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Registration troubles sideline some favorites at nationals

Published: Jul. 11, 2006

Newly crowned national road champions Matt Cooke and Craig Lewis are celebrating their respective recent victories at the elite and under-23 road championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. Cooke (LSV-Kelly Benefit Strategies) took the nation’s second-most prestigious road title on July 8 by attacking his two breakaway companions in the final meters of the hilly 176km road race, while on July 10 Lewis (TIAA-CREF) — who nearly died at the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia after he was struck by a vehicle — caught and passed teammate Steven Cozza in the final kilometer, leaving behind Priority Health’s Brent Bookwalter, who took second.

But some elite and U23 riders weren’t much in the mood to celebrate after registration issues kept them from even taking the start.

Registration for the USA Cycling National Festival at Seven Springs was handled online at https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Series.aspx?id=105)" target="new">Sportsbase.com on a first-come, first-served basis. And for some riders, that’s where the problems started. With fields capped at 125 riders, a few top favorites were kept out of the racing.

Former Webcor pro James Mattis tried to register for the elite men’s road race back in March, while his Cal Giant Strawberries team was competing at Redlands. At that point, registration had been open for several days. When Cal Giant Strawberries team management began the online-registration process, "there were still a few places left on the start list," Mattis said. When they completed the process, they received a message that said, "Registration closed, full field."

Though Cal Giant Strawberries is the top amateur team in USA Cycling’s NRC team rankings, its riders weren’t able to enter the road race in Seven Springs. In fact, Mattis said, a look at the https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Registrants.aspx?item_id=1080) " target="new">start list showed that of the top five amateur teams in the country, only Fiordifrutta was represented as a team.

"We didn’t have time to register because we were busy getting ready to race at Redlands," Mattis said. "We were busy doing what we thought was right, which was building a strong team."

Mattis said he questions the wisdom of a first-come, first-served registration process that emulates online ticket purchasing, as opposed to a system that favors athletic qualifications. And he also questions the field limits.

"Why not 126 riders?" Mattis asked. "Why not 150?"

USA Cycling national events director Justin Rogers explained that the field size was a precedent set when nationals was last held in Seven Springs, in 2003. "That number was determined by the promoter, Seven Springs resort, as well as the chief official, the technical director and the highway patrol," Rogers said. "We were asked about increasing it, but everyone came to the conclusion that 125 is best for the safety of the riders. It’s a manageable field size, which is what we need to get the officials moved around the course properly."

While Rogers acknowledged that the online registration model might be flawed, he said it’s the same system USA Cycling has used for five years. The difference this year, he said, is that it’s the first time these fields have sold out. Rogers said USA Cycling sent out emails regarding online registration a week before it opened, the day before it opened, and four days after it opened, after the elite men’s road race had sold out.

"We’ve never had a field fill up like that before," Rogers said.

In addition to the elite and U23 road races, several masters events had filled up quickly, Rogers said. Asked why he thought the race filled so fast this year, Rogers pointed to the relocation of nationals from Park City, Utah, to Pennsylvania.

"Getting to Utah has been difficult for some people," he said. "And the Seven Springs course is tough. People have been excited about it."

To appease frustrated riders, USA Cycling and Sportsbase.com set up a weekly sweep of registered nationals riders in the past months, checking to make sure all riders entered were licensed in the correct category. Additionally, Sportsbase.com set up a waiting list, offering hope to those who couldn’t get in. In the event that pre-registered riders either dropped out or were found to be ineligible, Rogers said Sportsbase.com would call the next rider on the wait list. Rogers said those on the wait list were finally contacted two weeks before the event and notified that registration was closed and they would not be able to race.

"Sportsbase was managing the wait list," Rogers said. "Two weeks ago we shut that down, because we couldn’t keep inviting people, hoping they would show up. We knew there would be some wait-list movement, due to injuries, travel plans, etc., but we had to stop. The registration company had to start preparing start lists. At that point we knew for each [registered] person that couldn’t race, we’d just go one person less at the line. It would have been difficult to keep swapping people right up to the point of the start."

Another rider who was unable to compete in his national road championship was Jesse Anthony (Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada), who missed out on registering for the U23 road race and criterium before they had filled up. Anthony, one of the top U23 riders in the country, was able to enter the time trial — and while he was at the race venue, he contacted Rogers.

