From: lars@craycos.com (Ron Larson)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing
Subject: Celestial Seasoning Classic, Phinney
Date: 27 Aug 92 19:04:54 GMT
Organization: Cray Computer Corporation

Phinney gets closer, but no cigar

By Natalie Meisler
Denver Post Sports Writer

VAIL - If the Celestial Seasonings Bicycle Classic can find the funds
to make it an annual event, Davis Phinney may never retire.

At this rate, the 33-year-old Boulder native may not win a race, but he
intends to keep trying.

Yesterday, he finished second behind Coors Light teammate David Mann in
the Vail Village Criterium.  Mann worked too hard throughout the race,
soloing to a 21-second winning margin, for Phinney to seriously try to
overtake him.

When IME-Bolla's Paul McCormack took up Mann's pursuit with seven laps
remaining, Phinney went along for the ride. "I just wanted to stretch
my legs and make a race of it," Phinney said. They came as close as 18
seconds with a few laps left.  Phinney dropped McCormack to third,
still a breakthrough for any rider not in a Coors Light jersey to reach
the victory stand for the top three.

The racers had an audience for the first time in three days. Vail
didn't generate the 20,000-plus crowds at the height of the Coors
Classic, but several thousand lined the 1.1 mile circuit.

"I look at this as where the Red Zinger (forerunner of the Coors
Classic from 1975-79) was 15 years ago," said Phinney. It's got a lot
of room to grow.  But with a little more money and maybe five or six
days of racing, it will keep me out there for a few more years.

"I didn't realize how important racing here in Colorado meant to me
until now."

The Celestial Classic is operating on a S200,000 shoestring budget with
no promises of boosted support for next year.

Phinney, who for the past few years has predicted he has anywhere from
zero to infinity left in his racing career, said he has spread himself
too thin with outside business interests.

Although he has won over 300 races in a career that began with the Red
Zinger, he has been relegated to the role of riding in support of his
teammates.

"It's still important for me to be able to win and I've slipped a notch
this year," said Phinney. "My goal is to be back winning next year."

At least one part of the team's script came through.

Mike Engleman, using this as a training race for the World
Championships, took over the leader's jersey from teammate Steve Swart
by winning the morning's 10-mile Vail Pass Time Trial.  Engleman won in
26 minutes, 59 seconds, beating Swart by 36 seconds. Mann was third, 59
seconds behind Engleman.

The Celestial Classic wraps up at noon today with the 106-mile
Morgul-Bismark in Boulder County, yet another staple of the old Coors
Classic. Unless Swart or Mann find themselves in an early break,
Engleman should have no trouble keeping the overall title.

Phinney, who placed third in Friday's race, figures it's his turn to
finally win one. But then, that's also from the business perspective
because his bicycle shop is named for the race.
-- 
Ron Larson                       |   If pro is the opposite of con,
Cray Computer Corporation        |   what is the opposite of progress??
lars@craycos.com  (719)-540-4232 |              Frank & Ernest
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing