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Last week Prime Alliance unveiled its roster for a new Division III road team. Included on the roster were some heavy hitters, including Jonas and Jame Carney, Colby Pearce, Danny Pate, Mike Creed and NORBA national champion Steve Larsen. The day after the team was announced, VeloNews spoke with team owner and Prime Alliance CEO Tom Irvine, team director Ian Birlem and rider-manager Kirk Willett about how the team came about and what its outlook is for the coming season. VeloNews (to Tom Irvine): How did you get involved, and what’s the major thrust for Prime Alliance to get into

Birlem (l), Irvine (c) and Willett

Willett

Petr Dlask won the Czech Republic’s national cyclo-cross championship on Saturday in Tabor, at the same venue where the world cyclo-cross championships will take place February 3-4. Saturday’s race was contested on a 2.85km course that was frozen and covered with snow. Fifth in the World Cup standings, Dlask beat out two other members of the Author Expandia team, Jiri Pospisil and Vaclav Jezek.

The International Sports Arbitration Tribunal (TAS) decided on a six-month suspension, but retroactive to November 24, 2000, and with three months of the sentence suspended, for French mountain biker Jérôme Chiotti. Chiotti admitted last April that he won the 1996 world mountain-bike championships while taking the performance enhancing drug erythropoietin (EPO). The French cycling federation (FFC) had suspended Chiotti for one year beginning July 11, 2000, but the Union Cycliste International appealed that punishment to TAS in August. The UCI challenged the initial French sanction because it

While the U.S. Postal Service team's mini-camp began in Tucson, Arizona, earlier this week, the other Division I U.S. team, Mercury-Viatel, is gearing up for its camp in Southern California, with riders starting to arrive this weekend and the camp officially starting on Monday, January 15. Last month, VeloNews sat down with Mercury director John Wordin to discuss the off-season and the team's goals for the upcoming year. While this interview took place before the addition of Viatel as a co-title sponsor and the addition of riders Peter Van Petegem, Geert Van Bondt, Wim Vansevenant,

Stop No 4. of the 2001 mountain-bike World Cup has been cancelled and there is no word yet on whether the event will be rescheduled. The season’s first triple — cross country, downhill and dual slalom races were all to be contested — was originally slated for July 7-8, in Whistler, British Columbia, but organizers backed out, citing financial concerns. The cancellation follows a complicated stream of events that according to event organizers TEAM Management, began when the UCI instituted a new rule in April of 2000, requiring first-time "triple" World Cup organizers to get their contract

Wordin had a busy off-season

According to a tentative schedule posted on his Web site, two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will not compete in any French races prior to the start of the Tour on July 7. The 29-year-old, whose U.S. Postal team is at the center of a French judicial investigation into drug allegations, will steer clear of races in France, racing primarily in Spain and then capping his preparations with the Tour of Switzerland, June 19-28. Last season Armstrong participated in the prestigious Paris-Nice and Dauphiné Libéré in France as part of his build-up to his second straight Tour victory. But

On Thursday the USCF announced the National Racing Calendar schedule for 2001. Among the highlights of the 52-race schedule are eight new events, including the Manhattan Invitational in New York City on August 2 and the previously announced San Francisco Grand Prix, September 9. The other new events are the Housatonic Valley Classic in Danbury, Connecticut, June 24; the San Rafael Cycling Classic in California, September 8; the Irvine Cycling Grand Prix in California, September 24; the U.S. Open Cycling Champioinships in Columbus, Ohio, September 29; the Deland Cycling Grand Prix in Florida,

Richard Virenque has filed an appeal seeking to overturn a nine-month ban for doping with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, a court spokesman said on Thursday. Spokesman Mathieu Reeb, said the appeal was received via certified mail on Wednesday. Lawyers for Virenque, the five-time winner of the King of the Mountains competition at the Tour de France, must submit their written arguments within 10 days. The 31-year-old Virenque was given a nine-month suspension by the Swiss cycling federation after he admitted during the recent Festina trial that he had used

