October 28/10 11:11 am - USA Cycling Announces 2011 National Road Calendar

Posted by Editoress on 10/28/10
 

USA Cycling is pleased to announce its 2011 National Racing Calendar (NRC). Comprising 29 of the nation's top pro-am road cycling races for both men and women, the 2011 calendar offers two more races than the 2010 edition and features 14 criteriums, 13 stage/omnium races and two one day road race events.

Three notable changes will mark the 2011 edition of the NRC:

• USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar will include all UCI Category 2 rated races in the United States.

• All domestic elite teams will be required to register rosters with USA Cycling in order to be calculated in the NRC team standings. This will facilitate a clearer representation of the team points standings. (Individuals will be able to gain individual NRC points as in previous seasons)

• The 2011 NRC will function under a new classification system, ranging from .HC to .4.

The 2011 NRC will pay out over a million dollars in total prize money as it showcases the nation's best domestic teams and athletes in 23 states between March and October.

The Redlands Bicycle Classic will once again mark the unofficial start of the cycling season, kicking off the NRC on March 30th and running through April 3rd. Then, the nation's top sprinters will head to Anniston, Alabama for the first of 14 criteriums on the 2011 NRC - the Sunny King Criterium on April 9th.

The next pair of stops helps to offer an improved balance of road racing on this year's calendar. The Tour of the Battenkill in Cambridge, N.Y. will mark the 2011 NRC's first one-day road race. Modeled after the grueling European spring classics, the Tour of the Battenkill will feature rolling terrain on both dirt and paved roads through the Battenkill Valley on April 16th. Racing action will then heat up in the Southwest as the world-famous SRAM Tour of the Gila offers both men's and women's stage racing points in and around Silver City, N.M., April 27 - May 1.

Returning to the NRC for 2011, USA CRITS Speed Week will light up the Southeast, April 30 - May 8, offering NRC points to the omnium winners over two weeks of crit racing. On the opposite coast, the Dana Point Grand Prix will offer NRC points to the men's winner in scenic Dana Point, Calif. on May 1. A long-standing NRC event, Arkansas' Joe Martin Stage Race p/b Nature Valley will be held on its traditional weekend of May 5-8.

The NRC continues on May 14th with the Tour de Grove in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis and then turns east for the Wilmington, Delaware Grand Prix on May 21st. America's oldest race, the Tour of Somerville, will take place on May 30th, while the Base Camp International p/b Verizon Wireless will be contested on June 2nd.

An omnium of criteriums, Tulsa Tough will once again take place June 10-12 in Tulsa, Okla., while another omnium event, the Air Force Cycling Classic will offer NRC points on the east coast, June 11-12.

Midway through the season, teams will be looking to vie for control of the NRC team standings at the 2.1-ranked Nature Valley Grand Prix stage race in Minnesota, June 15-19. Back-to-back criteriums will take place the following weekend with the Glencoe Grand Prix p/b AT&T in Illinois and the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix in California, June 25th and 26th respectively.

A holiday tradition, the long-running Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic will once again take place over the July 4th weekend, but this time as a 1.3-rated criterium instead of its traditional stage race format. The national racing community will then be excited to welcome back the Tour de Toona as a 2.4-rated stage race for both men and women in and around Altoona, Pa., July 5-10.

Another long-standing favorite, the Boise Twilight will light up the streets of Boise, Idaho on July 16th before action moves west for the six-day Cascade Classic in the mountains surrounding Bend, Ore. The Tour de Nez will make a welcomed return to the NRC, July 27-31, offering stage race points for men and women in Reno, Nevada; the Tour of Elk Grove will do the same while also offering the calendar's largest men's prize purse, Aug. 5-7 in Illinois.

The Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criteirum will kick off a string of late summer crits in the streets of Charlotte, N.C. with the largest combined purse for both men and women on Aug. 6th. The Grand Cycling Classic will offer NRC points for women while the men's portion of the event serves as the American-only USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championships on August 20th in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Evanston Grand Prix in Illinois and the Chris Thater Memorial in Binghampton, N.Y. then close out the month of August. The re-vamped Labor Day Omnium will then take place in parts of Georgia and South Carolina, Sept. 2-5.

