Luis Herrera and Fabio Parra led an invasion in the 1980s, and a European team then without a Colombian was indeed out of fashion.For Britain's Olympic team, the day was not so happy. Max Sciandri quit before the first climb in pain from a damaged muscle in his left knee "Every time I turned the pedals it got worse and worse I could not go any further," he said. The British-born Italian will consult a specialist because his next big date, the Olympic road race, is less than three weeks away.Chris Boardman, the remaining Briton, finished with the main pack, as he rides on into unknown territory. "It's the most important victory of my life and an enormous surprise," he said. "When I decided to attack I thought the rest will not believe that such a small Colombian would do such a thing."His mountainous homeland has produced a number of jockey-sized specialists in mountain climbing. The Dane retained the yellow jersey, still 40 seconds clear of the Russian Yevgeny Berzin and 53sec ahead of the Swiss Tony Rominger, who injured his right knee in a fall while descending one of the day's many hills.Even after his victory, nearly three minutes clear of Riis and his rivals, Chepe is still more than an hour and 13 minutes away from the yellow jersey, but walking tall. Chepe has twice won the Tour of Colombia but this win will make him an overnight hero back home.Bjarne Riis was not caught up in any of the disruption, within or around the stage.
Launching his elfin 1.67m into winning mode at the inflated arch that marks the final kilometre, he deflated his seven co- leaders.He crossed the line gesticulating in sheer delight at his first European success. Decorated vehicles advertising cheese, fruit, and sports shoes, plus official cars and Press vehicles, were parked on the roadside with their drivers changing tyres Most found nails embedded in their flattened tyres. Then the cavalcade was blockaded by small shop- owners demonstrating against their loss of trade to supermarkets. The CRS, the French security force, loaded in a small bus, made their way forward to deal with the protesters, but had to walk the last 300 metres when their vehicle had a puncture.Demonstrators insisted that they were not responsible for the punctures, but Tour organisers filed legal action against the organising union, the Confederation in Defence of Shop- owners and Artisans. They have acted on the threats they made when we had discussions with them."Fifty kilometres behind the debacle, the race was going flat out, and arrived in Valence where a Colombian, known to the taxman as Jose Jaime Gonzalez Pico, and to his mates as Chepe, performed more mischief. In a statement organisers condemned "the cowardly behaviour and malevolence which imperiled the safety of riders and the running of the race. The top four teams from the super-league will qualify for the semi-finals: the first-placed team will play the fourth, the second will play the third Final to be held at Lord's in June 1999.
There was treachery awheel in the warm lavender-scented air of the Rhone valley as the cry of crevaison (puncture) normally heard from the Tour de France riders came constantly from the publicity caravan. The top three teams in each group will enter a second stage - a super-league of six teams Super-league matches. In all 42 matches are scheduled, five more than were played in the last World Cup.DRAW FOR THE NATWEST TROPHY QUARTER-FINALS: Lancashire v Derbyshire; Surrey v Somerset; Hampshire v Essex; Sussex v Yorkshire. (Ties to be played on Tuesday 30 July).Draw for 1999 World CupGroup A: Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, England, Zimbabwe, runner-up of ICC Trophy.Group B: Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand, ICC Trophy winners, ICC Trophy third place.Tournament to be held in England Each team will play five round-robin matches in two groups. They will avoid meeting both the West Indies and Australia in the early stages.Should they prevail - and with home advantage they ought to - they will progress to a six team super-league where each team will play the others once. From there the top four teams will go through to the semi-finals, the winners meeting in a showpiece final at Lord's.White balls and coloured clothing will be used over 50 overs though there will be no provision for day/night matches Each match will have one extra day set aside for rain. Incensed, Dalmiya apparently left the meeting intent on seeking British legal advice and he, for one, is clearly not going to let things lie until next year, when Sir Clyde Walcott officially steps down.As eighth seeds, England will have been happy with their draw for the 1999 World Cup, despite ending up in the same group as the cup holders, Sri Lanka.With 12 teams competing in two groups - including the top three teams from the ICC Trophy held in Malaysia early next year - it uses a more competitive format than its predecessor.To get to the final, England will have to finish in the top three of Group A, which includes India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the runners- up of the ICC trophy.
In other words Dalmiya had a clear overall majority.The more crucial full member vote, however, is thought to have been levelled at four each with one abstention. Others, though, see him as a grenade set to explode the complacency of a game presided over by an archaic elite at Lord's.Either way, the ICC chief executive, David Richards, would not be drawn into divulging where the various votes went. It is widely believed, however, that after Krish Mackerdhuj withdrew following the first ballot, Dalmiya had 25 votes to Malcolm Gray's 13, with two countries abstaining. Unofficially, however, it was seen by many as nothing more than a move to block the path of Jagmothan Dalmiya, in the hope that a more suitable candidate comes forward, such as Ali Bacher, in time for next year's meeting.Dalmiya, the controversial millionaire from Calcutta, whose radical ideas to globalise the game have made certain Test-playing countries wary. Mind you, what appeared on the surface as another boring stand-off by the ICC on Wednesday evening, was still crackling with electricity and subterfuge yesterday, when the ICC's annual meeting finally drew to a close.Officially, the main reason given for the deferral, was that the rules of the constitution had not been met. As a result, he is setting up a rules review committee that will look into the ageing constitution to see if suitable changes can be made. At present the constitution states that any prospective candidate for the chair who wishes to gain election, requires at least a two-thirds majority of full member countries (the nine Test-playing nations) as well as an overall majority, which includes the votes of associate members.However, when none of the three candidates standing achieved this, an impasse was reached.
The International Cricket Conference's appointment of a new chairman elect has been deferred until next July, leaving one of the most important posts in cricket, dangling for another year. It is a patently absurd state of affairs, and one that the current chairman, Sir Clyde Walcott, admitted to being unsatisfactory at yesterday's press conference. There was the acceptance by the union of the Bishop Commission report and there is the Coopers and Lybrand report into the running and infrastructure of the RFU, a report which will take the union into the age of professionalism and the 21st century. In addition to all that the financial results are probably the best on record against a backcloth of so many uncertainties following the game's decision to go open last August.". "The annual report is good, with success on and off the field for England. I believe there is a logical and legal answer to any of the queries that may be raised."But at the end of a year of dissension in the ranks Hallett wants to accentuate the positive. "I expect it to be stormy at first," he says."And I'm expecting a meeting that will wish to examine exactly how the BSkyB contract was arrived at, under whose authority and its principal implications.
