We’ve been getting quite a few inquiries here at velonews.com about thefuture of the USPRO road championship. Just last week USA Cycling announcedthe time and location of all of next year's events except for USPRO.And as reported earlier this year, big changes are in store for the eventas the event will no longer be open to foreign racers.

Over the years, the national championship, organized by Pennsylvania-basedrace promoter Threshold Sports, has been held as an open internationalevent in Philadelphia that has grown into the most important one-day eventin North American racing. But all the while USPRO has been holding thenational championship under a special dispensation from UCI regulationsthat state that “only riders who have held the nationality of the country…may compete for the title of national champion and the relevant points.”

And with Threshold’s contract with longtime Philly Week sponsor Wachoviaalso ending this year, some have suggested that a behind-the-scenes paradigmshift might be taking place within the inner workings of national-eventcontracts. Threshold was forced to cancel this year’s scheduled New YorkCity Cycling Championship due to lack of title sponsorship, and the fateof its San Francisco Grand Prix remains as tenuousas ever.

Man, I thought I had some outstanding debt. It turns outthe San Francisco Grand Prix could possibly be canceled for 2006 aftercity officials revealed Monday that race organizers obtained a permit forthis year's event despite owing nearly $90,000 in police costs for lastyear's race. Without the New York and San Francisco events, Threshold’sflagship entity, the 2005 Pro Cycling Tour, could be reduced to the three-raceseries known as Philly Week.

While Threshold has had recent trouble securing sponsorships, Georgia-basedMedalist Sports has been thriving on its agreements with Dodge and theTour de Georgia, Bristol Myers Squibb and the Tour of Hope, and AnschutzEntertainment Group and the upcoming Tour of California.

“Threshold represents the old school,” said race announcer Dave Towle,who has worked as a contractor for both companies. “They’ve used the samestaff for years. They are like a family, and they do a really good job.The presentation of the race in Philadelphia has always been button-down,just perfect. And with Medalist, you’ve got the new school. What they’vedone in Georgia has been incredible. They’re really taking it to the nextlevel. With Lance Armstrong coming to Georgia the past two years, theyhave momentum on their side.”

Add USPRO to Medalist’s assets. USA Cycling announced this afternoonthat the USPRO road championship was awarded to Medalist and will be heldon September 2, 2006 in Greenville, South Carolina. Sponsored by The CliffsCommunities, a group of gated residential communities in the heart of theCarolina Preserve, and regional cable provider Charter Communications,the event will be titled the “The Cliffs USA Cycling Professional NationalChampionships powered by Charter.” And, as expected, the field will becomprised solely of U.S. citizens and will be open to members of UCI-registeredtrade teams only.

The road race will be held on September 2, 2006 and will be complementedby the introduction of the first-ever USPRO Time Trial Championship twodays earlier on August 31.

“This event will truly showcase the best of the best American cyclingtalent,” said USA Cycling chief executive officer Gerard Bisceglia. “After a rich history in Philadelphia, the USPRO event has become the benchmarkof one-day professional cycling in this country and with the support ofThe Cliffs and Charter Communications, as well as the unparalleled commitmentof the folks at Medalist Sports and Southern Hospitality Group [Event Management],we fully expect that the USPRO event will thrive in Greenville.”

As for the future of Threshold and Philly Week, we’ll have to wait andsee on that. Calls put into to Threshold’s Dave Chauner weren’t immediatelyreturned Tuesday, but rumors persist that Threshold has, at least temporarily,all but shut its doors. Other reports have pointed to Threshold’s reshufflingof its board of directors and lag in paying out prize money from Philadelphiaas signs of trouble.

Health Net team director Jeff Corbett said the team’s prize money forChris Wherry’s USPRO win is “being handled” by Threshold. “It’s not beenpaid in full,” Corbett said, reluctant to divulge specifics. “But we’resquare with Threshold. We’ve been taken care of.” Corbett added that it’snot unusual to wait for payment from bigger events. “It takes a lot longerto get paid by bigger races than smaller races,” he said. “It took us ninemonths to get paid by the Tour de Langkawi [from 2004].”

