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Challenging endurance cyclists to excel! World Cup of Ultracycling |
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at the 2006 Kraftwerk 24-hour, a world record Kraftwerk will be included in the 2007 World Cup of Ultracycling |
The 2007 World Champions of Ultracycling will be determined in the new World Cup of Ultracyling series of races. The initial series will include about 15 races in Europe, North America and South America. The UltraMarathon Cycling Association announced the new World Cup of Ultracycling series on January 1.
Fabio Biasiolo (I), Marko Baloh (SLO), Rob Kish (USA), Juré Robic (SLO) and Fredi Virag (SLO) will all be on the starting line on May 11 for the Race Around Slovenia. These five racers have competed in RAAM 45 times and have 17 podium finishes.
Round Slovenia is the 2007 European Ultracycling Championship and the third race in the World Cup of Ultracycling. Unlike stage races ultra events are run non-stop. When the racers leave the starting line in Postojna, SLO the clock won't stop for about 35 hours until the first rider reaches the finish line after racing 1,100 km.
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Tinker Juarez racing the Heart of the South in rural Alabama. Heart of the South is in the World Cup of Ultracycling Photo by Bryan Hallman |
The World Cup of Ultracycling starts with the Sebring 24-Hour on February 17 at the Sebring, FL, USA racecourse. Chris MacDonald (DEN) set the course record in 2005; he raced 500 miles in the non-drafting event. MacDonald took second and earned rookie-of-the-year honors in the Race Across AMerica four months later.
The Heart of the South 500 on March 30 in Alabama, USA is also an important early season World Cup race. David "Tinker" Juarez (USA) won the 510-mile event in 2006, finishing just 10 minutes off MacDonald's record time of 29 hours 23 minutes. Juarez, who won four national 24-hour mountain bike titles and raced on two Olympic teams, was rookie-of-the-year in RAAM 2006.
The European 24-Hour Championship will be hosted by Cycling Time Trials at the UK National 24-hour Championship on July 21. The British excel at long time trials. Andy Wilkinson (UK) holds the world 24-hour road record of 525.07 miles!
The North American 24-Hour Championship will be the Saratoga 24-hour in New York on July 7.
The Ultracycling World Cup races range from 24-hours to 3,000 miles. Each race will be assigned a difficulty rating based on the distance and climbing. Each racer's points will be calculated as the difficulty rating for a race multiplied by the rider's average speed for the event.
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Republic RAAM qualifier. The Czech race is in the 2007 World Cup of Ultracycling |
To be eligible for the World Championship title a rider must race on two of three continents and must complete at least one race of 800 km (500 miles) or more. Riders will compete in 10 categories defined by age and gender.
A key late season World Cup event will be the 23rd Furnace Creek 508 on October 6. Furnace Creek draws a world-class field; in 2005 Kenny Souza (USA), a World Duathlon champion, lowered the course record to 27 hours 15 minutes with Tinker Juarez less than less than nine minutes behind him.
The final event in the World Cup will be the Desafio 24-Hour in Brazil in October 8. Rob Kish took third in the 2006 race.
The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is organizing and sanctioning the World Cup of Ultracycling. The UMCA's two European representatives, Fabio Biasiolo (I) and Chris Hopkinson (UK), participated in the design of the series and selection of events. The UMCA will establish an international oversight committee for the World Cup of Ultracycling. After testing and refining the World Cup format the series will be extended to other continents.
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Fabio Biasiolo chasing Enrico De Angeli in the 1001 Miglia RAAM Qualifier in 2006. |
The UMCA was founded in 1980 as the international body to sanction ultracycling races and records. In 1982 the UMCA sanctioned the Great American Bike Race, which became the Race Across AMerica. The 2007 RAAM is included in the World Cup. RAAM starts in Oceanside, CA, USA on June 10 and finishes in Atlantic City, NJ, USA.
Starting in 1983 the UMCA developed and sanctioned races to qualify for RAAM and in 1990 the UMCA sanctioned the first European RAAM qualifying event. RAAM Open Europe was organized by Franz Spilauer (A), who won the 1988 RAAM.
When the UMCA started the John Marino Competition points series in 2000 it was modeled on the World Cup format. In 2002 the first non-American event was added and in 2006 the points series included seven UMCA-sanctioned international events.
With the growing number of events and participating racers for 2007 there are three divisions of ultracycling races modeled on the JMC and using rules based on the JMC rules.
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Kenny Souza setting the record at the Furnace Creek 508. Furnace Creek is in the World Cup of Ultracycling. |
The divisions are:
- European Cup of Ultracycling
- Americas Cup of Ultracycling
- World Cup of Ultracycling
The World Cup is a series of premier races drawn from the European, North and South American races. As of January 1, 2007 the World Cup includes eight events in North America, six in Europe and one is South America. The UMCA is with several event directors about adding their events to the series.
John Hughes, director of the UMCA, said "We are excited to take this next step in supporting ultracycling internationally. The World Cup is a challenging mix of 24-hour, 500-mile and longer races. By the end of the World Cup the World Champions will have proved themselves true champions."
Hughes continued: "The UMCA encourages a wide range of athletes to compete in ultrcycling events. In addition to the World Cup for men and women (age 25-49) we are also organizing the Ultracycling World Cup for Developing Riders (age 18-25) and for Masters (age 50 and up). The latter Ultracycling World Cup series will include a slightly different selection of events."
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Ultracycling Cup Races: World Cup, European Cup and Americas Cup
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