***“Due to the severe weather in the forecast, Saturday’s afternoon session of UCI racing will now begin at 10 a.m. To accommodate this change, Saturday’s Masters & Rookies racing is now canceled. The evening session of racing for the UCI Madison Cup XLI, which has a scheduled start of 7:30 p.m., will likely begin earlier in the day, shortly after the ending of the first session of racing. Stay tuned for more updates as we monitor the weather.”***
KEIRIN, MADISON CUPS ON THE LINE ON USA WEEKEND
TREXLERTOWN, Pa. – The weekend not only marks the end of the month of June, but it also brings to a close the streak of six UCI sanctioned nights of racing in four weeks in T-Town. On tap to cap it off is the UCI Keirin Cup XXXI on Friday and the UCI Madison Cup XLI on Saturday. Gates open at 6 p.m. with racing starting at 7:30 p.m. on both nights at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center.
Friday night’s Keirin Cup will be the final time riders can battle for UCI keirin points in T-Town this year. Also, UCI points will be on the line for the men’s international omnium and a women’s scratch race. The Keirin Cup will be hoisted by the men’s and women’s winner of the respective keirin tournaments. Both Kate O’Brien of Canada and Mandy Marquardt of Allentown, Pennsylvania etched their names in it a year ago and look to do the same on Friday night. For the men, it was Hugo Barrette of Canada and Matt Rotherham of Great Britain who won it in 2016. Barrette could repeat this year, however, Rotherham is not in the field this year.
Friday night’s festivities also kick off USA Weekend in T-Town as all veterans, active military members, and active first responders receive free admission on both Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday night, Hometown Heroes will be honored prior to the racing with the help of Becca from Cat Country 96 and Operation Homefront. Additionally, there will be limited edition T-Town camo hats and shirts on sale in the plaza with a portion of the proceeds benefitting Operation Homefront.
Kona Ice and Ziggy’s Roasters food trucks will be serving delicious treats as well in the plaza on Friday night.
In addition to watching bike racing on Friday, you can save a life by donating blood to the Miller Keystone Blood Center, who will be accepting donations from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. right outside the main entrance. Every individual who donates blood receives a free general admission ticket into the night’s event.
View Friday’s schedule of events here.
Saturday night’s UCI Madison Cup XLI welcomes the month of July with more American themed fun as well as great racing on the track. UCI points are on the line for men’s and women’s match sprint, a women’s international omnium, and a men’s madison. There also is a tentative women’s team sprint event on the schedule, which also has UCI points attached to it, in the event it happens.
There will not be a repeat champion of the Madison Cup as 2016’s winning team of Nick Stopler and Bobby Lea will not be in the field on Saturday night.
Fans can see Saturday night’s action, the last chance to see many of the world-class, international riders this season, for a great price as a seat on the VeloDeck (with a free beer, and a chance to win a Corporate Limousine ride) is $7, finish line seating is $5, general admission is $4, and kids 12 years old and under are $2.
View Saturday’s schedule of events here.
Tickets are on sale now for both events here or can be purchased the night of at the box office.
#ttown
Information & Image Provided By:
Tyler Trumbauer
PR/Communications Assistant
Valley Preferred Cycling Center
