Latest News for April 7, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones & Tim Maloney

Van Petegem always in control

Peter Van Petegem
Photo: © Jeff Tse

For the second time in his career, Peter van Petegem finished first in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The last time was in 1999, when he beat Frank Vandenbroucke and Johan Museeuw in a three man sprint in Ninove. This year, he was incredibly strong when he attacked around Museeuw on Tenbossestraat, a road he knows so well after being born and raised in Brakel. He bridged the gap to Mattan and Guesdon in front, and that was the beginning of the final selection. The decision was made on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, when in front of thousands of screaming fans, Van Petegem and Vandenbroucke attacked on the steepest part to ride away from the chasing group. In the sprint, Vandenbroucke had no answer to Van Petegem's speed.

Van Petegem almost made it look easy when he attacked, as he explained: "This was really a perfect day. My team did a formidable amount of work, in particular Leif Hoste and Wim Vansevenant. As for me, I had unbelievable legs and the experience to know the terrain perfectly. When all these elements are combined, you can only realise something fantastic."

"I had doubts only at one moment: when the eight Italians attacked close to the Koppenberg. I came to an agreement with Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) that my team would chase together with his. Then I attacked in Brakel because the lead group was too strong for my taste."

When Van Petegem was away with Vandenbroucke, the latter put in an attack on the Bosberg to try and secure a solo victory. "I didn't think he was that good," said van Petegem. "I realised he was very strong when he attacked on the Bosberg. I had just ridden up the whole climb when Frank accelerated. I really had to bite the handlebars to stay on his wheel."

Van Petegem described his 1999 win as a "personal happiness", but this one as a "victory with my family and my team. Without those close to me and my teammates, who supported me at the start of the season when I was suffering, I could not have won."

Museeuw gives it everything

Johan Museeuw
Photo: © Sirotti

Johan Museeuw was impressive for much of the day during the Ronde, a race that he was won three times in his illustrious career. He marked so many breaks and made a few himself, however when Van Petegem attacked on Tenbossestraat he couldn't follow. He eventually finished 38th at 3'10 in Ninove.

"I rode this Ronde like I've always done: I wanted to ride in the finale to have a chance at the victory," said Museeuw to Het Laatste Nieuws. "I also knew that I would come up too short. Since last Tuesday I've hardly ridden the bike and the heavy antibiotics have unavoidably affected my resistance. I felt that. But I did my absolute best."

"In hindsight, I could have better kept hold of the bombs that I'd already discharged," he added. "During the race I forgot how sick I'd been in the past few days. On Tenbosse I was reminded pretty abruptly. I had no answer to Peter's jump. He had the same acceleration in his legs that I did in 1998. I considered pushing VDB and very secretly hoped that Frank would beat him in the sprint. False hope of course, because Peter is much faster."

As for next week, can Museeuw win a fourth Paris-Roubaix? "I'll take it a day at a time. But I don't give up. Never. Therefore...Paris-Roubaix, yes. Whether I will got to the Hell with the same helmet as today. Of course. I remain the Lion of Flanders."

Guesdon tries on the Muur

Frédéric Guesdon (FDJeux.com) attacked at the very foot of the Muur van Geraardsbergen in an attempt to be in the move when it happened. It didn't quite work, as he could not hold Van Petegem and Vandenbroucke when they steamed past him on the steep cobbles.

"I raced as Marc Madiot told me to," he told AFP. "My role was to protect Mengin and Eisel. I didn't do anything but anticipate when I attacked. I regret not being able to follow Van Petegem and Vandenbroucke on the Muur."

"This is my best place in a big classic since Paris-Roubaix in 1997," added Guesdon, who won that race. "I can't say I'm totally satisfied, but this is not bad. In the last few years I've made a mistake by betting everything on Paris-Roubaix. But, because of rain, I lost my chances. I hope for better weather this Sunday."

Cipollini DNF

Mario Cipollini
Photo: © CN

World Champion Mario Cipollini didn't realise his dream of winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen in a bunch sprint, after coasting to a halt and signaling to his team car after around 200 kilometres of racing yesterday.

"I had breathing problems," said Cipollini by way of explanation. "I was coughing and I preferred to stop around fifty kilometres from the finish in order not to compromise Gent Wevelgem on Wednesday."

Pieri's tactic fails

Dario Pieri (Saeco) attacked with 50 km to go to try and force a selection, but ultimately it didn't pay off and he finished 15th. "I went from a long way out because I wanted to anticipate, while counting on a small group to come back. When the break went, Celestino was in front. I'm not disappointed because I feel that I've got great form. I've got confidence for Paris-Roubaix. This is a race for me."

Durand dislikes bunches

Jacky Durand
Photo: © Jeff Tse

Jacky Durand (FDJeux.com), winner of the Ronde in 1992, rode for most of the day in the company of Thomas Liese (Team Coast), Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner) and Vincent van der Kooij (BankGiroLoterij) until he was caught on the Taaienberg after 195 km. Thus he was not able to repeat his winning performance of 11 years ago, when he rode with Swiss Thomas Wegmuller for much of the day.

"I've hardly not seen the peloton in the last three World Cup races," said Durand, referring to his escapes in Paris-Tours 2002, Milan-San Remo 2003 and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. "Each time, I made long breakaways of 200 kilometres or more."

Five teams tested at RVV

Five teams were tested before the start of Sunday's Ronde van Vlaanderen in Brugge by the UCI. Cofidis, iBanesto.com, ONCE-Eroski, Phonak and Rabobank were the teams tested, with all riders being declared fit to start.

More RVV coverage

Full results & report
Live report
Photos

Camenzind out for three weeks

Phonak's Oscar Camenzind will have to take a three week break from cycling, after crashing in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and compressing the eighth vertebrae in his back. Camenzind fell just after the feed zone at 104 km when an article of clothing from a rider in front of him became entangled in his wheel. He was taken to the nearby Oudenaarde hospital, where doctors made the initial diagnosis. He was flown back to Switzerland on Sunday night and is now in the hospital of Schwyz for further examination.

Camenzind's time off the bike, although comparatively short, could hurt Phonak's chances of gaining Tour selection, as the 1998 World Champion will not be present in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Flèche Wallonne, both of which are run by the Sociètè du Tour de France, and are suited to a rider of Camenzind's nature.

Ullrich licence decision today

The question of whether Jan Ullrich (Team Coast) will be able to race in tomorrow's Circuit de la Sarthe in France will be answered today by the UCI. Ullrich has not yet been granted his racing licence, owing to the UCI's concerns over the finances of the team. The UCI's auditors Ernst and Young will today report on the status of Team Coast's payments and verify whether the bank deposit has been made to cover a third of Ullrich's contract with Coast. If that's in order, Ullrich will be able to race. Otherwise he'll be heading back home to Switzerland and perhaps seriously considering his future with the team.

Road Rules

By Tim Maloney, European editor

Saturday is always a good day for a ride and it was no exception for the winners of the 2000 and 2001 Giro d'Italia. Stefano Garzelli (Caldirola-Sidermec) had decided to reconnoitre some of the key stages in this year's Giro d'Italia so he headed west from his Varese home to Piemonte, the site of Stage 18 from Santuario di Vicoforte to Chianale. Stage 18 will be the penultimate climbing stage of the Giro and with the tough mountain top finish to Chianale.

On the road, Garzelli met up with the rider who will certainly be among his chief rivals in the Giro, Gilberto Simoni. The Saeco rider, the 2001 Giro champ was also out on the Piemonte climbs with just one month to go before Italy's grand tour. No word if he and Garzelli just waved or went head to head in a match sprint.

Winner of last year's Giro, Paolo Savoldelli (Telekom), is still recovering from his broken nose, but the boyish rider from Bergamo was also on the road this weekend, riding as a special guest in Gran Fondo Selle Italia in Emilia. Savoldelli will not defend his title in the Giro this year and concentrate on the Tour De France instead.

Meanwhile, Simoni's boss at Saeco Claudio Corti was up in Belgium, where he was trying to figure out why his team was not invited to next Wednesday's Gent-Wevelgem.

"This is certainly not fair that our team, a GS 1 squad won't ride (G-W)," said Corti, who is waiting for a last-minute reprieve that might allow his in-form riders like Pieri, Celestino and Commesso to take part.

43rd Vuelta al Pais Vasco

Taking place between Monday and Friday this week is the 43rd edition of the Hors Categorie stage race (highest UCI ranking below a grand tour) Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The field is impressive, and the race should see a good battle between stage race and climbing specialists Dario Frigo and Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo), Alexandre Vinokourov and Cadel Evans (Telekom), Francesco Casagrande and Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre), Joseba Beloki and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE), Alberto Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Tyler Hamilton (CSC), Levi Leipheimer and Michael Boogerd (Rabobank), Alex Zülle (Phonak), Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), and Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno-Scanavino). In fact about the only riders missing are Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich, who will come up against each other in the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time in almost two years.

The Vuelta al Pais Vasco consists of six stages, finishing with a 13 km time trial in Fuenterrabía on Friday. Although there are no mountain top finishes, each stage is peppered with relatively short but steep climbs, and the race will certainly be selective. Even the time trial contains a 210m climb, and the strong riders will certainly shine through.

Teams

Euskaltel-Euskadi, Relax Fuenlabrada, Kelme, iBanesto.com, ONCE-Eroski, Paternina, Labarca, Lotto-Domo, CSC, Rabobank, Lampre, Fassa Bortolo, Saeco, Mercatone Uno-Scanavino, Gerolsteiner, Telekom, Phonak, Cofidis.

Stages

Stage 1 - April 7: Legazpia - Legazpia, 129 km
Stage 2 - April 8: Legazpia - Plencia, 158 km
Stage 3 - April 9: Plencia - Vitoria, 191 km
Stage 4 - April 10: Vitoria - Santesteban, 171 km
Stage 5a - April 11: Santesteban-Fuenterrabía, 91 km
Stage 5b - April 11: Fuenterrabía ITT, 13 km

Marco Pantani ready for more

Mercatone-Uno's Marco Pantani is eager for more competition, after acquitting himself well in his first race back, the Settimana Coppi & Bartali last week. Pantani will race in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco this week, against many of the sport's top stage race riders. "Today's the first stage of Pais-Vasco," said Pantani in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's the toughest stage of the race, almost 17 km of climbing with five GPM's."

"I trained well this week but it wasn't that much because I've already trained quite a bit. I was looking to recuperate and I feel like I've recovered from the Coppi-Bartali race. I think this Pais-Vasco is going to be an important test for me, above all to see what kind of shape I'm in, and how that stacks up against the other top riders. I'm hoping to do my best."

Pantani was more than happy to be back in action at last. "It was a real pleasure to race again and I have a lot of enthusiasm for this race and want to do my best in cycling. It was a great experience last week."

When asked about the ongoing court case in Trento, he replied, "Well unfortunately this is just part of the ongoing show. I have a lawyer and he's dealing with this stuff. I'm only riding my bike and thinking of racing."

Helmets: French riders want to be free to choose

A meeting of the French National Union of Professional Cyclists (UNCP) on Sunday at the GP Rennes reinforced the French riders' opinions on the mandatory use of helmets in racing, as decreed by the UCI last Friday. The conclusion of the meeting, which saw 25 riders from eight teams present, was that they were not against helmet wearing per se, but still wanted to have the freedom to choose, depending on the conditions of the race, such as mountain climbs and hot weather.

Caucchioli on the mend and on the web

By Tim Maloney, European editor

Italian rider from Team Alessio Pietro Caucchioli was operated on in his hometown of Verona on Friday for a herniated disc. Caucchioli had been having back troubles and it is hoped that the operation by back specialist Dott. Faccioli will enable Caucchioli to recover in time to ride the Giro d'Italia next month, where he was third last year.

Meanwhile, Caucchioli has launched his own website, www.pietrocaucchioli.it. The fast and well-designed site is divided into six sections, among which are the Caucchioli fan club, his training program and sponsors and a photo album. Caucchioli fans can follow his rehabilitation and subsequent progress on the Veronese rider's new web site.

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)