"Justin [Rogers] politely but firmly told me there was no chance of me racing, even though I knew a U23 racer who was willing to give up his spot for me to race," Anthony told VeloNews. "The problem was not that the field was full, but that USA Cycling had decided to completely close registration a few weeks ago. The waiting lists, which were stacked full for many of the fields, were thrown away.

"In other words, if the first rider on the waiting list was standing right there in the room to pick up his number, and another rider notified USA Cycling that they were not going to race, USA Cycling would not give that open spot in the race to that rider on the waiting list."

"I knew of at least a handful riders who were not going to start the U23 road race, but USA Cycling wouldn’t give those spots to riders on the waiting list," Anthony continued. "Therefore, there were far fewer than 125 starters in the U23 road race, and even though I’m [in Seven Springs] and the field wasn’t full, I was not allowed to race.

"I don’t see how this is fair to anyone. Supposedly the elite road race started with fewer than 115 racers, even though the field limit was 125. There were, however, a number of elite racers on the scene asking to be put in the race, but USA Cycling would not give them the open spots. USA Cycling stated that it would be unfair to let some racers in the race who were behind other racers on the waiting list, even if they hadn’t shown up."

One of those elite riders was Mattis. In town for the elite men’s time trial, Mattis showed up at the start of the road race, hoping for an 11th-hour reprieve. Rogers said he spoke with Mattis in the months prior to the race and again in Seven Springs. Along with USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson, Rogers explained that it would be unfair to let Mattis into the race ahead of other riders who were above him on the wait list.

"We tried to be as accommodating as we could with the wait list, knowing there would be some movement in the field, but we had to have a time it closed to get ready for the race," Rogers said. "We couldn’t have people just showing up at the start line getting into the race. That wouldn’t be fair to everyone on the wait list who we’d already told couldn’t race.

"Besides, this is a national championship, not a weekend criterium. You can’t just show up and register. I know there were some unhappy people, but everyone had to follow the rules and process we’d set. If we have guys just showing up and talking their way into the race, it sets a bad precedent."

Anthony admits he was ultimately at fault for not registering in time, and for failing to sign the wait list. Still, he feels that USA Cycling disregarded a last-minute opportunity to allow him into the race.

"I’m only one of dozens of racers who were not allowed to race in these national championships for this reason," he said. "There were many riders from all categories who were on the waiting lists that were turned down by USA Cycling. They stated ‘fairness’ and ‘matter of principle’ as their reasons for completely closing registration, but I don’t see how it was carried out in a fair manner at all. I certainly learned my lesson about registering for races in time, but USA Cycling had the opportunity to make it a more fair competition and they chose not to do it."

USA Cycling held a "town hall" meeting in Seven Springs on Saturday, July 8, during the elite road race, where riders and federation staff were able to discuss the problem. USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee said USA Cycling board members facilitated the meeting, which consisted mainly of parents of junior racers inquiring about qualification procedures for fields that had filled quickly.

"The big concern was for qualification procedures, because so many fields had closed the day they opened," said USCF president Mike Fraysse. "Most of the suggestions were for qualifications, through state championships or other races.

"The federation knows there is a problem. I’ve always believed that you should have to race to qualify. You have to earn your spot. I believe racers should race to qualify, whether it’s for the Olympics, worlds, or national championships. What other country would allow people to sign up for the national championships without qualifying? In other countries, you would have to qualify in different regions, or provinces, whatever. Nobody just signs up and shows up.

"But we’ve now got a CEO who knows cycling. Steve Johnson is a former national champion, and you can bet when we meet this fall, this will be a big topic. We all want cycling to be a mainstream sport."

"Because it’s the first year this has happened, we have to look at possibilities for the future," Rogers said. "I’ve been getting a new idea emailed to me every day, and when we get to the fall meetings we’ll be looking into it, to decide the rules for the following year. It’s unfortunate that a few riders couldn’t get in, but it’s a great problem to have this many riders wanting to get in."

Mattis suggested a system of registration qualifications for future championships, such as the invitation-only system used at the 2004 Olympic selection race, which was based on NRC rankings. If not that, he suggested, than perhaps something similar to the regional team rankings method used to limit the field at collegiate national championships. More than anything, Mattis said he wanted a chance to repay his Cal Giant Strawberries sponsors.

"We'd like to show our sponsors that we are the best amateur team in the land," Mattis said. "That’s hard to do when we can't do the national championships."