Lars Michaelsen Signs with CSC

CSC Press Release: In the near future, 33-year-old Lars Michaelsen will be signing a two-year contract with Team CSC. According to Bjarne Riis, the Danish classics specialist is a true professional with lots of experience. Riis says that Michaelsen will be of great value to the team in the coming years.

"We have long wished to add Lars to our team. He is a talented rider who has a good attitude towards his occupation. He is very experienced and he can still make results. He will be given lots of responsibility at our team", says Bjarne Riis about Michaelsen's contract. The second year of the contract will only be effective if the necessary sponsor funding is found.

"I am very pleased with my new Team CSC contract. I needed a change of scenery and I look forward to riding for a Danish team with Bjarne Riis as the leader. The team focuses on some of the same races as I do and I still feel that I have the ability to be at the front of the peloton where the races are won", says Lars Michaelsen, who will be the 19th rider on contract at the team next year.

Elitron team

Cycling4all today has published the current state of the Elitron (former Acqua e Sapone) team roster for 2003.

Remaining:
Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lorenzo Cardellini (Ita)
Mario Cipollini (Ita)
Gabriele Colombo (Ita)
Martin Derganc (Esl)
Cristian Gasperoni (Ita)
Massimiliano Gentili (Ita)
González Saints
Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus)
Rubén Lobato
Giovanni Lombardi (Ita)
Miguel Martin Perdiguero
Michele Scarponi (Ita)
Mario Scirea (Ita)
Filippo Simeoni (Ita)

Leaving:
Simone Masciarelli (Ita) (from Tacconi)
Guido Trenti (EU) (from Fassa Bortolo)
Claudius Astolfi (Ita)
Conti Robert (Ita)
Cesare Di Cintio (Ita)
Francisco Garci'a
Federico Giabbecucci (Ita)
Massimo Giunti (Ita)
Agustin Rock
Kyrylo Pospeyev (Ukr)

Luca Scinto (Mapei) apparently has the verbal promise of Cipollini of joining the team as a result of the work he did for the World Champion at Zolder.

Marlux speculations: Fast Freddie, Bruylandts, Konecny

The Belgian press is mentioning that if Dave Bruylandts signs for Marlux, that team will still have two openings, and possible riders to fill those spaces are Fred Rodriguez and Tomas Konecny (both from Domo) and Lars Michaelson (Coast). Bruylandts apparently has an offer from Palmans. (Todociclismo)

Note: See update above on Lars Michaelsen, who has signed with CSC.

Stuart O'Grady weds

Stuart O'Grady has been married to Anne Marie Clifford, whom he met while she was a hostess for the 2000 Tour Down Under. The Daily Peloton extends its congratulations to them both.

Prison sentences proposed for former pro Beon

A court in Rennes will deliberate until early January on sentences for former pro rider Patrick Béon and three others in a doping related matter dating to 2000.

Thirteen people were tried in connection with a November 2000 border inspection in which customs officials discovered illegal dopage material, apparently including pots Belge - a mix of narcotics, caffeine and amphetamines. The others facing sentences are former AG2R mechanic Philippe Tomasina, local nurse Jean-Yves Verger and Serge Degnati, a cycling supplier. The prosecutor is asking for four years imprisonment for Beon and Tomasina, with three of those years suspended, and two years for Degnati and Verger with one year suspended. The remaining individuals on trial are facing sentences of five to eighteen months with portions of their sentences suspended as well.

In the course of this trial, former rider Sebastien Guénée explained the use of the concoction. In addition to celebratory use, it is injected for the purpose of forcing the body into supporting a larger workload, which would theoretically make one more effective in race. Its use is stopped 3 days before the competition in order to pass to pass anti-doping controls. (L'Equipe and Velo Club du Net)

Colorado Gets Top Marks On IMBA Report Card

Press Release (Bike Retailer)--Miles of high-altitude and desert singletrack, Rocky Mountain scenery, well-organized advocacy groups and abundant trail maps helped push Colorado to the top of the International Mountain Bike Association's class. The 2002 IMBA Mountain Bike Access Report Card gave the state an A-minus grade.

South Dakota, Utah, British Columbia, Italy, Wales and the Yukon also earned A-minus grades.

On the other end of the spectrum Mississippi received a D+ because of the state's lack of organized mountain bike advocacy groups.

The most populated state, California, dropped a full letter grade to a C. Mountain bikers find themselves in a tough position regarding U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's new statewide Wilderness proposal. The proposal affords environmental protection and new Wilderness, but--if adopted as is--would eliminate bike use on many popular trails.

"The report card is a useful tool for IMBA and our local advocates," said Tim Blumenthal, IMBA's executive director.

