First Edition News for April 23, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones & John Stevenson

UCI rankings post-Amstel

With two rounds of the World Cup contested last Sunday in the Netherlands, the UCI has updated both the men's and women's UCI rankings this week. In the men, Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) continues to lose ground on the always consistent Erik Zabel (Telekom), who finished 15th in Amstel and now has a 65 point buffer to the injured Bettini at the top of the table. Dario Frigo, Lance Armstrong and Davide Rebellin hold down the next three places, with Aitor Gonzalez (sixth) and Francesco Casagrande (seventh) moving up slightly in the top 10. Amstel winner Alexandre Vinokourov moved from 58th to 28th, while place getters Michael Boogerd (14th - 13th) and Danilo Di Luca (18th - 12th) also moved up slightly.

In the women's rankings, Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites-Hartol) overtook Susanne Ljungskog (Catalunya-Aliverti-Kookai) for the number one position after finishing sixth on Sunday. Judith Arndt (Nurnberger) displaced Nicole Brandli (Prato Marathon Bike) for third, while Amstel winner Nicole Cooke (Ausra Gruodis-Safi) shot up from 23rd to 14th.

In the teams rankings, Telekom is now into second overall behind Quick.Step-Davitamon in division I, while Prato Marathon Bike holds a 100 plus point lead over Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung in the women's teams.

UCI rankings as of April 20, 2003

Men
                                                                 pts
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom                             2,217.00
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon                  2,152.00
3 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                           2,087.00
4 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor  1,930.00
5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                        1,847.00
6 Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo                1,502.00
7 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre                         1,499.00
8 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Domo                            1,485.00
9 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal presented by Berry Floor    1,442.75
10 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron             1,428.20
11 Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski           1,305.00
12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Team Saeco                          1,189.00
13 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                           1,171.60
14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                   1,155.00
15 Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Team Telekom             1,131.40
16 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC                            1,103.00
17 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                      1,078.00
18 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com                             1,041.00
19 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo                       1,003.00
20 Mikel Zarrabeitia Uranga (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski           1,001.25
 
Women
                                                                 pts
1 Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Farm Frites-Hartol Cycling Team       650.50 
2 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Team Catalunya-Aliverti-Kookai      626.00
3 Judith Arndt (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung           503.65
4 Nicole Brändli (Swi) Prato Marathon Bike                    502.50
5 Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Prato Marathon Bike                  443.60
6 Regina Schleicher (Ger) USC Chirio Forno d'Asolo            379.00
7 Zinaida Stahurskaya (Blr) USC Chirio Forno d'Asolo          355.00
8 Sara Carrigan (Aus) Bik-Powerplate                          342.80
9 Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung          305.65
10 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spa)                               291.50
11 Priska Doppmann (Swi)                                      254.00
12 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) S.C. Michela Fanini Record Rox     237.35
13 Anita Valen (Nor) Bik-Powerplate                           236.00
14 Nicole Cooke (GBr) Ausra Gruodis-Safi                      224.50
15 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Team 2002 Aurora RSM                202.00
16 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team                    183.00
17 Debby Mansveld (Ned) Vlaanderen-T-Interim Ladies Team      181.00
18 Olga Slyusareva (Rus)                                      179.40
19 Geneviève Jeanson (Can) Equipe Cycliste Rona-Esker         174.00
20 Alison Wright (Aus) Road Runner - Guerciotti Cycling Team  171.00
 
Men's teams (Division I)
                                                                 pts
1 Quick.Step-Davitamon                                      2,684.00 
2 Team Telekom                                              2,331.00
3 Rabobank                                                  2,315.00
4 Fassa Bortolo                                             2,206.75
5 Team Saeco                                                1,964.00
6 O.N.C.E.-Eroski                                           1,687.00
7 Kelme-Costa Blanca                                        1,562.00
8 AG2r Prévoyance                                           1,505.00
9 Alessio                                                   1,485.00
10 Brioches La Boulangère                                   1,452.00
 
Women's teams
                                                                 pts
1 Prato Marathon Bike                                       1,148.30 
2 Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung                            1,034.30
3 Farm Frites-Hartol Cycling Team                             888.50
4 Team Catalunya-Aliverti-Kookai                              817.00
5 USC Chirio Forno d'Asolo                                    740.00
6 Bik-Powerplate                                              680.60
7 Saturn Cycling Team                                         468.65
8 Team T-Mobile USA                                           423.00
9 Team 2002 Aurora RSM                                        416.50
10 Ausra Gruodis-Safi                                         413.50

 
Full rankings

Saturn to skip Beauce but Dionne & Wohlberg will ride

The organisers of the GP de Beauce (June 17-22), Canada's only UCI stage race, confirmed yesterday that the Saturn team will not take part in the event. According to GP de Beauce president Yvan Waddell, Saturn's Tom Schuler says the team will need to recover from the USPRO Championships (June 8) and will be taking part in "another race in Minnesota" (presumably the Nature Valley Grand Prix, June 11-15).

