SF Grand Prix '06: Cancelled.

[Cornholio]

Boo. Just saw it on Velonews.

[Telephil]

Wha???? Why this?

[Artie Fufkin]

Actually I think the bigger story last week is the USPRO race being moved to Greenville, SC. SF was a great race and drew and international field. But the USPRO in Philadelphia has turned into a huge event over the last 20 years. Granted it did not make sense to have the US RR champion being decided in a race that is open to people from other countries.

It is likely that there will still be a race in Philly next year, but how big it's going to be remains to be seen. I do not think that SF will be the only casualty for 2006.

[Cornholio]

There will be no San Francisco GP in 2006, the race organizer announced Sunday.

An ongoing dispute with City Hall over police costs and billing practices has proved to be "a no-win situation, and we simply cannot go forward," said David Chauner, director of San Francisco Cycling LLC, which founded and ran the annual race.

"There is considerable uncertainty regarding the amounts we will be billed after each year's race, making it impossible to accurately forecast budgets or question charges beforehand," Chauner said.

"On top of that, the periodic, emotionally charged Board of Supervisors' debates over the value of the event make potential sponsors very nervous. Few companies will sponsor a politically charged event, and when sponsors back out or can't be replaced, we have to cut important elements of the race, like eliminating the very popular women's event this year."

City officials have squabbled for years over the race's costs. Mayor Gavin Newsom's office has said that the city should shoulder some of the burden because San Francisco benefits from race-related tourism, and in April, the Board of Supervisors agreed to pay much of the cost of policing the event in return for 40 percent of its profits.

But Supervisor Chris Daly derided the agreement as "corporate welfare." And other supervisors publicly questioned how San Francisco Cycling got a permit for the 2005 race after learning that organizers had not paid an $89,924 bill from the 2004 race.

Both San Francisco Cycling and Newsom's office told The San Francisco Chronicle that the company shouldn't be blamed for the delay in payment because the Department of Public Works only sent the final 2004 bill this month.

Race operations director Jerry Casale called misleading charges that San Francisco Cycling had failed to pay its 2004 bills, leveled by supervisors Daly and Aaron Peskin during the November 14 Audit and Oversight Committee meeting.

"We were faxed the final and adjusted SFPD bill for $89,924 for the first time on November 10, 2005, just one working day prior to that meeting," Casale told The Chronicle. All other city charges had been paid before we got our ISCOTT permit for the 2005 race. It wouldn't have been issued otherwise. And then they said we were late and purposely avoiding payment. That's simply not true."

The cancellation is a significant loss for the city, Newsom spokesman Peter Ragone told The Chronicle. A study commissioned by the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau found the Labor Day weekend race generated $10.2 million for city businesses this year, though some North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf businesses complained that the race actually cut into their bottom lines.

Peskin, meanwhile, said the city is simply getting rid of "a bad actor that has repeatedly refused to pay its bills, or pay them on time."

And if it's bike racing that the city wants, Peskin added, San Francisco will host a stage of the inaugural Tour of California in February. Tour organizer AEG has promised to repay the city for the entire cost of policing the event, he said.

"The net is that San Francisco will be just as well off,'' he said.

USA Cycling CEO Gerard Bisceglia holds out hope for a successful Tour of California, too. But he'll also miss the San Francisco GP.

"I personally felt that was the best race in the country," Bisceglia told VeloNews. It was a great close to the season, getting the Europeans over here. There really is no city better than San Francisco to display our sport.

"Philadelphia is a great race and has a great tradition, but some of the moments you'd experience at the San Francisco race - with those climbs and the panoramas, as they would come up Fillmore Street with Alcatraz in the background and tens of thousands of people lining the streets, screaming and yelling, while these athletes labored up that hill, some of them walking - there's nothing like it anywhere else."

What a crock. I hate that people here don't see what Europeans (and I!) see in cycling. To host a stage start or finish of the tour, a town has to pony up major bucks. None of this "they didn't pay us enough" crap.

