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31st edition of the Tour of the Gila to be held in April next season

Silver City, New Mexico - Rising stars and veterans of men’s and women’s professional cycling will tackle what many call “America’s toughest stage race,” during the 2017 Tour of the Gila, April 19-23. Celebrating its 31st edition, the race will continue the tradition of welcoming the most outstanding UCI professional teams across North America and beyond. Kristin Armstrong to used the race for Olympic Games preparation.

“America’s toughest stage race” swaps it slot with the Redlands Bicycle Classic to help with logistics of domestic and continental Pro cycling teams participating in the 2017 U.S. Pro Road Tour Calendar.

“We all agreed that for 2017, we would go this route to see how it will work,” Tour of the Gila race director Jack Brennan stated to the press. “I think it’s a great opportunity for stage race directors and teams to work together as a platform to really improve and advance our sport.”

The shuffle means the Tour of the Gila falls after the Sunny King Anniston Road Race in Alabama held April 8-9 next year. Following the Tour of the Gila is the Dana Point Grand Prix on California with the Redlands Bicycle Classic being held in May 3-7 again in California.

“We had better representation of continental teams at the Tour of the Gila than any race on the PRT calendar last year,” Brennan said to the “I think we do a good job covering our bases about what we are and how we do things. Teams know what our race is, that we take care of them, and give their teams and sponsors good recognition”.

The Tour of the Gila is three road races, a individual time trial and a Criterium around Silver City. 

Some of the stages are iconic in their own right, with the first stage finishing up the steep climb to the long forgotton ghost town of Mogollon.

The last stage in particular, the Gila Monster is particularly tough featuring over 9,000 feet of climbing for the UCI men race and 5,500 feet for the women's UCI race.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of the race, it features the Gila Monster Gran Fondue, which was held recently in October that enables hundreds of amateur riders to ride the same route of the Gila Monster stage.

Lats year's race featured 9 Pro Continental teams, 11 Domestic teams and 5 foreign teams for the men and 17 UCI and domestic teams for the womens race.

31st edition of the Tour of the Gila to be held in April next season