However, Canadian Saturn riders Charles Dionne and Eric Wohlberg will ride Beauce as part of the Canadian national team. Canada is currently in the hunt for UCI points so that its riders can be well represented at the World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario and at the 2004 Olympics.

Igor Gonzalez out of Ardennes classics

ONCE-Eroski's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will not take part in either La Flèche Wallonne or Liège-Bastogne-Liège, after injuring his knee in a crash in the Amstel Gold Race. Gonzalez de Galdeano will return to Spain to undergo further examinations to try and discover if there's anything seriously wrong that could affect his chances in the Tour de France. ONCE will substitute Angel Castresana del Val in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Cyclingnews live coverage of La Flèche Wallonne starts at 14:00 Europe, 08:00 USA East, 05:00 USA West, & 22:00 Australia East.

Saeco seeks Flèche glory

Danilo Di Luca and Mirko Celestino will lead the Saeco team in today's Flèche Wallonne and Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, looking to add to the team's two podium finishes in the Classics so far. Di Luca was third in Amstel Gold and Celestino second in Milan-San Remo; the team just needs a win to complete the collection.

Saeco says the strategy for the Flèche is simple: "be first to the top of the Huy" as this steep climb traditionally decides Flèche Wallonne.

In order to be ready for the more complex Liège-Bastogne-Liège with its numerous cotes, the team will recce the course on Friday, riding from the Cote e Wanne to the finish in Ans.

After an easy training day yesterday, the team is optimistic about its chances. "The riders have to be determined if they want to ride well," said directeur sportif Guido Bontempi.

"There are a lot of strong riders in the race but we are ready to win. Di Luca showed he was almost at his best on Sunday at the Amstel Gold Race, while Celestino is having a great season and Astarloa is getting better all the time. We've got a team who can play several different cards because we've also got several strong riders to help them."

The team for Flèche Wallonne will be Danilo Di Luca, Mirko Celestino and Igor Astarloa as leaders, with support from Gerrit Glomser, Fabio Sacchi, Alexandr Shefer, Andrea Tonti and Stefano Zanini.

Popovych out of FW and LBL

Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet Colnago) won't be starting in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège because he has tendonitis. Instead Popovych will prepare for next week's Tour de Romandie and the Giro d'Italia.

Landbouwkrediet Colnago's teams for the next four major races will be:

Flèche Wallonne: Wolodimir Duma, Sergey Avdyeyev, Ruslan Gryshenko, Tom Stremersch, Johan Verstrepen, Erik Lievens, Marc Streel, Kurt Van Landeghem.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Wolodimir Duma, Sergey Avdyeyev, Ruslan Gryshenko, Tom Stremersch, Johan Verstrepen, Erik Lievens, Bert De Waele, Kurt Van Landeghem.

Veenendaal-Veenendaal (April 24): Tom Steels, Wesley Van Speybroeck, Marc Streel, Erik Lievens, Kurt Van Landeghem, Tony Bracke.

Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden (April 26): Tom Steels, Ludovic Capelle, Wesley Van Speybroeck, Tony Bracke, Marc Streel, Nico Weynants.

Places still available at CTC training conference

Places are still available at next month's CTC National Cycle Training and Education Conference at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London, Monday May 12, 2003. The conference aims to bring the cycling, education and road safety communities up to date with latest thinking on cycle user training and will see the launch of the first national adult and teenage cycle training scheme.

The course will be first national curriculum for cycle training for adults and teenagers. It will be available to local authorities and other agencies keen to start or already running cycle training courses. Its aim is to raise standards of cycle training to the same high, and formally accepted, levels throughout the UK. The curriculum will be available for the first time at the conference.

For more information call Greg Woodford on 0870 873 0060 or email cycle.training@ctc.org.uk.

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