ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 1996 TAG: 9612180048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
WITH DuPONT OUT as a title sponsor, race organizer Billy Packer won't stage the race again before 1998.
The race formerly known as the Tour DuPont will not be held in 1997.
Race organizer Billy Packer told Cycle Roanoke Valley, Inc., officials there was not enough time to stage the race in the same manner as in recent years, when the event's rating with the sport's international governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale, continually climbed.
By getting out when he is behind for '97, however, Packer plans to get ahead for 1998. The college basketball telecast analyst is trying to put together a stable management group while searching for a title sponsor. Local organizers also were trying to assist Packer in selling national sponsorships in 1997.
The Roanoke and New River valleys tentatively were scheduled to be a part of the 1997 Tour, with the race entering the Roanoke Valley at the end of a stage that would begin at Wintergreen resort.
The Tour DuPont visited the Roanoke Valley each of the past three years and came to Blacksburg each of the past four years. Raleigh, N.C., recently was named as the finish site of the proposed 1997 Tour, but that was the only formal announcement that had been made regarding a race in the spring.
Officials in Blacksburg said this past week they did not expect to be a part of the Tour in 1997. On Tuesday, however, Cycle Roanoke and the Blacksburg organizers said they plan to get back in the race in 1998.
``The way time stretched, we just locally didn't feel there was sufficient time to put it together for '97,'' said Tim Myers, head of the Blacksburg organizing committee. ``It's been an exciting four years.''
Cycle Roanoke Valley already had lined up many of its sponsors when DuPont Corp., the national title sponsor, dropped its support Dec.4, effectively cancelling the 1997 Tour. Without the funding of a national sponsor, the race could not afford to bring in the same quality of riders as it has recently.
``When we go back to the sponsors, we need them to believe they are getting the most for their money,'' said Mac McCadden, Cycle Roanoke Valley's president. ``If they don't, we won't be successful.''
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB