USA Cycling has revealed its 2020 Pro Road Tour calendar with little surprise in the 17-event schedule comprised of 43 total days of racing in 15 states.
The Maryland Cycling Classic, a one-day race that will feature on the UCI's inaugural Pro Series calendar, is the big new addition to the Pro Road Tour, which will maintain its core of races from this year.
"As we enter into our fifth year of the Pro Road Tour, we are looking forward to another strong year of pro racing in the United States," said Tara McCarthy, director of national events for USA Cycling.
The Pro Road Tour comprises the top road race events in the US and is open to both professional and amateur cyclists. USA Cycling convinced the UCI to change its rules so that Pro Continental teams could compete in non-UCI events on the calendar, which is also open to domestic elite amateur teams.
The series is a mix of criteriums, omniums, road races, stage races and an individual time trial. Individual and team champions are crowned at the conclusion of the calendar.
"We believe that the races on our calendar, including a range of events including single day criterium racing all the way up to UCI Pro Series races at the Tour of Utah and the new Maryland Cycling Classic, exhibit the high caliber of racing that our racers and fans are looking for," McCarthy said.
The series starts in Arkansas on April 2 with the four-day Joe Martin Stage Race, a UCI 2.2 event for both men and women. The series heads further south next for two days of racing on April 18-19 at the Alabama Cycling Classic.
From there the series shifts to the west for the Redlands Bicycle Classic, a five-day stage race in Southern California that has been a staple of the US circuit for more than three decades. The race runs from April 22-26. The UCI 2.2 Tour of the Gila and its legendary "Gila Monster" final stage are next, taking place April 29 through May 3 in Silver City, New Mexico.
The Wilmington Grand Prix in Delaware on May 16 takes the series back east for a one-day criterium, followed the next weekend by the Winston-Salem Classic Criterium on May 23 and the Winston-Salem Classic UCI 1.1 road race on May 25.
The Armed Forces Cycling Classic keeps things rolling the following weekend with a pair of criteriums in Arlington, Virginia. The MVP Healthcare Rochester Twilight Criterium is up next in New York on June 6, one day before the three-day criterium omnium starts at the Tulsa Tough, which runs June 7-9.
The Pro Road Tour then moves back to the west again, with the Chrono Kristin Armstrong individual time trial in Boise, Idaho, on July 10. The series stays over in Boise for the Anderson Banducci Twilight Criterium on July 13 before heading to Utah for the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, a seven-day stage race with the UCI's new 2.Pro designation, the highest rank beneath the WorldTour. The August 3-9 men's-only race is America's premiere multi-day event now that the Tour of California is off the 2020 UCI calendar.
The women's-only Colorado Classic is next on the Pro Road Tour calendar. The four-day UCI 2.1stage race starts August 27 and runs through August 30.
The series moves east again to the Gateway Cup in St. Louis, Missouri, for a four-day criterium omnium September 4-7.
The Maryland Cycling Classic debuts September 6 on the UCI ProSeries. The one-day men's only event hopes to attract nearly a dozen WorldTour teams as it takes place just ahead of the one-day WorldTour races in Quebec and Montreal.
The 2020 USA Cycling Pro Road Tour concludes September 13 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with the Bucks County Classic criterium.
2020 USA Pro Road Tour
April 2-5 -- Joe Martin Stage Race -- Fayetteville, Arkansas -- UCI 2.2 Stage Race (M/W)
April 18-19 -- Alabama Cycling Classic -- Anniston, Alabama -- Criterium (M/W)
April 22-26 -- Redlands Bicycle Classic -- Redlands, Calif. -- Stage Race (M/W)
April 29 - May 3 -- Tour of the Gila -- Silver City, New Mexico -- UCI 2.2 Stage Race (M/W)
May 16 -- Wilmington Grand Prix -- Wilmington, Delaware -- Criterium (M/W)
May 23 -- Winston-Salem Classic Criterium -- Winston-Salem, North Carolina -- Criterium (M/W)
May 25 -- Winston-Salem Classic Road Race -- Winston-Salem, North Carolina -- UCI 1.1 Road Race (M/W)
May 30-31 -- Armed Forces Cycling Classic p/b The Boeing Company -- Arlington, Virgina -- Criterium Omnium (M/W)
June 6 -- MVP Healthcare Rochester Twilight Criterium -- Rochester, New York -- Criterium (M/W)
June 7-9 -- Saint Francis Tulsa Tough -- Tulsa, Oklahoma -- Criterium Omnium (M/W)
July 10 -- Chrono Kristin Armstrong -- Boise, Idaho -- UCI 1.2 Time Trial (M/W)
July 13 -- Andersen Banducci Twilight Criterium -- Boise, Idaho -- Criterium (M/W)
August 3-9 -- Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah -- Utah -- UCI 2.Pro Stage Race (Men Only)
August 27-30 -- Colorado Classic -- Colorado -- UCI 2.1 Stage Race (Women Only)
Sept. 4-7 -- The Gateway Cup -- St. Louis, Missouri -- Criterium Omnium (M/W)
Sept. 6 -- Maryland Cycling Classic -- Baltimore, Maryland -- UCI 1.Pro Road Race (Men Only)
September 13 -- Bucks County Classic -- Doylestown, Pennsylvania -- Criterium (M/W)
