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** HELP SPREAD THE WORD! ** 2009
USA Cycling Pro Gravity Mountain Bike Tour unveiled Colorado
Springs, Colo. (Feb. 25, 2009)—USA Cycling announced today the creation of a
new professional gravity mountain bike series designed to recognize the top
gravity racers in America. The USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour
(ProGRT) will consist of five events, including three UCI-sanctioned races,
throughout the United States. Together, these races will provide world-class
athletes with a consistent stage to showcase their downhill and
4-Cross skills. Beginning
in May of 2009, the ProGRT will visit four states and offer series ranking
points to top finishers, resulting in overall individual titles for men and
women. In addition, competitors will also have the opportunity to
accumulate international ranking points as three of the five races are
inscripted on the UCI calendar. The
series opens with the downhill contest at the Fluidride Cup in Port Angeles,
Wash., May 1-3 and then heads south to the Chile Challenge in New Mexico where
both the downhill and 4-Cross contests will be a part of the ProGRT. The tour
then picks back up on Aug. 8 with both the downhill and 4-Cross at the Blast
the Mass in Snowmass, Colo. The following weekend, the ProGRT moves east to the
Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain, the only race on both the Pro Cross Country
Tour (ProXCT) and ProGRT. Wrapping up the tour will be the Whiteface 5K
Downhill in Wilmington, N.Y. on Aug. 29. “The
Whiteface Mountain Bike Park is honored to be part of the Pro Gravity Tour.
Five of the premier venues in the U.S. have been chosen for this
historical series that will surely last for generations,” said Downhill Mike,
promoter of the Whiteface 5K Downhill. “It is only fitting to be the last race
on the tour with our eight-minute downhill track as racers should be in
their best condition of the season by late August. The Lake Placid/Whiteface
region has hosted two Winter Olympics (1932 & 1980) and has attracted
numerous top athletes of all kinds ever since. The time has now come to
bring a new breed of world class athletes to Whiteface Mountain and Lake
Placid. Welcome Pro Gravity Tour.” The
objectives of the inaugural USA Cycling Pro GRT are to provide a sequence of
international-caliber events for elite gravity racers, to recognize the best
gravity athletes competing on U.S. soil, to spotlight America’s top races that
have made a commitment to host high-level events and ultimately to raise the
level of competitive gravity racing in the U.S. “With
the development of the ProGRT we were looking to showcase the country’s
strongest gravity venues,” said USA Cycling Mountain Bike Events and Program
Director Kelli Lusk. “We want to bring the elite riders together to compete
against the best on the country’s top courses and ultimately crown the season’s
preeminent gravity riders.” 2009USA Cycling Pro Gravity MTB Tour (Pro GRT): May
1-3: Fluidride Cup – Port Angeles, Wash. (DH $5,000 purse) May
23-25: Chile Challenge – Angel Fire, N.M. (DH and 4-Cross UCI category
2) Aug.
8-9: Blast the Mass – Snowmass, Colo. (DH and 4-Cross UCI category
2) August
15-16: Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain – Windham, N.Y. (DH and
4-Cross UCI category 1) August
29: Whiteface 5K (DH) – Wilmington, N.Y. (DH $5,000 purse)
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