2016 marks a season of change for professional road racing in the USA with the implementation of the new USA Cycling Pro Road Tour. The 26-event series intends to showcase the top American teams and riders through its combination of stage races, one-day road races, omniums and criteriums that began in April and will conclude in September.
USA Cycling announced last fall of its plans to merge their two previous series’; National Road Calendar (NRC) and the National Criterium Calendar (NCC), and that the decision was made after it received feedback from event promoters and US-based teams at a National Symposium last October.
This isn’t the first time the series has been combined, and those who have been either an event promoter, member of team management, racer or fan of the sport in the US will remember the sole National Racing Calendar of five years ago, which hosted more than 50 events. The new combined series will host roughly half of the number of races, 26, in what USA Cycling Vice President of National Events Micah Rice says has “tightened up the schedule and will regularly showcase the top domestic road talent.”
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All-in-all, USA Cycling is banking on the new Pro Road Tour to be a more marketable and followable calendar.
The races
The merged calendar will host a total of 26 events that includes five stage races: Redlands Bicycle Classic, Joe Martin Stage Race (UCI 2.2), Tour of the Gila (UCI 2.2), North Star Grand Prix and the Cascade Cycling Classic (UCI 2.2 women only).
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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