Olympic Hopefuls Roll Into Boise

Boise, Idaho. Sydney, Australia. Not the most common comparison? It is this week.

That’s because the top female cyclists from all over the world have converged in Boise for a major international race that’s one of the final warm-ups for this year’s Olympic Games in Sydney.

Up for grabs in Boise: the last two spots on the U.S. Olympic women’s cycling team for the Summer Games.

“To me, this is where it all starts, is with this race,” said Mari Holden, 29, from Ventura County, Calif., the leading contender for a spot on the U.S. team. “At this point, I’m planning my season like I’m going.”

Holden won the recent U.S. Olympic time trials, so she’s confident. But several other strong female racers are vying as well.

That’s not all that’s going on. The HP Laserjet Women’s Challenge, which has been running each year in Boise since 1984, has become a major international event. This summer, it will be broadcast not only nationwide in two one-hour programs on ESPN2, but also translated and broadcast in Europe, Central and South America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

Annie Tucher, marketing and development director for the race, explained: “A huge number of our fans are overseas.”

More than 100 racers from more than a dozen countries are in Boise for an event that’s as grueling as they get. The course covers 625 miles, and altitudes from 2,000 to 7,800 feet. The women ride up and over high mountain passes, zoom through high-plains desert and speed 45 times around the state Capitol in a 35-mile criterium. Over the course of the 11-stage race, they climb half the height of Mount Everest.

Seven-time U.S. national champion Dede Demet Barry of Milwaukee - another U.S. contender for an Olympic role this year - said, “Every year the racing gets harder. It truly is a challenge. I love this race.”

The Women’s Challenge wasn’t sanctioned by the international governing body of cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale, until 1995 because it thought the race, the climbing and the altitude were too tough for women. That’s been proved as wrong as can be.

This year’s course has some new twists to make it more like what the cyclists will face when they get to Sydney. New challenges include a 79-mile leg that’s designed to mimic the Australian Olympic course. A 40-kilometer Olympic-length time trial also has been added - that’s 25 miles.

The Idaho race has some higher elevations than Sydney, but the racers see that as a training plus. “You get a benefit from being at a higher altitude and then going down to race,” Holden said.

One racer, Tracey Gaudry, is from Australia and will compete for that nation in Sydney, but is making Boise her home base for training between now and then. That’s because the conditions here are just right - not only in terrain, but also in supportive folks. Holden did her first big stage race at the Women’s Challenge in 1993, and now is the U.S. national road race and time trial champion.

“I look forward to this race every year. It’s the highlight of my season,” she said. The reasons: tons of supportive volunteers, beautiful and challenging terrain, and a welcoming community.

“Women’s racing is the big focus,” she said, “and it’s in America.”

The race, which started Thursday, continues through June 18. The television version will air on ESPN2 Aug. 5 and 10, but updates, pictures and results will go on the Challenge’s Internet site right away, at www.hplwc.com.