+Armstrong leads U.S. cyclists into Sydney+
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By John Torenli 
SportsTicker Staff Writer 

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- What motivation can you give
a man who already has overcome life-threatening testicular
cancer to capture back-to-back Tour de France titles and is now
training train through a fractured verterbrae in his neck? 

How about a gold medal? 

After becoming the 19th man to win consecutive yellow jerseys,
Lance Armstrong will try and become the first to capture the
Tour de France and a gold medal in the same year. 

Preparing for his third Olympics, Armstrong is the most notable
of the American cyclists that will pedal their way through the
2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, beginning September
16. 

Miguel Indurain of Spain captured five straight Tour de France
titles from 1991-95 and took home the first Olympic individual
time trial gold medal in Atlanta in 1996.  Armstrong will
attempt to add the coveted gold to the two yellow jerseys
hanging in his trophy case. 

"We have assembled a first-rate team that will no doubt be
favored in both the road race and individual time trial," U.S.
Olympic men's road coach Jim Ochowicz said.  "Lance Armstrong
demonstrated once again during the Tour de France that he is up
to the challenge and I believe he will be there again in
Sydney." 

Armstrong, the 1993 world champion, placed 14th in the road race
at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and was sixth in the
individual time trial and 12th in the road race in Atlanta in
1996.  But all that was before his near-death ordeal with cancer
that somehow made him an even better cyclist. 

"Our men's Olympic road team will be as strong as any country in
the world," said Sean Petty, USA Cycling director of athlete
performance.  "The athletes we are taking give us a lot of
options and horsepower in the road race.  I believe we have two
athletes, in Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton, who are capable
of winning medals in the individual time trials." 

Unfortunately for Petty and the rest of his team, Armstrong and
Hamilton were victims of an accident while training on August
29. 

The two were knocked down by a car and the 28-year-old Armstrong
took the brunt of the damage, suffering heavy bruises and a
fractured verterbrae. 

Luckily, Hamilton did not incur any serious injuries and both he
and Armstrong are expected to continue training. 

"Lance should be back on his bike after the weekend," U.S.
Postal team director Johan Bruyneel said. 

"The car drove straight into Lance but luckily his bike took
most of the impact," said Hamilton, who was an alternate on the
1996 U.S. Olympic team and is regarded as one of the world's
premier individual time trialists. 

Armstrong began training almost immediately but has complained
of pain around the neck area and is practicing on a limited
basis. 

"It also makes me nervous when you are out on the open road and
it is difficult to turn my neck either way to look for traffic
and be aware of what's around," he said. 

Like Armstrong, George Hincapie will be making his third Olympic
appearance while Fre Rodriguez and Antonio Cruz join Hamilton as
first-timers in Sydney. 

Jan Ullrich of Germany, the 1999 time trial world champion,
figures to be Armstrong's chief rival in the event and also will
take part in the road race. Key challengers include Laurent
Jalabert of France, 1999 road race champion Oscar Freire Gomez
of Spain and Australia's Stuart O'Grady. 

Hincapie of Greenville, South Carolina is the top-ranked U.S.
cyclist in the World Cup standings, currently holding down the
16th spot.  Rodriguez finished in the top four in three stages
of the Tour de France -- his first time in the world's most
prestigious cycling race. 

The women's road squad boasts a pair of national champions and
one former world titleholder. 

Six-time national road cycling champion Mari Holden, 1994 world
individual time trial champion Karen Kurreck and Nicole
Freedman, winner of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trial road race, will
be making their Olympic debuts. 

"We have a strong women's road team, and the real strength for
the team lies in the individual time trials," Petty said.  "Mari
Holden has posted several strong performances at the world
championships and Karen Kurreck is a past world champion in this
event.  Mari had a very dominant ride at this year's national
championships, an event she has controlled over recent times." 

Australia's Anna Wilson, who won the silver in both the time
trial and road race at the 1999 World Championships, figures to
be the favorite to medal in both events on home soil.  Germany's
Hanka Kupfernagel, Leontien van Moorsel of the Netherlands and
Lithuania's Edita Pucinskaite also will challenge for medals in
both events. 

