ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
THE TOUR DUPONT may have to pedal itself to a new sponsor.
Two and a half weeks before the 1997 race route was to be announced, the Tour DuPont cycling event may be without an organizing body and sponsors.
Michael Plant, president of Tour DuPont organizer Medalist Sports Inc., told VeloNews magazine that he ``will probably be walking away from both'' the Tour DuPont and Tour of China in the near future. Plant also said he will be shutting down Medalist to pursue his duties as a vice president of Turner Sports Inc., and as president of the 1998 Goodwill Games.
This will have a potentially strong local impact. Tour DuPont organizing committees in Roanoke and Blacksburg both have signed contracts with Medalist to have race stage starts and finishes in 1997. Medalist also had scheduled a news conference for Dec.3 to release the complete 1997 Tour DuPont route.
Billy Packer, co-founder of the Tour DuPont with Plant, is trying to join up with International Cycling Productions to promote and organize next year's Tour DuPont. International Cycling Productions organizes the Tour of America and the highly successful CoreStates USPro Championship in Philadelphia.
The local organizing committee Cycle Roanoke Valley already has lined up some sponsorships for next year's local events. The group's leadership, president Mac McCadden and vice president Brian Duncan, hopes to have a meeting with Packer in the next few days.
``We want to make sure the Roanoke Valley still gets the chance to host this international event,'' Duncan said Thursday. ``There's a lot of uncertainty at this point.''
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB