Conflicts with the USA Cycling Elite National Championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, have forced organizers of the Cascade Cycling Classic to cancel this year’s women’s stage race. A decision was made this week to postpone the women’s Pro 1-2 race until 2008. Race organizer Chad Sperry called it “one of the toughest decisions in recent history.”

“We are just heartbroken about this situation,” said Sperry, who also directs the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. “Last fall I sat down with the owners of the event, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF), and we had decided to take the women’s race to a whole new level, adding an additional stage and boosting the prize purse. We were so excited about 2007 and then the schedule for nationals came out this last winter and we saw the scheduling conflict for the elite women and it was incredibly demoralizing.”

The USA Cycling National Road Festival women’s elite time trial falls on Friday, July 13, and the road race on Monday, July 16. With this event being a huge focus for every pro women’s team and nearly every elite team in the country, there are few, if any, competitors available to race elsewhere.

“We would have made the decision to postpone the event earlier but we wanted to make absolutely sure the field was not going to be there,” Sperry said. “We were hoping that there would still be a fair number of women riders not attending nationals but in recent weeks it has become very clear that nationals is the highest priority on the women’s U.S. racing calendar.”

Perry said the women’s race would return in 2008, as the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation has made the commitment to make the Cascade Cycling Classic one of the premier women’s races in the country.

“Though we are very disappointed as to what has transpired this year we are already in the works planning next year’s event for the women” says Sperry. “We have talked with USA Cycling and they have assured us that we have their support for next year and there will not be another scheduling conflict with elite nationals.”

With nationals still a few months away for the pro men, Sperry said the Cascade pro men’s stage race looks to be another very exciting event. Last year saw a hard-charging Chris Wherry from Toyota-United pick up a time bonus on the last stage to beat Jeff Louder of Health Net-Maxxis by less than a second. Wherry and Toyota will be back to defend his title and will again have a fight on their hands as Health Net, Priority Health and Navigators Insurance will all bring squads.

“We are super excited at the pro men’s field this year,” said Sperry. “We have not seen the NRC men’s individual or team standings this close to call in year’s”.

For info on the race go to www.cascade-classic.org.

Spinelli breaks collarbone in Philadelphia
Justin Spinelli, one of the rising talents of the Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast pro team, left it all on the road last Sunday when a dramatic crash 500 meters from the line at left him with a broken collarbone.

“Justin has made a huge commitment to the sport and our team this first season,” said the team’s director Jonas Carney. “I’ve been impressed with his preparation and dedication to race the Triple Crown this week. He was our strongest rider at the Commerce Bank events and we’re sorry to lose him.”

Spinelli will have surgery to install a plate in his collarbone. He’s the third rider on the Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast squad to suffer a broken bone in the 2007 season. Seasoned sprinter Dave McCook has been recuperating from a broken hand sustained at Visalia in mid-March, and Reid Mumford broke his tibial plateau the following month in April.

“We ride to win always and unfortunately sometimes that means trouble,” said Carney. “But our athletes come first and we make sure everyone takes the time to look after themselves properly. Dave McCook is back from his hand injury with a great fitness level and Reid returns in July for Superweek. We’re hoping Justin’s surgery goes well and expect him to make a full and speedy recovery.”

Meanwhile the team is preparing to race on “home turf” in Minnesota next week at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. The Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team is the only team on the North American circuit to be managed out of Minneapolis, by elite sports management firm Circuit Global Sports Management.

“It’s great to see our guys going for the line every single time,” said John Kelly, co-title sponsor and president of Kelly Benefit Strategies. “But just like our company, the team is about health and wellness first and foremost. It’s fantastic to see McCook and Mumford back in the lineup and we know Justin will be right behind them.”

Toyota-United fielding four-man squad for Austin Criterium
The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will field one of the strongest squads for Saturday’s 2007 AT&T Austin Downtown Criterium, the fourth race of the USA CRITS Series.

Toyota-United’s lineup for the 70-minute race consists of Serbian national champion Ivan Stevic, Australian Tour de France veteran Henk Vogels, former Mexican national champion Jose Manuel “Chepe” Garcia and former Australian under-19 national champion Sean Sullivan.

The four are responsible for five of Toyota-United’s 21 victories this season. Stevic scored one of the team’s most impressive wins on Stage 2 of the Tour de Georgia when he soloed over the top of Clocktower Hill in Rome to notch the only victory by a domestic team at the USA Cycling ProTour race.

Toyota-United has been ranked either first or second all season in the National Race Calendar team standings. In addition to its 21 wins, the team has more than 60 podium finishes (first, second or third placings) to its credit and is rapidly closing in on the 100-win mark in just its second season as a professional cycling team.

Vogels was Toyota-United’s best finisher in Philadelphia, placing 13th. He was one of a number of racers delayed by a crash a couple hundred meters from the finish line.

“It’s frustrating when you ride six hours and everything comes unglued in the last kilometer,” Sullivan said about the end to the 156-mile (251km) race, won by former Toyota-United rider Juan Jose Haedo.

At the last USA CRIT Series race, the CSC Invitational in Clarendon, Virginia, on June 2, Stevic narrowly lost the sprint to Rashaan Bahati (Rock & Republic Cycling Team). Toyota-United did not field any riders for the first two races of the series.

Crystal City Classic to celebrate new memorial Saturday
To kick-off the inaugural Crystal City Classic presented by the U.S. Air Force on June 16, the Air Force Cycling Team will lead some of the world's top professional and amateur cyclists in a parade lap through Arlington, Virginia, and past the new Air Force Memorial.

Following a flyover to include two UH-1 military helicopters, William Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force, will lead the pro/am peloton on the ceremonial lap, which will begin at the race start/finish line at 2 p.m. Upon return the riders will begin the challenging 40-lap race.

"On the occasion of the Air Force's 60th anniversary, we are thrilled to help celebrate their past, present and future with this bike race and hope to create a new tradition with this event," said race director Rob Laybourn. "It is a fitting way to honor the extraordinary work of the men and women of this branch of the military."

The Crystal City Classic will highlight an exciting day of cycling activities. Amateur racing begins at 8 a.m. followed by a celebrity trike race at 11:30 a.m. on 23rd Street Restaurant Row at 11:30 a.m. The kids' race will follow on the same course.

Things move back to Crystal Drive for the women's elite race at 12:30 p.m. followed by the pro-am race at 2:00 p.m.

The Crystal City Classic presented by the US Air Force is a part of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar.

Secrest aims to pedal 550 miles in 24 hours
At 54, bicycle racer Michael Secrest shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, starting at 7.30 a.m. on June 15, at the ADT Velodrome in Carson, California, he intends to go more than 15 miles farther than his existing 24-hour world record mark of 534.75 miles, set in October 2006.

"I'm here to inspire others to set goals, don't give up, and be true to themselves," says the Scottsdale, Arizona, resident, who has established a program called Ride Your Bike to School and hopes to combat childhood obesity by traveling to schools around the country and inspiring children to be more active. For more information, see www.theguyonthebike.com.

Secrest has set three 24-hour world records in consecutive decades. In 1985 he rode 516.2 miles. In 1996 he covered 532.74 miles, then last year raised it to 534.75 miles, at an average speed of 22.28 mph.

Secrest’s other notable achievements include riding 1216 miles in 24 hours in 1990, on a motor speedway pacing behind a truck. He also holds the North American transcontinental record of 2916 miles in 7 days, 23 hours, 16 minutes. That was on the open road with towns, stop signs and stoplights to slow his effort.