tw@hpisla.UUCP (Tw Cook) (12/01/85)
[From the Denver Post, Saturday 30 November 1985, by Natalie Meisler, staff writer - reprinted without permission] The 1986 Coors International Bicycle Classic was granted a professional sanction Friday by the International Cycling Union, ending 11 years as an amateur-open event. The men's division will go pro next year, with the women's division retaining its amateur status. The pro sanction allows longer races and more days of racing. Coors Classic director Michael Aisner ran afoul of amateur rules last August with 13 days of racing, one more than the maximum. He plans 15 racing days next summer. Turning the race pro should also answer the criticism of professionals who complained that the 1985 road races were too short compared with European distances. Although the pros have been welcome in the race since 1975, last season represented the first dominance by the pros with the import of the Red Zinger team from France and the 7-Eleven organization of recently turned American pros. The Red Zinger team complained the Classic did not offer enough of a challenge so the team went on training rides after each day's competition. By attaining the pro status on the international racing calendar, the only amateurs allowed will be national teams. Aisner has already received interest from national teams wanting to train in the Coors Classic for the World Cycling Championships in Colorado Springs at the end of August. The longest road race in the 1985 Coors Classic was 101 miles from Nevada City, Calif. to Truckee, Calif. Tentatively, that stage will extend another 20 miles to Squaw Valley, where the 1960 Winter Olympics were held. Also, a 101-mile race from Aspen to Vail over Independence Pass will replace the 61-mile segment from Vail to Copper Mountain. The men's race will run from Aug. 9-25, again starting in San Francisco and ending in Boulder. The women's race will begin Aug. 15, winding up the same day as the men's race. Aisner had expected resistance gaining a place on the pro calendar, in part because of numerous technical problems during the 1985 race and the overcrowding of the existing pro schedule. There was considerable outrage in the French cycling press last summer when French national hero Bernard Hinault bypassed the European post-Tour de France circuit for the Coors Classic. However, Holland's Hein Verbruggen, president of the UCI professional division, said the need to broaden the base of cycling to the United States, Japan, and Columbia outweighed concerns about defections of European stars.