The French bank Crédit Lyonnais, a sponsor of the Tour de France for 20 years, will have the option of not renewing it's contract with the Tour after the 2003 race, although the bank won't make a decision until after the 2001 Tour according to Nicolas Chaine, the bank's director of communications. In 1994 Jean Peyrelevade took over as head of the struggling bank and decided to renew the contract with the Tour for another eight years, despite an annual cost of 35 million francs, in order to keep the company from appearing "truly moribund." The company has stuck with the Tour,

The Canadian Cyclist of the Year award for Best Newcomer has been renamed the Roger Sumner Award, in honor of long-time cycling mentor Roger Sumner, who passed away last December. The first recipient of award is Clare Hall-Patch, the junior woman who rode brilliantly to a bronze medal at the 2000 Road World Championships in Plouay, France. Sumner was particularly active in the coaching, managing and of newcomers to the sport, so the editors of Canadian Cyclist believe that this award is best suited to his memory. This award will be not be voted upon as part of the magazine's People's

Some of America’s top cycling stars, past and present, will gather together on Friday night in Denver for Wheat Ridge Cyclery’s 3rd annual Pro Night and Expo. The event benefits the Front Rangers Cycling Club and the Nicole Reinhart Foundation. Wheat Ridge Cyclery’s annual Pro Night expo gives the general public a rare opportunity to mingle in an intimate environment with the cycling industry’s most influential leaders. Throughout the night professionals will share their training and motivational expertise, cycling legends will tell their stories of the most exciting moments of the sport’s

The domestic men's road scene got another boost on Tuesday with theannouncement of a new UCI division III squad, the Boulder-based PrimeAlliance Cycling Team. On paper, the squad looks like it will be a bigplayer in the U.S. races. The roster includes Jame and Jonas Carney,Colby Pearce, John Walrod, Danny Pate, Michael Creed and Kirk Willett,who will also manage the team. In addition, NORBA national championSteve Larsen will race selected road events for Prime Alliance. The brainchild of Prime Alliance CEO Tom Irvine, the team did not decideto seek UCI status until December. After a fall

VeloNews is once again accepting submissions of North American team rosters. These listings will appear on our website. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2001. Rosters sent after that date will not be accepted. Please include team name, sponsors, riders' names –listed alphabetically by last name and by category/class – and riders' ages . The format should be as follows: Team SupremeSponsors: Capitol Bike Shop, Washington Cleaners. Cat. I: BREYER, Steve, 61; GINSBERG, Ruth, 66; O'CONNOR, Sandy, 69; STEVENS, John, 79; Cat.II: KENNEDY, Tony, 61; REHNQUIST, Bill, 75;

Officials from USA Cycling released the final roster of riders bound for Tabor in the Czech Republic to contest the world cyclo-cross championships, February 3-4. SuperCup cyclo-cross series winners Marc Gullickson (Mongoose) and Ann Grande (Kona-Voicestream) will head the eight-rider team. Dale Knapp (Kona-Voicestream) and Rachel Lloyd (Novo-Sycip) fill out the other spots in the U.S. elite squad offered by USA Cycling. Alan Obye and Josh Anthony will race in Under-23 event, while Jeremy Powers and Aaron Bradford will represent the U.S. in the junior men's race. Notably absent from the

Belgian cyclo-crosser Sven Nijs (Rabobank) continued his late-season charge on Sunday, winning the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, round five of the six-round World Cup series. Nijs beat Czech Petr Dlask and Dutchman Richard Groenendaal to take his second World Cup win of the 2000-01 season. Nijs, Dlask and Groenendaal jumped out to the early lead in Zeddam, opening up a gap on chasers such as Erwin Vervecken, Mario De Clercq and Gerben De Knegt. But with three laps remaining, Groenendaal fell back, victim of a mechanical problem. The world champion chased back, only to crash on the

