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Finally the UCI has released the coming season’s mountain-bike World Cup schedule, but they still have some work to do. In a press release sent out Monday, competitive cycling’s world governing body revealed that Fort William, Scotland and Telluride, Colorado will serve as replacement sites for the cancelled events in Leysin, Switzerland and Arai, Japan. Only problem is that the release says that both events will be downhill-mountain cross only, leaving the series one race short on the cross-country side with just five. The Fort William event will take place on June 1-2, the dates

While Belgians Sven Nijs, Mario De Clercq and Erwin Vervecken tuned up for their anticipated world championships showdown, defending women's world cyclo-cross champion Hanka Kupfernagel showed that she'll be the one to beat at world's with a convincing win at the Grand Prix of Switzerland on Sunday. Kupfernagel finished 1:35 ahead of the Netherlands' Debby Mansveld and France's Laurence Leboucher. The U.S. team for world's has yet to arrive in Europe, but another American, Christine Vardaros, posted a top-10 finish in Wetzikon, finishing in eighth place, 3:28

Editor's note: The February 4, 2002 issue of VeloNews featuresour annual Pro Road Season Preview with fullrosters for the UCI's 30-team Division I; analysis of the top ten squads;a look at Postal's new recruits; a profile of Rabobank's new hope for theTour, Levi Leipheimer and the following conversation with the man in chargeof the world's No. 1 team.He’s renowned as the wisest team boss in the business. A small man withimpeccable manners, his signature dark glasses, bald head and polo shirtare as familiar a part of cycling as the peloton itself. He has been drivingteam

Blatter may be Specialized sole pro rider.

Belgian Sven Nijs put everything together on Sunday to win the fifth round of the cyclo-cross World Cup series, the Grand Prix of Switzerland, in Wetzikon. Nijs beat countrymen Mario De Clercq and defending champion Erwin Vervecken to solidify his position at the top of the World Cup standings. Nijs, who hadn’t had a top finish in the past few weeks, took matters into his own hands from the start at Wetzikon. His early aggression left behind everyone but Rabobank teammate Richard Groenendaal. Groenendaal, however, fell victim to a crash, allowing Nijs to solo home for the victory, while De

You couldn't blame Michael Rogers for demanding a spare bike be ready for immediate use as he rode the final kilometers to victory in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia on Sunday. After all, he learned 24 hours before winning the 733km race how "Lady Luck" can abruptly barge her way in unannounced and throw every winning hope into disarray. That a quick-minded spectator was there to lend Rogers his own bike on the previous stage was the most poignant moment behind his overall victory - by 21 seconds over Russian Alexandre Botcharov (AG2R) and 30 seconds on South Australian

Rogers

McEwen celebrates his fourth stage win

Rogers plays it safe

USA Cycling announced on Friday that the Lehigh Valley Velodrome will host the U.S. National Track Cycling Championships in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, for the next two years, 2002 and 2003. The 2002 nationals are scheduled for late in the season, from August 27 to August 31. The Lehigh Valley Velodrome most recently hosted the national championships in 1999, 1996 (with the Olympic Trials) and 1990. "This is the first multi-year deal for the national championships in over a decade", said Pat McDonough, Lehigh Valley Velodrome director. "Over the next two years we will host these

Australian Michael Rogers overcame scorching heat, a near disasterous crash with a race marshal’s motorbike and his rivals to take overall leadership of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia on Saturday. In the toughest stage of the race, 156km from Gawler to Tanunda, Rogers (AIS) finished second, 10 seconds behind Australian and former mountain-biker Cadel Evans (Mapei). Then 11 seconds behind him in third-place came Italian Daniele Nardello (Mapei). Going into the sixth and final stage, Rogers will now lead the race by 21 seconds from Russian Alexandre Botcharov (AG2R) and 30

I don't think necessity is the mother of invention -- invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble. -- Agatha Christie, An Autobiography. Pt. III, Growing Up. A multimillion-dollar feat of overengineering that dwarfs the best efforts of Microsoft, NASA and Rube Goldberg, inventor Dean Kamen has unveiled his Segway Human Transporter (SHT), a 65-pound, $3,000 "smart" scooter that can travel a dozen miles on a dime's worth of electricity. Drooling tweekers, geek-boys and pixel-twiddlers worldwide have eagerly awaited the

Rogers in yellow

Cadel Evans

Evans leads the break; Rogers (2nd) rides borrowed bike

Australia’s new generation of road racing stars came under fire from veteran Scott Sunderland on Friday for allegedly causing a bone-chilling crash that could endanger his 2002 season. For Robbie McEwen (Lotto) Friday’s 141km fourth stage in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under brought his third victory in the race and sixth in 15 days, but it was a different story for Sunderland (Lotto), Australia’s second-highest ranked rider on the world standings who has also been leading the climbers’ category here. McEwen won the stage from the Adelaide suburb of Unley to the former whaling station of

Two more Schwinn-GT castoffs — Belgian Roel Paulissen and Frenchman Mickael Deldycke — have found homes for 2002, leaving only Finnish downhiller Katja Repo still looking for work this coming season. The 25-year-old Paulissen, who had four top-10 finishes in the World Cup series last year as a member of the GT team, has signed on with the Rainer-Wurz.com-Helly Hansen squad. He joins Italians Marco Bui and Hubert Pallhuber on the team sponsored primarily by Formula 1 race-car driver Alexander Wurz and ex-mountain-bike pro Markus Rainer. Wurz actually started his wheeled-racing career in

McEwen takes No. 3

Paulissen

THE only thing that can seemingly stop Australia's Robbie McEwen from racing in full flight at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under is the finish line. By winning Thursday's 149km third stage on the Willunga circuit south of Adelaide, McEwen (Lotto) took his tally of wins in 14 days to five. McEwen won so comfortably, he could have been sitting in an armchair sipping fine wine in one of the many bed-and-breakfasts in the region. It was also the Queenslander's second stage win for the tour. And it saw the recently crowned Australian road champion take leadership in the sprinters' points

Belgian champion Ludovic Capelle has been sent home in disgrace from the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under for being overweight and in "embarrassing" form. All anyone saw of the 26-year-old during his brief appearance in the 733km race was his red face of exhaustion - or his backside as he spent most time off the back of the pack. But after he abandoned 40km into Wednesday's 150km second stage - on the approach of the steep ascent of Checker's Hill - the red on his face was one of humiliation. And by Thursday, the 85kg rider's backside was seen heading across the tarmac of Adelaide airport,

Editor's note: Newly crowned Swiss national cyclo-cross champion Thomas Frischknecht seems raring to go as the season charges toward the wrap up of the World Cup series in Heerlen, the Netherlands, on January 27, and the world championship a week later in Zolder, Belgium. "Frischy" occasionally sends out an e-mail update of his progress.Around Christmas I finished my 12 years with Team Ritchey in style with two cyclo-cross victories in Garfiniano, Italy on December 23 and Dagmarsellen, Switzerland, on December 26. Actually the last two races in the red-white and blue jersey in Belgium did

Two-time world downhill mountain bike champion Giovanna Bonazzi is competing in the Winter X Games this week in Aspen, Colorado. But it wasn't her two rainbow jerseys in downhill that got Bonazzi an in at the invitation-only event. Bonazzi’s third-place finish in last year’s European Skicross Championship in Westenrdof, Austria paved the way for qualification into this year’s X Games. “I feel like I’ve already won, being one of just 16 athletes to be selected for such a spectacular event,” said Bonazzi. “There’s always a big element of danger in these types of events, and I’m not as

Sacchi still holds the yellow jersey

Bonazzi

Stuart O’Grady’s (Crédit Agricole) bid to win the Jacbob's Creek Tour Down Under a third time hangs in the balance after he lost nearly a minute in Wednesday’s blistering-fast second stage of the South Australian event. Canberra's Michael Rogers (AIS) won the 150km stage from Italian Fabio Sacchi (Seaco), who deposed Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco) as overall race leader. Third at the same time was Italy's Andrea Tafi (Mapei). McEwen, the winner of stage one on Tuesday night, rode aggressively all day and was instrumental in the first major attack of the day. The overnight race leader and