The 1.HC Univest Grand Prix will join Battenkill as the only other one-day road race, making its NRC debut on September 17th in Souderton, Pa. Stretching into October, the 2011 NRC will conclude with the CapCrit p/b WCSA near the nation's capitol in downtown Washington D.C. on October 2nd.

For more information on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar including the complete points distribution table, visit www.usacycling.org/nrc.

2011 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar

Mar. 30-Apr. 3: Redlands Bicycle Classic 2.2 Stage Race - M/W - Redlands, CA

Apr. 9: Sunny King Criterium 1.3 Crit - M/W - Anniston, AL

Apr. 16: Tour of the Battenkill 1.HC M/1.4 W Road Race - M/W - Cambridge, NY

Apr. 27-May 1: SRAM Tour of the Gila 2.1 M/2.2 W Stage Race - M/W - Silver City, NM

Apr. 30-May 8: USA CRITS Speedweek 2.5.2 Omnium - M/W - GA, SC

May. 1: Dana Point Grand Prix 1.3 Crit - M - Dana Point, CA

May 5-8: Joe Martin Stage Race p/b Nature Valley 2.3 Stage Race - M/W - Fayetteville, AR

May. 14: Tour de Grove 1.3 Crit - M/W - St. Louis, MO

May. 21-22: Wilmington Grand Prix 2.5.2 Omnium - M/W - Wilmington, DE

May. 30: Tour of Somerville 1.2 Crit - M - Somerville, NJ

Jun. 2: Base Camp Intl. p/b Verizon Wireless 1.3 Crit - M - Basking Ridge, NJ

Jun. 10-12: Tulsa Tough 2.5.1 Omnium - M - Tulsa, OK

Jun. 11-12: Air Force Cycling Classic 2.5.1 Omnium - M/W - Arlington, VA

Jun. 15-19: Nature Valley Grand Prix 2.1 Stage Race - M/W - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Jun. 25: Glencoe Grand Prix p/b AT&T 1.4 Crit - M - Glencoe, IL

Jun. 26: Manhattan Beach Grand Prix 1.2 Crit - M - Manhattan Beach, CA

Jul. 3: Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic Crit 1.3 M/W - Fitchburg, MA

Jul. 5-10: Tour de Toona 2.4 Stage Race - M/W - Altoona, PA

Jul. 16: Boise Twilight 1.2 Crit - M - Boise, ID

Jul. 19-24: Cascade Classic Stage Race 2.2 Stage Race - M/W - Bend, OR

July 27-31: Tour de Nez 2.4 Stage Race - M/W - Reno, NV

Aug. 5-7: Tour of Elk Grove 2.1 Stage Race - M - Elk Grove, IL

Aug. 6: Presbyterian Hospital Invitational 1.1 Crit - M/W - Charlotte, NC

Aug. 20: Grand Cycling Classic 1.2 Crit - W - Grand Rapids, MI

Aug. 21: Evanston Grand Prix 1.4 Crit - M/W - Evanston, IL

Aug. 27-28: Chris Thater Memorial 1.2 Crit - M/W - Binghamton, NY

Sept. 2-5: Labor Day Omnium 2.5.2 Omnium - M/W - GA/SC

Sept. 17: Univest Grand Prix 1.HC Road Race - M - Souderton, PA

Oct. 2: CapCrit p/b WCSA 1.4 Crit - M/W - Washington, DC

USA Cycling National Racing Calendar by the Numbers

• Stage Races/Omniums: 13

• Criteriums: 14

• One-day Road Races: 2

• States: 23

• Men's only: 9

• Women's only: 1

• Total prize money: $1,045,150

• Top overall payout: Tour de Toona - $110,000; $55,000 men, $55,000 women

• Top men's payout: Tour of Elk Grove - $100,000