EUGENE, Ore. — Boulder is one of two cities expressing “very serious” interest in bidding for the world cross country championships, USA Track & Field president Bill Roe confirmed Tuesday.
“It’s been my fond desire to bring the world cross country championships back here for the first time since 2002,” Roe said.
Officials of the organizing committee that staged the highly successful U.S. cross country championships in Boulder last year traveled to the world championships this year in Edinburgh, Scotland, to meet with officials of track’s international federation. The other keenly interested U.S. city is Spokane, Wash. Roe said New York, Chicago, Orlando, Fla., Washington, D.C. and San Diego have expressed some interest as well.
Roe hopes the U.S. can land the 2010 or 2011 worlds.
John Meyer, The Denver Post
Boulder cyclists headed to Beijing.
Boulder cyclists Christian Vande Velde and Taylor Phinney joined Durango mountain biker Todd Wells as members of the U.S. Olympic cycling team seeking gold in Beijing.
And George Hincapie is getting a fifth chance at winning Olympic gold.
Vande Velde, Phinney, Wells and Hincapie, the longtime American cycling star best known for helping Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France seven consecutive times, were announced Tuesday as four of nine discretionary selections to the U.S. Olympic team that will race in Beijing next month.
Vande Velde was named to the road team. Phinney, 17, was tabbed for the track team.
Hincapie, 35, becomes the first U.S. racer to make five Olympic cycling teams. No other American has raced a bike in more than three.
“It’s very exciting,” Hincapie said from his home in Spain. “It’s a huge accomplishment, and I feel honored to do another one.”
Hincapie — who will begin his 13th Tour de France on Saturday — joins two-time Olympians Jason McCartney and Vande Velde (a 2000 track cycling Olympian), along with Olympic rookie David Zabriskie, as discretionary picks to the five-man U.S. road squad. Levi Leipheimer earned an automatic Olympic spot by finishing third in last year’s Tour.
The Associated Press
