Latest News for March 31, 2003

Edited by Jeff Jones

Museeuw's test OK, but painful

Museeuw's knee
Photo: © CN

Quick.Step-Davitamon lynch pin Johan Museeuw survived a tough weekend's racing in the E3 Prijs and Brabantse Pijl. Worried about his sore and swollen knee that he injured in last week's Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Museeuw nevertheless was able to produce strong accelerations on the Taaienberg and the cobbles at Varent in the E3 Prijs on Saturday, and stayed and worked in the main peloton in Sunday's Brabantse Pijl. The pain has certainly not subsided, but if Museeuw hadn't ridden these two races then his form in the Ronde van Vlaanderen would certainly be in doubt.

"The positive thing is that I finished the race on Saturday in the lead group," said Museeuw in Het Nieuwsblad today. "The negative thing is that the pain is still there. But overall, the balance is still positive. From the beginning to the end I felt the same pain, and it didn't get any worse. It's a plus that I could force the pace a couple of times. And not forgetting that I could work on my condition, because since Tirreno-Adriatico have not really raced."

Bettini not 100 percent

Although the results are certainly there, the Quick.Step-Davitamon team has not had an easy time of it with rider injuries and sickness so far this season. Besides Museeuw and his knee, other top riders Paolo Bettini and Frank Vandenbroucke suffered from illness over the weekend, which prevented them from starting in Sunday's Brabantse Pijl. Bettini had gastric problems, while VDB had a slight cold, however team director Patrick Lefevere says both will be ready for the Ronde next Sunday.

Other Quick.Step riders out or ill include Nick Nuyens, Bram Tankink, Andrei Kashechkin, Pedro Horillo, Kevin Hulsmans, Laszlo Bodrogi, Frederic Amorison, and Michael Rogers. It's a little ironic, given that the main co-sponsor is a vitamin company.

Wesemann ready

Telekom's Steffen Wesemann's second place in the E3 Prijs on Saturday confirmed his status as a favourite for the classics. The Telekom top man was the driving force behind the three man break that held off the peloton for the last 30 km, however he was unable to match Steven de Jongh's speed in the sprint.

"I planned to attack again, but we had to keep riding hard to stay in front," Wesemann told Het Nieuwsblad. "I quickly realised that my only rival was De Jongh, because Devolder was finished. I am ready for the Ronde and Paris-Roubaix, that I realised in Harelbeke."

Pantani comes close to a win

Marco Pantani
Photo: © Sirotti

It's been an impressive comeback for the 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani, who competed in his first race in 10 months in last week's Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali, which was raced around Modena, not far from his home in Cesenatico. Pantani was active in every stage of the hilly five day event, managing to finish 10th overall and second in the final stage.

Only Ruslan Ivanov (Alessio) prevented Pantani from taking his first win in two years and eight months, taking the sprint in Sassuolo ahead of Pantani and final overall winner Mirko Celestino. A Pantani stage win would certainly have made the fans happy, as organiser Adriano Amici told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "If I'd been able to, I would have put on the brakes simply to make Pantani win."

Pantani had ridden well during the final stage, which was compared to a Belgian Ardennes classic. He was dropped a little on the last climb because of the forcing of an in-form Celestino, but Pantani came back on the descent, driven by his desire to win.

He did come back, but was beaten by Ivanov in the sprint. "It's too bad," he said to La Gazetta. "It's been a while since I've had to sprint [July 16, 2000] but I really wanted to win today. I'm still pretty tired from all the training I've done, but I feel really strong mentally, really determined."

Pantani was happy with the result. "Even though I didn't win, I saw the finish line right ahead of me. You never lose that ability to win once you have it. In the last few months it's always been in my mind the idea to win a race, and I did everything possible to win today. My mistake was that I didn't stay on Gasperoni's wheel for longer, because of the headwind."

Right after the race, Pantani returned to Spain, where he will train with Daniel Clavero at his home. His next race will be the Vuelta a Pais Vasco (April 7). GP Primavera (April 13), Tour of Aragon (16-20), and Giro del Trentino (April 24-27).

"Everything's going well so far, I'm not trying to fool anybody. I'm sure I'm going to have tough days ahead and will have to suffer, but that's the way it is in cycling. But in this period I can never remember going so well. My real date with destiny is the Giro d'Italia. I want to come back and be a protagonist."

Gilbert suffering from tendonitis

FDJeux.com's Philippe Gilbert was not able to race in the Criterium International last weekend, due to achilles tendonitis. However, the neo-pro hopes to be back in time for the Route Adélie this Friday.

Carrigan increases World Cup lead

Australian Sara Carrigan (Powerplate-BIK) has increased her overall lead in the UCI Women's World Cup, after claiming third place in Sunday's third round in Castilla y Leon, Spain. In the bunch sprint for second place, Carrigan followed her teammate Anita Valen home, while Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers won the race after attacking on the last climb. Carrigan's third place added 35 points to her series lead and after three of the nine races in the series she now has 118 points, 33 clear of Melchers, her closest rival.

"It was such a hard race," said Carrigan on her way back to her European base in the Netherlands. "It was real race of attrition because there was a hill on each of the seven laps and by the end there was only 22 riders away in front."

