January 26/01 6:50 am - CC Mail Winner, OCA Awards, McCartney Gone, U.S. Postal 2001

Posted by Editor on 01/26/01
 

CC Mail Contest Winner

We are sorry it took a few days longer than expected to announce the winner of our CC Mail contest. We needed to contact the winner before announcing, and it turns out that they were caught in the problems Microsoft has been having for the past few days. However, we are now pleased to be able to announce that the winner is . . . Jeff Hansen of Ontario.

Jeff, a well-known road racer in Ontario (a member of the infamous Hansen brothers...), has won the top-of-the-line CompuTrainer Pro 3D system, a $2300 value.

We would like to thank everyone (many hundreds) who signed up for CC Mail as part of this contest. We will be having more contests through CC Mail over the coming months and, as the cycling season gets underway, CC Mail members will receive exclusive offers and advance notice on specials deals and activities. What we are saying is that if you haven't signed up for CC Mail yet, please take the time to do so now by clicking on the graphic in the upper right corner of your browser window.


Ontario Award Nominations
(courtesy OCA)

The Ontario Cycling Association Board of Directors is requesting nominations for the annual Provincial Cycling Awards.

Nominations will be accepted until February 14th, 2001 and may be made by completing the nomination form posted on the OCA Web site (News section) and submitting it to the OCA office. Please visit the News page of the Ontario Cycling Association, www.ontariocycling.org for further details and nomination forms.


McCartney Team Officially Dead

You may or may not have heard of the financial difficulties the Linda McCartney team has been having, but it is now official - the team is kaput in its current form. The title sponsor Linda McCartney (a frozen vegetarian food company started by Linda McCartney, the (deceased) wife of Beatle Sir Paul McCartney) had already pulled back, but there was hopes that other sponsors would pick up the slack. McCartney has been run by ex-Motorola pro Sean Yates, and was a potential Tour de France starter for 2001. Team officials are keeping up a brave front and are hoping to bring in some other sponsors to resurrect the squad, but even if it does happen, the team will likely be on a smaller scale. An unfortunate end to a well-run team (with a well respected director).


U.S. Postal Service Announces 2001 Roster
(courtesy US Postal team)

In an effort to bolster climbing strength for its defense of team member Lance Armstrong's back-to-back Tour de France victories, the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team announced its 2001 team roster at an official Team Presentation today. The event was held in conjunction with the team's European training camp which began Wednesday in Altea, Spain. The team has added several climbing specialists - highlighted by last year's Tour of Spain champion Roberto Heras - along with seven other riders to its roster for the upcoming season.

Heras, the convincing winner of the Vuelta, also placed fifth at the Tour de France, elevating himself to the ranks of the top stage racers in cycling. Joining Heras in the red, white and blue colors of the U.S. Postal Service team in 2001 will be Frenchman StéphaneBarthe, Colombian Victor Hugo Peña, Spaniard José Luis "Chechu" Rubiera, Australian Matthew White and Americans Antonio Cruz, Robbie Ventura and Dave Zabriskie.

The eight new riders join returning U.S. Postal Service team members Armstrong, Jamie Burrow, Dylan Casey, Julian Dean, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Benoît Joachim, Steffen Kjaergaard, Kenny Labbé, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde and Cédric Vasseur, giving the 21-rider team its strongest and most complete lineup to date.

Johan Bruyneel, the team's Director Sportif, said the team's goals in 2001 are to defend Armstrong's consecutive Tour de France victories and Heras' win at the Vuelta, along with contesting the Spring Classics. Bruyneel also is hopeful that, with its bolstered lineup, the team can win its first World Cup event.

Heras leads the team's new charges with an impressive roster of achievements. The diminutive Spaniard climbed his way to victory at the Vuelta, confirming his win with a devastating performance at the event's key moment on the infamous Angliru climb. Heras also constantly applied pressure to favorites at the Tour with persistent attacking in the mountains along with his other Kelme teammates. Heras has declared his goals in 2001 are to assist Armstrong in the Tour de France and to defend his victory in his home country's biggest event.

Rubiera, a stage winner and eighth overall at last year's Tour of Italy and a teammate of Heras' at Kelme, has turned in solid performances in several Grand Tour events. In addition to last year's performance at the Giro - highlighted by his victory in the
mountainous stage 13 from Feltre to Selva Val Gardena - Rubiera finished sixth overall at the 1999 Tour of Spain, 10th at the 1997 Tour of Italy and 13th at the 1998 Giro. Peña, also a stage winner at last year's Giro, riding for Vitalicio Seguros, is an aggressive rider with strong climbing and time trialing skills who will bolster the team's lineup in the coming Grand Tours.

Barthe, the French national road champion in 1997, has won stages in the Tour de l'Oise, Criterium International and the Four Days of Dunkerque. In 2000, the former Casino-Ag2R rider placed third overall at the Tour of Denmark and seventh overall at the Four Days of Dunkerque. White, a solid performer for the Vini-Caldirola team, rode in support of world number one Francesco Casagrande for much of the season. A former Tour of Switzerland stage winner, White competed for the host country at the Sydney Olympic Games.

Cruz leads the way among the three American additions. The former U.S. Criterium Champion rode the race of his life in winning the U.S. Olympic Road Trials, earning a position on the American Olympic squad. Also in 2000, Cruz won a stage at the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia and competed in the World Championships. Zabriskie, the youngest member of the team, is a former Junior and Espoir National time trial champion. In the U.S., the Utah native finished second overall at the Redlands Classic. Ventura joins the team following a successful American-based career highlighted by 23 career victories. He will join Labbé in adding depth and strength to the team at U.S. events.