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On Thursday we heard from the American Bicycle Group regarding the disbanding of Team Tomac. On Friday Johnny-T himself checked in to explain what happened. "It recently became financially impossible for me to field a pro team for the 2002 season," Tomac wrote in an e-mail. "The reasons being that sufficient funding from not only the main sponsor of the team (American Bicycle Group/Parent company to Tomac) have along with other industry sponsors, had to cut back on sponsorship dollars to the point where putting together a reasonable operating budget for Team Tomac was not possible. "Things

UCI, NORBA. NORBA, UCI. You two have something in common, so we thought you ought to meet. After trying to find a host for its last cancelled event, the UCI has opted not to reschedule the June 1-2 cross-country originally slated as part of the "triple" event at Leysin, Switzerland. That means this year’s World Cup calendar will consist of six downhill-mountain cross events, but only five cross-country races — the same number that NORBA has planned. "The (UCI) mountain bike commission decided not to change the fixed dates for the World Cup in order to avoid any conflict with any other

Italian cycling team Mapei-Quickstep launched its campaign for the 2002 season Friday with a vow to dominate the world - but also hinted its days in the doping-tainted sport might be numbered. Officially the message coming out of the Mapei team was one of world domination - the desire to regain their world number one spot, success in the two major races they have never won, a vow to compete on all five continents. But team president Giorgio Squinzi then went off-message, admitting his involvement in the scandal-hit sport might be numbered. Squinzi did not hide behind a poor 2001 season,

The first major stage race of the 2002 season, Paris-Nice, scheduled March 10-17, will "certainly canceled" according to the event organizer Laurent Fignon, who broke off negotiations on Friday to sell the event to the Tour de France promoters. The discussions started last week between Daniel Baal, director-general of the Société du Tour de France, and Fignon, the two-time Tour de France winner, but came to an end for financial reasons after appearing to start out well Friday morning. A press release issued by the Tour's parent company, ASO (Amaury Sport Organization) stated: "Despite a

While the rest of us were heading off to work Thursday morning, Alison Dunlap was boarding a plane bound for Europe. Already the holder of a rainbow jersey for her win at the mountain-bike world championships last September in Vail, Dunlap is off to Zolder, Belgium, hoping to add a world cyclo-cross title to her resume. Just a week before she left, VeloNews sat down with Dunlap in the dining room of her home in Colorado Springs. Here’s what she had to say about trying to win her second rainbow jersey in six months, her new mountain-biking team, and a few other topics. VeloNews: What do you

Lance Armstrong, tennis player Jennifer Capriati, and the U.S. Postal Service Team have been voted the 2001 USOC SportsMan, SportsWoman and Sports Team of the Year. The USOC SportsMan and SportsWoman of the Year awards have been presented annually since 1974 to the top overall male and female athlete from within the USOC member organizations. The team award was added in 1996. Voters for the awards include national media, the USOC Executive Committee, the USOC Board of Directors and the USOC Athletes' Advisory Council. Armstrong won his third consecutive Tour de France in 2001, the first

ESPN has "Sports Center." CNN has "Wolf Blitzer Reports." VeloNews now has (drum roll please) "VeloNews Week." No, don't check the TV listings for broadcast times -- the debut edition of this e-mail newsletter will hit your in-box on February 7. "VeloNews Week" gives you immediate access to the breaking news on the site as well as links to the latest interviews, training tips, equipment reviews and media critiques, along with inside news from VeloNews. Sign up in less than a minute (click here to sign up ), and you can look forward to road, track, mountain biking and cyclo-cross stories

He was one of the most successful riders in the sport’s history, but that wasn’t enough to keep the team that bears John Tomac’s name in business. Just two months before the opening of the 2002 season, Team Tomac has been disbanded, leaving downhilling brothers Gary and Rich Houseman looking for work. "We decided that we’d rather do grassroots racing then spend the money on two downhillers," said Herbert Krabel, director of marketing for American Bicycle Group, the parent company of Tomac Bicycles. "Yes we sell downhill bikes, but we sell a lot more cross-country bikes. We also had some

Dunlap's first rainbow jersey ride.

