UCI makes adjustments to its North American continental calendar
- By Neal Rogers
- Published Nov. 1, 2007
The UCI unveiled its 2008 continental calendars earlier this month, with a few noteworthy changes to its America Tour schedule.
In addition to national championship events, the ’08 calendar offers 16 elite men’s and espoirs’ races in the United States and Canada. Six elite UCI women’s events are slated for 2008, solely during the months of May and June. Four UCI elite men’s events, all stage races, will be held in Mexico, with none scheduled for elite women.
Returning U.S. events include the season-opening Amgen Tour of California, April’s Tour de Georgia and September’s Tour of Missouri, as well as the Commerce Bank Pennsylvania Triple Crown, also known as “Philly Week.”
The Triple Crown sees one key change as the perennial week-opening Lancaster event has been replaced by a new event in Pennsylvania’s third-largest city of Allentown, near the venerated Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown.
The Tour de Georgia, which was held in 2007 without a title sponsor, will continue for a sixth season and will be reorganized under new leadership. Owned by the not-for-profit Georgia Partnership for Economic Development (GPED), the race will be governed by a reconstituted board of directors with Lt. Governor Casey Cagle serving as chair. Medalist Sports will continue as the logistics and operations management company for the event. Elizabeth Dewberry, who has worked with Cagle for five years, will be named as executive director of the Tour de Georgia and will manage the marketing, business operations and strategic partnerships. The weeklong event will maintain its UCI 2. HC (hors categorie) status and is part of the USA Cycling Professional Tour. Lt. Governor Cagle, in partnership with Medalist Sports, will announce the official route and host venues on November 14.
Interesting new additions to the American calendar include the June 24-29 American Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania, which is being billed by Pro Cycling Tour race promoters as the “world’s richest espoir [under-25] stage race,” with a prize list of $250,000.
Also new in 2008 is the August 22-24 ColoradoStage Race, organized by the Vail Valley Foundation. Not to be confusedwith a planned 2009 Tour of Colorado, the Colorado Stage Race will include the Vail Pass time trial course, one of the integral elements of its predecessor, the CoorsClassic, along with a Breckenridge to Beaver Creek road race and a circuitrace spanning East Vail to West Vail.
Canada’s Tour de Beauce, which has been won by riders such as Levi Leipheimer,Henk Vogels, Michael Rogers, Nathan O’Neill and last year’s champion BenDay, returns for an 11th year. New to the UCI calendar is Canada’s one-dayWelland Race, held in Ontario, which will be held August 3.
With wins at the two-week long Tour of Cuba and the U.S. Open Championships,Canadian Svein Tuft of Symmetrics-FarmPure was the overall winner of the2007 UCI America Tour.
“It’s been a long, hard season for me,” Tuft said. “But it’s been one of the best. Having the goal of the America Tour has made me train harder, race harder, and stay focused all year. It’s been a 10-month stage race, in a way. But I’m just so happy we did this, both for the team and for Canada.”
A total of six UCI elite women’s races will be held in 2008, all in May and June, including the May 31 Montreal World Cup and the June 8 Commerce Bank Liberty Classic. Although elite women will be pleased to hear that the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, historically an NRC event, has upgraded its women’s event to a UCI 2.2 stage race, they will again be frustrated to learn that for a second consecutive year the five-stage Tour of Prince Edward Island will conflict with the Liberty Classic. Both races have start dates of June 8, forcing teams to again choose between them, or split their squads.
The Tourof Prince Edward Island is managed by Montreal World Cup and Le Tour du Grand Montréal director Daniel Manibal.
“For us it’s going to be really important to be at both races, we have quite a few Canadians on the team,” said Aaron’s team director Carmen D’Aluisio. “It certainly is a disadvantage to have two big races and have to make a decision which to go to.”
While USA Cycling has not yet announced its 2008 Professional Tour or National Racing Calendar schedules, it is assumed that as in 2007, the USAC Professional Tour will be composed solely of men’s events in the U.S. that are included on the UCI America Tour calendar.
DATE – EVENT – UCI CLASSIFICATION
| May 13-18 | Mt. Hood Cycling Classic (USA) | 2.2 |
| May 24 | Tour de Leelanau (USA) | 1.2 |
| May 31 | Montréal Women’s World Cup (Can) | CDM |
| June 2-5 | Le Tour du Grand Montréal (Can) | 2.1 |
| June 8 | Commerce Bank Liberty Classic (USA) | 1.1 |
| June 8-12 | Tour of Prince Edward Island (Can) | 2.2 |
2008 UCI ELITE MEN AND ESPOIRS NORTH AMERICAN CALENDAR
| February 17-24 | Amgen Tour of California (USA) | 2.HC |
| March 9-16 | Vuelta Chiapas (Mex) | 2.2 |
| April 13 | U.S. Cycling Open (USA) | 1.1 |
| April 21-27 | Tour de Georgia (USA) | 2.HC |
| May 3 | The Crystal City Classic presented by the United States Air Force (USA) | 1.2 |
| May 24 | Tour de Leelanau (USA) | 1.2 |
| June 3 | Commerce Bank Allentown Classic (USA) | 1.1 |
| June 5 | Commerce Bank Reading Classic (USA) | 1.1 |
| June 5-8 | Coupe des nations Ville Saguenay (CAN under-23 Nation’s Cup) | 2.Ncup |
| June 8 | Commerce Bank International Championship (USA) | 1.HC |
| June 10-15 | Tour de Beauce (Can) | 2.2 |
| June 20-22 | Saturn Rochester Twilight Omnium (USA) | 2.2 |
| June 24-29 | American Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania (USA) | 2.2 |
| August 3 | The Welland Race (Can) | 1.2 |
| August 22-24 | The Colorado Stage Race (USA) | 2.2 |
| August 30-31 | USPRO Road and Time Trial Championships | 1.CN |
| September 6 | Univest Grand Prix (USA) | 1.2 |
| September 6-7 | Vuelta Jalisco (Mex) | 2.2 |
| September 8-14 | Tour of Missouri (USA) | 2.1 |
| September 13-20 | Vuelta Mexico (Mex) | 2.2 |
| October 5-12 | Vuelta Chihuahua Internacional (Mex) | 2.2 |
FILED UNDER: Road
Neal Rogers
An interest in all things rock 'n' roll led Neal into music journalism while attending UC Santa Cruz. After several post-grad years spent waiting tables, surfing and mountain biking, Neal moved to San Francisco, working stints as a bike messenger and at a software start-up. He moved to Colorado in 2001, taking an editorial internship at VeloNews. He never left, and is now Velo's editor in chief. When not traveling the world covering races, Neal can be found riding his bike, skiing, cooking, or attending a concert. Follow him on Twitter at @nealrogers.