About-face for Sydney Olympics road course
The machinations and deliberations
surrounding the road race course for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games have
taken yet another turn, with a high level delegation proposing that the
races proceed in an anti-clockwise direction, making the course both harder
and safer.
There has been no proposal to change the actual layout of the course
as such, rather, the power-brokers of world cycling believe that a simple
reversal of direction will create a more challenging course with the large
bunch more likely to be split up. UCI president Hein Verbruggen was in
Sydney this week, along with former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis,
and reviewed the course with officials from SOCOG (Sydney Organising Committee
for the Olympic Games) and former Australian professional Stephen Hodge,
interim chairman of the recently formed Cyclists Commission.
Ray Godkin, SOCOG's cycling competition manager, told cyclingnews the
proposal will be submitted to SOCOG's sports commission, but he added
that "we do think it (the change in direction) will happen".
"We've been talking about it for a year," he said, and the proposal
with its high level of support "carries a fair bit of weight". Godkin
expects the approval will be granted in the very near future. The proposed
change in direction to anti-clockwise will mean that the descent into
Bronte beach will follow MacPherson Street, which is a wide open thoroughfare
that abruptly hits a very sharp left hand turn before a short drop into
the picturesque beachside suburb.
The cyclists will then climb the much narrower and winding Bronte hill
up to Charing Cross, and along the way "it will pass Frank Conceicao's
shop", Godkin said in reference to the bike store along the route owned
by a former Australian team mechanic. Indeed, many parts of the course
are a popular training route for Sydney cyclists. Godkin said the change
in direction also has the support of the NSW Police, who were concerned
about the support traffic descending the narrow road down Bronte hill.
The local council was still to approve a detour for these vehicles, so
the change in direction means another bureaucratic hurdle is removed.
Perhaps more importantly, the proposed change in direction will mean
the final kilometres through Centennial Park will be much tighter, while
the approach to the finishing straight along Driver Avenue will be slightly
uphill, and if a Sydney nor'easter is blowing (the prevailing wind on
most afternoons), the riders will face a slight headwind.
This latest proposal comes after a major political storm blew up earlier
this year, when a proposal to move the course to the suburb of Bankstown
was roundly criticised by former professionals and the UCI. The reason
for the move was claimed to be due to compensation wanted by Fox Studios,
which occupies part of the land bordered by Driver Avenue.
It was claimed that Fox wanted compensation for the lack of access to
its facilities during the Olympics, a claim denied by Kim Williams, chief
executive of Fox. It later was revealed that the NSW State Government
would have saved several million dollars by moving the course to Bankstown,
as the city course required roundabouts (traffic islands) to be moved
to improve safety. Subsequently, less than six weeks after the Bankstown
proposal was announced, the course was back in the city.
