Posted: July 1, 2004

Triathlon: Former Postie McRae cycles age-groupers through QCR course

NÜRNBERG/HIPOLSTEIN, Germany (July 1, 2004) – Coming off of a very positive 4:15:31 second-place finish at the well-known, middle-distance triathlon in Buffalo Springs, Tex., former US Postal Service Tour de France rider and U.S. Pro Cycling champion, professional triathlete Chann McRae (USA) is primed to race Sunday’s Quelle Challenge Roth (3.8 km S/180 km B/42.2 km R), the world’s largest, most historic ultra-distance race. He took time today for a taper-training ride with American age-groupers also racing at Roth.

The rolling hills and sweeping turns, as well as the tens of thousands of fans throughout the two-loop route make Quelle Challenge Roth truly a cyclist’s course – it’s the fastest in the world, with both the men’s and women’s iron-distance records standing here, including Jürgen Zäck’s 4:14:16 ride when he won the race in 1999. McRae hopes to cruise to a high-speed bike split on Sunday to give him a leg up on starting the run.

Quelle Challenge Roth’s sponsors include: Quelle AG, Deutsche Post AG, N-ERGIE, DB Regio, Opel AG, Newline, Nürnberger Nachrichten (Nürnberg Newspapers), Bayrische Versicherungskammer, Maxim, Phillips, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Sparkasse Mittelfranken-Süd, ADAC, Arndt, Recaro, PowerBar, County of Roth, City of Roth, City of Hilpolstein, Coca-Cola, Frankenbrunnen, Zeus Copy, Paladin, Hofmann, Jura Kaelte, Lorenz & Partner, INKO Energy, Flor & Sohn, Spedition Heinloth, and BIESTMILCH.

For more information on the July 4, 2004 Quelle Challenge Roth and Triathlon Festival, Deutsche Triathlon Union (DTU) ultra-distance International German Championship and Long Distance Triathlon World Championship for Firefighters, the on-line forum and the event’s newsletter, visit www.challenge-roth.com and www.challengelive.com.