The old uniform.

At home in the Springs.

Jalabert takes a ride.

The U.S. Cycling Federation announced its 2002 National Championship schedule Tuesday. The championship calendar includes road, track and cyclo-cross events for junior, under-23, elite and masters riders. The season kicks off with the National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCCA) National Road Cycling Championships May 10-12 in Burlington, Vermont. The collegiate championship event will be held in the northeast for the first time since 1993. The highly populated Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference will provide some great competition in its own backyard, led by the host school, the

The Outdoor Life Network will air the 2001 SuperCup finals on Sunday, February 10, at 3 p.m. The 30-minute show will highlight both the men and women's SuperCup cyclo-cross series finals races held December 16, in Baltimore's Patterson Park. "We're excited about this show because of how many things went so well in Baltimore," said Kiron Group President Lyle Fulkerson. "We had good crowds, great weather and perhaps the most exciting SuperCup of all time."

Olympic medalists Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter will be carryingthe Olympic torch through Boulder, Colorado on Wednesday, January 30, asthe flame makes its way to its scheduled February 8th arrival in Salt LakeCity, Utah.Carpenter, who in 1984 became the first ever women's Olympic road racegold medalist, will be running with the torch at 1:45 p.m. on flat roadsin the northeast part of town. Phinney, bronze medalist that same yearin the team trial and two-time Tour de France stage winner, will carryit over a more hilly route at 2:48 p.m. near the picturesque ChatauquaPark at the base

Soft-drink maker Diet Rite is the latest entrant into the world of cycling sponsorship, as on Tuesday the company announced plans to back a women’s road team. The deal is part of an agreement with Boulder, Colorado-based Podium Sports Management, Inc. While the team is new, the names on the roster are familiar. The core is made up of the defunct Proctor & Gamble team. Among the riders are Cheryl Binney, Kori Kelly, Mina Pizzini and Joanne Kiesanowski. Also on board are Tina Mayolo-Pic and Cybil DiGuistini, who returns to North America after a season in Europe. Rounding out the roster are

Marga Fullana, 2000 world cross-country champion and Olympic silver medalist, has signed a deal to ride for the Spanish team Orbea in 2002. The team’s first training camp will begin February 18, near San Sebastian, Spain. Fullana, who rode for Specialized in 2001, had a difficult year, competiting in only four of the eight World Cup races, and skipping the world championships. Still, she won three of those four World Cups, and is the No. 8 rider in the UCI cross-country rankings.

Carl Swenson hasn’t made it to the summer Olympics yet, but the cross-country mountain biker, who’s a member of the RLX-Polo Sport team, will be heading to his second winter Olympics next month in Utah. Swenson was among 16 athletes named to the U.S. Olympic cross-country ski team on Monday. The 31-year-old Boulder, Colorado resident was also a member of the 1994 team that competed in Lillehammer, Norway. Swenson has won cross-country skiing national championships three times (1994-95, 1999), and was the short-track cross-country national champ in 2000. A year ago he finished 12th in the

Bessette has been relegated to a spectator.

Following a trend that has been widespread in mountain-bike racing this offseason, Specialized has announced a greatly reduced roster for the 2002 season. As it stands now only reigning World Cup cross-country champion Barbara Blatter is sure to be back in the black and red this year. There is also talk that Belgian Filip Meirhaeghe may return as well, but nothing has been finalized. As for the other four members of the European-flavored, cross-country-only team from a year ago — Marga Fullana, Caroline Alexander, Bas Van Dooren and Elsbeth Vink — all have moved on. Van Dooren will be

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.

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

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

McEwen takes No. 3

Paulissen

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

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

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

.

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

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

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