Race Announcements Roundup - 7 February 2009
Isle of Man Youth Tour, Georgia Gran Prix, Super Week Pro Tour, 50th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, Lake Garda G.F. Bardolino, Italy

2009 - International Cycling Classic / SuperWeek Pro Tour
Point Premium Root Beer International Cycling Classic / SuperWeek Pro Tour to celebrate 41st
Year and announce Schlitz Park is back. Our 41st Year July 9th -26th, 2009
Organizers of the Point Premium Root Beer International Cycling Classic / SuperWeek Pro Tour announce the return of The Schlitz Park Challenge, 41st Anniversary and huge celebration. The Schlitz Park Cycling Classic makes a return to the SuperWeek Race Calendar. Schlitz Park took off two years to construct the new Manpower Corporate Headquarters on the site. This race is is known as one of the country's hardest one day races. The Schlitz Park course features leg wrenching climbs, fast descents and tight turns. It offers everything that makes US Criterium Racing so exciting.

The prime viewing spot is on the 2nd Street Hill where thousands of fans arrive hours earlier to get the finest seats. In the Pro race, riders crawl past the spectators Eighty Eight times. This year the Professional Course will be open to all racing categories and will be racing in the same spot all day! Now everyone will truly understand how tough it is to climb the Schlitz Park WALL. For spectators, the course is one of the best courses on the SuperWeek racing Calendar. It will be an all day Party with the Pro Race at 6:00pm.

The Schlitz Park Course is located in one of Milwaukee's premier neighborhoods, Brewers Hill. For ten- years, the residents of Brewers Hill made riders from all over the world feel at home.

“ We are truly excited to have this time honored event back and look forward to having a huge all day celebration culminating with the Pro Race, awesome Primes, and of course the King of the Hill Prize” said Schlitz Park Race Director Randy Roth. “We have an exciting summer coming with the return of this great course” said Marketing Director Michael Garrison.

“ Schlitz Park is one of the best and most exciting criterium courses in the world loved by cyclists and spectators, we expect an international war waged on bicycles.” said Director of Operations, Andy Garrison.

“ We look at Schlitz Park as a course that really defines what I have provided racers for 40 plus years, a great hard race” said Founder and ICC Race Director, Otto Wenz.

About the Point Premium Root Beer International Cycling Classic - The Point Premium Root Beer International Cycling Classic attracts top riders from across the United States and more than twenty foreign countries to compete in the longest-running multi-day bicycle race in the United States. The 41st annual event will take place from July 9th-26th, 2009 with races throughout Eastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. The Classic and Super week Pro Tour, is produced by Breakaway Event Productions, LLC, and is sanctioned by USA Cycling. Additional information can be found at www.internationalcycling.com

About Stevens Point Brewery- Founded in 1857, Steven Point Brewery is one of the oldest breweries in the United States. During the 1920s and '30s, the brewery was one of the few breweries to make it through Prohibition by producing near-beer products and soft drinks. The Stevens Point Brewery uses special blends of the highest-grade barley, malts, grains and the choicest hops to make their hand-crafted beers. Its brands include: Point Special Lager, which won the gold metal in the American Premium Lager category at the 2003 Great American Beer Festival; Point Classic Amber, Point Cascade Pale Ale, Point Horizon Wheat, Point Belgian White, Point Spring Bock, and four seasonal craft beers.

Point Premium Root Beer was awarded a gold medal by the Beverage Testing Institute. Other premium soft drinks include; Point Diet Root Beer, Point Black Cherry Cream, Point Vanilla Cream, and Point Orange Cream. For more information about the Stevens Point Brewery, visit www.pointbeer.com or call (715) 344-9310. Tours of the brewery are available, with schedules listed on the Web site.

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic readies for 50th - 900 Riders Expected
An American Classic – part of the USAC National Racing Calendar
Commemorating the gold anniversary for a race that should have never been is bittersweet. The 50th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, which has become a staple for amateur and professional cyclists from around the world, is preparing for record attendance for the July 2 – 5 stage race.

“It was a half a century ago, a group of friends and Art Longsjo’s widow, Terry, put on a one-day race to honor the memory of the first US athlete to compete in the Winter and Summer Olympics in the same year, 1956,” noted Fitchburg Cycling Club’s Ed Collier, executive director.

The race has grown into one of the oldest and largest pro/am cycling competitions in North America, which is on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar, attracts nearly 900 riders from around the world, including many national champions and Olympic competitors.

The four-day competition is accompanied by a variety of community events and celebrations, beginning with opening day festivities on July 1st and continuing through four days of racing from July 2nd through July 5th. The races will feature riders in eight different categories, including Women’s Pro/1/2 and Men’s Pro/1. Other categories include Men’s Category 2, Category 3, Category 4, Masters and Juniors and Women’s Category 3/4. The event is part of the Lance Armstrong Junior race series (LAJRS). The top Masters 45+ and Women Cat 4 riders, who will be racing with the Masters 35+ and Women 3 fields, respectively, will also be recognized at the final podium presentations.

