belgian Theo Verschueren and Noppie Koch, who did 64.546 km in an hour in 1970. It's hoped that the new mark will encourage others to have a go at it in future. Jelly Belly Sweetens Sponsorship DealThe Jelly Belly Candy Company announced this week the extension of its contract to sponsor the Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team. The three year extension includes an undisclosed increase to coincide with the launch of the company's line of Sport Beans.TM "The growing interest in professional cycling coupled with our company’s commitment to the active lifestyle of today’s consumers made this sponsorship very attractive," said Jelly Belly President Bob Simpson. "With the launch of Sport BeansTM underway, we believe expanded synergistic opportunities with a professional cycling team of this caliber offer a very exciting marketing program. The riders and team staff have been some of our strongest brand ambassadors." The Jelly Belly/PoolGel Pro Cycling Team is currently ranked third in the NRC Team Standings as their 2005 domestic race season comes to a close this weekend at the San Francisco Grand Prix. The expanded commitment from Jelly Belly will certainly help the team in their aspirations of becoming the top team in North America. "I'm overwhelmed with joy that the Jelly Belly Candy Company is making this significant commitment to our organization and to the sport of cycling," said team Director Danny Van Haute. "I want to thank everyone at Jelly Belly for providing me with the resources to build the best team in the country." Navan/Avonmore to the fore againBy Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent Thankfully, the Irish domestic cycling season has been spared the embarrassment of cancellations this year, but just when everybody was patting each other on the back, news filters through that the popular Adare Two-Day in Co. Limerick has been cancelled. On the other hand, the local club in Navan, Co. Meath, is putting on two races this weekend in the village of Kilmessan. "You can rely on the Navan/Avonmore to keep the engine ticking over when it comes to the promotion of bike races," said Noel Clarke. The evenings may be closing in with lighting up time now staring us in the face. To avoid the competitors finishing with lights on their bikes, the Beechmount Cup is out of the traps at six o'clock on Saturday evening. Sunday, it is back to Kilmessan again for the Collins/Christle Cup with a 1:30pm start time. All categories are catered for, with the underage participants off at mid-day. The Irish team in the Tour of Britain may not be setting the world on fire, but in the USA, David O'Loughlin (Navigators) won the Mengoni Grand Prix in Central Park, New York. This weekend, David is in action again. Hopefully he'll make it number two wins for his team which has signed him up again for next year.
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