Coors boss: California is a great evolution

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By Ben Delaney

The conversation about the magnitude and importance of the Amgen Tour of California and the Coors Classic has been improperly phrased, says the former director of the latter. It’s not a matter of one being better than the other, but instead a linear and encouraging progression of American bike racing.

Standing at the finish line, Aisner was chatting away with old friends and new ones. With an ear-to-ear smile, he was clearly delighted to witness the biggest names in the sport roar across the line.

Without so much as turning his head, Aisner pointed out a number of people involved in the Coors Classic, which ran from 1979 to 1988, who are today playing key roles in the biggest race in the United States.

“I just look around this course and I have such extraordinary pride for so many people and things that are here,” Aisner said. “I look at Dave Towle, the announcer here. He was 16 years old when he walked into our office and wanted to do something at the Coors Classic. Jim Birrell (now race director at the Amgen Tour) worked on a construction crew at the race. The list goes on and on and on. The pride for the race and what we accomplished also goes to human beings. We have Taylor Phinney and Peter Stetina, whom we refer to as race babies. They literally wouldn’t exist had there not been a Classic. For that I have a huge sense of pride. All of this. It’s just grown so magnificently.”

The Coors Classic was a Colorado-based stage race that at one point included stages in California, Wyoming, Nevada and even Hawaii. Winners included Dale Stetina, Jonathan “Jock” Boyer, Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and Davis Phinney.

Aisner spoke about the progress of big American stage races that came after the Coors Classic.

“It rolled from us to the Trump Tour, from there to (Tour) DuPont, and on and on from there,” he said. “It’s very much the same crew. The entire crew that worked the DuPont tour really rolled right out of the Coors Classic. My note to Mike Plant at the opening meeting in California, when they were standing there getting ready to do the DuPont was, ‘Mike, here’s the torch.’ I so felt strongly about the need for things to go on. I can’t stand there with my arms folded and say, ‘Boo-hoo, the race has come to an end and so must everything else. I’m going to kill myself and everyone else.’ No! This thing really needed to rock on. And that is exactly what it’s done so magnificently.”

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FILED UNDER: Amgen Tour of California / Road TAGS: Amgen Tour of California