North American race briefs: 10-race Pro Tour series, Dairyland Tour adds field
Locals fight to revive Gastown, Take a survey!
USA Cycling announced the fourth edition of the USA Cycling Professional Tour which consists of ten high profile events this season.
The 2010 Pro Tour features four major multi-day stage races across the country: the Tours of California, New York, Missouri and the Univest Grand Prix and six additional one-day events, including five road races, one criterium and one time trial.
A first time event will kick off the calendar. The Tour of The Battenkill, a newly minted UCI race, takes place on Sunday, April 18 in Upstate New York's Washington County.
The second race of the series, the Amgen Tour of California, moves to its later slot, now running eight days from May 16 to 23. Next up is the 26th edition of the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship on June 6.
The circuit will then move to Providence, Rhode Island for the U.S. Open of Cycling on July 4 followed by the 2.2-rated Tour de New York from August 7-12. The USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championships will then take place Aug. 14 in a location still to be determined.
The Tour of Missouri will this year serve as the seventh of 10 total events, from August 31- September 6, while the the Univest Grand Prix will bring the series back to Pennsylvania for the 2.2-rated event, consisting of a circuit race on Saturday, Sept. 11 and a road race in and around Souderton on Sept. 12.
For the fifth consecutive year, Greenville, South Carolina will welcome the USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships on September 18 and 19 as the two final events of the series.
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Following the donning of the Stars-and-Stripes in Greenville, the overall Pro Tour standings will be used to determine an individual and a team champion who are considered the best and most consistent performers in international-caliber racing in the US. Last year David Zabriskie claimed the top prize, while Columbia-HTC took home the team title.
2010 USA Cycling Professional Tour:
April 18: Tour of the Battenkill - Cambridge, NY
May 16 – 23: Amgen Tour of California - California
June 6: TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship - Philadelphia, PA
July 4: US Open of Cycling - Providence, RI
Aug. 7 – 12: Tour de New York – Rochester, NY
Aug. 14: USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championships - TBD
Aug. 31 – Sept. 6: Tour of Missouri - Missouri
Sept. 11 – 12: Univest Grand Prix - Souderton, PA
Sept. 18: USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championship - Greenville, SC
Sept. 19: USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship - Greenville, SC
Tour of America's Dairyland Adds Women's 3/4 Category to 10 Days of Racing in 2010
The Tour of America's Dairyland presented by Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, an omnium bicycle race across 11 Southeastern Wisconsin cities, will include a Women's 3/4 category in addition to the Pro Women 1/2 category in this year's daily race schedule, promoter Midwest Cycling Series has announced.
Cat 3/4 Women will have the opportunity to race in 10 consecutive days on this year's 11-day Tour, which runs June 17-27 and will features nine criteriums (lap races) and two road races for professional and amateur cyclists.
"We listened to the passionate feedback we received after the '09 Tour of America's Dairyland from women cyclists who said they wanted more opportunities to race" said Bill Koch of Midwest Cycling Series. "Basically, they said, 'if you build it, we will come!' so we're looking forward to some exciting women's racing of varying levels out there this year."
For more information, visit www.TourofAmericasDairyland.com
2010 Tour of Americas Dairyland
Thursday, June 17: Shorewood Criterium (Pro Men and Pro Women races only)
Friday, June 18: Thiensville Criterium
Saturday, June 19: Giro d' Grafton (Criterium)
Sunday, June 20: Appleton Criterium
Monday, June 21 Road Race at Elkhart Lake's Road America
Tuesday, June 22 Sheboygan Harbor Centre Family Day & Bike Race (Criterium)
Wednesday, June 23 Trek Waterloo Classic (Criterium)
Thursday, June 24 Greenbush Road Race
Friday, June 25 Fond du Lac Cycling Grand Prix (Criterium)
Saturday, June 26 Downer Classic (Criterium on Milwaukee's Eastside)
Sunday, June 27 Waukesha Carl Zach Cycling Classic (Criterium)
BC tries to revive Gastown race
As Vancouver is set to be taken over by the Winter Olympic Games, cycling stakeholders, including organizers of the BC Superweek races that also include the Tour of Delta and Tour de White Rock, are working together with Gastown's Business Improvement Society to bring back The Tour de Gastown. The race has, in the past, been a launching pad for many of Canada's Olympians.
"The Gastown race is an important part of BC Superweek and has a strong history in the sport dating back over 30 years," says Mark Ernsting, a former national team cyclist now working as the events liaison with BC Superweek.
"Many of the world's top cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, have won this race, and almost every top Canadian Cyclist has at one point raced in it. The energy that this event creates among the spectators is electrifying."
In addition to the return of the Tour de Gastown, which was also formerly known as the Gastown Grand Prix, the organizers of BC Superweek are also working to expand their series with the addition of an event in North Vancouver, and bring back the Giro di Burnaby after a one-year absence from the racing calendar.
The organisers have until March 31 to solidify plans to revive the race.
Bicycle Leadership Conference reaches out to cyclists
The Bicycle Leadership Conference, a gathering of top cycling industry executives held in Monterey, California just prior to the Sea Otter Classic, has published a survey for cyclists with results to be presented in a panel discussions at the conference.
Constructed by Bikes Belong research & statistics coordinator Kate Scheider and BLC director Ray Keener, the surveys will help the industry understand the riding, buying habits and attitudes of cyclists.
"We're excited to have some fresh and specific research about our core consumer," said Brad Edmondson, who heads the Demographics panel. "That will add relevancy to our presentation, and give BLC attendees some hard information to take home and apply to their businesses."
One general and one women-specific survey are available and cycling media companies Futures Publishing (cyclingnews.com and BikeRadar.com), Rodale (bicycling.com) and Competitor Group (velonews.competitor.com) are all promoting the survey to their readers.
Scheider says she is especially interested in the women's survey. "Now that our industry is offering many women's products and organizing women-specific clinics and rides, we want to find out if we're hitting the target from the women who are buying and participating."
Survey information will only be available to BLC attendees in April. For more information about the BLC, go to www.bicycleconference.org. To give your opinion to the bike industry and complete the survey, follow the link below.
