All of your cycling news – November 13, 2009

Friday the 13th Edition:

Simeoni confirms threats from Cipollini, Niels Albert consider move to the road, Micheal Rasmussen may ride for Contentopolis-COPE (if they survive), Carlos Sastre will race the Tour and more…

Filippo Simeoni confirmed in a hearing today that he had received threats from Mario Cipollini related to statements that he made about doping in 2004.
Jimmy Casper (Besson-Sojasun) received the trophy Thursday night for winning  the Coupe de France (French Cup) in 2009. He won three of the races this year outright (Paris-Camembert, GP Denain and the Classic de l’Indre) and bested Romain Feillu and Anthony Geslin in the final standings.
Mickaël Bourgain has had surgery on his shoulder after his fall in The Six Days of Grenoble. It’s not known when he’ll be able to return to competition, but its likely that most of his winter season will be compromised.
World Champion Niels Albert stands by his threat to move to road racing if the boos and jeers during cyclocross races continue.
The Contentopolis-COPE team is in jeopardy of losing their license unless they can come up with financial guarantees of 1.2 million Euros. Co-sponsor COPE has expressed interest in continuing to support the team, but nothing has been signed.
Adding to the confusion, Contentopolis-COPE has reportedly entered into talks with Michael Rasmussen.
2006 German Road Racing champion Dirk Muller has extended his contract with Team Nutrixxion for another year.
Former CSC cyclist Manuel Calvente has renewed with the Andalucia Cajasur team for 2010.
A donation fund has been set-up on behalf of UCI official Harry Lam from Utah, who was injured in Northampton, MA on November 7th. Harry sustained a head injury, brain bleed, and broken nose after a collision with a rider during the Cycle-Smart International I. All proceeds donated to this fund will go toward helping Harry and his family with medical expenses.
Americans won 11 medals, including five world titles, at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, November 4-8 in Manchester, Great Britain. Jennifer Schuble rode her way onto the podium’s highest step twice over the four days. She won the women’s LC2-CP4 combined class 500-meter time trial and broke her own world record in the process.
Christian Moreni, who will be the first cyclist to pay a year’s salary as a doping penalty to the UCI, is upset with Alexander Vinokourov and Michael Rasmussen. Their doping offenses came at the same time as Moreni’s, but they have refused to pay, going so far as to file appeals with the Court of Arbitraion for Sport.
After weeks of hinting he might skip the Tour de France, Carlos Sastre has confirmed that he will be at the start line in Rotterdam for the 2010 edition.

Tags: alexander vinokourov, Andalucia Cajasur, Anthony Geslin, Carlos Sastre, Coupe de France, cyclocross, Filippo Simeoni, Jimmy Casper, Mario Cipollini, michael rasmussen, Niels Albert, Paris-Camembert, romain feillu, Track World Championships