February 2000 |
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Pantani pulls out of Tour of Valencia FEB 24th: Marco Pantani pulled out of the Tour of Valencia before the start of today's third stage. MORE >> On Wed 23/2/00 the National Roads Authority released a survey on low seat belt wearing rates among motorists. This is of course followed by all manner of "shock horror" statements in the media regarding the failure of motorists to comply with this law and urging more enforcement. If any bicycle users would like an alternative view then the Galway Cycling Campaign submission on the matter is available here. MORE >> Pantani Returns FEB 22nd: Italy's `pirate king' Marco Pantani eases back into com- petition today for the first time since being kicked off last year's Tour of Italy. MORE >> How Ian Hallam turned back wheels of time Full Story Here - Bryant's Eye Irish Grants in Excess of £1 million - The Irish Sports Council announced today (Wednesday, February 9th, 2000), that Irish athletes would receive £1,104,000 in individual grants under the year 2000 International Carding Scheme. This is of special significance for those athletes preparing to qualify for and compete at Sydney in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. MORE >> Cold Water Works - Having a cold bath may prove the ultimate warm-up, according to scientist in New Zealand who have discovered that competitive cyclists benefit from sitting in a cold bath for 30 minutes before they ride. A study of 13 elite cyclists found that cold immersion later increased the power output by more than 3%, a huge difference given that professional cyclists are working at the peak of human potential. Precisely which physiological mechanism in body is being triggered by a cold bath is not clear, but one theory is that the cooling of tissue results in blood being moved from skin to the leg muscles, boosting their power output. (Sunday Times Contributors: Roger Dobson, Mark Prigg and Rebecca Butlin) EPO test almost ready FEB 17th: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned would-be drug cheats yesterday that their chances of escaping detection were rapidly decreasing. More >> Ciaran Power finished in the main bunch (Sun 20th) on the final stage of the rapport Tour in South Africa, a 60km criterium at Green Point in Cape Town. The 9-day tour marked the second professional race for the 23-year-old from Waterford, and Power placed 22 overall, 28:49 behind winner Tobias Steinhauser of the Gerolsteiner squad. The race was a success for Power's Linda McCartney squad, who recorded three stage wins. Power finished best overall of the six-man team. Power keeps up with the best FEB 18th: (by Shane Stokes Irish Times) Building confidence, gaining strength. After an encouraging debut in the Tour of Langkawi in Malaysia, where he recorded five top-20 stage finishes, Irish neo-pro Ciaran Power continues to impress in the Rapport Tour in South Africa. MORE >> POWER CONTINUES GOOD FORM - (Feb 17th) Ciaran Power yesterday continued his good ride in the nine day Rapport tour in South Africa. The 23-year-old professional was part of a large breakaway on the 190km fifth stage, which eventually paved the way for a stage win by Linda McCartney team-mate Maximilian Sciandri. Power finished 52nd on the stage and remains best placed of the Linda McCartney team whow are placed 22nd overall, 26 minutes 4 seconds adrift of overall leader Tobias Steinhauser. The Rapport tour concludes on Saturday with a 60km criterium in Green Point POWER IMPRESSIVE FORM - (Feb 14th) Three days into what is his second professional race, Ciaran Power lies best placed of the Linda McCartney team riders in the Rapport Tour in South Africa. The 23-year-old is currently in 19th place, 20 minutes 47 seconds behind overall leader Tobias Steinhauser. Most encouraginly, however, Power is ahead of a host of top professionals such as 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich. Power's team mates, Maurizio De Pasquale and Pascal Richard, yesterday finished first and second, marking the first stage win for the team in 2000 David Millar (Cofidis) aims to be king of the castle (David Walsh in the Sunday Times Feb 13th) A couple of weeks ago L'Equipe, the French sports daily, ran a cartoon which depicted two professional cyclists at the bottom of a long and steep alpine climb. Up at the summit there was a sign reading, "Credibility". The message was unmistakable. With so much of its history besmirched by doping, professional cycling still has many miles to travel. Yet the journey will be worth it. For at its purest, cycling is a noble sport and there is something alluring about its milieu. MORE >> Entry forms for the Dublin Skip Gorey 3-day on Easter Weekend April 22 to 24 are now available from Sam Darcy at 59 the Cresant, Millbrook Lawns, Dublin 22 Tel: (01) 4514130 Russian cyclists get green light for Olympics FEB 11th: IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said on Friday that the International Cycling Union's (ICU) sanctions against Russia had been lifted and Russian