I spoke briefly with Robin Morton, Threshold’s technical director, whosaid she has “not been actively involved in the past two months,” withthe scheduling of next year’s events, referring me to Chauner, but thatshe has heard that a title sponsorship for events in Philadelphia and Lancasteris close to being finalized. “I have not been working on it,” Morton said,“So the information is not firsthand, so to speak.”

More on this to come…

Doping in the “House”
How's this for "taken from today's headlines?" The storyline of tonight'sepisode of "House," a Fox TV program about a "maverick physician whose unconventional thinking and flawless instincts have afforded him a great deal of respect," is centered around the hot topic of doping in cycling.

“House's wheels start turning when a pro cyclist admits to takingperformance-enhancing drugs,” the synopsis of tonight’s episode, entitled“Spin,” reads. “When a famous professional cyclist is brought in aftercollapsing during a race, House doesn’t want to treat him because he thinkshe’s lying about doing drugs. But when the patient is forthcoming abouttaking all sorts of performance enhancers and blood-doping drugs, Houseis definitely intrigued. Cameron is upset the patient is a hero to kidswhen he is clearly cheating at his sport. She struggles with the ethicaldilemma of patient confidentiality and considers going to the media.”

Is this guy a DOPER?

Ah, those creative minds in Hollywood. What will they think up next?

Talk about art imitating life. Wait, does “House,” qualify as “art”? I wouldn’t know, as I’ve never actually seen “House,” but you can bet I’ll be watching tonight. You should too, and tomorrow we can discuss. “House” airs from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

Also, if you missed this year’s Tour de Nez footage on OLN, it's now available, on demand, for free at www.cycling.tv.

Aforementioned announcer-extraordinaire Dave Towle commentates on the four-stage omnium held in Nevada in mid June and won by none other than Health Net-Maxxis’s Scott Moninger. This is one of the first U.S. races to show up on cycling.tv, so check it out at your leisure.

Health Net announces 2006 roster
Speaking of Health Net-Maxxis, somehow this slipped through the crackslast week, but the team has announced its 2006 roster and it looks to bea killer. In addition to heading to Europe for a spring campaign, the HealthNet squad, which has spent the past two seasons as the top team on theNRC calendar, will be aiming to repeat as the top team in the U.S. in 2006.

The team signed several marquee talents in the off-season to supplementan already strong core of returning riders. According to team directorJeff Corbett, “We’ve put together a roster that once again positions usas the team to beat in North America.”

Health Net has added Australian powerhouse Nathan O’Neill, the seeminglyperennial Australian national time trial champion, who won the overalltitle at the Grand Prix Cicliste de Beauce in
2005. O’Neill is joined by two of former Navigators teammates: all-aroundthreat Jeff Louder, as well as strongman Kirk O’Bee. Louder placed secondat U.S. time trial nationals and posted podium finishes at the CascadeCycling Classic and G.P. Beauce in 2005. O’Bee, a former U.S. Postal Servicerider and the 2001 USPRO criterium national champion, finished fifth atthe USPRO Championship in Philadelphia in June, and also took two stagewins each in the Cascade Classic and BC Superweek.

The team also added one of the revelations of the 2005 season, AustralianKarl “Ten” Menzies of the Advantage Benefits-Endeavour team, who finished6th in the individual NRC standings in just his first full season as aprofessional in North America.

Current cyclo-cross superstud Tim Johnson was added as much for hisleadership skills as for his riding ability, Johnson, who in 2004 rodefor Pro Tour team Saunier Duval-Prodir, is also one of the best cyclo-crossracers in U.S. history, having won the 2000 national championship and medaledin the U23 world championship in Poprad in `99. Health Net’s January trainingcamp will prevent Johnson’s return to the world championships, but he'ssure making a mark on the domestic scene this season.

The team’s roster has been rounded out with four young up-and-comingriders. Kyle Gritters comes over from Seasilver as the reigning nationalU23 criterium champion. Garrett Peltonen, a teammate of Menzies’ on theAdvantage Benefits-Endeavour team, was part of the 2004 national collegiateTTT championship team at the University of Wisconsin. Roman Kilun comesfrom McGuire-Langdale to join his hometown team. The Oakland-based rider,who also attends the University of California’s Hastings College of Law,finished third overall at the Sea Otter Classic in 2005 and also won theNRC stage race Tour of Shenandoah in Virginia. Finally, Health Net hassigned young Swiss rider Alberto Tibero, who was a neo-pro with the Swissprofessional continental squad LPR in 2005.

