For Power, the prospect is an especially heartbreaking one. A fifth and a sixth place finish on stages of last year's Giro marked an encouraging debut for the tactically astute, fast finishing rider from Waterford, Ireland. His three top ten placings and 23rd place overall in the season-opening Tour Down Under suggested that even better things lay in store in 2001. 1998 junior world champion Mark Scanlon is similarly disappointed, but he has the small consolation that his 20 years give him greater room for manoeuvre. Two stage wins and the points jersey in the Tour of Hokkaido last year showed that he had reclaimed his speed after an injury-affected 1999, yet now the rider regarded as the most promising Irishman since Roche and Kelly is also left picking up the pieces of the McCartney debacle.
Time drags on.
Their agent Frank Quinn continues to woo professional teams on their behalf, but each passing day casts a further shadow on their hopes. Spanish riders Juan Carlos Dominguez, I igo Cuesta and Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero are in negotiations with Banesto, ONCE and Mercatone Uno respectively. The world cyclo-cross championships roll out today in Tabor, 90km south of Prague in the Czech Republic. Sunday sees the same time slots occupied by the juniors and Elite men respectively. It includes 1.8km of grass and 520m of asphalt, with four descents and 150m of running.