This year $51,000 in prize money will be awarded, with the Men’s Pro/1 prize pool at $25,000 and the Women’s Pro/1/2 at $13,000. Racers in all categories are encouraged to register early to secure a spot – many categories are expected to fill early this year. Registration is on-line only at www.bikereg.com.

Special housing options, including discount rates at the Courtyard by Marriott Fitchburg (race headquarters) and dorm accommodations at Fitchburg State College, are also available on www.bikereg.com. Riders can register online at www.bikereg.com or visit www.longsjo.com or www.fitchburgbikerace.blogspot.com for more information.

As the second oldest pro/am cycling race in North America, the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic honors the memory of Arthur Longsjo, a Fitchburg native and the first US athlete to compete in the Winter and Summer Olympics in the same year (1956). Art’s accomplishments have been recognized by his posthumous induction into the Cycling Hall of Fame and Speed Skating Hall of Fame. The oldest U.S. cycling race still in existence is the Tour of Somerville, which Art Longsjo won in 1958.
The 2008 USA Cycling rulebook can be found here.

Georgia Cycling Gran Prix Race Series
Ten Race Weekends - Starts February 28
Georgia Cycling Gran Prix, in a short 30 days, will make its racing debut in Winder, Georgia at the TopView Cycling Classic, and a week later, in Albany, Georgia and the Regions Bank Race Weekend.

The TopView Cycling classic will feature two challenging road courses on February 28 - March 1, 2009. Day one takes place in Barrow County, featuring a rolling 7.1 mile loop in Winder, Georgia. This course will be a great start to the Georgia Cycling Gran Prix and your 2009 season.

Day two is a familiar course to those who participated in the 2008 Cycling for Parkinsons Weekend. This seven-mile loops course will make for a spectacular race as part of the first Georgia Cycling Gran Prix Event. Winding through the back roads of Dacula, Georgia, this course features challenging, hilly terrain.

The Regions Bank Weekend is a two-day, three-stage race, beginning with a time trial and criterium in downtown Albany on Saturday, March 7, and a road race on March 8. The time trial begins on the riverside street of downtown Albany. With over ten turns in 3.1 K, the time trial will have riders ducking and diving and stomping on their pedals as they weave through the streets of downtown.

Competitors will revisit the TT course for the criterium - a figure-eight, 2 K course through Albany is an ideal course to test legs in the season's first criterium. Get your legs ready for the road race, as the 54.5 K loop will take racers through the Albany country. This year's Region's Bank Race Weekend features an increased prize purse of $7500 and decreased entry fees from 2008

 Georgia Cycling Gran Prix
02/28/2009 TopView Cycling Classic 
03/07/2009 Regions Bank Race Weekend 
04/25/2009 Athens Twilight 
04/26/2009 Augusta Downtown Criterium
05/03/2009 Sandy Springs Cycling Classic
05/30/2009 Dahlonega Weekend
06/06/2009 Low Country Challenge
06/27/2009 Cycle for Parkinsons
07/21/2009 Gwinnett Bike Fest
08/29/2009 Summer Finale Weekend

Georgia Cycling Gran Prix Points
is a points series for the following categories:

Rules:
*For races/Categories with 25 or more starters points will be awarded from 25 down to 1 point. See chart.
*Points will be awarded at each of the GCGP events.
*Points are awarded for the individual stages only not for stage race/omnium overall results
For categories with fewer than 25 starters the points will be awarded by the winner receiving points based on the number of starters. Example a race with 14 starters, the winner would get 14 points and last place would 1 point.
For more information on races, scheduling, and registration, visit www.GeorgiaCycling.net

About the Georgia Cycling Gran Prix - The Georgia Cycling Gran Prix is a series of first-class bicycle races produced primarily in the state of Georgia. These races bring provide great venues, fast results reporting, friendly registration staff, and most importantly, fun and safe racing. Anchored by the 30th Annual Athens Twilight Criterium and the third annual Gwinnett Bike fest, the GCGP is excited to combine these great events into a solid racing series. There will be an overall points competition and overall prize money, with an awards reception at the conclusion of the series to recognize the winners of each category.

About Gwinnett Sports Commission - The Gwinnett Sports Commission's mission is to foster exonomic development through coordinating and developing Gwinnett's role as a leading site for sports events involving youth, collegiate, amateur, and professional organizations.

About Swagger.us - Swagger has more than 60 years of combined experience as a sports-marketing and event-management organization. The nation's leading producer in criterium racing, Swagger currently produces 40 criterium events, including America's premier criterium, the Athens Twilight Criterium. Swagger also provides a wide range of services and equipment that allows race promoters, race directors, and sponsors to pick and choose which services and what equipment they need in order to best suit the specific needs of their event.

