News for November 13, 2002

Edited by Jeff Jones

Botero close to signing with Telekom

With the November 15 deadline for registration of Division I teams rapidly approaching, it seems as though Santiago Botero will be riding in the magenta colours of Team Telekom next season. According to a report in Colombia's El Pais newspaper, Botero has rejected Kelme's latest proposal for a three year contract renewal with an improvement in salary to the same level as Oscar Sevilla.

"Because he doesn't want to accept the renewal he is free to go, which is a shame," Belda was quoted as saying. "The results are going put each person in his place. Heras, Rubiera, Escartín and co. all left Kelme and some of them have not been able to obtain victories...At the end of 2003, Kelme will know if it was mistaken in letting Botero go or not."

Kelme team patron Pepe Quiles doesn't want Botero in the team either, after some of his recent comments to the press. As Botero has an existing contract with the team, Quiles will probably call on the buyout clause meaning that Botero's move will not be cheap.

"It doesn't please anybody to have someone who is unhappy in their team," confirmed Belda. "But by the rules neither are we going to let him go for free, because tomorrow all the riders would complain. One thing that is clear is that contracts are to be complied with and the clauses executed."

Kelme might not have things all its own way in this case, as a number of Kelme riders complained at the beginning of the season that they weren't getting paid. It wasn't until the team was refinanced mid year that things were sorted out, and this may be a point in Botero's favour.

If Botero signs with Telekom, the German team would be delighted to gain a rider of his talents. Botero is one of the few riders who can time trial faster than Lance Armstrong, although his inconsistency in the mountains tends to let him down in the big tours. However with riders like Paolo Savoldelli, Cadel Evans, and Alexandre Vinokourov, Telekom could have a very strong squad for the Tour de France.

Ferrari case continues

Chiappucci no show

Tuesday's edition of the Dr Michele Ferrari case in Bologna was to feature Claudio 'El Diablo' Chiappucci as a witness in the seemingly interminable trial, in which the prosecution is trying to prove that Dr Ferrari systematically doped a number of athletes in the early 1990's. Dr Ferrari's defence lawyer Dario Bolognesi called for the witness to be dropped, but prosecutor Giovanni Spinosa did not agree and judge Maurizio Passerini fined Chiappucci 500 euros for his absence. Chiappucci, who is currently in Brazil, has been asked to appear again in front of the court on February 11, 2003, accompanied by the police.

There was some progress made in the trial on Tuesday as Italian riders Alessandro Bertolini and Gianni Faresin were questioned as to why there were asterisks in front of their names in Ferrari's logbooks. The prosecution has claimed that the asterisks indicate that a rider was given an illegal performance enhancing substance on that day. In his testimony in February 2002, Acqua e Sapone's Filippo Simeoni said that the substance was the hormone Andriol.

When asked about the asterisks, Faresin said that they were simply to remind Dr Ferrari to put warm up oil their legs on that day. Bertolini said that the asterisks represented amino acids which were administered to him for recovery.

The trial, which is starting to take on Dickensian proportions, will resume on January 10.

Somarriba still looking

Spanish rider Joane Somarriba is once again looking for a team for 2003 after the demise of the Deia-Pragma-Colnago squad, which only lasted for the 2002 season. The two time winner of La Grande Boucle Féminin is in a similar position to last year, where she was still looking for sponsors at the end of the season to try and construct a team. She finished up with a Ukrainian registered, Italian/Spanish sponsored squad with 14 riders.

She and her husband Ramon Gonzales Arrieta estimate that they need 420,000 euros to run a competitive women's team in 2003, and she would like to keep riders like Dori Ruano, Maribel Moreno, Eneritz Iturriaga, Arantxa Azpiroz and Agurtxane Elorriaga by her side. If this doesn't come off then she could sign for an Italian team, but she would prefer to have her own squad.

Somarriba intends on staying in cycling for at least another two years so that she can compete in the Olympic Games in Athens.

Grabsch to Wiesenhof

Telekom's Ralf Grabsch has signed a contract with Wiesenhof-Leipzig for 2003. Originally he had planned to follow Jan Ullrich to CSC, however as that contract still hasn't been signed, Grabsch chose a more secure option with Wiesenhof. Jens Heppner, Erik Baumann and Thomas Ziegler are others who will ride for Wiesenhof next season.

Karpets to iBanesto

22 year old Russian rider Vladimir Karpets has signed with the iBanesto.com team of Eusebio Unzue for 2003. Karpets rode for the Russian division II team Itera this season.

Dioni Galparsoro signs for Euskaltel-Euskadi

Faithful to its tradition of only engaging Basque riders, Euskaltel-Euskadi has signed 24 year old neo-pro Dioni Galparsoro for the next two seasons. The rider comes from Caja Rural and won in 2002 the Memorial Balenciaga, the Gran Premio Caja Cantabria and the Carrera de Ataun. Galparsoro also won a stage in the Vuelta a Alava. Now, after six seasons riding among the Spanish elite, Dioni gets an opportunity to prove that his place is among the world's elite.

Courtesy of João Cravo

Three German cities in 2007 World's bid

Three German cities: Dusseldorf, Freiburg and Stuttgart have expressed a desire to host the 2007 World Road Championships, the German Cycling Federation (BDR) announced on Monday. The last time Germany hosted the World's was in Stuttgart in 1991. The candidate German city will be selected by the BDR in May, 2003. The UCI will make its selection for the 2007 World's from all the candidate cities in 2004.

Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania 2002-03 Series Launch

By Rod Morris

The 2002-03 Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals will be officially opened in Latrobe on Thursday, November 14. Shaping as one of the best series on record, this summer's track carnivals will also feature a road race - or more precisely, an 80 km kermesse, which is an extended version of a criterium circuit race.

Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania Chairman, Mr Grant Atkins will tomorrow officially announce the Carnivals' new naming rights sponsors, as well as outlining a number of other SCAT initiatives.

This season's Carnivals series will include the following:

December 26 - Latrobe Carnival.
December 27 - Launceston Criterium
December 28 - Launceston Carnival (Silverdome)
December 29-30 - Devonport Carnival
January 1 - Burnie Carnival.

The Launceston Criterium, sandwiched between the Boxing Day Latrobe and Silverdome indoor Carnivals, boasts $20,000 prizemoney for the two hour event, which has already attracted some of the country's best known riders. Whilst a full list of competitors will be known shortly, many of those riders will also contest the time honoured Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals.

SCAT's website is www.tascarnivals.com, which now has the ability for competitors to enter online.

Memorial service for Ed Burke

A memorial service for the recently deceased sports physiologist Ed Burke will be held at 5pm Wednesday, November 13 at the Housing Village Lodge at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Those attending should park on the west side of the campus.

Contributions can be sent in Ed's name to either:

The UCCS Ed Burke Scholarship Fund
1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
telephone: 719-262-3000

or
USACDF
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
telephone: 719-866-4581

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2002)