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LATEST NEWS: MARTIN THE BIG MOVER IN THE UCI’S WORLD RANKINGS
Road Bike Action & AFP
August 30, 2010
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(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Following his final time trial win and overall victory in the Eneco Tour, HTC-Columbia rider Tony Martin is the week’s most notable riser in the UCI world rankings. Prior to the Eneco Tour, Martin was ranked 62nd, but his performance saw him jump up to 20th, making him the only rider to enter the top 20.
Astana’s Alberto Contador remains the world’s top ranked rider, with a substantial lead over Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez. Cadel Evans (BMC), Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) round out the top five.
The only other rider to move up in the top 20 was Martin’s HTC-Columbia teammate Andre Greipel who move from 18th to 16th.
Thanks to Martin and Greipel’s performances, Germany has moved into sixth in the nations rankings, overtaking the Netherlands and Russia. The top five remain Spain, Italy, Belgium, Australia and the United States, respectively.
Martin and Greipel’s performances also saw their team rise in the teams rankings, from fifth to fourth, while Dutch team Rabobank moved from fourth to third. Astana remains the world’s top-ranked team.
Tondo wins a stage of the 2010 Paris-Nice(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Tondo Moving to Movistar
Xavier Tondo has confirmed that he will ride for Team Movistar for the 2011 season. Tondo is the first among Cervelo Test Team’s rank-and-file riders to announce his new team. Movistar is the team currently known as Caisse d’Epargne.
Despite the dissolution of the Cervelo Test Team, Cervelo will remain a sponsor at the ProTour level. It will become co-sponsor of Garmin-Transitions, the team’s official name changing to Garmin-Cervelo next year.
Several staff members and as many as four riders are said to be moving to Garmin. The primary goal is to bolster its classics team. The riders rumored to be moving over are Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler, Andreas Klier and Jeremy Hunt.
Ullrich celebrates a stage win at the 2006 Giro d'Italia(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Ullrich to Become Father Again
Germany's 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is to become a father again in February, just weeks after being diagnosed as suffering from burn-out and denying he has an alcohol problem.
The 36-year-old and his wife Sara are expecting a second child to join their three-year-old son Max.
"Yes, we are expecting our second baby," Ullrich told Bild on Sunday.
"We do not want to know what it will be. We don't know if it is a boy of a girl, the main thing is that the child is healthy."
This will be Ullrich's third child having already had a seven-year-old daughter with his ex-girlfriend.
Ullrich has been under a dark cloud since May 2006 when he was linked to the Operation Puerto raid which exposed him to a doping scandal and saw him sacked by his team T-Mobile that July.
He announced his retirement in February 2007 and has repeatedly insisted he is innocent.
Ullrich announced this month he has withdrawn from public life and is being treated for burn-out then later denied he is suffering from alcohol abuse.
The burn-out diagnosis comes after a ruling against him a fortnight ago by a German court over a dispute with anti-doping campaigner Werner Franke.
A Hamburg state court dismissed a suit by the rider, who was trying to stop Franke from making claims that he had paid Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes for doping products.
Ullrich is being treated for exhaustion and has asked to recover in peace as the couple prepare to be parents again, which is positive news after some difficult weeks.
"I feel that everything is getting better," he said.
On his website, he denied rumours he is battling a problem with alcohol.
"I want to make it clear that I do not suffer from an alcohol problem," he wrote on janullrich.de last Tuesday.
"Such allegations and insinuations are absolutely not true.
"People do not leave us in peace. Suddenly there have been the wildest rumours."
Ullrich says the recent pressure has effected his wife.
"The rumours put pressure on my pregnant wife," he said.
"We now have a responsibility for another human life and she just now needs rest."
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