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Mont Ventoux
Photo ©: Sirotti

Latest Cycling News for January 26, 2006

Edited by John Stevenson & Anthony Tan

"London will be the chance of a lifetime," says Millar

British time trial specialist David Millar, who will make his formal return to competition at this year's Tour de France after a two-year ban for admitting to use of EPO is looking forward to the Tour de France starting in London in 2007. Millar told UK newspaper The Independent: "Although I'll be going for that [the 2006 Tour prologue in Strasbourg] 100 per cent as well, London will be the chance of a lifetime."

"It's going to be huge, absolutely massive - the level of interest, everything," said Millar. "It can only be great news for British cycling and compared with 10 years ago, when the race last came to England, our federation has the resources now and the schemes all in place to exploit the opportunity a lot better."

The 29 year-old Scot shot to fame after winning the prologue at the 2000 Tour in Futuroscope, where he beat seven-time winner Lance Armstrong by two seconds to take his first maillot jaune and held onto the lead for a further two stages. At the 2003 world road championships in Hamilton, Millar achieved his crowning moment when he won the individual time trial, but the following year, a police raid at his French home in Biarritz found the cyclist to be in possession of used ampoule of EPO, which he later admitted was his.

"Gold is what we're looking for," says NZ coach

Asked how the New Zealand cycling team will fare at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, national high performance director Michael Flynn told stuff.co.nz: "We are not actually planning to win silver or bronze; we're going about our business to win gold, so if you want a prediction, that's what we're actually looking for."

Continued Flynn: "I believe with the strength of the athletes we've selected, and if we can bring them together as a team, we've got potential to be medallists - gold medallists - in all of our endurance events. The potential to win medals is as strong as it has ever been."

15 road cyclists, 12 track cyclists and 6 cross country mountain bikers comprise the 33-strong squad, with some riders down to ride in both road and track events. Included in the line-up are: current Olympic women's individual pursuit champion and world record holder, Sarah Ulmer, who will skip the boards of Vodafone Arena to ride the time trial and road race; Gordon McCauley, returning from injury after a hit-and-run accident last New Year's Eve which saw him end up with a broken wrist; Hayden Roulston, who quit the Discovery Channel cycling team at the end of last year, only to join another American team, Health Net, and will contest the points race in an effort to make the team for the Beijing Olympics; and defending points race champion Greg Henderson will also race on the road and in the scratch race.

"I will definitely be 100 per cent on March 21 when I race," said McCauley. "It's a bit of relief to be named, but I raced last week and everything seemed okay so I'm pretty hopeful of riding well." For Roulston, the 25 year-old says he quit Discovery so he could come back into the track program, with his eyes on a gold medal at the next Olympics: "It's a big call, but as I said gold in Beijing is something I've dreamed about.

"There is always the weight on your shoulders, and to me the biggest objective is Beijing so the weight will be on till then, but in saying that the Commonwealth Games are a big, big objective of mine," he said.

Henderson, world points race champion in 2004, says the only pressure is the pressure he places upon himself. "That's probably where most of it comes from. Every time I step on to the track I try to think of a way to win this bike race," said the 29 year-old from Dunedin.

CSC fan club launching soon

Team CSC's Official Fan Club will be launched next month on February 15, where members will be entitled to discounts on all Team CSC merchandise and will be invited to exciting events involving the team. Upon joining, members will receive: a present from the team; a 15 percent discount on all merchandise items in the Team CSC web shop; the chance to participate in a number of exclusive 'Join and Train' events with other fans and a rider from Team CSC; and you will be able to create your personal profile on Team CSC's official website, among other benefits.

Those interested can sign up now to be a fan club member, but are not obligated to join.

Lampre on time in Terracina

Lampre-Fondital's mini-training camp ended yesterday in Terracina. On the last day of training, Cunego and the other cyclists trained for four hours, and in the last part of their training, they covered the hard San Felice del Circeo climb.

"We are happy, because we've worked in a very good way," stated direttore sportivo Fabrizio Bontempi. "We've tried to exploit in the best way the good weather we've found in Terracina."

Bontempi was happy also for another reason: on Saturday, the cyclists were divided in two groups (one led by Bontempi, one led by the team's other direttore sportivo, Giuseppe Martinelli) and competed in a time trial race, which Bontempi's team won. The race was organised to train for the team time trial during the Tour Méditerranéen.

Jelly Belly to Napa for training

Converging at the end of this week in Napa, California, the Jelly Belly Cycling Team will stage a training camp to specifically prepare for their first major goal of the season, the Amgen Tour of California. Riders will also receive new clothes, bikes, shoes, and hybrid footwear in a week that will be filled with training, team photos and of course, the much anticipated visit to Jelly Belly University.

New event for Bendigo madison

The introduction of a motor paced event will present an exciting addition to this year's Bendigo International Madison Carnival, to be held at the Tom Flood Sports Centre from March 10-12.

Riding behind a Derny and paced throughout the duration of the event, riders on the track are expected to reach speeds up to 75km/h over the 20-lap distance, and with six riders competing together, both skill and concentration are mandatories. 2006 marks the first time a Derny race will be held at the Bendigo Madison, and the event will featured during Sunday's (March 12) program from 6:00pm.

More information: www.madison.org.au.

2006 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah

A new stage race in Utah is billing itself as "America's Hardest Bike Race". The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, August 7-12, 2006 will cover almost 600 miles of the famously mountainous state's terrain over its six days, combing downtown venues and high altitude claimbs to creat what organiusers say will be an extremely challenging and exciting event.

Stages have been proposed for downtown Salt Lake City, the Miller Motor Park, Provo, Mt. Nebo, Park City, and a final stage of over 115 miles with nearly 17,000 feet of climbing. The race is being backed by the Larry H. Miller Group, owners of the Utah Jazz NBA franchise, and the Utah State Sports Commission. The event will be covered for 30 minutes each night by local television network KJZZ, and will feature a $40,000 prize purse for Professional and Category 1 men.

Race director, Jason Preston says, "Our aim is to bring all of the top US domestic teams to Utah to do battle on our unrelenting climbs".

For more information see www.tourofutah.com.

Methow Valley Tour

Washington state's Methow Valley is famous for cross country skiing and mountain biking, but road cycling and racing has always had a lower profile. Now that's set to change with the announcement of the two day, three stage Methow Valley Tour on April 29 & 30, 2006.

Terry Buchanan of Lake Washington Velo, one of the organizing clubs along with the Methow Valley Sports Trail Association (MVSTA), says the race will feature awe-inspiring scenery and challenging courses that span the upper Methow Valley. For the inaugural year the race will comprise an ten mile, out and back time trial in Mazama; a road race circuit through old western-themed Winthrop; and a classic, small-town criterium in Twisp. Buchanan feels the event can grow over the next three years to become the premier stage race in Washington and rival the other Northwest premier stage races, Mt. Hood Classic and Columbia Plateau.

Jay Lucas, MVSTA executive director, added, "We are hoping for a great turn out in the first year so we can sell the community and merchants on the value and excitement of bike racing. We want to expand this event throughout the Okanogan and include mountain top finishes at Washington and Loup Loup Passes in the future."

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