Promising British cross-country rider Liam Killeen has inked a deal that will put the 19-year-old in the Subaru-Gary Fisher colors on a part-time basis in 2002. According to Gary Fisher public relations man Mark McCubbin, Killeen will race international events (World Cups, Sea Otter) in the British national team colors aboard a Fisher bike. But at regional UK races and other selected events, Killeen will don full Fisher garb. "His focus this year will be on the world championships and the Commonwealth Games," said McCubbin. "So he’ll continue to get most of his funding from the British

At the beginning of the season, most cycling teams will offer-up a pretty standard press conference, introducing riders who answer a few questions and stand around posing for photos. If the press is lucky, there will be a buffet. Now, do you really think the Italians, and Mario Cipollini in particular, would do it that way? Dispensing with the usual formula Cipo’s new squad — Acqua & Sapone — took over Milan’s Rolling Stone discothèque, arranged national television coverage, brought in Italy’s “A list” of celebrities and lined up a bevy of bare-breasted showgirls in a sort of cycling

Sacchi

McEwen (r) and Rogers

Rogers and 'Daisy'

Killen

Cipo' may not be the center of attention when Ronaldo is around

Stanley Kubrick was there in spirit

The uniform -- sans mask -- will be seen in pro peloton this season

.

The 2002 U.S. Postal Service team had its first official gathering January 10-15 in Scottsdale, Arizona, giving the seven new recruits a chance to mingle with Lance Armstrong, Roberto Heras, George Hincapie and the rest of the returning riders. As the team gathered for its first official ride together last Friday at the swanky Fairmount Princess Resort, the mood was relaxed. The official team introduction is scheduled later this month in Spain, and this get-together was not an official training camp, but a private affair for sponsors and team riders. With no new uniforms available yet, the

Australian champion Robbie McEwen was the first to raise his hands in triumph at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under with an emphatic win in Tuesday night's first stage. McEwen (Lotto) won the 47km criterium at the Adelaide, Australia, beachside suburb of Glenelg from Corey Sweet (Uni of South Australia) and Dutch champion Jans Koerts (Domo). The trio formed the winning breakaway after only nine of 25 laps on the 1.88km circuit and held off a chase group of 10 riders after lapping the main bunch with four laps to go.

After nine years of side-by-side gated racing, NORBA has decided to go the way of the UCI, dropping pro dual slalom in favor of mountain cross. Amateurs will continue to compete in two-rider races. "We want our top riders to have a chance to prepare for the World Cup and world championships," said NORBA’s Eric Moore. "That means running the same event as they are, and that means running mountain cross." Mountain cross, the four-rider format where competitors take on the same course at the same time, made its primetime debut at last year’s Sea Otter, and was run at the NORBA finals in Mount

There’s still no word from the UCI about where or when its pair of cancelled mountain-bike events — the "triple" in Leysin and the downhill in Arai — will end up, but several strong possibilities have emerged. The most solid appears to be the oft-mentioned Fort William, in Scotland, which is closing in on a downhill-mountain cross event that will likely be held the weekend of June 1-2, the dates originally occupied by the Leysin event. According to a member of the organizing committee in Scotland, they were preparing for a visit from the UCI during the week of January 21, and were hopeful an

Hincapie

Heras

Barry

Barry's new ride

McEwen celebrates.

Telekom's Bobby Julich flies his new colors.

Scenes of the past.

Bicycle sales to the specialty retail market, which plummeted in the second quarter of 2001, rebounded substantially during the third quarter, according to the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. Third-quarter unit sales were down just 2.5 percent from the same period in 2000, a considerable improvement over the second quarter's decline of 12 percent. Sales in terms of dollars were down 2 percent for the third quarter, compared with 8 percent in the previous quarter, according to the BPSA. "Year to date, the industry is down by 228,000 units (10.5 percent), with dollar sales off by

A nearly three-year-long legal battle reached a quiet end Monday when the latest in a series of lawsuits challenging the governance structure of USA Cycling was settled out of court. Andrew Rosen, who represented plaintiffs Brett Wade, Charles Howe and Eric Petersen in a lawsuit challenging USA Cycling's most recent membership election, told VeloNews that the case "will be dismissed and an agreement has been reached to the satisfaction of all parties." Neither Rosen, nor USA Cycling chief executive officer Lisa Voight would offer details of the settlement citing a confidentiality clause

European countries held their national cyclo-cross championships on Sunday. Two-time world champion Mario De Clerq headed up the list of newly crowned national champions, edging reigning world champ, Erwin Vervecken in Coxyde, Belgium. Americans Tim Johnson, Marc Gullickson and Jonathan Page were given permission to compete in the Swiss national championship event, but pulled out on the final lap so as not to interfere with the outcome of the race. SwitzerlandMen Thomas Frischknecht.ItalyMen 1. Daniele Pontoni 1:02:27; 2. Valeriano Vandelli, at 1:O6; 3. Luca Bramati, at 1:23. Women1.

The ongoing war of words over the death of Fausto Coppi continued Friday when an African cycling federation official disputed reports that the legendary Italian cyclist was not poisoned. "Coppi was never poisoned," said Adama Diallo, the secretary of the Burkina Faso cycling federation (FBC), answering allegations that Coppi was murdered in the country, when it was still known as Upper Volta, in 1960. Diallo said he had consulted with Paul Ilboudo the secretary-general at the time of the incident who is now 70-years-old. "We are very surprised that these allegations have resurfaced because

Nick Chenowth, the former head of Electronic Data Systems Global Sports marketing program entered a minimum-security federal correctional facility in Seagoville, Texas, on Friday to begin serving a 27-month sentence for mail and wire fraud. Chenowth pleaded guilty last summer to federal charges that he had submitted nearly $1.3 million worth of false expense reports to his former employer. Both sides in the case agree that the bulk of that money was used to supplement the salary of Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein, payments EDS officials contend were never authorized by anyone at the

Chenowth enters federal prison

We made our choices, now it’s time for you to make yours. The 2001 racing year is history and we want to see who you think deserves the accolades. Check out this year’s VeloNews Readers’ Choice Awards and vote. We’ll tabulate the results at the end of January and see how your picks stack up against those made by the VeloNews staff. Look for results of the fourth annual readers’ choice awards in future issues of VeloNews.

Judicial authorities in Tortona, Italy, say that they will consult toxicology experts before deciding whether to exhume the body of legendary Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi who died in 1960, the newspaper Corriere dello Sport reported Wednesday. Over the weekend the same newspaper, citing evidence from a Benedictine monk based in Burkina Faso, alleged that Coppi had been murdered with a herbal potion by Africans rather than, as had been previously supposed, dying of malaria in Italy after contracting the illness in the African country. An inquiry by Rome magistrates was immediately launched

The Tour de France appears to be close to retaining its chief sponsor despite fears that the multi-million dollar deal could have been under threat because of the sport's recent drug problems. Officials at the French bank Credit Lyonnais, had hinted last year that they may end the company’s sponsorship of the event, said on Wednesday that they were now ready to extend the deal beyond 2003, the year of the Tour's centenary. "We have made the decision in principle to renew our contract with the Tour de France," Nicolas Chaine, the director of communications at the French company,

In a story published Wednesday, Glasgow, Scotland’s Daily Record reported that former world hour record holder and two-time world pursuit champion Graeme Obree is now recovering from a suicide attempt last month. The 36-year-old Obree, who twice broke the world hour record astride his own self-designed bicycles, was found hanging in a barn near his home in Ayrshire, Scotland a few days before Christmas. According to the paper, Obree was saved when the owner of the farm cut him down and alerted authorities. At the time, Obree's condition was found to be serious enough to warrant

It looks like GT isn’t out of the bike racing business after all — at least where Brian Lopes is concerned. The reigning World Cup and world dual champion checked in with VeloNews on Tuesday to say that he’ll be back with GT in 2002. "I will be running my own program once again with GT as the main supporter behind it," Lopes wrote in an email. "GT will provide a rig at the races for me and I will be choosing a mechanic to be my full-time wrench, which will probably be Stikman (a.k.a. former Schwinn mechanic Craig Glaspell)." As for the rest of the GT team, there won’t be one — unless you