Mountain biking will be making its second Olympic appearance in
Sydney, and three women and two men will represent the U.S. in
the event. 

The women's team includes 1999 Pan American Games gold medalist
Alison Dunlap, 1991 world champion Ruthie Matthes and three-time
U.S. World Mountain Bike Championship team member Ann Trombley. 

Travis Brown, the 1999 national champion, and 1996 Olympic
mountain biker David Tinker Juarez represent the men's squad. 

"Hopefully, one of our riders will get on the podium," USA
Cycling national and Olympic mountain bike coach Stephane Girard
said.  "I believe that we are sending a strong women's team.
These three athletes have proven throughout the World Cup season
that they are competitive.  The men's team is getting stronger
every year." 

Australia's Cadel Evans is the men's favorite in the mountains,
although "Mighty Mouse," a.k.a. France's Miguel Martinez, should
be a close second. Canada's Alison Sydor is the frontrunner on
the women's side with Australia's Mary Grigson posing the
biggest challenge. 

Former Olympic medalists Marty Northstein and Erin Hartwell
headline the list of 27 cyclists on the U.S. Track Cycling Team.

"We believe this will be one of our strongest Olympic track
teams," Petty said.  "We had some tough decisions to make in
nominating the track team because we have many outstanding
athletes.  We believe this group of athletes will represent the
United States extremely well in Australia, where track cycling
is very popular and the home team is going to be very strong." 

Petty is right about the Australians, but traditional powerhouse
France likely will battle it out with Germany for the team gold,
while Australia and the U.S. fight for the bronze. 

The Belgians were to be the favorites, but a rash of injuries
and bad luck eliminated three of their top cyclists from
competition, including road race superstar Tom Steels. 

Steels announced that a lingering viral infection would prevent
him from performing at his usual sprinter's pace and bowed out
of the Olympics. 

Earlier in August, the Belgians lost Johan Museeuw to a broken
leg and collarbone in a motorcycle accident, and Frank
Vandenbrouck, another star on the rise, also pulled out. 

Nothstein took home a silver medal in the match sprint in
Atlanta, while Hartwell won a bronze in 1992 and silver in 1996
in the one-kilometer time trial.  Nothstein has won three world
titles and seven medals in world championship competition.  The
19-time national champion won the gold in the match sprint,
keirin and Olympic sprint at the 1999 Pan American Games. 

Hartwell, who is making the switch from sprinter to endurance
track cyclist, is only the 10th U.S. cyclist to compete in three
Olympic Games.  She has four world championship medals, three
Pan American Games silvers and 11 national titles. 

Two-time Olympic speed skating medal winner Chris Witty may be
an interesting member of the ladies team to watch.  She is the
ninth U.S. Olympian to compete in both the Winter and Summer
Games. 

There are a record 18 events, 11 for men and seven for women, at
the Olympic cycling competition, which will be held at the Dunc
Gray Veledrome, the streets of Sydney and a specially designed
Mountain Bike course.  There were 14 events in Atlanta. 

The men's road race will be 13 laps around an 11.1-mile course
after a mass start.  The time trial is being held for the second
time and is three laps around the course, which is reduced to
9.2 miles. 

The women's road race is seven laps totaling 78.3 miles.  The
women's time trial consists of 20 miles or two laps around the
road course. 

The eight men's track events are the frantic one-kilometer time
trial, the individual sprint, pursuit and points race, the team
pursuit, Olympic sprint, keirin and madison. 

The keirin and madison are new to the Olympics.  The keirin is
of Japanese origin and is a 1.25-mile mass-start sprint where
riders draft behind a motorcycle, which pulls off the track
before the finish. 

The madison was named after New York's Madison Square Garden,
where the race originated.  It is a two-man points race where
riders sprint for points every five laps and switch off with a
teammate in a relay manner. 

The four women's track races are the 500-meter time trial and
individual sprint, pursuit and points race. 

Both men and women have one mountain bike race. 

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