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Home » Top Stories » Road » Tour of the Battenkill

Promoter, federation at loggerheads over Georgia substitute

By Andrew J. Bernstein
Published: Nov. 24, 2008

Despite authorization from the UCI for a late application, USA Cycling declined last week to review an application to replace the Tour of Georgia in 2009 on the UCI America Tour with a two-day race in upstate New York, passing up an opportunity to fill a gap in the international calendar.

As the 2009 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar stands, there will be a nearly month-long gap in NRC racing between the March 26-29 Redlands Bicycle Classic and the April 26 Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling. In 2008 the Tour de Georgia was part of USA Cycling's Professional Tour.

Dieter Drake, promoter of the Tour of the Battenkill Valley, the nation’s largest one-day pro-amateur race in 2008, applied for UCI 1.2 status on Tuesday, November 18, three days after the Georgia race announced that the 2009 edition would go on hold in an effort to rebuild for 2010. He did so after receiving the UCI’s permission to file an application in the event that Georgia was canceled.

Ordinarily, USA Cycling and the UCI set the schedule for UCI events in May and June of the previous year, and USA Cycling officials said late applications are not considered.

“We draw your attention to the fact that the deadline for the registration of the events in the 2008-2009 America Tour calendar was 1st June 2008. However, for the development of cycling in America we could accept your registration request if your race is in accordance with the UCI regulations regarding the organization, the mileage of the course, (prize) money and so on,” wrote Sophie Parvex, an assistant in the UCI’s road division, to Drake on October 17.

The application for a UCI race, which must be transmitted to the UCI through USA Cycling, was denied on the stated grounds that applications materials arrived late and incomplete, but Drake, who was fired from his post as Northeast regional coordinator of USA Cycling in October 2007, after a disagreement involving the 2007 New York State Cyclocross championships, says that lingering issues between him and the national federation are to blame for the race’s rejections.

Andy Lee, communications director for USA Cycling, said that politics were not at issue.

“That wouldn’t play into our decision. We would have treated any promoter in a similar situation in a similar fashion if they had submitted their paper work five months late,” he said.

Drake disagreed. “This seems to be standard policy that they are not willing to play the customer service role in cycling. They don’t reach out to promoters in a way that allows them to promote better races,” he said, noting that numerous team directors had expressed an interest in racing the Tour of the Battenkill Valley, but their attendance could hinge on UCI status.

“There is a ton of support, from team directors who are planning on coming — teams like Rock Racing, Kelly Benefits, UCI Continental Professional teams. Now I’ve got to get over this hurdle,” Drake said. “These guys are trying to collect UCI points, they’re trying to gain notoriety for their sponsors. They’re trying to gain standing so that they can get to Europe. That status is real important.”

Lee said Drake’s failure to follow the UCI’s instructions to work through the national federation is also at issue.

“The UCI response back to Mr. Drake, as far as them considering an application was applicable, however on two occasions they told him he needed to work through proper channels, which he did not do,” Lee said.

Lee also rejected the UCI’s premises that allowing a late application could help to elevate the sport’s standing in the United States. “In terms of the public eye, I don’t think whether the Tour of the Battenkill is on the international calendar makes or breaks cycling in North America,” he said.

The one-day Tour of the Battenkill Valley saw 1200 professional and amateur riders register in 2008, and regardless of the race’s status, Drake is set to expand to a two-day format for pro men and women in 2009. He is in the final stages of negotiations that could bring on a major American corporation as title sponsor. The Battenkill tour is scheduled for April 18 and 19, 2009, in Cambridge, New York. The race, originally called the Battenkill-Roubaix, is popular, in part, because it features a mix of paved and dirt roads in New York’s rural Washington County.

On Thursday, November 20, Justin Rogers, USA Cycling National Events Director wrote Drake to inform him that the application had been turned down. In a lengthy letter, Rogers cites three reasons for the dismissal, including the late application, disrespect for the federation’s process, and a lack of detail about the proposed course in the application.

While Drake acknowledges that his application was submitted past the USA Cycling’s June deadline, he said the federation had been aware that he had been working on filing a UCI application, and allowed him to invest two months into the process without alerting him that an application submitted past deadline would not be considered.

“We have a whole infrastructure we’ve been planning, and the opportunity to add the UCI portion came up about two months ago, so I’ve been working on this. I never got any word that (USA Cycling) wouldn’t consider an application,” Drake said.

Drake is now in the process of appealing USA Cycling’s decision to the UCI in Switzerland, and is operating as if the race will go on as planned. Lee, on the other hand, encouraged Drake to work with USA Cycling for a spot on the UCI calendar in 2010.

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