Welcome, Colorado cycling fans, to the Quiznos Pro Challenge.
According to the Trademarkia website, it’s the official name to be given to the fledgling eight-day pro stage race that will take place in Colorado next August.
An official announcement will be made at the Colorado Capitol today at 10 a.m.
Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, will attend and afterward lead a bike race for interested fans.
The state’s first high-level pro race since the Coors Classic ended in 1988 will be sponsored by Quiznos, the Denver-based sandwich company. The race is expected to feature a number of the prime stages that highlighted the Coors Classic. Those include a time trial around east Vail, the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Copper Mountain to Vail, Tour of the Moon near Grand Junction and Morgul-Bismarck around Boulder.
The course will not be organized until race and city officials meet at a later date.
“There are some obvious areas,” said Mike Plant, the founder and ex-president of Atlanta-based Medalist Sports, which will run the race. “Whether they’ll be the same from start to finish, it’s too early to tell.”
Plant started Medalist in 1988 and left in 1993 for the Turner Broadcasting Company, where he is vice president of business operations for the Atlanta Braves. Medalist restarted in 2003 and has organized the Tour of Missouri and Tour of California.
He said it’s time high-level pro cycling returned to Colorado.
“If you look at it, obviously, through the history, we produced one of the first and greatest ones in this country,” said Plant, a former Colorado Springs resident who worked for the U.S. Olympic Committee. “There’s a strong affiliation in the state of Colorado because of the number of people who ride and the legacy of the number of great riders.
“This has an opportunity to grow into a big event in a short period of time.”
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