First Edition Cycling News for November 27, 2006Edited by Hedwig Kröner Nys unstoppable through the weekendBy Steve Medcroft
Sven Nys scored back-to-back victories over the weekend, sweeping the World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium on Saturday and the Superprestige Series race in Gieten, the Netherlands on Sunday. The World Cup win was Nys' fourth of the season and solidifies his lead in the World Cup overall competition. Although he fell behind the leaders in the early going, Nys, nicknamed the 'Cannibal' for his voracious appetite for success against all other men, was able to storm through the field and power off the front to win by almost one minute. Fellow Belgian Bart Wellens (Fidea Cycling Team) finished second, outstprinting Sven Vanthourenhout (Rabobank). In Gieten, after a moment of silence for Isaac Galvez, Nys continued his streak of Superprestige wins, this time with a solid start that put him in an early lead group with Gerben De Knegt (Ned) and Klaas Vantornout (Bel). Two laps from the finish, Nys launched his ultimate acceleration in a sand pit and rode untroubled towards victory. "On this course it was much harder to ride away from the opposition," Nys said. "Until halfway the race I was only busy with defending my good position in the Superprestige Series, I would've been happy with a top three spot. When I noticed the others had a hard time dealing with my tempo I started thinking about the victory," Nys explains. Nys will compete next in the World Cup in Igorre, Spain on December third. For full coverage of the Koksijde World Cup and Gieten Superprestige, click here. McGee: On track for Beijing
With a longer than usual stay in Europe this year, Brad McGee found the time to compete at Revolution 14 last week. The Sydneysider was happy to answer a few questions when Cyclingnews' Ben Atkins caught up with him before the action started.Most Aussies have flown south for the winter by now, but this Sydneysider is hanging around for longer than usual - allowing him to ride some fun events like the Revolution 14 at the Manchester Velodrome. This extension to the usual European tour is an indication that the McGees are beginning to put down more roots in the Northern Hemisphere; "We made the decision a long time ago to stay , mainly because our little girl's in school now, and we didn't want to be flying her out. I didn't expect to stay so long, but then these sort of things keep cropping up, you know; I'll stay for that, stay for that, stay for that, why not..." Despite enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the Revolution meeting, he's not tempted to have a go at anything more competitive at the moment. One might have though that the UCI Track World Cup event in his home town may have been tempting if he'd gone back at the usual time, but that's not the case; "Even if I'd been there I wouldn't have been riding the World Cup. I am looking at doing the Moscow World Cup later on [December 15-17]." Despite a usual start to his season, things have begun to fall apart for McGee, with reoccurring back problems returning to blight what should have been the time to hunt results. "Well, it was about as bad as it gets really. It started off normally, but then by about April, May, I started having all these problems with my back, with sciatica," explained McGee. "I struggled through for a few months before fixing it properly in early June, then it took until the middle of August to come back with things right. In doing that I learned a lot and I've cured a problem that's been lurking around for a few years now. So, from May on this year was nothing but unpleasantries." To read the full interview, click here. Sevilla claims conspiracy against himWith Spanish officials investigating the Operación Puerto doping scandal now claiming that up to three bags of blood testing positive for EPO were under the name of "Sevilliano", the man who is often rumoured to bear this nickname is defending himself. Oscar Sevilla, who was first suspended and later fired by the T-Mobile Team, was surprised by the reports and sees himself as the victim of a conspiracy. "This Operation Puerto is making my life impossible," he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. "A while ago I was warned that they were out to get me and my colleague Paco Mancebo."
Cyclingnews' recent coverage of 'Operación Puerto' May 18, 2009 - Valverde to start Catalunya Cyclingnews' complete coverage of Operación Puerto Papp and Olson team up to support immigrant advocacyCyclingnews diarist and elite cyclist Joe Papp is teaming up with Aaron Olson to support the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center through a charity raffle. Papp, who raced with Olson as a member of the USA team at the 2005 Vuelta a Cuba, is married to Cuban Yuliet Rodríguez Jiménez - herself a world-class road and track cyclist. Olson, who will ride for T-Mobile in 2007, has donated an autographed Saunier Duval-Prodir team jersey from his personal collection, which, along with two copies of Endurofit's "The Next Level Strength and Conditioning for Endurance Athletes" DVD, will be raffled-off on December 18th. A maximum of 250 raffle "chances" will be offered for a donation of $4.95 (US) each, and winners will be chosen at random. More information can be found on Papp's website, www.joepapp.com.
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