October 27/11 10:36 am - Tour of the Battenkill Announces Addition to National Racing Calendar

Posted by Editoress on 10/27/11
 

Anthem Sports announces that their 8th Annual Tour of the Battenkill has secured a spot on USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar (NRC) of professional cycling events for 2012. The classic-style event, scheduled for April 14-15, will feature the popular Pro/Am event including the elite women's race on Saturday, and the professional men's NRC race on Sunday. The addition of the men's professional event to the NRC brings the event total to 10 for the series that includes several multi-day events for men and women. The Tour of the Battenkill in April and the Univest Grand Prix in September are the only one-day events on the calendar.

The 100 km Tour of the Battenkill Pro/Am drew more than 2500 registrants in 2011 and expects to reach nearly 3000 in 2012. The 2-lap, 200 km professional event is expected to feature a 200 rider field. Past winners of the professional men's race includes BMC's Scott Nydam and Garmin/Holowesko Partners' Caleb Fairly who reached the World Tour with HTC-Highroad in 2011 after claiming the 2010 edition over Floyd Landis in a late-race, 2-man break in wet conditions and muddy roads.

The course features 25% dirt roads and a downtown start & finish in scenic Cambridge, NY. The event also features an expo, live entertainment, and the Sunday morning non-competitive Bike Marathon-Battenkill to benefit various charities. The fully-supported non-competitive Battenkill Spring Preview Ride is also scheduled for Sunday, March 25 in Cambridge where several hundred riders are expected.

The event is also part of the Great American Cycling Series that includes several classic-style Pro/Am events across the US. A full calendar for the series will be published in December.