| 11/06/2001 | + RACING
31.10.2001 11.11.2001 Tour du Faso BUR 2.5 MEL
Stage 6a, 101.5 km:
1.Ram Dewar (PBS) 2h30'05"
2.Christof Marien (Bel) at 30"
3.Seydou Sanfo (Bur) s.t.
4.Mohamed Er-Ragragui (Mar) s.t.
5.Laurent Zongo (Bur) s.t.
Stage 6b, 67.5 km:
1.Steve Thijs (Bel) 1h34'43"
2.Dominique Père (Fra) at 05"
3.Anthony Ravard (Fra) s.t.
4.Nicolas Gand (Fra) s.t.
5.Abderlatif Saadoune (Mar) s.t.
G.C. after stage 6: not available
Six Days of Dortmund, Germany
Final Classification
1. Rolf Aldag-Erik Zabel (Ger) 387 pts
2. Bruno Risi-Kurt Betschart (Swi) 280 at 1 lap:
3. Andreas Beikirch-Andreas Kappes (Ger) 336
4. Silvio Martinello-Marco Villa (Ita) 300 at 14 laps:
5. Danny Stam-Robert Slippens (Ned) 171
Six Days of Dortmund, France
Final Classification
1. Alexander Aeschbach-Franco Marvulli (Swi) 397 points
2. Robert Sassone-Jérôme Neuville (Fra) (366)
3. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita)-Jean-Michel Teissier (Fra) (337)
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+ NEWS
ULLRICH'S ASSAULT ON THE TOUR BEGINS
Ullrich begins his assault on the Tour de France in South Africa, where he will spend the first part of his winter preparation. The
German will start his training there and then transfer to Mallorca, Spain. Ullrich has not defined if his Tour preparation will include
the Giro d'Italia, like this year, or instead the Tours of Germany and Switzerland.
VANDENBROUCKE'S FUTURE UNCERTAIN
It may be the end of November, before we find out VDB's future. The Belgian prodigy has been in conversations with more than one team,
including Italian team Mercatone Uno. The winner of the 1999 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, comes from two disastrous seasons with Cofidis and
then Lampre and is trying to regain the esteem of his fans. "Frank has returned to basics, he is training three hours a day and once again becoming an athlete", said Jef Brouwers, the psychologist that has been working with Vandenbroucke for some months.
SOLAUN SIGNS WITH EUSKALTEL
Spanish César Solaun signed today a contract with Euskaltel-Euskadi, returning to the team where he made his debut in 1994. With the
addition of Solaun, the team now has 25 riders, completing the lineup. The team has also acquired neo pros Lander Euba, Julen Fernandez, David Herrero, Egoi Martínez de Esteban and Joseba Zubeldia. Thirty year old Solaun, comes from iBanesto.com.
RUBIERA'S FUTURE TIED TO ARMSTRONG?
Lance Armstrong won his third consecutive Tour de France with the help of two Spanish riders: Heras and Rubiera. The work done by
Rubiera impressed him and he would like for the Spaniard to stay with him until he retires. He has every intention of beating the record of
5 Tour de France wins and he would like to have "Chechu" with him for that.
Last August 25, Armstrong was speaking with Toni Rominger, when the name of Chechu Rubiera came up, the American only has compliments
about him. "I hope that before he talks to other teams, he talks to us. I'm very happy with with Chechu and I would like for him to ride with me until I retire. If it was up to me, I would have 10 Rubieras riding with me. By the way, do you have any other Rubieras for the US Postal?", asked Lance Armstrong.
Rubiera still has one more year of his contract with the US Postal, but when Rominger heard this comments from Armstrong, he went to talk
to Johan Bruyneel, director of the US Postal. "We have already closed the budget for next season, but we can talk about 2003. If Lance
wants Chechu for the rest of his career, we will do it", said Bruyneel.
Until 2005? Bruyneel wasn't being evasive. The US Postal has already closed their budget for 2002. That is why they weren't able to fight
for the renewal of Levy Leipheimer, who finished third at the last Vuelta a España and has left to lead Dutch team Rabobank.
There were also rumors that the Anthrax problems that the US Postal Service has been experiencing in the U.S., could have contributed to
the closing of the budget, but team management has denied this. In any case, Rubiera could stay with Armstrong until his retirement. But
when could that be? Rominger has his own theory. "I think that Lance will ride until 2005. It has been rumored that he could leave cycling
suddenly to stay with his family, but I think that in the end, the sporting criteria will impose. As long as he can attempt to break the Tour record, he will continue to race".
