Squadra Coppi today announced in an email to Giro di Coppi pre-registrants that they will be rescheduling the race for a date to be determined in August or September. Originally the race was scheduled to run on this weekend on Saturday, July 19.
According to our friends at Coppi:
We were granted an event permit from Montgomery County in early June. Unknown to us, road crews started milling the pavement along Old Hundred Rd. (MD-109) in preparation for repaving several weeks later. When this happened, we contacted the county and were informed that the project would not impact the race and that we should have fresh pavement in time for the Giro. Unfortunately after several exchanges with the MD State Highway Administration to follow up on the project, we were informed last week that paving would now start AFTER the race. Further, MD SHA decided that due to the road already being milled, they would prohibit the race from passing along Old Hundred Rd. We immediately proposed a course modification to our Chief Referee substituting Peachtree Rd for Old Hundred. After inspecting the new course we jointly concluded that the narrowness of the new road combined with low shoulders and the amount of traffic would not make for a safe course. We also felt that cutting out the climb into Barnesville and the rises along Old Hundred would detract from the difficulty of the course and prevent us from having the Championship-caliber event that we intended.
Bully to them for biting the bullet to ensure that course and race are Championship caliber. 80 racers in a pack sprint does not a championship make. I'm sure they'll keep us informed as soon as new decisions are reached, and GamJams will pass along any news.
any word on if they'll re-open registration? I didn't register because I'm out of town the 19th... but a reschedule could allow a terribleEntry....
Posted by: TerribleTerry | July 15, 2008 at 04:42 PM
Perfect opportunity to re-route the course to finish up Sugarloaf Mountain!
Posted by: PokeTheBear | July 16, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Terry, we will re-open registration assuming we get it rescheduled. We'd hate to have an un-Terrible race.
Posted by: Jim | July 16, 2008 at 05:22 PM