Tour of Elk Grove receives National Racing Calendar designation

The second annual Tour of Elk Grove, set for Saturday and Sunday, August 11-12 in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, will be included in the 2007 National Racing Calendar (NRC), which was recently unveiled by USA Cycling.

In addition to the designation, the prize money for 2007 Tour of Elk Grove has been increased to $200,000, making it the largest prize list for a men's professional cycling event in the US (The prize money in its 2006 inaugural year was $153,000). Also new in 2007 is the debut of a three-stage professional men's competition featuring individual prizes for each stage as well as an overall winner. The three stages are: a time trial competition, an 80km criterium race and a 100km criterium race and the overall winner will receive the event's biggest single-event cash prize of $26,000.

"We're very proud and honoured to receive NRC designation in our second year," says Mayor Johnson. "It speaks highly of how Tour of Elk Grove is regarded and will draw even more world-class cyclists to participate in the event."

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The 2007 Tour of Elk Grove will feature a total of 13 criterium races for amateur and professional cyclists, among them will be two USCF races. In addition, the 2007 event will also feature a community-wide Mayor's Challenge race, a Children's Big Wheel Race and a new Village Trustees Fun Ride. There will also be a Saturday night "block party" featuring fireworks and live bands.

In 2006, the winner of the $25,000 first-place prize was Australian Hilton Clarke. Also competing in that race were Canada's Gord Fraser and Tour de France 2006 cyclists Chris Horner, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde.