[Reprinted from The Capital Times , Jan 16, 2002]
By Mike Ivey
Promoters hope it will become an annual event and boost tourism in the city.
While Madison already hosts a number of amateur bicycle races, the proposed event could feature top-caliber athletes such as three-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong or members of his U.S. Postal Service team.
Organizers plan to meet Thursday with Madison Mayor Sue Bauman, who has expressed preliminary support for the one-day race. The city is also hosting the Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon, scheduled for this September.
But details about sponsorship, financing and scheduling still need to be worked out, cautioned Colin O'Brien, owner of the Cronometro bike shop at 1402 E. Williamson Street.
"It's all really very preliminary at this point," he said.
O'Brien said a model for the Madison event is the U.S. Pro Cycling Championship held each June in Philadelphia. That 156-mile race, which includes national television coverage, follows a 14-mile course through various neighborhoods in the city and attracts an estimated 750,000 spectators.
For the Madison race, one potential eight-mile course would take riders through the University of Wisconsin campus up Bascom Hill and down University Avenue, with a finish on State Street. The full race would likely be 100 miles or more and last up to six hours.
The effort is being organized by Team Sports Inc. of Waukesha, which already hosts a number of fitness events in Wisconsin, including a 24-hour mountain bike race in Wausau and a 24-hour cross country ski race at Telemark Resort near Cable.
Team Sports is headed by former professional bike racer Tom Schuler. The company also manages the Saturn professional bike racing team and the Volvo/Cannondale mountain bike racing team.
The race is drawing initial support from the Greater Madison Visitors and Convention Bureau.
"We're already starting to get calls on it," President Deb Archer said today. "It's something we'd love to hear more about."
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