Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270086
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke, Salem and Blacksburg again will be featured stops when the Tour DuPont pedals through Southwest Virginia in 1996, race officials will announce today at a news conference in Atlanta.
The course for next year's Tour DuPont will not be announced until later, but it appears the Roanoke Valley will not be the site of a time trial, which was called the most important stage in the race by race officials the past two years. Instead, Roanoke will be the site of a stage finish.
``I can't give any specifics about the race course, but I can tell you that Roanoke and Blacksburg will be included,'' said Steve Brunner, vice president of Medalist Sports, Inc., the Richmond-based organization that organizes the Tour.
There were fears among local organizers that the Tour, billed as the premier cycling event in North America, would bypass this region next year. Tour organizers plan to finish the multistage race in Atlanta as a tuneup for the Summer Olympics.
But Tour organizers apparently were inclined to maintain stages in Southwest Virginia, where the Tour has drawn large crowds for the past few years.
Local officials and members of Cycle Roanoke Inc. would not comment on next year's Tour plans. Roanoke City Councilman Mac McCadden said he wanted to wait until after today's news conference before speaking about the Tour DuPont.
But a source close to Medalist Sports confirmed Roanoke was selected as the site of the finish of Stage 5, which most likely will begin at a site south of Roanoke on May 5. Stage 6 will begin the next day in Salem. It is unclear whether Blacksburg will be the site of a finish, as it has been the past two years.
Lynchburg, which has been part of the Tour DuPont course since 1993, will be left off next year's route.
``We've added a couple of new stops,'' Brunner said. ``We've had a lot of cities continue to bid for the Tour. It's difficult to choose.''
The race began as the Tour de Trump in 1989, when it was held mostly in Northeastern states. The first race concluded in Atlantic City, N.J., and the 1990 race finished in Boston.
The race has migrated south and will make its southernmost swing next year when it finishes in Atlanta.
The Roanoke Valley has been the site of a mountain time trial - a 22.9-mile course that began in Salem and climbed Twelve O'Clock Knob and Mount Chestnut before finishing on the Roanoke City Market - for two years and has played a key role in determing the Tour's overall winner.
Both time-trial winners - Viatcheslav Ekimov in 1994 and Lance Armstrong in 1995 - took control of the race in the Roanoke Valley and went on to become the overall winner.
Blacksburg became involved with the Tour in 1993, when a stage began there. The town has been the site of a stage finish the past two years and has become one of the best-attended spots on the Tour.
A crowd estimated at 35,000 turned out on the Virginia Tech campus on May 1 to watch Armstrong win the 115-mile Stage 4 and take the overall lead.
Bonnie Svrcek, Blacksburg assistant town manager, confirmed Wednesday that Blacksburg is on next year's Tour DuPont schedule.
``We are very pleased to hear we're going to be a host,'' Svrcek said. ``Given our record over the past couple of years, we certainly were hoping to get them back.''
by CNB