Once a nice little road race, the 7-year-old Tour of Utah is boldly going where few cycling races in this country have gone before.
When the tour begins Tuesday with the Prologue at the Utah Olympic Park, it will include some of the biggest names in the sport. The Tour of Utah is now considered a 2.1 International Cycling Union stage race, making it one of the top cycling events in the world. Prize money has jumped from $45,000 to $116,000, and five teams from the Tour de France will be competing, including the overall winner, Team BMC.
“This is the heyday for American cycling,” Sean Petty, the CEO of USA Cycling Inc., said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference at the Capitol.
And there’s more: for the first time, the race will be streamed live over the Internet, and will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Network and locally on ROOT Sports. This year’s race will include more than 120 athletes from over 20 countries who will be a part of the longest Tour of Utah to date — 409 miles.
After Tuesday’s Prologue, Ogden will host the first stage, Lehi will have the second (a ride around Utah Lake), Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele will host the third, Salt Lake City will have the fourth, and the race will conclude with a grueling run over the spine of the Wasatch that ends at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
“Steve Miller and I have been working on this for three to four years and it started out slow and methodical,” said Karen Weiss, the Tour of Utah’s executive director. “We wanted to take this thing to where we are today. This has happened a lot sooner than we wanted it to happen, but the Miller family has been incredibly supportive, and here we are. It’s been amazing because we have tripled our sponsorship and our budget has quadrupled.”
Francisco “Paco” Mancebo, who rides for RealCyclist.com and is considered one of the top 10 cyclists in the world, considers the Tour of Utah one of the best events on the circuit. “This is the most important race for us this year, and myself too,” Mancebo said.
Mancebo won the tour in 2009 and took second last year. He even mentioned that the Utah course is similar to ones in the French Alps because of the mountains and the high altitudes. High-profile riders like Mancebo and Team BMC have helped give the Tour of Utah prominence in the cycling community, to the point that Tour of Utah spokesperson Jackie Tyson now calls it one of the top three international stage races in North America.
While riders from all over the world will be competing in this week’s events, Chase Pinkham will be representing the home team. The Salt Lake City native is a member of Bissell Pro Cycling and relishes the opportunity to race at home in front of his friends and family.
“There aren’t that many opportunities in anybody’s career to race in your hometown, and I get to be on roads that I learned how to ride a bike on,” said Pinkham. “These hills were some of my first goals on a bicycle.”