Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 27, 1993 TAG: 9303270062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
For nearly three months town officials and community leaders have been preparing for the May 14 arrival of America's most prestigious cycling race.
Roughly 120 racers will compete.
The Tour DuPont, which started in 1989 as the Tour de Trump, is an 11-stage, 1,100-mile race to be held May 6-16.
The 1993 course - which runs from Delaware through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina - will be the most mountainous ever.
Stage 8 will finish on May 13 at The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, and the cyclists will travel by car to Blacksburg for Stage 9, starting May 14.
The stage will begin at Virginia Tech's Mall and run down Main Street to Washington Street where the bikers will turn right. At West Campus Drive, the course turns right onto Drill Field Road and heads back to the Mall and Main Street.
The field will then race more than 140 miles that day from Blacksburg to Beech Mountain, N.C.
"It's been called by many the longest and most difficult stage in Tour DuPont history," said Mike Matzuk, a member of Blacksburg's Sidewalks and Bikeways Committee and the manager of East Coasters Cycling and Fitness.
The 5,050-foot summit finish at Beech Mountain Resort will be the highest elevation climbed in five Tours DuPont.
Blacksburg Town Manager Ron Secrist is excited because the Tour DuPont is a chance to give Blacksburg some national exposure.
ESPN-TV will have same-day taped coverage of the race and CBS will televise a one-hour highlights show.
"This is a chance for the rest of the country to see what we already know is a beautiful area," Jon Couch, vice president of Blacksburg's Downtown Merchants Association, said at a recent planning session.
The Downtown Merchants and the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce are planning a downtown street festival the same day as the race. It will be similar in format, but smaller, than Steppin' Out, the town's summer festival.
College and Draper streets will be closed off for craft vendors and shop owners to set up booths and an entertainment stage will be set up where the two streets intersect.
"There will be some hard-core fans who come in just to see the race, but we want to get the whole community involved," Couch said.
Matzuk said the committee originally talked with Medalist Sports, the race organizers, about Blacksburg as a finish site, but the town was better suited as a starting point.
"One nice thing about the start is that the cyclists drive down here and they can see the town and mill around," he said. "When they finish they just want to get a massage, eat and go to bed. They're much more receptive to the public at the start."
The start and finish sites, in chronological order, are Wilmington, Del.; Dover, Del.; Hagerstown, Md.; Hershey, Pa.; Front Royal; Massanutten Resort; Richmond; Wintergreen Resort; Hot Springs; Blacksburg; Beech Mountain, N.C.; and the Piedmont (N.C.) Triad.
by CNB