On 29th April, 2003, the last press conference of Slovene cyclists Fredi
VIRAG and Marko BALOH before their deparure for the Race Across America
- RAAM 2003 was held in Ljubljana.
There are only 16 days left before the race starts and the cyclists
are well-prepared for the most demanding ultramarathon cycling event
in the world.
Fredi VIRAG, from Idrija, who is participating in this race for the
4th time is well-prepared. He surpassed Slovene national record in 48-hour-uninterrupted
ride on 3th May, 2003, in Moravske Toplice (the new record is 1278km)
in the course of his preparation. Before his departure there were some
minor changes in his team although, in his opinion, that should not
affect his performance. He trusts his team because they are people who
will breathe with him and support him during the race.
His training went according to plan and he fulfilled the expectations
even though he cycled fewer kilometres than last year. His preparations
went according to plan and he fulfilled the expectations.
Fredi VIRAG and his team leave for the USA on 9th June, 2003.
Marko BALOH, from Ljubljana, had his "rehearsal" for RAAM
between 28th and 30th March, 2003, when he raced across entire Slovenia.
In 50 hours he cycled the complete distance of 1138 km.
Marko BALOH is also the current world record holder for the 12-hour-chronometer.
His preparations went according to plan and will finish this weekend,
after his last somewhat longer training. The entire ammount of the cycled
kilometres is 1500. He is excellently prepared as well as his team which
will accompany him during the Race Across America. They all eagerly
expect the beginning of the race.
Marko BALOH leaves for the USA on 4th July, 2003. His team will join
him there on 12th July, 2003.
Both cyclists are among the favourites for the victory on RAAM (also
according to the organizers) but they both are very modest and have
annonced only the placing among the best.
During the race, information will be at hand on the official RAAM web
site: www.RaceAcrossAmerica.org
or on the web site: www.MarkoBaloh.com.
There you will be able to get daily fresh news/reports and new information
concerning the race.
All the material (photographs and texts which will be published on the
latter) will be available and free of charge if you decide to use it
for publishing. The contact telephone number of the team's mobile phone
in the USA will be available on the web site where you will be able
to obtain statements and other information directly from the participants.Fotografije
z novinarske konference.