Round one of the 2001 New Zealand Mountain Biking national championship series got going January 6-7, in Levin. Downhill opened the competition, as riders tackled a steep 2km course that was smooth, fast, and very dusty. In the women’s race Sheryl MacLeod (Haro) came down in a flurry, posting a time of 3:30.70 to claim her first win of the season. Current European champion Tracy Mosely (Kona-Ford Focus) finished second, four seconds back, while Vanessa Quin (Giant) was third. On the men’s side, 2000 series’ winner Glenn Sisarich wasn’t around, meaning the race was wide open. Nathan Rankin

It’s taken a bit of scrambling, but it looks like Dave Cullinan will be riding a Diamondback this year. Word is a verbal agreement has been reached and it’s just a matter of pushing the paperwork through. The deal — assuming it happens — will provide much relief for the 31-year-old gravity rider, who unexpectedly found himself without a team in late December when Schwinn dumped him in favor of 20-year-old Frenchman Mickael Deldycke. Cullinan had been with Schwinn for nearly four years. "If I get through all this, racing will be easy this year," said Cullinan, who added that he wasn’t

In 2000, the Tour LeFleur reached the high point of its seven-year existence when the Jackson, Mississippi, event played host to the U.S. Olympic Trials. Last week, the organizing committee announced that the race would not be back in 2001. "After the phenomenal year we had, hosting the Time Trial Championship and the U.S. Olympic Trials, we feel like we set a standard that we want to maintain," said Bo Bourne, Tour LeFleur creator, in a press release issued last Friday. "We added live television and the Jumbotron at the start/finish area. We also had other amenities and a level of

Facing a "serious budget shortfall," USA Cycling has eliminated both its endurance track and women's road programs as well as eliminating nearly 20 percent of its total work force. The organization's staff and administration met Thursday afternoon to review a series of personnel and program cuts designed to lower costs in what USA Cycling CEO Lisa Voight attributed at least in part to "a post-Olympic reduction in sponsorship dollars." Hardest hit, in what chief operating officer Steve Johnson referred to as a "reorganization," was USA Cycling's athlete performance department. Several coaching

With budget concerns limiting USA Cycling's support of a national cyclo-cross team at world championships in Tabor, Czech Republic, February 3-4, the American Cyclo-cross Foundation has launched a last-minute drive to raise enough money to field an eight-person squad. USA Cycling is funding trips for five riders: one elite man, one elite woman, one under-23 man, and two juniors. The ACF is attempting to raise enough money for three additional riders, at an estimated cost of $1500 per rider. The American Cyclo-cross Foundation is a private group set up to funnel donations from

Genevieve Jeanson will head a new Canadian women's team that will contest the major road events in North America. Jeanson, who won the Tour de Snowy and the Flèche Wallonne World Cup in her first season as a senior, will be joined on Team RONA by five other Canadian women: Amy Jarvis, Manon Jutras, Raphaele Lemieux, Melanie McQuaid and Melanie Nadeau. Among the races on the schedule for Team RONA are Redlands, the Montreal World Cup, the First Union Liberty Classic, Fitchburg-Longsjo, the Grand Prix of Quebec and the Killington stage race. Jeanson will continue to race for the Canadian

When the U.S. Postal Service submitted its paperwork to the UCI at the end of last month, an unexpected name appeared on the team's official roster, former Saturn sprinter Robbie Ventura. The move was part of an effort by the team to solidify its presence on the home front. Director of operations Dan Osipow said, "We were looking for some speed in criterium racing, which we've lacked in the last couple of years, in American-style events." Osipow said that the team's U.S. schedule will resemble that of recent years -- including Redlands, Sea Otter, the BMC series, Clarendon Cup

Rabobank's Sven Nijs proved Sunday's edition of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series in Diegem, Belgium, belonged to the hometown favorites. Nijs finished at the top Belgian sweep of the top five spots. Hey, maybe his teammate, Richard Groenendaal isn't invincible after all. Don't bet on it ... even after the man who has dominated the 2000-2001 cyclo-cross season finished sixth, giving the Dutchman the day's top non-Belgian spot in the seventh race in the eight-race series. While Groenendaal had a tougher time than usual -- finishing in a group, 1:20 behind Nijs -- he remains in charge of

Editor's note: He's back. There, not here, that is. American cyclo-cross racer Alex Candelario returned to Belgium last week to continue his season of 'cross racing where it matters. Candelario started his season in Europe, then came home to contest the U.S. national championships in December (where he finished 10th) and is now back in Belgium for the remainder of the season. He checked in on Tuesday with this latest account of the Belgian 'cross chronicles. On Christmas day, I left the comforts of family and the loved one to venture back to the snowy fields of Belgium.