Lance Armstrong had three inseparable companions, three men that not only have worked for him at the Tour, but that were next to him
during his recuperation from cancer. George Hincapie, Kevin Livingston and Tyler Hamilton have been more than domestiques, they have been friends. Next season, there will only be one left: Hincapie. Livingston left last season to work for Jan Ullrich. "It's like if Colin Powell had deserted and left for the Chinese armed forces", said back then a pained Armstrong. Next season he will lose Hamilton, who has signed for Laurent Jalabert's CSC-Tiscali. With that experience, it is normal, that Lance may want to keep his favorite domestiques. He doesn't want any more departures.
+ INTERVIEWS
JOSE LUIS "CHECHU" RUBIERA
Q. You are now 28, working for an American team and with a reputation as the best domestique in the world. What is your opinion about Armstrong wanting you to race with him until he retires?
A. I think that it is one of the biggest compliments that one can receive, because it comes from a champion of the quality of Indurain,
Merckx or Hinault. For me it is a compliment to be able to make history together with Armstrong at the Tour.
Q. Has Armstrong told you this personally?
A. At the Tour he told me that he was happy with my work, but it was Rominger, whom he told that he wanted me to race next to him the rest
of his career. He also asked him: "Do you have more Rubieras for the US Postal?"
Q. He also said that he would like to have ten Rubieras.
A. I didn't know that, but once he commented that he wanted three Rubieras and three Hincapies.
Q. Do you worry about being labeled a domestique?
A. No. I can't win the Tour, so it is an honor to help Lance. Plus the calendar has options for everyone.
Q. Lance gives the image of a cold person and a bitter character. How do you see him from the inside?
A. I feel badly that he is seen that way, because I have the good luck of being with him on a day-to-day basis and I know that it is entirely the opposite. At the hotel, he always is one of the funniest, a good character, but the people have stayed with the image of the bodyguards. He does that to separate himself a bit from the media frenzy, but in reality he is a normal person and a good guy.
Q. What is the think about Lance that has called your attention the most?
A. I will say his capacity to deal with tough training. That is his secret.
Q. And the most special moment that you have lived in racing?
A. In the stage to Alpe d´Huez, many thought that Lance was having a bad day. Heras and I stayed with him. We wanted to pull, but he told
us to remain calm, that he was going well. That cold blood stayed with me.
Q. Then came you work at the start of Alpe d´Huez, almost a sprint, which dropped everyone.
A. Lance told me to go all out. They were only 500 meters, but I must have done them very strongly, because when I stopped, only Ullrich
and Kivilev were left.
Q. Is it true that when the long breakaway that placed Francois Simon in the yellow, Armstrong calmed the team?
A. Yes. The day of the break, I asked him if we should pull and he told me: "be calm that in the mountains you are going to see a show".
Q. Is it true that you help him with Spanish and he helps you teaching you English?
A. Yes, he wants to learn Spanish and we correct each other.
KRISTJAN SNORRASON
Courtesy of www.syklingensverden.com
Snorrason: Here are the questions. Let me first of all let me say that you have a great site on the Internet. And congratulations on the victory at Perlis Open.
Thank you very much, www.snozza.com is a great way of staying in contact with friends when I am traveling around, they can just log on
at their leisure and see what I am up to. It's also an easy way of letting people find out things about me. If people (sponsors, journalists etc) make enquiries about me, I send them there first. The web site gives me something to do when I am traveling and need to fill in time.
Ok, here they come:
1) Kristjan Snorrason isn`t exactly a typical Australian name. I suspect your family comes form Iceland. Correct?
Yes, my father comes from Iceland and my mother is Australian. It's funny, most people in Australia have trouble pronouncing my name but
when I am in Europe not so many people get it wrong! I was born here in Australia.
2) When you were younger you were into different kind of sports. And after some years you concentrated on Triathlon (like another guy from
the USA...). You even went on to represent Australia at the World Amateur Championships in Cleveland, USA, in 1996.
Why did you give up this sport?
I could never run fast enough to make it as an elite triathlete. Every time I built up my running training I would get injured. I was
always a strong cyclist (as far as triathletes go) and so it was easy to become attracted to pure cycling. I think it was my second race
that I ended up winning. I was hooked after that. I had fun being a triathlete, but in some regards I wish that I had turned to cycling
while I was still a teenager.
3) You have only been a full-time cyclist for three years. And to get some further racing experience you have been to Belgium 3 times. What
have you learned when you have been I Europe? Isn't it possible to get the same experience back in Australia?
In Australia the fields generally are a lot smaller and there are simply not as many races on per week. In Belgium I was able to race
everyday if I wanted to against really good quality fields. It was a steep learning curve at first and it took a little while to actually
realize what I was learning. I think the second year I went back I really began to be able to read the races better and position myself
better too. I could have stayed in Australia, but it would have taken so much longer to get the same experience. I simply didn't have time
to waste!
4) You had a sort of "break-through" January the 10th this year when you went on to win Melbourne to Sorrento (cat. 1.5). Do you see it
the same way?
Absolutely, this past Australian Summer really was a breakthrough for me. I had trained full time for two months before Melbourne-Sorrento.
I took leave from my job in the family business, so I could concentrate fully on training. It paid off and I haven't looked back! Each step has opened up another door for me this year and I have always tried to choose the path that would keep me progressing forward.
5) This spring you signed for the American team Noble House. But have you actually been riding for them? If not, what happened?
I think for the full story on what happened to the Noble House team you should have a look at the story on cyclingnews.com
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/noblehouse.shtml
Basically the team never received it's sponsorship $'s from the Noble House company. So none of the riders or team staff received anything
(salaries, bikes, clothes, nothing!).
6) What kind of cyclist are you? What are your strengths and weakness (promise not to tell anyone about the last one...)?
Mmmm, well strengths would be timetrialling and sprints. I would say that I think I could develop into a good one-day classics rider. As
for my weaknesses; I don't have any! No seriously my weaknesses would have to be big climbs. When I am in top form climbs of about 3-4km
don't usually trouble me, but I think I will always suffer on big burgs... Remember Lance Armstrong's body pre-cancer, all shoulders and back muscles... yeah well he got that from Triathlon. I have the same problem, though I am working hard at trying to get smaller!
7) Our sport has experienced some difficult years due to doping. In your opinion; what are the reason for this and what can be done?
I think that cycling unfortunately has doping entrenched in its past. The sport in Europe certainly has problems with drugs as young riders
coming up turn to drugs as though the drugs are part of their next step in their riding. In Australia I don't think we have the same
problem. For instance the Australian National Under 23 men's squad race in Italy and constantly attract the attention of team DS's
because they know that if the Aussies are getting results, they are getting results clean.
8) A few days ago you stood on top of the podium after Perlis Open (cat. 2.5, Malaysia). At this race you represented to
Italian/Colombian team Selle Italia-Pacific. This stage race isn't the most well-known. Could you tell us about this race and your win?
Yeah, in the past the race has just been 3 individual races, unranked by the UCI. However this year the race was ranked as a tour by the
UCI. It is held in the state of Perlis in the north of Malaysia, based in the town of Kangar. It was a very well run event and with this year under their belts I am sure the race organization will have the race progress onto the next level. The opening stage was a 160km road stage, the field was a mixture of eastern bloc riders and Asian nationals. I was a little worried about the Russian team. However the race split early and 8 of us rode away from the bunch. I attacked these 8 riders with 2km's to go and ended up winning by 6 secs! The timetrial was very hard with temperatures in the mid to high 30's (Celsius) and very high humidity.
9) Does this mean that you will ride for Selle Italia-Pacific next year?
I am still unsure, I don't have any firm offers from anyone for next year. Do you know anyone???
10) What are your goals for 2002?
1.Ride on a Pro-Team!
2.Win the Australian TT and Road champs, which are held in January this year!!
Eh... just one more question: Are there many cyclist at Iceland?
Doesn't the weather stop any human being from becoming a cyclist?
I went to Iceland this year in my mid-season break (in the summer!!) and was in awe of the small group of cyclists that train and race there. These guys really love there cycling! I went training a few times and the wind is amazingly strong and cold! Certainly in Winter it is impossible to train, but in summer you can get by! The wind would certainly make you very strong!
If these answers prompt anymore questions then send them on and I will answer them!! cheers, Kristjanwww.infociclismo.com
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