ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DuPont's ride as the title sponsor of the Tour DuPont will end after the 1997 event, which is tentatively scheduled for May 1-11.
The Tour DuPont's existence may end after then, too.
DuPont, the global research, chemical and energy company that since 1990 has accounted for one-third of the Tour DuPont's $7.5 million annual budget, announced Wednesday it was discontinuing its sponsorship. The Tour DuPont is America's largest cycling race and has attracted many of the world's top riders in recent years.
Michael Plant, president of race organizer Medalist Sports, Inc., said Wednesday the 1997 race ``will be business as usual,'' and will include stops in Southwest Virginia. When asked, however, whether after 1997 there will be a race in the United States of the Tour DuPont's caliber, Plant said, ``I can't tell you.''
``That's interesting,'' Cycle Roanoke Valley vice president Brian Duncan said of Plant's comment. Three weeks ago, Duncan was named chairman of the New Century Council's sports committee. ``He might have been planning for the worst-case scenario, but we're hoping for the best.''
The Roanoke Valley has been the site of at least one stage of the Tour DuPont for the past three years, while the New River Valley has been involved for the past four years.
Duncan said Cycle Roanoke, a local Tour DuPont organizing committee, has told Medalist it would like to make a long-term commitment to sponsor the race in the area, most likely five years in length. Cycle Roanoke had been hesitant to make such an offer in the past, but its fund-raising success for the 1996 race led officials to think it could support host duties on a yearly basis.
With DuPont's departure, it is questionable whether Cycle Roanoke will get that chance.
Plant said he began doing some ``soul-searching'' approximately six months ago about his future and the future of Medalist and the Tour DuPont. Since Medalist began the race in 1989, Plant has become the president of the Goodwill Games as well as vice president of Turner Sports, Inc. He and his associates at Medalist currently are in the process of moving the Medalist headquarters from Richmond to Atlanta, where Turner Sports is based.
Now Plant has another item on his to-do list: find a new title sponsor for the Tour.
It all leaves Plant a busy man with much on his mind. ``From our standpoint, we just want to evaluate what is in our best interest,'' he said. ``I have to make sure it makes sense for me. I feel a personal obligation to cycling, but I also know if we're going to move forward, we have to make sure it makes good business sense.''
Plant said he has spoken with four worldwide companies and six United States-based companies about picking up future sponsors of the Tour DuPont. If the race is to continue after next year, he would like to make some additions. ``One of the things is tie more ancillary activities to the event,'' he said. ``We can impact more people with an event that spans a lot of geography and people.''
In order for the event to get larger (and Plant said that does not mean going beyond the usual 12 stages), more than DuPont's $2.5 million annual pledge may be necessary. DuPont's funding covered 40 percent of the event's operational costs. According to Plant, a major title sponsor traditionally covers 80 to 100 percent of the operational budget.
In explaining DuPont's decision to drop funding, company brand manager Jamie Murray said DuPont was looking into markets in other parts of the world and would focus on a year-round program instead of a two-week event such as the race. DuPont is making company-wide cuts and is expected to close its Martinsville nylon plant within three years.
Meanwhile, in the face of the sponsorship change, Medalist has been called into court this morning at 10:15 in Chesterfield County. Billy Packer, who conceived the idea that became the Tour DuPont, is seeking an injunction in the Circuit Court of Chesterfield County preventing any company other than Medalist from organizing the Tour DuPont and the Tour of China, also run by Medalist. If passed, the injunction, which names Plant, Medalist Sports Inc. and Medalist Offshore Ltd. as defendants, could prevent Turner Sports from having any role running the Tour DuPont. It also would prevent companies that sponsor the race from negotiating with anyone other than Medalist about managing the tours.
Plant refused to discuss the case, and Packer could not be reached for comment. It is not known whether Packer is involved financially with the new arrangement with Turner Sports.
Despite the changes swirling around Medalist and the Tour DuPont, Plant said the event never has had as great a response from localities or recognition in the general public as it does today. He said the Tour presents a great promotional opportunity for a consumer product-oriented company. He said he hopes to be able to make an announcement regarding a new title sponsor before the 1997 race.
``We now enter a new era in which we believe we will elevate the event even higher,'' Plant said in a letter to local organizing committees. ``To that opportunity, we look forward to the challenge; and are confident DuPont's departure will not alter the future of the Tour.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB