JUNE 24, 2006

It's not about the Pike

Mark Webber was having a miserable weekend on Saturday in Montreal after his Williams team mate Nico Rosberg got in his way at a crucial moment in qualifying and he ended up missing the cut to go through to the second part of the session. That condemned Webber to a frustrating day on Sunday as overtaking in Montreal is never an easy thing to do.

The good news for Webber is that on Tuesday he will get a decent dose of endorphins when he, Alexander Wurz and a trio of NASCAR drivers cycle to the top of Pike's Peak in Colorado.

The celebrated hillclimb course, which has been used since 1916, climbs 4800 ft in 12.4 miles and includes 156 turns, including a large number of hairpins. The cars take about 10 minutes to get to the top but one the bicycles it will take about four hours of concentrated hard work. The five will be overseen and accompanied by Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong's trainer, and will be sponsored by AMD, whose Vice-President of marketing Morris Denton is a huge cycling fan and close friend of seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong.