News for January 17, 2003

Edited by Chris Henry

Another award for Armstrong

Four-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has received yet another honour, this time the American-International Athlete Trophy. This is Armstrong's second International Athlete Trophy, following his previous award in 2000. The trophy, which has been presented to athletes since 1981, will be presented to Armstrong by the International Amateur Athletic Association. Chairman Herbert Hainer said, "as a cancer survivor, Lance Armstrong has given hope to countless people worldwide, and he has taken a leadership role in raising money and awareness for cancer-related causes." Previous winners of the award include Greg LeMond and Eric Heiden.

Bordeaux bids for World's

France has thrown its hat in the ring and announced its bid for the 2006 World Track Championships. The velodrome at Bordeaux, which hosted the World's in 1998, would once again be the designated site. The UCI is expected to decide on the bid at its scheduled March 31 meeting in Monopoli, Italy.

Bodrogi OK

Quick Step's Laszlo Bodrogi is back on his bike again at the team's training camp in Cecina, after a knee problem forced him to take a short rest. Quick Step's press officer Alessandro Tegner assured Cyclingnews that the injury was nothing serious, and that Bodrogi will continue his training program as normal.

Cooma gets behind women's cycling in Australia

By Jeff Jones in Ballarat

Cycle Cooma-ACTAS
Photo: © James Victor

A $15,000 sponsorship deal from the southern NSW town of Cooma is set to help women's cycling in Australia achieve a new level, with the formation of the Cycle Cooma-ACT Academy of Sport team. The team is a joint venture between Cooma and the ACT Academy of Sport, the latter providing infrastructure and training resources. With its sponsorship, Cooma hopes to promote tourism in the town, which is situated at the foot of the Snowy Mountains, 70 km from Jindabyne and 110 km from Thredbo.

Cyclingnews spoke with team director Warren McDonald at the Australian National Championships in Buninyong, where the Cycle Cooma-ACTAS riders took out third, fourth and ninth places in the Women's Time Trial. The previous week saw them win an impressive three out of the five races in the Geelong Bay Classic, with Margaret Hemsley, Belinda Goss and Oenone Wood sharing the honours.

"The team started out through an association with the Cooma club and wanting to promote Cooma as a region for tourism and also cycling," McDonald explained. "They're hoping in the next couple of years that they can get a couple of cycling events. Especially with the Tour de Snowy being cancelled they've rushed to get a two day event too. One's a road race on the 15th of February and on the 16th of February is a criterium. From there, they're hoping that through the team they can promote cycling and tourism into Cooma. And it's combined obviously with the [ACT] Academy."

"They always say everyone drives through Cooma to get to Jindabyne or Thredbo. They want to try and get people to realise that Cooma's as good as everywhere else," added McDonald, who is well known for his involvement in the ACTAS. However, cycling teams are expensive to run, as McDonald knows all too well.

Margaret Hemsley
Photo: © CN

"I had a budget cut a couple of years ago which meant I couldn't put a team in the Tour de Snowy. That's where Cooma said we may be able to help you out. It's gone from the Tour de Snowy last year to a full on team doing the Bay Crits and the World Cup. It'll hopefully include the Club Nationals in September in Queensland."

The team's program will also include a tour in Geelong around the time of the World Cup, the Canberra 2 Day Tour and the Mont 24 Hour mountain bike race in October, and event they participated in last year.

The project is not all racing oriented however, as Cooma wants to promote cycling as a recreational activity. "They're hoping to have a mass participation ride like in Bright on the Australia Day long weekend, where thousands of people come in," said McDonald. "The long term plan for them is to have not only to have an elite race but also a mass participation event. That's probably more important than the elite side of things but in the end they just want to create awareness during the next 12 months. Then hopefully next year, with the Olympics taking priority and the publicity that the ACT girls have been able to achieve in the last couple of years, they want to try and combine with us to work together."

Success at the National's
Photo: © James Victor

The team includes some guest members, such as Margaret Hemsley (Nürnberger) and Mary Grigson (Gary Fisher-Subaru), while others such as Alison Wright and (probably) Oenone Wood have commitments overseas this year with the Australian Institute of Sport. However, that will open the way for young riders such as Belinda Goss and Alexis Rhodes to step in for future races.

One of the team's stars, Oenone Wood, who finished third in the time trial championships, was enthusiastic about the team, which has already generated a lot of interest this year. "The whole Cooma community is behind this venture. It's based out of the Tourist information centre and it's generated a lot of interest in the community."

Past and present team members include Oenone Wood, Margaret Hemsley, Belinda Goss, Kim Palmer, Alison Wright, Mary Grigson, Raeliegh Tennant, Emily Williams, Lorian Graham, Bridget Evans, Liz Hickey, Kim Palmer, Tanya Cramp, Christie Harris and Jo Hall. The team roster not set in stone for the full season, which means it can give a number of up and coming women cyclists a chance to compete with the top riders in the country, and in some cases the world.

