Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 29, 1993 TAG: 9305290031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Saturn Corporation pumped up Monday's downtown race, helping to more than double its purse to $10,000. Roanoke Orthopaedic Center is sponsoring Sunday's $2,000 Hillclimb, a sprint from bottom to top of Mill Mountain.
Saturn also committed a couple of its 13 riders to the two-day event. When the car company's fledgling cycling team turned professional late last year, race organizers changed the event's top classification from Category 1 and 2, the highest amateurs, to Pro/1-2, guaranteeing the Roanoke race would feature some pro riders. Pros can't race outside their U.S. Cycling Federation classification.
Saturn team members expected in town are 30-year-old Bob Mionske and 23-year-old Peter Stubenrauch. Mionske isn't Saturn's top rider but is the biggest name in the Roanoke field; he was fourth in the 1988 Olympics and 75th (after a bout with food poisoning) at the '92 Games. He started but didn't finish the recent Tour DuPont.
"We wanted Bob pretty badly," said Fred McElmurray, general manager of the Saturn dealership in Salem. "We needed someone to carry some weight as far as names go."
Stubenrauch is a member of the U.S. National team.
Those two are scheduled to conduct a free clinic at the Saturn dealership on Main Street in Salem at 10 a.m. Sunday, after which they are scheduled to lead participants on a training ride.
The 45-lap, 30-mile downtown race has undergone what race director Dick Howard calls a few "tweaks." The start/finish line has been moved from Jefferson Street downtown to Church Avenue in front of Texas Tavern. Spectators now can see two blocks from the finish line instead of a half-block as in past years.
And, there will be five sets of bleachers (as opposed to two last year) at the start/finish line and a pair at other sites along the course.
In previous years the course featured several turns; this year, only four.
Most riders, including the Saturn pair, are expected to ride in both races.
"[Downtown] is a bikehandler's course," Howard said. "It'll be a little faster than before. The climb, to them it's just a short sprint. But it'll be a rough ride for the guy who wins it."
Last year, the race was hurting for sponsorship, but not for long. Saturn had just started a cycling team, and McElmurray called Howard and said he wanted in.
Saturn Corporation, which conducted a demographic study before deciding to sponsor a cycling team, is committed to cycling at least through 1996. McElmurray said his dealership will stick with the Roanoke race as long as the race coverage by the media is abundant and feedback from customers and cycling fans is good.
Monday's downtown event features racing in several skill-level categories, including one for the general public and one for children.
by CNB