The juxtaposition of the Festina drugs trial going on in Lille and the announcement Thursday in Paris of next year’s Tour de France route was not lost on race director Jean-Marie Leblanc. In a 5000-word speech, Leblanc made one reference to the trial that is dredging up the Festina team’s exclusion from the 1998 Tour because of its systematic drug use. Leblanc said, "After being brought down by dubious hands — as the Lille trial is showing right now — cycling … has suffered so much and worked so hard to correct things over the past two years, that it will end up with its head held high.

The 84th Giro d’Italia route was announced on November 11, and according to Marco Pantani, the 3572km race between Pescara on the eastern coast and Milan promises to be a “wide-open race.” Indeed, many of the stages of the May 19-June 10 race could favor a climber such as Pantani. The race includes 21 stages, an 8km prologue in Pescara, one rolling 55km time trial in stage 15, a foray into Slovenia, and one rest day before the San Remo-San Remo 17th stage. There are 22 major climbs spread out over 10 of the stages, with the highest being the Colle Fauniera at 2511 meters (8161 feet). Three

When Greg Strock looks back at what could have been an outstanding pro cycling career, he says he feels more than nostalgia. Along with the good memories is a mix of frustration, disenchantment and even anger. In 1990 Strock hit Europe as a 17-year-old racer and began tearing up the roads in Spain. By April of that year, he traveled to Brittany, France, joined up with the U.S. national junior squad and started down a path that he now says stopped his career in its tracks. Not long after moving into the senior ranks -- with a spot on the U.S. national team's A squad and an amateur deal

Can you name the largest "investor" in American bike racing? Hint: It's the folks who deliver cycling fans' "must see TV" on Thursday nights. That's right, Outdoor Life Network. In 2001, VeloNews estimates that the sports cable television broadcaster will invest approximately $7 million in broadcasting, marketing, and promoting major bicycle events such as the Tour de France, Sea Otter Classic, Giro d'Italia and the NORBA NCS Series. Since its founding in 1995, OLN has made a steadily increasing commitment to bike racing. It's spending $3 million for rights fees alone for the Tour de

2001 Giro route unveiled

Full of promise: Strock had an amateur contract with Banesto

Frankie Andreu, a teammate of two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, has announced his retirement from professional cycling. "After racing nine Tours de France and spending eleven years as a European professional I have decided to retire," Andreu announced Saturday, posting a statement on his personal website. Andreu has spent much of the fall season considering his options after his U.S. Postal contract wasn't renewed. "After the highlights of the last two years my thoughts were that I should retire while I'm still at the top. As much as I will miss racing I am looking

It was a question that wasn't exactly answered at cyclo-cross nationals in Overland Park, Kansas. There were a few automatic slots opened for the winners, but a lot of it rests on that ever-popular "coach's discretion," and this year, more than usual, a lot seems to depend on rider's discretion. As newly crowned men's elite champion, Tim Johnson is a shoo-in for a trip to Tabor in the Czech Republic in February. The man from Middleton, Massachusetts, has been a fixture on the world's squad ever since he first qualified in 1995, even showing up to lend a hand to the team last year when a

Hard to believe, but that December 17, SuperCup final in Overland Park, Kansas, was the last time Bart Bowen lined up for a race in a Saturn jersey. The 10-year road pro has been a fixture on the squad since 1994 -- just a year after the team moved from the amateur ranks up to professional. But at the end of 2000, his contract was set to expire. Bowen shrugged when asked why he wasn't riding for the team in 2001. "We just never got an agreement," he said. "I'm not all that sure what happened." Frustrating as it might be, Bowen said he is not fixating on what might have been.

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