Melchers used the last climb to launch her attack which set up a perfect scenario for Carrigan. "It was perfect for me to have her away because I wasn't feeling 100 percent confident for the sprint," said Carrigan who then relied on her team mate Valen to help her secure points. "Anita (Valen) gave me a fantastic lead out, but unfortunately I couldn't come over her but it still worked out."

The plan of her Dutch based BIK Power Plate team was to hold onto the leader's jersey for the Amstel Gold Race, the fourth round being raced in the Netherlands on April 20th. "It's great for us to claim two podium places and it is really exciting to have another teammate up there overall," said Carrigan, who now has Valen 41 points behind her in fourth overall.

The Australian time trial champion was also keen to highlight the fact that seven Australians are now ranked in the top 16 of the World Cup Series. "All the top guns have been racing this series but we Aussies have been great," said Carrigan. "When we get together for World's and then for Athens we'll be such a strong force and that's really exciting."

Compatriot Rochelle Gilmore (Ausra Gruodis-Safi) was disappointed about missing a podium place after feeling good throughout the race. "I had one of the best rides of my life today but I almost crashed in the last 300 metres when the bunch moved across and squashed me out just as I was accelerating," explained Gilmore. "My feet came out of my pedals and I was skidding across the road on my shoes."

She recovered to finish sixth, but was disappointed at the result after feeling strong all day. Read more about it in Rochelle Gilmore's diary.

27th Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde

The third event of the Vlaamse Wielerweek, which culminates this Sunday with the Ronde van Vlaanderen, is the 27th Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde. This three day/four stage race is a challenging but important competition, especially for those wanting to do well on Sunday. Starting with a 196 km race from Middelkerke to Zottegem on April 1, the Driedaagse travels to Koksijde on stage 2 (228 km), before the final split day in De Panne. A morning stage of 110 km is followed by an afternoon time trial of 14 km, which typically decides the classification.

Teams and principal riders

Alessio (Baldato, Cassani), Flanders-Iteamnova (Scheirlinckx), Rabobank (Wauters, Hayman), US Postal-Berry Floor (Van Heeswijk, Ekimov), Bankgiroloterij (Pronk, Voskamp), Gerolsteiner (Haselbacher), Saeco (Pieri, Quaranta), Vlaanderen-T Interim (Devolder), Lampre (Svorada), Brioches La Boulangere (Chavanel), Caldirola-Sidermec (Bortolami, Vainsteins), Palmans-Collstrop (De Waele, Omloop), Quick.Step Davitamon (Museeuw, Boonen, Vandenbroucke), Team Coast (Guidi), Cofidis (Mattan, Planckaert), Landbouwkrediet-Colnago (Dierckxsens, Steels), De Nardi-Colpack (Gobbi), Team CSC (Tafi, Van Hyfte), Lotto-Domo (Van Petegem), FDJeux.com (Cooke, Casper), Domina Vacanze-Elitron (Ongarato), Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf (Bruylandts, Belohvosciks) and Telekom (Wesemann).

The stages

Stage 1 - April 1: Middelkerke-Zottegem, 196 km
Stage 2 - April 2: Zottegem-Koksijde (St. Idesbald), 228 km
Stage 3a - April 3: De Panne-De Panne, 110 km
Stage 3b - April 3: De Panne-Koksijde-De Panne ITT, 14 km

58th Ronde van Noord-Holland

The oldest classic in the Netherlands, Ronde van Noord-Holland, will take place on Sunday, April 13 for the 58th time. The UCI 1.3 race will be raced over 200 km of flat, open roads in the Polderland in the north of the country. The parcours includes the Munnikenweg, a 1300m stretch of cobbles near Alkmaar, the seven kilometre long Zuiderkwelweg in Wieringermeer, and the picturesque West-Friesezeedijk road between Warmenhuizen and Schagen.

A total of 23 teams of eight riders will start the race, including last year's winner Rudi Kemna (BankGiroLoterij). The race will start at midday in Zaandam, finishing at approximately 16:30 in the same place.

Frisco Superdrome work starts

Work begins
Photo: © Mike Gladu

The first step in the resurfacing of the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas was well under way this weekend - the uncovering and removal of a fairly large portion of the more than 12270 machine screws buried in the 708 plywood panels that make up the riding surface of the 250 metre velodrome.

Ryan Crissey and Tim Goodwin of the FCC led a crew of local volunteers in two days hard work under the clear blue skies of Spring in North Texas. Their first task was to remove thousands of protective plugs of wood-filler putty, then the screws underneath, before the surface panels can be lifted off the velodromes' steel support structure. With only a week to complete the preparations, the new surface panels should begin arriving next weekend for installation.

The resurfacing is scheduled for completion in advance of the upcoming US National Team World Cup Qualifier on April 25-27, the first event planned by the FCC for this season once the facility renovation is completed.

The Superdrome has been host to National Championships, the 2002 US Olympic Trials and a World Cup event in its short life, and the new venue operating team is not only looking forward to hosting more elite events but the resumption of the local racing program, with dates and schedule TBA.

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