Newsbriefs: Cyclists in Colorado torch run; No Bessette at world’s

By VeloNews Interactive

Olympic medalists Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter will be carryingthe Olympic torch through Boulder, Colorado on Wednesday, January 30, asthe flame makes its way to its scheduled February 8th arrival in Salt LakeCity, Utah.Carpenter, who in 1984 became the first ever women’s Olympic road racegold medalist, will be running with the torch at 1:45 p.m. on flat roadsin the northeast part of town. Phinney, bronze medalist that same yearin the team trial and two-time Tour de France stage winner, will carryit over a more hilly route at 2:48 p.m. near the picturesque ChatauquaPark at the base of Flagstaff mountain. This is where the uphill prologuetime trial of the Coors Classic was held for years. No word if Phinneyand Carpenter’s two children, Taylor (11) and Kelsey (8), will be runningwith their parents.

Cyclo-cross notes:Bessette won’t be wearing Maple leaf in Zolder

According to a report on the Web site CanadianCyclist.com, Saturn pro Lyne Bessette has been denied her request to ride in next month’s cyclo-cross world championships in Zolder, Belgium.

Bessette had appealed to the High Performance Committee of the Canadian Cycling Association, asking them to allow her to compete even though she skipped her country’s nationals in Edmonton last November.

“The rules are clear for Worlds selection — all athletes know that attending the nationals is mandatory,” said CCA spokesperson Sean O’Donnell. “The HPC looked at earlier, similar requests, and said that since they had been turned down, it wouldn’t be fair (to allow Bessette to compete). It also would set a bad precedent for other areas of the sport, like track, road and mountain bike.”

Had Bessette been allowed to compete, she would have been considered among the favorites to medal in Belgium. After taking a shot at the sport for the first time this fall, the Canadian showed great ability, winning nearly every race she entered, and finishing second in the final SuperCup series.

Now she’ll have to settle for rooting on her boyfriend, American Saturn rider Tim Johnson.

American team together in HollandThe U.S. cyclo-cross squad will be assembling in the Netherlands thiscoming weekend, as the final group of American riders leaves for Europeon Thursday. Americans Jonathan Page, Marc Gullickson and Tim Johnson havebeen competing in the final three World Cup events, most recently in Wetzikon,Switzerland, where Johnson finished 13th, Gully took 16th and Page roundedout the American contingent with a 24th place finish.The entire U.S. team will be competing at the WorldCup final in the Dutch city of Heerlen on Sunday and then heading offto Belgium for the world’sin Zolder the following week.Cash for the squadAs has been the case in the past, the U.S. team is not entirely fundedby USA Cycling. Private fund-raising efforts through the AmericanCyclo-cross Foundation have thus far raised $11,000, almost guaranteeingthat participating team members will not be forced to pay for the privilegeof representing the U.S. in international competition.Tickets for the massesFinally, if you’ve always wanted to root for the team but couldn’t makethe trip because of the price, you might want to keep an eye on those last-minute airfares.Right now, Unitedis offering a round trip from Washington, D.C. to Brussels for $249. Ifwe run across other deals we’ll be happy to post them. If you runacross other low fares to Belgium for the weekend of February 2/3, 2002,send us an e-mailand, after we check it out, we’ll post the information.SuperCup hits the TubeThe Outdoor Life Network will air the 2001SuperCup finals on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 3 p.m. This 30 minute show is awell-produced highlight show of both the men and women’s SuperCup cyclo-crossseries finals race held Dec. 16 in Baltimore’s Patterson Park.The show is the result of a three-year partnership between BroganerProductions/Global Television Network and Kiron Group, the promoter ofthe SuperCup. The show was produced by David Broganer, of  Acton,Massachusetts.”We’re excited about this show because of how many things went so wellin Baltimore,” said Lyle Fulkerson, president of Kiron Group. “We had goodcrowds, great weather and perhaps the most exciting SuperCup of all time.”SuperCup race announcer Richard Fries said he was impressed with Broganer’sapproach to the task.”These guys poured a lot of production value into this,” said Fries.”That started by having five cameras at the event and went right throughthe editing process.”