ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010013
SECTION: TOUR DUPONT PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
THE ROANOKE VALLEY gets a road-race finish instead of a time trial for Stage 5 this year, while Stage 6 will start in Salem and finish in Blacksburg.
Roanoke's involvement in the Tour DuPont has gone from one of being an eliminator to one of being an equalizer.
After two years as the site of time trials that decided the race much too soon for Tour DuPont officials, the Roanoke Valley in 1996 will be the home of two stage races: one from Mount Airy, N.C., to Roanoke on Sunday; and another from Salem to Blacksburg on Monday. Without the time trial, which gave eventual champions Viatcheslav Ekimov (1994) and Lance Armstrong (1995) insurmountable leads, Roanoke won't likely have the impact on the entire race it has in the past.
And nobody seems to mind.
``I think the masses didn't understand the concept of a time trial,'' said Mac McCadden, president of Cycle Roanoke Valley, Inc., the local organizing committee. ``They wanted to see a big whoosh of cyclists, and that's what we're going to give them.''
A ``big whoosh'' of dozens of cyclists is the image associated with road races, but fans in the Roanoke Valley never have seen it live in their area. The 1994 and 1995 Tours here featured two hours of riders whisking, one by one, along a predetermined route, all the while racing a clock instead of other riders.
McCadden saw an opportunity for the Roanoke Valley to make it a regional event, capitalizing on the fact that, for the first time in three years, Lynchburg would not be participating. He said, however, ``I don't know if people would drive 50 miles to see a time trial.''
Representatives of Cycle Roanoke and Richmond-based Tour organizer Medalist Sports, Inc., met in June 1995 to decide what type of involvement Roanoke and Salem would have in this year's race. The local group assumed it would have another time trial, but Medalist had other ideas.
``We were maybe looking for a kink to make it a little different, because [the time trial] really was definitive,'' said Steve Brunner, Medalist's vice president. ``We thought about finishing uphill, maybe by the star or at Twelve O'Clock Knob. How it will differ is it won't be continuous riders going back and forth, but instead of waiting to see who wins, the drama will be played out on the roads.''
The stage finishes at Blacksburg traditionally have been the best-attended events of the Tour. Cycle Roanoke and Medalist officials expect similar high approval when Stage 5 of the 1996 Tour ends on Roanoke's Jefferson Street at the corner of Bullitt Avenue.
``The bottom line is it will be a huge adrenaline rush to see these guys finish,'' Brunner said. The leaders ``will be finishing a half-hour before the final pack, so there will be a half-hour of action. From a drama standpoint, I think it can even supersede last year.''
Salem also is expected to see a new facet to the Tour. Instead of a bunch of tense, grumpy riders getting ready for a time trial, the Salem Civic Center parking lot should have a festive air. Children will be able to get close to the riders, talking to them or getting autographs.
``Before a time trial, [the riders] are so focused because it's a key part that they don't want to be bothered,'' Brunner said. ``But at the start of a road race, they're racing 134 miles, it's going to take awhile for them to really get into it.''
There has been some question whether the riders will get into it in Roanoke. Not only do the toughest stages of the race (Salem to Blacksburg and Bristol to Beech Mountain, N.C.) come later, but there isn't a time trial to demand the field's attention. This time, Roanoke will be a more traditional stop on the road to the May 12 finish in Marietta, Ga.
``From an ego standpoint, it does hurt,'' McCadden said. ``From the standpoint of the participation of citizens of the valley, it doesn't hurt us at all.''
Medalist made a conscious decision to reduce the number of time trials in this year's Tour DuPont, from three to two. The first comes on the third day, in Raleigh, N.C., the next is the final day in Marietta. This time, there are 17 miles of time trials compared with last year's 51.
Both time trials will feature considerably less climbing than the Roanoke Valley time trial of the past two years. That should allow more riders to contend until the end, Medalist officials hope. That's why the valley was given stage races instead of time trials.
``I have a feeling the road races will be a bigger factor this time,'' said Mike Engleman, a veteran member of the U.S. Postal Service team. ``There's so much more pressure on the road stages this year, it's just going to heat things up more.''
If all goes as Cycle Roanoke and Medalist officials hope and expect, that will lead to a warm reception from the citizens of the Roanoke Valley.
``Every year we try to come back in a new, creative way,'' Brunner said. ``Who knows? Maybe next year we'll go back to a time trial. This is a good way to do it this year.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart. Map.by CNB