- Bjarne Riis will now start his training again after his break due to stomach-virus. He will be ready for the World Championships.
- Team Jack and Jones need to sign 2 more riders to complete the team of 12 riders. They are negotiating with 2 expierienced European riders for 1 place on the team, and have a list of promising young riders for the last place. Among those young riders are Ozzie-rider Matthew White!
- British sprinter JEREMY HUNT hassigned a new two-year contract with Banesto but renewal of ARMAND DE LAS CUEVAS's contract is still under consideration.
- After seven years with Banesto, 29-year-old PRUDENCIO INDURAIN is to join new Spanish team Vitalicio Seguros for 1998.
- In France, Casino-C'est votre equipe has decided not to renew the contracts of FREDERIC PONTIER and DOMINIQUE BOZZI.
-At Festina, though, the two Sanish riders in the team, JAIME HERNANDEZ and FELIX GARCIA CASAS have signed new two-year contracts.
for more information, please contact: Mr. Phil Stephens at 914-856-2747
Saturday, September 6, 1997, [Glen Spey, NY] Powerbar-Team USA’s Most Valuable Player, Mike McCarthy of New York City, let loose in the Points Race in the final period of the Pan-Am Challenge to end the game with a score of 52 to 47, keeping the victory from Graeme Miller and the Budweiser-WORLD TEAM. The initial moves made by Powerbar-Team USA’s Ryan Oelkers and the Bud-WORLD TEAM’S Glen Miller of Canada started the point taking frenzy. "We knew it was gonna be blazing, so Walrod and I decided the way to keep ahead on points was to get laps, even if it meant maybe losing some intermediate sprint points," comment the relaxed McCarthy after the race. "Unfortunately, the VANDEDROME is great but my road schedule has me all over the place so it was lucky I was in town this weekend so I could come to help Powerbar-Team USA, " told McCarthy.
The Bud-WORLD TEAM MVP, Graeme Miller commented, "Yeah, it was good, just like a lot of tracks back home, but I couldn’t match the efforts of both of them (McCarthy and Walrod) --- we really wanted this game."
The VANDEDROME, the world’s first portable velodrome, hosted the Pan-Am Challenge in the New York Track Cycling Race Series, without the invited Cuban National Cycling Team. Due to political situations, the team was not allowed to come from Cuba. Even without the Cubans, it was a star-studded international field of riders, with athletes from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Trinidad. These players, from the world over, formed the composite Budweiser-WORLD TEAM squad to compete against Powerbar-Team USA.
The TEAM CHALLENGE game format, where the two teams battled each race for team points during four periods to determine an overall game winner. The game was comprised of both men’s & women’s contests, with scoring being 5 points for first, 3 points for second, 2 points for third, and 1 point for fourth place.
TEAM ROSTERS Powerbar-Team USA Budweiser-WORLD TEAM Women Women Brenda Brashears Linda Braley Ryan Kelly Tanya Duff-Miller Men Men Jason Garner *David Dew Joe Masser Mike Dovin *Mike McCarthy Roger Farrell Ryan Oelkers Graeme Miller Joe Papp Glen Randall Brian Sitcer George Theall *John Walrod Russell Tucker *denotes team captains
The game’s first period, had the Bud-WORLD TEAM moving into the lead with 5 points for first place, with Powerbar-Team USA struggling to get second and third in the Women’s 1/2 mile scratch. The Miss & Out for the Men had Graeme Miller scoring 5 points for the Bud-WORLD TEAM, with Mike McCarthy of Powerbar-Team USA coming in second for 3 points, David Dew (Bud-WORLD TEAM and John Walrod(Powerbar-Team USA) scored the third and fourth place points.
The score at the end of the first period was 14 to 8, with the Bud-WORLD TEAM on top. The second period, started with the Women’s 2 Mile Scratch. Powerbar-Team USA played excellent team tactics sending Brenda Brashears on a solo attack, while the Bud-WORLD TEAM tried to gang up on Ryan Kelly of Powerbar -Team USA. Kelly slipped away from Duff-Miller and Braley with 2 laps to go, and scored second place points, bringing the team scores to near even, 16 for USA and 17 for the Bud-WORLD TEAM.
The Men’s 3 Mile Scratch had Powerbar-Team USA’s Brian Sitcer , John Walrod, Ryan Oelkers and the Bud-WORLD TEAM Graeme Miller taking a lap ahead of an aggressively chasing field. The Powerbar-Team USA trio and the lone Bud-WORLD TEAMER dueled through the 54 degree turns to almost finish 4 wide. Powerbar-Team USA missed the win, but claimed more points by taking, 2nd, 3rd & 4th. The effort of the USA tied-up the team standings at 22 points a piece. The Women’s Miss & Out and the Men’s 1/2 Mile Sprint did little to change advantage, keeping the teams tied at 33, going into half-time.
In a half-time exhibition, Jason Garner and David Dew each rode flying lap efforts trying to set a new VANDEDROME record. Garner, who rode the VANDEDROME Grand Opening in spring of 1995, expressed the interest in the record attempt, especially now that the track had been extended to 170 meters from the original 153. Garner bested the previous lap time of Australia’s David Dew (10.53 seconds set on Aug. 23, 1997), to push the mark to a scant 10.34 seconds. "I wasn’t sure that I was going fast enough, it seemed too slow, but I’m really happy to have an American holding the track record, said Garner during a post game interview. After Garner, David Dew tried to respond to the challenge, but was unable to better the time. The third period was a strategic battle in the Team Match-Ups, as each was allowed 4 players on the track from the 7 player team rosters, for the 1 mile distance. The Powerbar-TEAM USA had Walrod, Garner, Sitcer, and Oelkers for an even endurance to speed combination, while the Bud-WORLD TEAM had Tucker, Dew, Dovin, and Theall, leaning towards endurance. The drag-race to the line gave Dew and the Bud-WORLD TEAM the win with first and third for 7 points, and Powerbar-Team USA 4 points.
The women had an Unknown Distance race, with the bell ringing after 7 laps for a tight group sprint. This ended the period with the score reading 45 for Powerbar-Team USA and 43 for the Bud-WORLD TEAM. The fourth period was the 5 Mile Points Race that consisted of all riders from each team. Unlike traditional Points Races, this race scores points for the final team score. Taking a lap is worth 5 points to the final tally, but the rider gaining the lap is even with the field. Intermediate sprints every mile give 3 points to the team leading that lap. A final sprint at the end of the race awards points 5, 3, 2, & 1 to top four finishers. It came down to the taking laps, with the USA having 5 riders gaining a lap or more (including MVP McCarthy who took 2 laps) to the 3 riders lapping for the Bud-WORLD TEAM. The game ended with Powerbar-Team USA on top, 52 to 47. The PAN-AM CHALLENGE also had some junior events. The Junior Women’s Omnium was comprised of 1 Mile Scratch, Unknown Distance, and a 2 Mile Scratch event. The Junior Men’s Omnium consisted of an Unknown Distance, 1 Mile Scratch, and a 3 Mile Scratch event.
