Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 19, 1994 TAG: 9401190107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER and PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ It's official: Fans of the Tour DuPont, the United States' premier cycling event, will have a chance to see the riders straining for a finish line in Blacksburg and to watch them charge out of Wytheville the next day.
In an almost anticlimactic news conference in Blacksburg - officials all but said last week that a stage finish would be held there - Tour DuPont, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg officials announced the news Tuesday.
Instead of racing Stage 6 from Lynchburg to The Homestead in Hot Springs on May 10, then driving the riders to Blacksburg for a race from there to Beech Mountain, N.C., on May 11, racers will ride from Lynchburg to Blacksburg on May 10.
"We're looking forward to it," Blacksburg Mayor Roger Hedgepeth said.
Blacksburg was chosen for the finish site when The Homestead and race officials were unable to agree on financial matters last week.
Stage 7 will begin the next day in Wytheville, where many of the riders and staff will be housed to alleviate hotel booking problems caused by Virginia Tech's graduation ceremonies. Wytheville had no part in the race previously and had been told by Tour officials not to expect a role until 1995 or 1996.
That changes now.
"It didn't happen by accident," Wytheville Mayor Trent Crewe said at a news conference later Tuesday. "Some other people's difficulties inured to our benefit . . . But we got there by hard work.
"Blacksburg didn't have the motel rooms they needed and we did. We were in the right place at the right time to be able to provide that."
Steve Brunner, vice president of Medalist Sports, the Tour's organizer, said the exact route from Lynchburg to Blacksburg has yet to be mapped but will be 115 to 130 miles. The 11-stage race covers 1,050 miles.
Holding three events in the same region - a time trial will be held in Roanoke on May 9 - will bring in spectators from across the country, Brunner said. Already he has received inquiries from people in San Diego and Anchorage, Alaska.
Brunner said the economic impact on the region as a whole could amount to $500,000.
"I think this is going to bring in a lot of people" from outside Virginia, who will stay in the area for several days, he said.
That's in addition to the exposure that comes with national and international television coverage. In 1993, according to a Tour brochure, the event was shown in 93 countries with 20 million viewers. A finish generally gets more TV exposure than a start.
"What it does internationally is it puts Blacksburg on the map," Brunner said.
For Michael Abraham, a Blacksburg resident and vice president of a local cycling club, the race means something else.
"A tremendous number of people see the Tour DuPont," Abraham said. Afterward, they'll say, "Gosh, I've got a bike. I can get out riding in that."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.