Joe Martin race to feature bigger field, tougher route
Posted on Friday, May 2, 2008
It's time once again for the Joe Martin Stage Race and this year's event promises to be bigger and better than ever. Traditionally the race is a weekend event lasting Friday through Sunday, but this year the race will start a day earlier on Thursday, May 8 and run until Sunday, May 11.
The race is part of the National Race Calendar which is a part of the pro and amateur cycling tour of USA Cycling. USA Cycling is the governing body of cycling for the U. S. Olympic Committee.
The race should boast its largest field ever, featuring nearly 700 cyclists from 17 countries and more than 40 U. S. states. This is a far cry from when the event began in 1978 with under 100 cyclists from surrounding states.
This is the 31 st running of the event, but it has steadily grown due in large part to its national corporate sponsors. Nature Valley and General Mills have increased their funding for the race to make it a more nationally prominent event.
"Nature Valley and General Mills have stepped up and been a great partnership for this race," race director Bruce Dunn said. "They feel like by supporting the Joe Martin Stage Race they are supporting their mission of getting people healthy and active with an outdoor lifestyle. They are also here to promote the community in Northwest Arkansas and that's the reason we have had such a long-term sponsorship."
The race will start on Thursday with the professionals doing a time trial at Devil's Den State Park. The course is two-and-a-half miles long going straight uphill starting at a height of 1, 000 feet and ending at a grade of 1, 680 feet.
This is a new stage and is critical for riders to move on to the next stage. In order to qualify for the second stage, riders have to be within 15 percent of the top rider's time, thus eliminating a day of easy riding.
"This is called the race of truth and that is where you are going to establish a leader early on," Dunn said. "We have changed the dynamics for the racers so they can't hide anymore. This will establish a pecking order very quickly and riders can't hide and can't draft like in past years."
The second day is going to be the most grueling of all with a race of 110 miles for the men and 64 miles for the women. The toughest part of the race is between Mount Gaylord and West Fork where the grade goes from 700 feet to just over 2, 000.
The men will start this stage of the race in the parking lot of Wal-Mart on Sixth Street and will proceed west through Farmington, Prairie Grove, and Lincoln. They will then travel south to Cedarville and on to Rudy and Mountainburg before turning back north through Mount Gaylord, West Fork, Greenland, and finally ending the race on Dickson street back in Fayetteville.
The women's portion of this race will begin at Cedarville and then proceed along the same course as the men's.
Saturday is when the amateurs get a chance to race in the criterion course which starts and ends at the intersection of Center Street and Church Street. The course is an enduring 1. 3-mile stretch through the heart of downtown Fayetteville.
"Some of the professionals have told me that this is one of the two or three toughest criterion courses on the professional circuit in the country," Dunn said.
Sunday will feature a free kid's race along the same route as Saturday's criterion race which is also open to the amateur and professional riders.
Routes all along the way each day will feature street closings at various times. For more information on this as well as staring and finishing times and locations you can visit the race's official Web site at www. joemartinstagerace. com.
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