Tour of Elk Grove makes it to big leagues
The Tour of Elk Grove has made it to the big leagues.
Its professional men's three-day, three-stage race has been recognized by cycling's foremost governing body — Union Cycliste International (UCI) — that oversees the Tour de France and other international competitive cycling races.
Tour of Elk Grove is one of six cycling races in the United States to earn that distinction, officials said.
“We are very proud of it,” Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said Thursday. “They are the topmost governing body for international bike racing. And for us to get that designation so early in our bike racing history, we feel is a very big achievement for us. It speaks highly to how Tour of Elk Grove has firmly established itself within the global cycling community. It will also bring the international spotlight, and more world-class cyclists, to the Midwest.”
UCI has been watching the Tour's progress over a couple of years but everything fell into place in the last five months, Johnson said.
“They look at the type of races you run, prize money, they look at quality of (riders), they look at how you put on a race, does it run smoothly, is it well respected,” Johnson said.
UCI officials also talked to USA Cycling, the national sanctioning body for competitive cycling, and professional riders to get their views about the Tour, he added.
The sixth annual Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove will be held Aug. 5 through 7. It features 15 pro/am races and a total prize purse of more than $150,000.
Also new for the 2011 Tour is a professional women's three-day, three-stage race that is now part of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar, Johnson said.
“We are one of the very few stage races that professional women have in America,” Johnson said.
In previous years, professional women cyclists had two individual races during the Tour.
“Over the years the women racers have talked to us and Alexian Brothers has been a big proponent of women's racing … they tie it into the fact that they have a women's center and all they do for women's health,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the $15,000 total prize purse is generous for professional women's racing. The men's racing purse is $110,000, and other race purses are identical to last year, he said.
Johnson said the Tour lost its No. 1 ranking by USA Cycling as the race with the top purse in the United States to Tour of California, which now has a total purse of $184,000.
This year, the women's time trial will be held before the men's trial, and the women's stage races will precede the men's races. Race organizers are expecting up to 100 professional women cyclists will participate. The stages are: a 4.5 mile time trial, a 93-mile road race, and a 6.2-mile loop course.