[Plakespear]

"Philadelphia is a great race and has a great tradition, but some of the moments you'd experience at the San Francisco race - with those climbs and the panoramas, as they would come up Fillmore Street with Alcatraz in the background and tens of thousands of people lining the streets, screaming and yelling, while these athletes labored up that hill, some of them walking - there's nothing like it anywhere else."

Obviously this guy never experienced the Manayunk Wall in Philly.

[CantDog]

Actually I think the bigger story last week is the USPRO race being moved to Greenville, SC. SF was a great race and drew and international field. But the USPRO in Philadelphia has turned into a huge event over the last 20 years. Granted it did not make sense to have the US RR champion being decided in a race that is open to people from other countries.

It is likely that there will still be a race in Philly next year, but how big it's going to be remains to be seen. I do not think that SF will be the only casualty for 2006.

Yeah, who in the south really cares about road racing anyway? They should of moved it to new england, or somewhere outside of new york city(i guess Philly is outside...)

And I really dont feel like driving to South Carolina now.

[Greydon Clark]

Having lived in SF for five years, I can say Chris Daley in a bell end. He hates fun. Call him at (415) 554-5184.

[Artie Fufkin]

Yeah, who in the south really cares about road racing anyway? They should of moved it to new england, or somewhere outside of new york city(i guess Philly is outside...)

And I really dont feel like driving to South Carolina now.

The good news is that there will still be an international race in Philly the same weekend it has always been, only Wachovia is not a sponsor. Hopefully there will still be a large crowd. I am assuming people will still show up to watch cycling and get tanked. Somewhere else someone noted that they racing might be better in that Americans will ride differently now that the Stars and Stripes are not on the line.

As for SC as the location for the national championship, I agree that they should have gone closer to a major population center. The racers will show up, but will the spectators?

At least for the East Coasters the USCF races have been moved from Park City to Seven Springs.

[Cornholio]

In other domestic racing news...

Have you guys heard about the new American pro team? They lined up some serious talent (by raping Navigators and HealthNet, looks like) but don't have a title sponsor yet, as far as I can tell. It's being run by Frakie Andreu.

[Artie Fufkin]

In other domestic racing news...

Have you guys heard about the new American pro team? They lined up some serious talent (by raping Navigators and HealthNet, looks like) but don't have a title sponsor yet, as far as I can tell. It's being run by Frakie Andreu.

UPC - United Pro Cycling, it appeared that some were not too pleased about how they built the team, whatever. They should be strong, I am guessing they will ride an international schedule. They have some strong riders, Wherry, Baldwin, Cruz.

Another cool development is that TIAA-Cref is going to establish more of a presence in Europe, it's good to see another team that has been able to stick around for a while and develop younger riders. Though they did pick up Pate and Creed for next season.





From Cyclingnews.com:

"New U.S. Professional team on the way
New team with new sponsor twist
By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

Many a whisper (and even a low rumble) has been circulating around the U.S. racing scene for a couple of months now about a new pro team entering the fray. And while rumours have been a plenty, Cyclingnews was able to talk with the people in charge to get the story straight. Leading the charge in this new venture, called United Pro Cycling, are two veteran racers, Frankie Andreu of U.S. Postal fame, and former Saturn pro Harm Jansen. Working the logistics behind them are longtime cyclist Sean Tucker and veteran marketing professional Mark Dyce.

While a presenting sponsor is still in the final stages, this group has already rallied an impressive team with the help of signing bonuses. "We have cyclists signed to contracts with the help of investors behind the deal," said Dyce. These cyclists include current USPRO road champion Chris Wherry and his very quick Health Net teammate Ivan Dominguez, equally quick Argentinean sprinter Juan Jose Haedo from Colavita-Sutter Home, multiple U.S. national time trial champion Chris Baldwin from Navigators Insurance and Tony Cruz from Discovery Channel.

The biggest difference behind this team is that it will not be a traditional sponsor-team business model. What Tucker and Dyce are proposing is a team organization that is more independent from the sponsor, enabling the organization to cross-apply their marketing efforts within their presenting sponsors. "Most teams in the history of cycling has been Team something... and as long as you have your sponsor, you are ok," Dyce explained. "But as soon as you lose that sponsor, you lose everything. And the thing Sean is trying to do is to create a franchise around the cream of the crop - that's why we signed riders like Chris Baldwin, Chris Wherry and Tony Cruz.

"This is really different than anything that has been done before," Dyce continued. "The value we believe is significant with this new model, so we've been strategic about who we even talk to. So it is going to be United Pro Cycling presented by..."

The presenting sponsor will become known shortly. However, Dyce was able to share that significant steps have been made in regards to the team name, which was a little too close to the USPRO brand for some. "USA Cycling has approved the name of the team, United Pro Cycling, as well as the UCI," said Dyce. "The uniform has also been approved."

[CantDog]

Another cool development is that TIAA-Cref is going to establish more of a presence in Europe, it's good to see another team that has been able to stick around for a while and develop younger riders. Though they did pick up Pate and Creed for next season.

Cref has a pretty redonkulous cyclocross showing this fall. Troy Wells(todd wells younger brother) took 3rd at the first day in the Gloucester Grand Prix, Zach Grabowski is quite nasty, and they have some other talented riders.

Nationals is next week, and Troy is racing collegiate. I'm going to have to take him out in the beginning and hope he breaks a chain. But, my starting position is better. Hopefully he will get stuck behind slow riders for 45 minutes and not be able to pass, and I'll solo to the win. Yeah, right.

[Artie Fufkin]

Cref has a pretty redonkulous cyclocross showing this fall. Troy Wells(todd wells younger brother)took 3rd at the first day in the Gloucester Grand Prix

As a former resident of Durango, I had the fortune of mixing it up with both of those guys on group road rides.

Good luck at Nats!

[CantDog]

As a former resident of Durango, I had the fortune of mixing it up with both of those guys on group road rides.

Good luck at Nats!

It should be interesting for sure.

The Men's B field is so huge its broken into 35+ and 35- on sunday, and both have over 150 entrants in each. Its going to be craaaaazy.

Cyclocross is definately the most fun racing discipline in cycling. Nothing I've tried has compared.

[Artie Fufkin]

In other domestic racing news...

Have you guys heard about the new American pro team? They lined up some serious talent (by raping Navigators and HealthNet, looks like) but don't have a title sponsor yet, as far as I can tell. It's being run by Frakie Andreu.

They finally announced the team, title sponsor, bike, etc, The Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team, from Velo News - http://velonews.com/race/dom/articles/9465.0.html

They have some big domestic names,, Cruz, Wherry, Stevic, it should be interesting to see how they fare against HealthNet -

2006 Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team roster

Chris Wherry (USA), formerly of Health Net-Maxxis
Tony Cruz (USA), formerly of Discovery Channel
Chris Baldwin (USA), formerly of Navigators Insurance
Bobby Lea (USA), formerly of Team Northwestern Mortgage
Ivan Dominguez (Cuba), formerly of Health Net-Maxxis
Juan Jose Haedo (Argentina), formerly of Colavita-Sutter Home
Ivan Stevic (Serbia), formerly of Aerospace Engineering
Justin England (USA), formerly of Health Net-Maxxis
Heath Blackgrove (New Zealand), formerly of Beveren, Belgium
Jose Manuel Garcia (Mexico), formerly of Mexican national team
Mariano Friedick (USA), formerly of Jelly Belly-Pool Gel
Stefano Barberi (Brazil), formerly of TIAA-CREF
Sterling Magnell (USA), formerly of Team Monex
Derek Wilkerson (USA), formerly of Colavita-Sutter Home
Josh Thornton (USA), formerly of Neptune-Fuji
Sean Sullivan (Tasmania), formerly of Team Barloworld, South Africa
Chris Stockburger (USA), formerly of U.S. national team