cyclists could compete in the Sydney Olympics. MORE >> Seymour's efforts earn their reward FEB 11th: (by Shane Stokes Irish Times) After being named as the Irish Mountainbiking cross-country representative for the Sydney Olympics, Robin Seymour received a further boost on Wednesday with the announcement of the Irish Sports Council grants for 2000. MORE >> Timing of funding is welcomed - FEB 10th: With the Olympic Games and Paralympics just around the corner, the Irish Sports Council (ISC) yesterday announced individual grants for this year's crop of elite Irish athletes. MORE >> Cyclist faces possible two-year ban - (Irish Times Feb 8th) Ivan Gotti, twice winner of cycling's Giro d'Italia, faces a maximum two-year ban after the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) charged him with doping today. But Gotti's team said the cyclist had never failed a dope test and his participation in the Tour de France, Olympics and Giro, where he defends his title, was not at risk. MORE >> The FBD MILK RAS (Feb 8th) requires additional race officials, particularly those with vans / jeeps to act as foreign team support. if interested please contact the race organiser, Dermot Dignam, e-mail; dignam@indigo.ie OLYMPIC CYCLING TEAM MANAGER ANNOUNCED - The National Team Director Richie Beatty has announced the appointment of Tony Allen as the Cycling Team Manager of the Olympic Games in Sydney. Tony will travel to Sydney on February 25th with a party of Team Managers to view training and competition facilities. Tony will be the Manager for all three disciplines Men's Road Race (2 riders), Ladies Road Race (1 rider), Mountain Bike (1 rider). Kerry Cycling Board Promote New 3 day event - Organiser Paddy O'Callaghan has come up with a unique 3 day mountain bike / road event which will be held over the St Patrick's weekend. The prize fund will total IR£3,000 - the largest amount ever in an Irish MTB event. The route will travel around the ring of Kerry with two overnight stops. While most of the circuit will be on tarmac, competitors must use mountain bikes (slick tyres will be allowed). The event will be advertised in Cycling Weekly and it should be an attractive weekend for overseas riders. Ciaran
Power - in the Tour of
Langkawi (Feb 4th) The 1Oth stage of the Tour of Langkawi saw Ciaran Power ride solidly to finish 23rd on the stage, 4.08 behind winner Julio Alberto Perez. Power gained time over the main bunch and saw himself move from 29th to 23rd in the overall standings, 8.21 behind yellow jersey Christopher Horner. The Irishman's team-mate Matthews Stephens finished 2nd on the stage, jumping into 4th place overall. And the Linda McCartney squad are now third in the teams classification. The race ends in Kula Lumpur on Sunday. (Feb 3rd) Ciaran Power showed that he was suffering no ill effects from his crash yesterday when he broke clear in the Tour of Langawi today. The 23-year-old was a driving force in a large break which went clear shortly after the start of the stage and stayed clear to the finish. Power was the best placed rider of those in the escape group, but the volume of the work he did meant that he was unable to respond when some of the pack started to attack with 10k to go. In the end, Power cross the line in 13th, moving him up to 29th overall. (Feb 2nd) Misfortune struck Ciaran Power today - in the closing stages of the marathon 152m 8th stage of the Tour of Langkawi. Power and his Linda McCartney team mates were preparing the sprint for team galloper David McKensie, when the Irishman and the Australian got tangled up in a 30-rider high speed crash. Power was not badly hurt and crossed the line in 130th, but because the crash happened in the last kilometer the race judges did not dock any time from the fallen riders. Power remains 9:09 seconds behind Christopher Horner, but moves up one place to 40th on GC
(Feb 2nd) Olympic Squad Rider Injured in Crash - Bill Moore has suffered a broken collarbone in a crash on the Irish Squad Training Camp in Majorca this week. He will be out of action for about a month or so. Power undaunted by new challenge ( Shane Stokes Writes in the Irish Times 4th Feb.) - Go to article >> |
Irish
Team in the Tour of Rhodes,
Greece Final
general classification: (Feb
27th) 1. Dennis Rasmussen (Den) Team Fakta-Hammer 13.20.21 (41.35 kph) 2.
Christian Van Dartel (Ger) Team Hohenfelder Concorde 0.11 3. Fritz Berein (Aut)
Arbo Elk Haus 1.46 4. Frantisek Trkal (Cze) Bosch Hausgeräte-Sport Kärnten
2.22 5. Radim Korinek (Cze) Ceska Sporitelna MTB 2.30 6. Micos Rnjakovic (Yug)
Borackolos Yugoslavia 7. Markus Anderson (Swe) Upsala CK 2.37 8. Arnold Eisel (Aut)
Bosch Hausgeräte-Sport Kärnten 2.38 9. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Team Crescent
2.41 10. Tomas Lejska (Cze) Czech Republic U23 2.42 Irish - 57 E
Moriarty @ 25.01, 68 D O'Loughlin @ 26.15, 77 D McQuaid @ 31.11, 81 K Gallagher
@ 31.39, 86 T Evans @ 38.30. Stage 4, 133Km Results - 1 Frantisek
Trkal (Cze) 2hr 59' Irish - 10th E Moriarty @ 0" 27 T Evans @ 0"
57 D O'Loughlin @ 0" 59 D McQuaid @ 0" 60 K Gallagher @
0"
