Colorado Stage Race Gaining Momentum

guest — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:25:39 GMT

A few months back I wrote about the possibility of a Tour of Colorado along the same lines as the Tour of California and the old Coors Classic. Normally, I wouldn't have put much stock in such an announcement. For the past few years a group in the Vail Valley has been trying to put on a Tour of Colorado and nothing has every come of it.

But, a couple of things have conspired to make this project grow legs and now it seems more like a reality than a dream. The first thing is that Lance Armstrong is pushing for the race. You might remember that last August Lance bought a place in Aspen and now spends a lot of time there training at altitude and in the summer, escaping the heat of Austin, TX. Aspen used to be a key stop in the Coors Classic, America's premier stage race from 1980 to 1988.

The second thing that gives this project much hope is that Colorado's Governor, Bill Ritter, is an avid cyclist. He's such an avid cyclist that he's ridden, arguably, Colorado's most difficult organized ride, the Triple Bypass. The Triple Bypass is to Colorado what the Markleeville Death Ride is to California. It's tough.

To have a successful event you need the backing of the government and with Lance giving his blessing and running interference when things get sticky, there seems to be a very good possibility that we will see a top-flight stage race in Colorado in 2011. That would be pretty darn cool.

Bruce

Blog Posts From Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand Tagged With markleeville_death_ride

Colorado Stage Race Gaining Momentum