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Regional Cycling News for January 25, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones

Nature Valley Grand Prix takes shape

Representatives from the Great River Energy Bicycle Festival announced today that they have chosen St. Paul and Mankato as new locations for the prologue time trial and the first full stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. The Nature Valley Grand Prix, which will take place on June 8-12, is part of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar. Its national ranking of 2.2 makes it one of the top five stage races for men and top three for women in the country.

The Saint Paul Riverfront Time Trial will be held on June 8 along the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul, MN. The start and finish of the race will be located in downtown Saint Paul near the Science Museum of Minnesota adjacent to the newly opened Upper Landing Park. This event is being produced in partnership with the City's Parks and Recreation Department.

"Bringing a major professional sporting event like the Nature Valley Grand Prix to St. Paul is a coup for our city," said St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly. "Our goal is to make bicycling the favourite pastime of St. Paul, so the Great River Energy Bicycle Festival is a perfect fit."

Mankato, a city of 45,000 with a strong bicycle culture located 75 miles Southwest of Minneapolis, will host the first full stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. The Mankato Road Race will start in downtown Mankato, then travel through five neighbouring cities that have asked to host hot spot sprints. The race will finish on a challenging circuit that passes through the City’s downtown during a community festival.

Other stages of the event will be held in Red Wing, downtown Minneapolis and Stillwater. The Red Wing Road Race will add a finishing circuit this year, allowing spectators to watch the final racing strategies unfold. Each day of the event will also include a full expo with booths, food, entertainment and other family oriented activities.

Proceeds from the Great River Energy Bicycle Festival will benefit programs at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the largest children’s health care organization in the upper Midwest.

For more information visit www.MinnBikeFest.com

Wendy's International Cycling Classic renamed

Due to significant interest on the part of racers and spectators alike, the community of Grandview Heights, Ohio, USA, is once again returning its classic three day cycling race to the calendar from June 17-19, 2005. Formerly known as the Wendy's International Cycling Classic, the race will be renamed the Global Living Tour de Grandview after home furnishing company Global Living was signed up as the major sponsor.

"When racers come to the Grandview Heights event this year, they are going to see how supportive this community is of this event," said Grandview Mayor Ray DeGraw. Race director J. Baumeister added, "Although discussion about events are ongoing, I can say that riders and teams are not going to want to miss the event this year. We have a lot of new blood in the event and they have some very exciting plans for 2005". Those plans include a new circuit race, an increased prize list that will remain equal for the pro men and women's events, and increased media exposure (TV, radio and print).

More information: www.tenspeeds.com

Joseph Sunde Memorial criteriums

The Joseph Sunde Memorial Criteriums will be held on Wednesday, January 26 at the popular Heffron Park criterium circuit in Sydney. They are dedicated to the memory of Joseph Sunde, who passed away in 1993 after an 18 month battle with leukaemia.

The 45km elite event has been won by four Australian Champions including current US Postal rider Matt White, who won the race in 1998. International riders have dominated the event in recent years with English time trial specialist, Stuart Dangerfield and Dutch strongman, Jens Mouris winning in 2000 and 2001. Last year, the race was taken out by U.S. based pro Jeff Hopkins.

More information: www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/jan05/sunde05

Joe Trevorrow dies

By John Trevorrow

Joe Trevorrow, a top Victorian pre and post-war cyclist, has died in Geelong after a long illness. He was 80 years of age. Trevorrow was a Victorian title winner and rode off scratch on the road and track, a rare feat. He raced against some of the best track cyclists in Australian history, including legends such as Sid Patterson, Bill Guyatt, Reg Harris and Ken Stewart.

When the pint sized Trevorrow (newspapers called him the pocket tank) returned from serving overseas in the RAAF in 1945, Sid Patterson was the new wonder kid of cycling at the North Essendon board track. "I was going pretty well and although I didn't win every race, Joe was the first person to come past me up the straight that season," The late Patto was quoted as saying.

Following his retirement from cycling Joe moved to Morwell and opened up a hardware store/bike shop. He started the Morwell Cycling Club in 1960 and was the driving force behind the emergence of cycling in the Latrobe Valley.

Joe's old Chev sedan and Dodge ute became infamous at races around the state with most of the Morwell club squeezed in. When the numbers outgrew his own vehicles, Joe hired a furniture truck.

His funeral will be held on Friday at Tattersall Funeral Care, Bellarine Highway, Newcomb Geelong.

Swedish riders to KSV Deerlijk

Swedish national junior rider Jonas Bjelkmark will be joined by his compatriot Eric Magnusson in the Belgian amateur team KSV-Deerlijk this year. The two are considered strong reinforcements for the team, and Bjelkmark hopes to be able to show his climbing talents, even though West Flanders isn't renowned for its mountains. However, Magnusson's sprinting abilities will certainly come in handy.

Another Swedish junior, Filip Rudenstam, will ride this summer and autumn in Belgian junior races for team Isorex.