A crippling economy spanning nearly three years lead to the collapse of several International Cycling Union (UCI) events throughout the United States of America. That could change next year with the addition of at least one new UCI sanctioned stage race expected to take place from late August to early September in the state of Colorado.
A Tour of Colorado has been under discussion for years but has never quite come to terms. The proposed event was thought to mimic that of the former Coors Classic held between 1979-88 and renowned as one of the toughest events in the world in its day.
It is widely known that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong expressed an interest a bringing a stage race, as esteemed as the former Coors Classic, back to Colorado. He met with Colorado Governor Bill Ritter last year to build support for a proposed event in 2011.
In recent years, the UCI racing in America has been decimated by the loss of the Tour de Georgia and Tour of Missouri, both managed by Medalist Sport, LLC and the Tour de New York.
USA Cycling’s ProTour series was reduced to four events that included the Tour of the Battenkill, Amgen Tour of California, TD Bank International Cycling Championships and the Univest Grand Prix along with the US Professional National Championships events; criterium, time trial and road race.
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