About TopView Sports - TopView Sports is a Sports Management Company, specializing in the planning, marketing, and operations of cycling related products and services. Our professional team has the capacity, experience, and resources to manage best-in-class cycling assets and resources. Our vision is to bring communities, families, and participants together by promoting cycling with passion as a lifestyle. Our mission is to create best-in-class competitive and recreational cycling products and services for professional, amateur, and family participants. Our values are faith, family, community and excellence.

Isle of Man Youth Tour
1st to 3rd May 2009 (Bank holiday weekend)
Entries are now open for the 2009 Isle of Man Youth Tour. The Tour is a counting round of the National Junior Road Series and Youth Circuit Series.

The race commences on Friday evening, May 1, with a prologue time trial on Douglas promenade. On Saturday morning the Juniors compete over a tough 100km course in the west if the Island with the Youth events taking place in the afternoon on the sporting Ellerslie course with the added bonus of racing on closed roads.

Another 100km road race on Sunday morning greets the Junior riders who compete over a new course for the Youth Tour, the tough route is one of the most popular courses on the Island with a run in to finish on Ramsey promenade where the Youth riders will compete later. A gala prize presentation concludes the event on Sunday evening
More information and entry forms on the Youth Tour website www.youthtour.co.uk

Please enter on a standard British Cycling entry form with cheques to the value of £25 made payable to 'Isle of Man Cycling Association' (not IOM Youth Tour as previously stated) and post to:
James Smettem
1 Shinhene
Queens Drive West
Ramsey
Isle of Man
IM8 2HZ

Gran Fondo International - Lake Garda Tour
Citta di Bardolino, Italy
- The race touches three different provinces: Verona, Brescia and Trento - On 15th of March the second edition with a 155-km and a 90-km race - Increasing interest from foreign amateur bikers too, Germans in particular - The event is organised by GS Bardolino chaired by Dante Armanini

Lake Garda Tour is a special long-distance road cycling race. Twice as special, with the second edition, scheduled on the 15th of March, rapidly approaching. Among the wide offer of road cycling events, the "circumnavigation" of Lake Garda has its peculiar "appeal". Lake Garda, Italy's largest lake set in a beautiful landscape, extends over three bordering Italian regions, i.e. Veneto, Lombardy and Trentino Alto Adige.

The extension of the lake surface ensures a mild, Mediterranean-like climate to the whole area. The temperature here is therefore mild and pleasant also when it is cold elsewhere, even in March when there is a light breeze that refreshes muscles and lungs of road cycling enthusiasts, who come here every day to enjoy their most-beloved activity. It was not easy to organise a race embracing the whole of Lake Garda, because in March too, there are many tourists that choose this destination as soon as days become longer and the snow on the mountains begins to melt.

This is the reason why the Lake Garda Tour starts early in the morning (9:00 a.m.), in order to end without causing difficulties to road users. The problem of tunnels along the track on State road Gardesana Ovest has been solved too. Participants will find in their race package a practical led lamp to install on the bicycle, but in any case the organising committee will make sure that tunnels are adequately lit when competitors pass through. The race starts from Lungolago Cornicello in Bardolino. A beautiful setting, in a resort which is the ideal destination for a relaxing weekend and where hospitality is a rite.

This is the starting point of the long-distance race of 155 km, with a first section at controlled speed up to Desenzano, with the group filing down, and then accelerating, at the maximum speed that one can reach at the beginning of the season.

Participants in the middle-distance race of 90 km will instead have a nice surprise. Competitors will reach all together Toscolano Maderno aboard a motorboat crossing Lake Garda. The motorboat will be equipped with practical bike supports, so that participants may really enjoy the trip.

The race is amusing both for those who take part in the Lake Garda Tour with the intention to be among leading competitors and for really amateur competitors. The track is varied, with flat sections, ascents and descents, with Lake Garda always close. After the start in Bardolino, participants will reach Lazise, Castelnuovo, Peschiera, Sirmione, Desenzano, Padenghe, Soiano, Moniga, Manerba, Polpenazze, Puegnago, Salò, Roè Vociano, Gardone, Toscolano, Gargnano, Tignale, Tremosine, Limone, Riva, Arco, Torbole, Malcesine, Brenzone, Torri del Benaco, Garda and Costermano, to go back to Bardolino again.

Enrolments are already open and this year there are many foreign competitors too, in particular Germans, who love Lake Garda, famous for its olive trees and much appreciated wines.

As far as Lake Garda Tour is concerned, enrolments can be made directly on www.lakegardatour.it  by fax at +39 0376.380479, by post order addressed to G.S. Bardolino Via Marconi 19 - 37011 Bardolino – Verona (ITA) or by bank transfer addressed to Benaco Banca (BIC code: ICRATTRR8NO) IT 74R 08311 59260 c.c. 000020300164. Competitors must specify the race they wish to take part in (either 90 km or 155 km).
Info: www.lakegardatour.it

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