Health Net returns with a core group of riders who were instrumentalin earning its second consecutive NRC team title, including NRC individualtitle winner Scott Moninger.
Moninger is again flanked by veterans Gord Fraser (4th in NRC individualstandings) and hardman Mike Sayers. Also returning are Kiwi Greg Henderson(7th in NRC), and stage-race standouts Doug
Ollerenshaw and Mike Jones.

The new United Pro Cycling Team, spearheaded by former U.S. Postal Servicepro Frankie Andreau, appears to have recruited most heavily from this year’sNRC-leading Health Net squad, signing over star sprinter Ivan Dominguez,aspiring climber Justin England and USPRO road champion Chris Wherry. HealthNet also lost the services of retiring veteran John Lieswyn, and with USPROcriterium champion Tyler Farrar moving to Cofidis, the team will begin2006 without either of the national jerseys it earned this year.

“It seems like the biggest loser with this new team is Health Net,”said TIAA-CREF director Jonathan Vaughters. “It sounds like they may havea fairly diluted version of the team they had this year.”

Possibly, but Corbett insists the team will be looking to defend its2004 and 2005 NRC team titles next year even as it ventures into Europeanracing for the first time as a continental professional team.

“We’ll be taking a handful of European trips next year,” Corbett said.“It won’t be similar to the Navigators, where they stay for months at atime. We’ll take a few two-to-three week trips. But the NRC will stillbe a goal for the team. We have a United States-based title sponsor, sothe NRC will be a very big focus of ours. Big domestic exposure is keyfor us. Europe is something to test the waters and expand the team, andhopefully bring us some good press and recognition in the States.”

For additional information regarding Health Net-Maxxis, visit www.teamhealthnet.com.

The 2006 Health Net-Maxxis team roster:Gord Fraser, CanadaKyle Gritters, USAGreg Henderson, New ZealandTim Johnson, USAMike Jones, USARoman Kilun, USAJeff Louder, USAKarl Menzies, AustraliaScott Moninger, USAKirk O’Bee, USANathan O’Neill, AustraliaDoug Ollerenshaw, USAGarrett Peltonen, USAMike Sayers, USAAlberto Tibero, Switzerland

TIAA-CREF confirms Pate and Creed
In other domestic-road transfer news, the developmental TIAA-CREF team has confirmed that its ranks will be strengthened next year by the addition of two of the USA's best younger riders. Danny Pate, 25, the 2001 world under-23 time trial champion, and Mike Creed, 24, who this year rode for Discovery Channel, will both join the team for 2006. With an on-form Will Frischkorn, Timmy Duggan and Ian Macgregor, this team could turn some heads next year. TIAA-CREF is expected to spend more time in Europe in 2006, and has hired former CSC, U.S. Postal Service and Motorola directeur sportif Johnny Weltz as its director for European racing.

Team Stolenunderground.com
In the latest chapter in the saga of former pro turned anti-doping crusader MattDeCanio, word is that the former Prime Alliance man has put together a team for 2006.

“Team Stolenunderground.com, headed by former professional Matt DeCanio,will compete in road cycling events and national championships in 2006,”DeCanio wrote in a press release. “Team members will include GiancarloBianchi, Nick Weise, Yair Shalev, Matt DeCanio, Ryan Sickles, and Ian Delaney.The team will have three main missions for 2006: Number one, to promotedrug free racing. The team’s message of "Anti-doping racing" will appearon the jersey and team vehicles. Number two, to win national titles. Numberthree, to raise awareness of doping in the sport of cycling.”

No word yet on the team’s schedule, category status or sponsors, butthe stolenunderground.com Website is as entertaining as ever. We shall see…

T-Mobile’s dream team
I know we mentioned thislast week but I just received an official press release on T-Mobile’sexpansion of its new international elite women’s road team, and I thoughtthe new “superteam” deserved a little more attention.

