2018 National Calendars Unveiled for Pro Road and Pro Mountain Bike Disciplines
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Print 2018 National Calendars Unveiled for Pro Road and
Pro Mountain Bike Disciplines
“This is the third year for the Pro Road Tour. We continue to align the mix of quality criteriums, omniums, road races, stage races, and this year a time trial event, to provide a better balance for travel across the country,” said Chuck Hodge, Vice President of Operations for USA Cycling. “The Pro Gravity and Cross-Country tours feature four new events, with four returning events receiving upgrades from the UCI for higher points,”
The Pro GRT, which features gated events, such as dual slalom and four-cross, will launch the professional mountain bike season for a second year at the Windrock Pro GRT in Oliver Springs, Tenn. on March 8-11. This is one of the three returning events for Pro GRT, and it has been upgraded to a UCI Category 1 classification. It will be followed by NW Cup - Port Angeles in Washington, which moved from mid May in 2017 to April 14-15, 2018.
The next three Pro GRT events are all new to the schedule - Mountain Creek Pro GRT in Vernon, N.J. on May 25-27, NW Cup - Tamarack in Idaho on June 23-24, and Purgatory’s Revenge in Durango, Colo. on Sept. 1-3. The season concludes again at the Kamikaze Bike Games in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. on Sept. 15-16.
The Pro XCT will focus on events in the western half of the country, with only one of seven events being hosted east of the Rocky Mountains. Pro XCT events are all UCI sanctioned and include cross-country Olympic-style and short-track cross-country racing.
The first three events will return to California on the first three consecutive Saturdays in April. The Fontana XC, upgraded from Category 3 to UCI HC, gets the tour started in Fontana City on April 7, followed by Bonelli Park in Bonelli and the Subaru Sea Otter Classic in Monterey. A two-day event will return to Midway, Utah May 5-6 for the Soldier Hollow Pro XCT, followed by the Missoula XC competition June 9 in Missoula, Montana. The calendar series moves to Catamount, Vt. on July 28 for a repeat performance of the Julbo Eastern Grind. The tour concludes Sept. 2 in a joint weekend of racing with Pro GRT at Purgatory’s Revenge in Durango, Colo.
The Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Ala. returns to launch the PRT as the first event on April 7. It is the first of 11 criteriums and crit omniums on the calendar for 2018. The next four events take competitions on the first to two western swings in April and May - Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas, Tour of the Gila in New Mexico, Dana Point Grand Prix p/b Kingston and Redlands Bicycle Classic, both in California.
One of the first changes on the calendar comes May 19, when the Rochester Twilight Criterium will take place in Rochester, N.Y., moving from its traditional date in mid August. After two days of racing on Memorial Day weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C., two long-standing events will added to the PRT schedule - the Glencoe Grand Prix in Glencoe, Ill. on June 2 and the Independence Cycling Classic in Philadelphia, Penn. on June 3.
The following weekend, June 9-10, offers another new event, the Armed Forces Cycling Classic p/b The Boeing Company in Arlington, Va. It is only one of two weekends on the calendar with multiple events. The three-day Saint Francis Tulsa Tough returns to Tulsa, Okla. on June 8-10. The month concludes with the five-day North Star Grand Prix p/b North Memorial Hospital on June 13-17.
July offers two new events that bookend the ASWB Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho. On Friday, July 13, Boise will add a UCI 1.2 time trial event for men and women, the Chrono Kristin Armstrong. The ASWB Twilight Criterium will return on Saturday. That same day, the Detroit Cycling Championships will be held in the Motor City.
August features two UCI 2.HC stage races for men, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and the Colorado Classic. The Gateway Cup returns Labor Day weekend to St. Louis, Mo. with three days of racing. The Thompson Criterium of Doylestown also returns as the final event of the 2018 PRT schedule. It will be a two-event stop in Pennsylvania, with the Thompson Bucks County Classic for men on Sept. 8, followed by the criterium for men and women on Sept. 9.
USA Cycling works with race directors from across the country to create various calendars and series that feature bike racing across several disciplines and ability levels. Inclusion on these calendars often includes event support, rankings tabulation and additional promotion. For the full schedule of events, visit www.usacycling.org/usa-cycling-series-calendars-overview.htm, and click on individual disciplines:
PRT - www.usacycling.org/prt/
Pro GRT - www.usacycling.org/progrt
Pro XCT - www.usacycling.org/proxct/
This Article Updated November 28, 2017 @ 12:05 AM For more information contact:
