A Tour of Colorado professional stage race for males could return to the US calendar in 2026, because of a British firm. Infinity Events Group, based mostly within the UK, revealed in a press launch Monday their “intentions to organise” and relaunch a males’s five-day professional race in September subsequent season.
It has been six years for the reason that Colorado Classic topped Chloé Dygert as the general champion of a four-stage ladies’s UCI 2.1 professional race in 2019. A professional males’s Colorado Classic was held as a 2.HC UCI occasion in 2017 and 2018, Gavin Mannion taking the GC title in that remaining version. From 2011 to 2015 the lads’s race in Colorado was held because the USA Pro Challenge.
Scott Taylor, the managing director for Infinity Events Group, has excessive aspirations to re-launch a multi-day street race within the difficult, high-elevation terrain of Colorado subsequent yr, saying they had been “happy to be growing the brand new Tour of Colorado stage race”. Details of the race, such because the date, host cities and even the official identify of the occasion, are nonetheless within the planning course of, as an utility should be submitted to the UCI later this summer season for inscription as a 2026 occasion.
The announcement on Monday by Infinity Events Group was to ignite grassroots help for the occasion and safe sponsorships, upfront of a UCI-inscription, Taylor mentioned.
“We wanted to say one thing as a result of we need to set off some conversations and begin elevating [funds] and see how we will do it,” he instructed Cyclingnews.
“We had been in contact the second half of final yr with USA Cycling. I submitted a proposal and so they mentioned you’ve got go to make all of it work, financially and every part else, and we’ll help you within the utility to the UCI. And then the important thing bit was having the governor of Colorado on our aspect.”
While Taylor was coy about his targets for the meant UCI inscription degree, whether or not plans included races for women and men, and different particulars of the applying course of, he mentioned “if we do make an utility” the perfect calendar place was wedging the race between established September street races in North America.
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“I believe September works fairly effectively by way of becoming with Maryland Cycling Classic and the WorldTour races in Canada,” Taylor mentioned.
The Maryland Cycling Classic has been held as a UCI 1.Pro race in early September twice earlier than, 2022 and 2023, and is slotted to return on September 6 as a males’s 1.Pro occasion, and launch a ladies’s 1.1 race the identical day. Next yr organisers regarded to have the one-day race equally positioned every week or two previous to the one-day WorldTour races in Canada, Grand Prix Cycliste Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste Montréal, resulting in the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal from September 19-27.
“The sense of timing is correct. We’re excited that there are firms on the market making an attempt to place the items collectively to make it occur. We respect how tough it’s, and we need to be supportive in any method we are able to,” Brendan Quirk, CEO and president of USA Cycling, instructed Cyclingnews.
“Colorado is simply deeply linked with American bike racing in each method form and kind. If there’s anyplace in America that ought to have a race like this, it is the state of Colorado,”
Why would an organization based mostly within the United Kingdom need to organise a race within the United States? Taylor recognised that the home street racing scene was in decline in each international locations, and admitted that he has by no means attended a race within the US and got here up with the thought by doing on-line analysis, together with watching YouTube movies of the previous Tour of California.
“You know, we see in Britain, as you have got in America, a decline in racing, not simply at elite degree, however grassroots as effectively. It felt for the time being to get one other stage race right here, both a Women’s WorldTour race or a males’s ProCollection race, would not work for the time being,” Taylor mentioned.
“But I noticed in America an enormous nation, knew in regards to the Tour of California and the Coors Classic. Initially I despatched an electronic mail to USA Cycling out of the blue, they should have thought what’s going on with this loopy British individual. After an preliminary assembly on-line I believed, wow, Colorado with the surroundings, the climbs, this might actually current one thing.”
Infinity Events Group itself has solely been round since 2021, with 4 folks on the present workers who’ve had expertise with the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and different worldwide biking occasions. For a Colorado Classic, he mentioned he would lean into an unlimited help community within the US.
“I believe that the board expertise comes collectively fairly properly to make this occur. And it is not essentially in regards to the workers. We’re not bringing the entire group from Britain into the states to do it. It could be a small core group from right here and the overwhelming majority will probably be put collectively from the United States. At the second, we’re able to agency issues up.”
Currently the one UCI 2.Pro race on the calendar is the Maryland Cycling Classic in September. The Tour of the Gila, April 23-27, is the one 2.2 stage race this yr whereas Gran Premio New York City is a 2.1 occasion on May 18.