August 29/02 5:25 am - More Photos from Kaprun, Bessette Signs for Cyclocross, Evans to Telekom, Cervelo & CSC-Tiscali for 2003

Posted by Editoress on 08/29/02
 

2002 Mountain Bike World Championships Kaprun, Austria

Photos from Thursday


Bessette Set for Cyclocross Season

Lyne Bessette started racing cyclocross in 2001 for "fun". It quickly became apparent that her fun was serious worry for those racing against her, as she quickly cleaned up on the competition. Bessette won the Verge New England Championship Cyclocross Series, the Boston Super Cup and a round of the World Cup in Nommay, France. She was also voted the 2001 Canadian Cyclocross Rookie of the Year and the VeloNews Woman Cyclocrosser of the Year.

Unable to race at the cyclocross World Championships due to a CCA rule that states a rider must at least start at the national championships to be eligible for the World Championships team, Bessette will prepare for and race the 2002 Worlds in Monopoli, Italy.

To get her there she has signed to ride for the newly formed CyclocrossWorld.com team. The team is managed by Stu Thorne, who also works with Tim Johnson.

Lyne will finish her road season at the road Worlds in Zolder, Begium, take a short break and then start the `cross season.

Evans Signs With Telekom

Cadel Evans has signed with the Deutsche Telekom, fuelling rumours that Jan Ullrich may not be top of the German teams list for future grand tour plans. Evans made a very successful transition from mountain to road this year with Mapei-Quick Step, wearing the pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia, winning the Commonwealth Games time trial and finishing third in the road race.

With the pullout of Mapei from cycling, he was forced to look for a new squad, and Telekom put together the winning bid for his services. After Ullrich's well publicized problems with drugs, drinking, driving and injuries, it appears that the Telekom brass are losing patience with him, and looking for alternatives. However, don't be too sad for Jan, it is rumoured that CSC-Tiscali are talking to him.


Team CSC-Tiscali rides Cervélo bikes in 2003
Courtesy Cervélo

Team CSC-Tiscali, owned by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, and Cervélo Cycles Inc, the Canadian manufacturer of professional road, time trial and track bikes, announced today that they will join forces in 2003.

Professional Cycling Denmark - the company behind Team CSC Tiscali was founded in 1997 and today is one of the most successful cycling teams in the world having most recently won the best climber's jersey in the Tour de France and the Classica San Sebastian World cup.

Cervélo, the world's largest time trial bike manufacturer, has been one of the most innovative bike manufacturers the sport has seen in years. This innovation and a focus on performance has been the strength behind its continued success, initially in the time trial market and more recently also in the road market.

"It was this focus on performance that attracted our attention", says Bjarne Riis. "The combination of bike models Cervélo offers allows us to achieve optimal results in all types of racing, from the classics to climbing stages to time trials.

"After meeting Bjarne we were really impressed with how obsessed he was about his team's equipment", responds Cervélo's co-founder Gerard Vroomen. "To be honest, it reminded us of how we obsess over our bikes. We got to discuss how great it would be if we would collaborate on bike design, and pretty soon we decided that we had the chance to do something unique in the sport of cycling if we joined forces."

And the partnership looks promising for both parties, as well as customers.  "We have a lot of new projects in the works, and lots of new ideas," adds Cervélo's other founder Phil White. "Combining that with the ideas and experience of a former Tour winner and one of the most meticulous cyclists of all time will enable us to continue to push the envelope in design and excite our customers with new and improved bikes on a regular basis. And we are thrilled that Bjarne runs one of the most international teams in the peleton, with some of our favorite riders like Tyler Hamilton, Carlos Sastre and for next year Andrea Tafi.

The potential for both partners is awesome. This will be a partnership to watch next season - in fact we have a feeling they will be hard to ignore.

The team will use the Cervélo P3 and P2K for time trials, the Soloist and Prodigy in road races, and the P2T on the track. On top of that, a new road bike has been developed that is sure to turn heads.