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Dade City is out of the running for hosting the cycling events at the 2012 Summer Games. Organizers prefer two Tampa sites.
By CHASE SQUIRES
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 2001
DADE CITY -- Dade City's dreams of hosting Olympic cycling in 2012 suffered a potentially fatal blow Thursday when the leader of the Central Florida Olympic bid said Olympics officials prefer bike races in downtown Tampa.
Supporters of the Dade City Battle of Brilliance bicycle race billed their event as a way to lure an Olympic event to Pasco County, by showcasing the area's potential as a cycling mecca.
But on Thursday at a Pasco Tourist Development Council meeting, Ed Turanchik, president and CEO of Florida 2012, said Dade City is out of the running. The city has a good chance, however, of luring pre- and post-Olympic bicycling.
Mayor Scott Black said he was disappointed but hoped to lure some other form of Olympic cycling, such as mountain biking, to the area.
Mountain biking however is earmarked for the Alafia River State Recreation Area in Hillsborough County where it will be clustered with equestrian, the modern pentathlon, rowing and canoe competitions, according to the 2012 proposal. The Tampa Bay area is competing to be the city named in the U.S. bid for the 2012 Games.
Although the news from Olympics officials was not encouraging, Dade Battle of Brilliance bicycle race co-founder David Hevia was upbeat.
Although it appears the attempt to lure Olympic cycling to Pasco fell short, Hevia vowed the Battle of Brilliance race would grow and said that with enough enthusiasm and support, Dade City could become too much of a cycling hot spot to ignore.
E.J. Rogut, Florida director of the USA Cycling and USA Cycling Federation that oversees United States Olympic cycling, said Thursday that international Olympics officials operate under their own rules when it comes to choosing Olympics sites.
Time and again, it has been shown that the Olympics prefers an urban setting, even if the cyclists would rather race in a rural area, Rogut said.
Dade City was submitted as one of three course possibilities, but it has been made clear that the Olympics prefers the two alternatives, both in Tampa, Rogut said.
Turanchik said Tampa is expected to draw bigger crowds and better television coverage.
Hevia said that as the Dade Battle of Brilliance cycling race grows, he hopes to lure state and national competitions to Dade City, drawing tens of thousands of spectators and the attention of the cycling world.
"We're going to have to get a reputation," he said. "We've got time to do that. We really have to establish ourselves."
For October's upcoming event, Hevia envisions expanding the race from one day to three, with sprint races up a steep hill on a Friday, followed by marathon road races deep into Pasco County -- starting and ending in Dade City -- on Saturday, and then a series of races around the historic courthouse in downtown Dade City on Sunday.
No matter what the Olympics decides, the Battle of Brilliance will go on and will get bigger every year, Hevia predicted. It's still a big event that will draw people to the area, he said.
Of course, the news from Turanchik is disappointing, and it will take hard work to change things, Hevia said.
"If anyone was disappointed by hearing that information, I would say, what have we done to get their attention? We had one race that not a lot of people came to," Hevia said. "Did they think the rolling hills were going to bring the Olympics here? We've got to do more to get their attention."
-- Times staff writer James Thorner contributed to this report.