Now referred to as the T-Mobile Team, the revamped squad will complimentthe German mobile communications firm’s existing men’s team. The new teamhas already attracted world-class athletes like Britain’s 2003 World Cupwinner Nicole Cooke and Germany’s 2004 world champion Judith Arndt.

“It was the right time for me to make a change“, said Arndt, the 2004Olympic silver medalist. “T-Mobile have offered me a great opportunityand I am looking forward to the challenge.”

Under the name of “T-Mobile Professional Cycling Team,” a women’s teamhas competed in the UCI International Calendar since 2002. Under the managementof High Road Sports, the team raced primarily in the United States representingthe U.S. T-Mobile subsidiary. From 2002-2004 the team was aligned withUSA Cycling as the national women’s team. Over the next three years, theteam, like the men’s ProTour equivalent, will be based in Bonn, Germany.

Accordingly, the women’s team will compete at high-profile events aroundthe world.

“Our goal is to nail down a top position in the UCI world ranking list,”said the team’s sporting director Andrzej Bek. “For that we will targetboth one day classics and international stage races.”

Among the team’s riders are Germany’s 31-year-old Ina-Yoko Teutenberg(a six-time Tour de France stage winner), who is staying with the team,and Britain’s Cooke, who at just 22, has won the 2003 World Cup overalland the 2004 women’s Giro d’Italia. American Kimberly Bruckner is alsorumored to be returning with the squad, although that has not yet beenconfirmed.

The world-class men’s team lies at the pinnacle of T-Mobile’s sponsorship,but will now be joined by the women’s team.

“In terms of identity, we won’t draw any lines,“ says Reinhard Plückthun,vice president of sponsoring at T-Mobile International. “There is onlyone T-Mobile team, and now that consists of a men’s and a women’s team.We have always insisted that our sponsorship engagement is extensive andlong-term. This latest expansion is a logical step that underpins the consistentapproach we take to our sponsorship activities.”

The team will be presented to the public at the official team presentation,January 14th on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

Clif Bar Sumo Suit Challenge
Lastly, I’m headed out to the Bay Area this Friday for the finale of theU.S. Gran Prixof Cyclocross races in Watsonville and San Francisco, California— a day late to catch Clif Bar’s Cyclo-cross Sumo Suit Challenge, heldon the evening of Thursday November 17th at the company’s headquartersin Berkeley.

"Whatdo cyclo-cross and sumo suits have in common? Beats the heck out of us,"Clif Bar's brass explained in an email. "But if we've gotta stretch foran answer to that crafty question let's go with this: If there's anythingthat comes close to the fun of cyclo-cross it could very well be watchinga bunch of goofballs in sumo suits wrestle each other for a good cause.Please join us! Hang out with fellow cyclo-cross fans, chat it up withthe folks from Clif Bar, and meet Team Clif Bar cyclo-cross riders MarkMcCormack and Jesse Anthony, all while helping to support the FastFreddie Foundation."

After dinner, the event will begin with the introduction of the TeamClif Bar cyclo-cross riders and a couple special guests. When the talkingends the games begin: The gloves come off, the goofy suits go on, and competitionbegins for the illustrious title of: “Cyclo-cross Sumo Suit Challenge Championof the World.”

I’m sorry I’m going to miss it.

Attendance is limited to 250 people, so RSVPs are required. Twenty dollars perperson gets you in the door for food and festivities. Net proceeds fromthe evening will go to the Fast Freddie Foundation.

The evening's agenda:6-7 p.m.: Pizza and beverages for al, fund-raising silent auction7-7:10 p.m.: Welcome, introduction, take-a-seat time7:15-8 p.m.: Meet Mark McCormack and Jesse Anthony8-9:30 p.m.: Cyclo-cross Sumo Suit Challenge

Please RSVP to sumosuitchallenge@clifbar.com.Clif Bar will respond to the first 250 RSVPs with a confirmation emailthat includes instructions for payment and directions to the event. Whenthe event is full Clif Bar will send that information by email to any RSVPsthat they are unable to accommodate. No reservations will be taken by phone.