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LATEST NEWS: ROAD BIKE ACTION NEWS NOVEMBER 7, 2008
Road Bike Action & AFP
November 6, 2008
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Kolobnev Extends With Saxo Bank
Russian Alexandre Kolobnev has signed a two-year extension with Team Saxo Bank-IT Factory. Kolobnev has been with the team for two years and has posted some strong results in one-day races. In 2008, he finished second in Clasica San Sebastian, third in Giro dell-Emilia and fourth in the Olympic road race. In 2007 he won a stage in Paris-Nice and a silver medal at the World Championships.
"I didn't have any doubts about extending my contract with the team," stated Kolobnev. "The last two years have been good and it's definitely the right place for me to take it to the next level. First half of this season didn't go quite as I'd hoped but during the second half I managed to prove to myself that I am making progress. My plan is to take it even further next year and get some good results throughout the season,"
Team Saxo Bank-IT Factory sports director Kim Andersen was glad to have Kolobnev stay with the team saying, "Alex has turned out to be a good, stable rider and he's settled into the team well. He's got a winner's instincts and manages to get results in the races he's picked out long beforehand.
 Neben broke her elbow on her first ride of the new season (Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Neben Breaks Elbow
Team Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung, announced Friday that 33 year-old World time trial champion Amber Neben crashed and broke her elbow on her first training ride of the new season.
Neben crashed when she slid out near her home in Irvine, California. Her team director, Jochen Dornbusch said that he had spoken with her and "if everything goes well, she can start to train again properly in a few weeks”
The 2008 season saw Neben win the Cycliste Feminin International Ardèche. She was also second in the Giro d'Italia Femminile, before winning the world time trial championships in September. Neben turned professional in 2002 and rode with T-Mobile in 2003 and 2004 before riding with Team Flexpoint for the past four years.
New Testing Rules In Germany
The German National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) released a new set of rules for drug testing. Taking effect January 1, 2009 German athletes will be divided into three groups for testing with about 700 athletes in the top level of the testing pool.
NADA legal advisor Anja Berninger said, "If there is a concrete suspicion or someone is trying to play games with the whereabouts reporting, then we can show the athlete the 'red card'. The “red Card” represents the top level of the testing pool. This top level, called the International Registered Testing Pool (RTP), will require athletes to not only to send in their whereabouts for every quarter year, but also to follow the one-hour rule. The one-hour rule requires the athletes to name one hour every day in which they will be available for a doping control. "During this hour they must wait at the named place for the controller," Berninger said. "This regulation affects only the very top athletes."
Other changes to the rules include an increased ban of four years, up from two, for first-time dopers. Automatic suspension of an athlete after a positive A sample, and the prohibition for convicted athletes to take part in organized training during their suspension.
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