Dave Cullinan, Steve Larsen, Tim Gould, Leigh Donovan and Elke Brutsaert are just some of the names that sported the fire-engine-red uniforms of the Schwinn mountain bike team over the years. But in 2002, with the century-old bike maker now owned by Illinois-based Pacific Cycles, the racing team is officially no more. “We wanted to do something with Schwinn this year, but we were told to hold off for now because the direction the Schwinn brand is going doesn’t go with racing,” said Pacific’s sports marketing manager Erick Marcheschi about instructions he received from Pacific’s top

Lopes only mountain biker back with GT in ’02

The Swedish cycling federation on Monday barred professional rider Nicklas Axelsson from competition for four years after he admitted to knowingly using the banned endurance drug EPO during last year’s world road championships in Lisbon. The penalty, however, should have little impact on the rider who months ago declared his career was already over. Axelsson, who was thrown off the Swedish national team after his admission in November, was riding for the Italian Alessio team when he tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) on the last day of the October 9-14 championships. "I took EPO and

Roman magistrates on Monday handed over their investigation into claims that legendary Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi was murdered to authorities at Tortona near Alessandria where the rider died in hospital in 1960. During the weekend Corriere dello Sport alleged that Coppi had been administered a poison during a trip to Burkina Faso in December 1959 before he died on January 2, 1960. At the time the death was thought to have been of malaria but Corriere reported the testimony of a French monk based in Burkina Faso who said he had been told that the rider was killed in revenge for a fatal

Reigning Olympic time trial champion Viacheslav Ekimov, who announced his retirement from cycling at the end of last year, is taking over as manager of the Russian team, Itera. The 35-year-old Russian decided not to extend his contract with the U.S. Postal Service team so that he can concentrate on building up the Russian outfit. Named as the best Russian cyclist of the 20th century, Ekimov won the time-trial gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 ahead of Germany's Jan Ullrich and America's Lance Armstrong. In his 12-year pro career, he won more than 50 races, including stages

The Benedictine monk who could hold the key to whether Italian cycling legend Fausto Coppi was murdered in 1960 told the Corriere dello Sport newspaper Sunday that he was convinced that Coppi died because of foul play, and not because of a virus as was originally thought. On Saturday Italian magistrates opened an inquiry into the allegations although at present the only item of evidence in the dossier was Saturday's edition of Corriere dello Sport, which broke the story. For the second day running the paper devoted its first four pages to the story, and this time went into far more

Belgian Erwin Vervecken won the Grand Prix of France on Sunday in Nommay, besting fellow Belgian Mario DeClercq by 11 seconds. Dutchman Richard Greonendaal was third. The race was the fourth stop in the cyclo-cross World Cup series. Vervecken’s win continued his country’s dominance of the 2001-02 World Cup series, which has seen a Belgian (Sven Nijs, 2; DeClercq, 1; Vervecken, 1) win every race thus far. Nijs, held on to the top spot in the overall standings, though he finished 10th at the race in France. American Marc Gullickson finished in 14th place, while teammates Tim Johnson and

Was Coppi murdered?

According to a report in the Saturday edition of the Corriere dello Sport newspaper Fausto Coppi was murdered and did not die of a virus. The paper, with the headline 'Coppi was murdered', told how the rider fell ill while training in Africa before he died back in Italy in 1960 at the age of 40. The paper claims that Coppi was given poison while in Africa but the evidence it brings to support its claim is far from convincing even though the cyclist's death has always been shrouded in mystery. Nonetheless, on Sunday Italian prosecutors opened a dossier relating to the death of the

Coppi

Jiri Mainus, USA Cycling's director of international competition, has released the U.S. team roster for the 2002 cyclo-cross world championships in Zolder, Belgium, February 2-3, 2002. Though eligible to send five athletes in each category, the U.S. squad will be composed of four elite men, four elite women and four U-23 Men. The team will send five junior men to represent the U.S. in Zolder. Two alternates were also named in each category. Elite Men: 1. Todd Wells2. Marc Gullickson3. Tim Johnson 4. Jonathan Page Alternates:1. Jonathan Sundt2. Dale Knapp Women:1. Alison Dunlap 2. Ann

Wells is headed to Belgium.