ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010016
SECTION: TOUR DUPONT PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
THE TOUR DuPONT will have a big impact on the race for five spots on the U.S. Olympic cycling team.
Some of the riders in the Tour DuPont will be putting their pedals to the medals this summer.
For the first time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is permitting professional cyclists to compete in the Summer Games. The Atlanta Games figure to feature familiar names from the 1,225-mile Tour that runs through Southwest Virginia in a few days.
``It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out,'' said Mike Engleman, a Colorado native who is riding the Tour for the U.S. Postal Service team. ``You're going to have five pros from different trade teams who will have to function like a [U.S.] team.
``It's going to be up to Chris Carmichael [the U.S. coach] to get them to ride as a team, for medals, or up to him to pick people who will ride as a team.''
Engleman's chances to make the Olympic team are considered solid. One Tour rider said that ``next to Lance Armstrong, Engleman is the strongest man in the U.S. on a bike.'' However, he also has a reputation of overtraining for big events.
The Olympic selection and qualifying process doesn't formally include the Tour DuPont, but there is a notion among most U.S. riders on the Tour, regarded as the national championship, about what kind of performance can seal a spot on the squad.
``A top-three finish in DuPont should get you on the Olympic team,'' said one contending rider who declined to be identified.
Carmichael will monitor the Tour DuPont performances closely, since many of the stages are tougher than the road course for the Atlanta Games. In the Olympics, the men's road competitors will ride 221.85 kilometers (137.7 miles) over what has been described as a ``rolling'' course.
Cycling in the Olympics is broken into three disciplines, road, track (in a velodrome) and, for the first time, mountain biking. There will be men's and women's competition, including team and individual time trials.
The entire U.S. cycling contingent will be made up of 16 men and seven women.
Carmichael's road team of five men will include two time trialists, who also will compete in that competition. The men's road race in the Atlanta Games is scheduled July 31, with the time trial (52.2 kilometers or 32.4 miles) four days later.
There is only one active American pro rider who has won an Olympic gold medal. Steve Hegg was an amateur in 1984, and won a gold in the individual pursuit and a silver in team pursuit at the Los Angeles Games.
``I think most professionals are going to take the Olympics like another big event,'' said Hegg, a Californian in his fifth year riding for the LA Sheriff team. ``I think I have a pretty good shot at making it again.
``I've been there, but the Olympics is a very big goal of mine. It's a challenge, like getting over those two hills in Roanoke,'' he said, referring to Mount Chestnut and Twelve O'Clock Knob in the past two Tour DuPont time trials.
Lance Armstrong, the nation's foremost cyclist, already has qualified for one of the five U.S. road-race spots. Any rider among the top 15 in the World Cup standings this spring automatically qualified for the U.S. team, and Armstrong accomplished that with a strong spring.
Armstrong turned pro one week after competing but failing to medal in the 1992 Barcelona Games, joining the Motorola Cycling Team. He said that allowing pros to compete in the Games ``is a good thing, because in the sport [in Europe], there's no difference between pro and amateur. I think it will be good for the Games, but I guess if I were an amateur I might feel differently.''
The rider who wins the Olympic Trials is the only one guaranteed a spot. There is an assumption that the top three in points - not cumulative time - after the Olympic Trials will make it, but that is not a certainty.
Carmichael and his staff also have the option of selecting one or two riders. While it's a system that might not be totally political, cycling insiders say, it is somewhat rooted in reputation.
The Tour DuPont might be the best gauge Carmichael will have, because it has the most complete American field before the Olympic Trials.
The road trials for men begin May 19 in Seattle, with the second race June 2 in Charlotte, N.C. Both of those courses also are regarded as tougher than the Olympic layout. The men's time trials are May 22 in Martinsburg, W.Va., and May 30 in Concord, N.C.
There is another factor that could figure into the Olympic selection process. The Tour de France, the world's most prestigious cycling event, ends only 10 days before the men's Olympic road race.
The assumption is that top Americans, including Armstrong, will point toward the Olympics rather than a Paris finish. European cycling stars such as Miguel Indurain, however, may not ride in the Olympics.
``I think what you're going to see is people starting the Tour de France,'' Hegg said. ``Then, those that are in about 80th or 90th place are going to drop out and rest sooner for the Olympics than those in better contention.''
Engleman said he would love to represent his country in the Olympics, although he isn't so sure the Games need pro riders.
``I understand other countries have done this,'' he said, ``but I don't know if the Dream Team concept is so good. The Olympics, with amateur riders, it has always been a way to learn about new people in the sport.
``It is going to be interesting to see how the weeks with the Tour DuPont and the Olympic Trials play out, though. Do you go all-out in DuPont, and if you don't do well, then what do you have left for the trials?
``Where do you spend your energy? I also think people are kind of wondering how Chris is going to select the team. I think the coaches are going to look for two guys who can win medals and three others who are going to work their rear ends off'' to help the other two and the team.
Hegg said the Atlanta Games ``will be a test. It's going to be about seeing who doesn't break down in 100-degree temperatures and 100 percent humidity. It is just a one-day event, and it's going to be just like the final day of the Masters: Either you have it, or you don't.''
Armstrong said he doesn't foresee problems melding pros from different trade teams into a cohesive medal-chasing U.S. team
``It's going to be interesting,'' Armstrong said. ``It's nothing any of us have ever done before, and only five riders per country isn't anything that's been done before, too. We've had a number of off-season camps, and I think among the riders, they know and I know that if I am capable, or anyone else is capable of winning, I think they'll come together and ride for me or whoever.''
Cycling insiders say there probably are only seven or eight riders who have legitimate chances at spots on the men's Olympic road team. Besides Armstrong, Hegg and Engleman - their chances are heightened by their time-trialing ability - the mentions go to Frankie Andreu, George Hincapie, Scott Mercier, Norm Alvis and Bobby Julek.
There are, however, many miles to ride before U.S. pros reach the Olympics for the first time.
LENGTH: Long : 126 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Reigning Tour DuPont champion Lance Armstrongby CNBalready has qualified for the U.S. Olympic road-race team.