"It's a great way for us to see where we have made progress and are doing well. In addition, it helps us focus our attention on places where mountain biking needs work," he added.

IMBA's Report Card is an annual project begun three years ago to assess the status of mountain biking. Grades are based on many factors, including the amount of singletrack, effectiveness of local mountain bike groups, land manager relations, an IMBA web site survey and feedback from IMBA leaders.

For a full list of states with grades and comments, visit www.imba.com.

News from McCauley on Flanders-iTeam Nova

2002 New Zealand National Road Champ Gordon McCauley is posting again on his website while he continues his stay Down Under, and here is the latest news on his team:

"As you all probably know RDM-Flanders has joined up with the Aussie team Iteamnova.The team will now be known as Flanders-Iteamnova; we will be registered in Belguim as a div 2 team.

"The team at the moment comprises of:
Ronny Assez
Bjorn Cornelissen
Youri Delions
Jamie Drew
Geoffrey Gremelpont
Scott Guyton
Allan Iacuone
Jurgan Landrie
Jerome Lepron
David Mckenzie
Dominique Perras
Bert Scherlinckx
Staf Scherlinckx
Trent Wilson ...........
And of course....'yours truly'. I think that it's a pretty strong team and hope fully we'll ride well and win heaps of races this year. I know most of the guys, and although not well, they all seem like pretty good sorts." Visit Gordon's great site here.

Boogerd honored

Michael Boogerd has been honored as best Dutch rider of the year by former pro riders of Club 48, the readers of the magazine Wieler Revue and the members of the VVBW. Boogerd was so honored in 1998 and 1999. (Velo101)

Kigogngo wins Uganda cycle race

Sebastian Kigongo won the the national bicycle championship of Uganda at Inganga this past weekend. Kinganga's time was 6:11:09 on the 236 km course. Racing with 19 other competitors, William Kiwanuka was second at + 20 minutes and Achilles Katamba was third, finishing four seconds later. Bronze medalist in the Tour of Malaysia David Magezi did not finish due to a knee injury he suffered about 20km before the finish.

National Cycling Association Secretary Issa Lutaaya said the race was the longest ever organised by the cycling governing body. (Daily Monitor)

Brazil and US cyclists compete in Cuban Olympiad

The US and Brazil competed in the Cuban Olympiad this past week. Joe Papp, Mike Peers and Lawrence Perera represented the United State. Peers won a third place medal in the kilometer event with a time of 1.11.339. He is the first non-Cuban to ever medal. Gerardo Martínez US training coach, brought the three US competitors to the event on short noticehoping that the Olympiad will be repeated every two years, as was announced by Cuban President Fidel Castro.

“It would be great to be able to include a competition like the Cuban Olympiads in our training plans for the summer Olympic Games because the Cubans are the best on the continent,” Martínez told Granma International. “On the continent we only have the Pan-American Games every four years and that’s why we think the Cuban Olympiads are a good idea. The U.S. team is always looking for an opportunity to come to the island to compete since, due to the blockade, we cannot come here just for training,” Martínez added.

Nine Brazilians, seven men and two women, also competed. Brazilian Junior Hernandez won the scratch race, with two Cubans, Luis Romero and Joel Marino, receiving the other medals in that event. Brazil's Rodrigo De Mello also won second in the individual route competition. (Gramna International)

Colnago Landbouwkrediet Saclà

Colnago-Landbouwkredit Saclà Press Release:
Beginning Saturday 9 December for two weeks the first Colnago-Landbouwkredit Saclà get-together will occur, spending twelve days at Livigno, Valtellina. Among those attending will be Popovych, Bernucci, Douma and the neo pros Timochine and Vaitkus. During this  period the riders will spend time swimming, mtn biking and skiing, while also defining the team's 2003 program.

Confirmed Colnago Landbouwkrediet Saclà riders for next season:
Sergey Avdyeyev (Ukr), Lorenzo Bernucci, Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr), Bert De Waele (Bel), Eric Lievens (Bel), Claudio Lucchini (Ita), Yurij Metlushenko (Ukr), Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Salvatore Scamardella (Ita), Marc Streel (Bel), Kurt Van Landeghem (Bel), Nico Weynants (Bel).

New additions:
Santo Anzà (Ita, neo), Tony Bracke (Bel), Ludovic Capelle (Bel), Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel), Ruslan Gryshchenko (Ukr, neo), Tom Steels (Bel), Tom Stremersch (Bel), Mihkail Timochine (Rus, neo), Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu, neo), Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel), Johan Verstrepen (Bel), Vladimir Douma (Ukr).