More information: www.cyclecooma.com.au

Cyclists International needs help

Cyclists International (CI), Australia’s premier track cycling promoter, is faced with a tough decision if attendances at the three remaining events forming part of the Fitzroy Cycles Track Cycling Series do not improve. Increasing costs and stagnant attendances are placing a strain on CI finances, and there is concern that if there is not a substantial improvement in the financial position by the end of this track season, Cyclists International will no longer be in a position to promote cycle races at Vodafone Arena beyond 2003.

As a volunteer, non-profit organization Cyclists International have been delighted to promote track cycling in Australia for over 25 years, paying out over $2m in prize money to cyclists. The organization is now at the crossroads. Efforts to keep track cycling alive have been exacting a financial toll on Cyclists International and our initiatives to increase prize money, promotion, and coverage helped raise the profile of cycling, but to the detriment of CI's financial viability. Indeed, with some 30 Australian cyclists wearing the rainbow stripes in 2003, never has the potential of cycling in Australia been more evident.

"The Committee has been working so hard to lift the profile of cycling, said Cyclists International’s Media and Promotions Director Adam Murchie. "We have been giving so much back to the sport, but getting little in return by way of attendances at our event. Increasing costs have made promotion just so much harder, and we really have to consider whether we can financially continue beyond this season. We desperately want to see all cycling supporters come out of the woodwork at our last three events to give us a financial kick start and ensure we can continue to promote our world class events for years to come."

"Our support of track cycling has helped keep the sport alive, and many champion cyclists have begun their illustrious careers by competing at our promotions. We would love to see those people we have supported over 25 years come along and support us."

"We implore all cycling fans to attend our next three events. Bring a relative. Bring a friend. Bigger crowds will mean better racing, and it might just be the catalyst we need to really give our sport a boost," continued Mr. Murchie

For further information please contact Adam Murchie on 0412 879 871 or amurchie@cyclistsinternational.com.au.

British National 4X Series

British Cycling will be sanctioning the first ever national 4X series in 2003. The series will visit five different venues throughout the UK, and may be expanded if more venues become available.

Events scheduled thus far include:

Round 1 - May 11: Cheddar Downhill BMX Track
Round 2 - June 14: Aston Hill MTB Club
Round 3 - July 5: Fort William
Round 4 - August (TBA): Apex Motocross Facility
National Championships - August (TBA): Apex Motocross Facility
Round 5 - September 27: Hornton Hill BSX Track
Round 6 - September 28: Hornton Hill BSX Track

Race categories:

Juvenile 13-14 years
Youth 15-16 years
Junior 17-18 years
Senior 19-29 years
Masters 30+ (no age limit)
Elite 17+ (no age limit)

A web site for the series is available, which will handle pre-registration and all information relating to each round. The address is: www.nps4x.com and the contact number for information on all rounds is 0161 274 2022 or email mtb@britishcycling.org.uk and chris.roberts@nps4x.com.

New Zealand 2003 National MTB Series

Downhill Round 3 of the New Zealand National Series will take place Saturday, January 18. The racing will be held on a brand new course on Kaka Hill in the Maitai Valley, boasting excellent spectator access and good viewing of the course.

Sunday, January 19 will find cross-country riders lining up for Round 2 of the Cross-Country series. Sunday's racing will also be held in the Maitai Valley, with loops across the side of Sharlands Hill.

Chris Boardman OBE pursues Cycling Ireland's Olympic Dream

By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent

Chris Boardman OBE, from the Wirral in Lancashire, has joined Cycling Ireland in its endeavours to maximise representation at the Olympic Games in Athens next year. Boardman has all the right credentials; he's a former Olympic and World Champion, current multiple World record holder, and was both a stage winner and yellow jersey wearer in the Tour De France. Chris has both fond and not so fond memories of Ireland. He won the opening stage of the Tour de France around the streets of Dublin back in 1998, only to crash out on day three during the stage from Enniscorthy to Cork.

Boardman's initial task will be to help guide the Irish cyclists to success at the B World Championships, to be held in Switzerland this July. "The first step to getting results in Athens is to be there, so priority number one is to have athletes perform well in Switzerland this summer," said Boardman. "By doing so, they will qualify Ireland's track places for Athens 2004. Although my brief is specifically aimed at helping the team succeed at the B Worlds, I am hoping this short project will also serve as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics next year."

Phil Collins, track Olympian in 1996 and Chairman of Cycling Ireland’s Track Commission, was responsible for Boardman's involvement. Collins was equally enthusiastic about the potential benefits to be had from this collaboration for cycling in Ireland. "This initiative is funded by the Irish Sports Council 2004 Olympic Programme and is a big, even unprecedented, step for cycling in Ireland, and represents an investment in our future. We are very excited and hope that this project will be a great success, and we have every reason to think that it will be. We can also learn a great deal from Chris that can be used in the future, from planning an Olympic campaign to the details of dealing with the huge pressures involved. I am convinced that cycling in Ireland will benefit from this collaboration for years to come."

Although planning for 2003 is well underway, Chris Boardman will be meeting the athletes for the first time at the end of January at their pre-season camp in Dublin. Chris will be in attendance at an open meeting on the 25th of Janaury at 6:00pm, where the senior track programme for 2003 will be outlined. The meeting venue is the Spawell Leisure Centre, Templeogue, Dublin 6W.

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