Junior Women’s Omnium 1. Lauren Franges, Barto, PA Future Champions Cycling Club 2. Renae Burke, Macungie, PA Future Champions Cycling Club 3. Suzanne Ruddy, Doylestown, PA Future Champions Cycling Club Junior Men’s Omnium 1. John Retseck, Bethlehem, PA Future Champions Cycling Club 2. Jason Orowitz, Bethelehem, PA Amoroso - BikeLine 3. Jacob Burns, Kutztown, PA The Bicycle Den 4. Jeremy Miller, Bethlehem, PA Future Champions Cycling Club 5. Tim Reinhart, Macungie, PA Future Champions Cycling Club
Saturday, September 06, 1997
PAN-AM WOMEN 1/2 Mile Scratch 1. Linda Braley, International 5 points 2. Ryan Kelly, Powerbar Team USA 3 3. Tanya Duff-Miller, International 2 4. Brenda Brashears, Powerbar Team USA 1 Junior Women - 1 Mile Scratch 1. Lauren Franges, Barto, PA Future Champions Cycling Club 2. Sarah Burke, Future Champions Cycling Club 3. Suzanne Ruddy Future Champions Cycling Club Junior Men -- Unknown Distance 1. Jacob Burns Bicycle Den 2. Jason Orowitz Powerbar 3. Jeremy Miller Future Champions Cycling Club 4. Brent Ziegler Bicycle Den 5. John Retseck Future Champions Cycling Club PAN-AM CHALLENGE MEN -- Miss & Out 1. Grime Miller, International 5 points 2. Mike McCarthy, Powerbar Team USA 3 3. David Dew, Bud-WORLD TEAM 2 4. John Walrod, Powerbar Team USA 1 PAN-AM CHALLENGE WOMEN -- 2 MILE SCRATCH 1. Brenda Brashears, Powerbar Team USA 5 points 2. R. Kelly, Powerbar Team USA 3 3. L. Braley, INTERNATIONAL 2 4. T. Duff-Miller, INTERNATIONAL 1 Junior Women --- Unknown Distance 1. Franges 2. Burke 3. Ruddy PAN-AM CHALLENGE MEN --- 3 Mile SCRATCH 1. G. Miller, Bud-WORLD TEAM 5 points 2. Ryan Oelkers, Powerbar Team USA 3 3. Brian Sitcer, Powerbar Team USA 2 4. J. Walrod, Powerbar Team USA 1 PAN-AM CHALLENGE WOMEN -- Unknown Distance 1. B. Brashears, Powerbar Team USA 5 points 2. L. Braley, Bud-WORLD TEAM 3 3. T. Duff-Miller, Bud-WORLD TEAM 2 4. R. Kelly, Powerbar Team USA 1 PAN-AM CHALLENGE MEN -- 1/2 Mile Sprint 1. David Dew, Bud-WORLD TEAM 5 points 2. Jason Garner, Powerbar Team USA 3 3. J. Walrod, Powerbar Team USA 2 4. Roger Farrell, Bud-WORLD TEAM 1 PAN-AM CHALLENGE MEN -- 1 Mile Scratch 1. J. Walrod, Powerbar Team USA 5 points 2. Gene Randall, Bud-WORLD TEAM 3 3. J. Garner, Powerbar Team USA 2 4. D. Dew, Bud-WORLD TEAM 1 PAN-AM CHALLENGE WOMEN --- 1-1/2 Mile Scratch 1. T. Duff-Miller, Bud-WORLD TEAM 5 points 2. R. Kelly, Powerbar Team USA 3 3. B. Brashears, Powerbar Team USA 2 4. L. Braley, Bud-WORLD TEAM 1 Junior Women -- 2 Mile Scratch 1. Franges 2. Burke 3. Ruddy Junior Men --- 3 Mile Scratch 1. J. Retseck 2. J. Orowitz 3. J. Burns 4. J. Miller 5. T. Reinhart PAN-AM CHALLENGE MEN --- 5 Mile Points Race 1. M. McCarthy, Powerbar Team USA 5 points 2. G. Miller, Bud-WORLD TEAM 3 3. R. Oelkers, Powerbar Team USA 2 4. Mike Dovin, PPowerbar Team USA 1 Intermediate sprints(3 points per lap): Lap 40 -McCarthy, Lap 30 -Walrod, Lap 20 - McCarthy, Lap 10 - McCarthy Riders taking a lap(5 team points per lap) Oelkers, McCarthy (2 laps), G. Miller, Walrod, Randall, Dovin, Sitcer.