Women’s USA Pro Challenge added to Colorado’s cycling calendar

BOULDER – The USA Pro Challenge on Tuesday announced that it will host an elite women’s race this year in conjunction with the final three stages of the men’s race

The Women’s USA Pro Challenge will run Aug. 21 to 23. It will start with a time trial in Breckenridge, followed by a Fort Collins-based stage on the 22^nd and a stage start in Golden on the final day.

The men’s race, now in its fifth year, runs Aug. 17 to 23.

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Specific stage routes have yet to be announced for either race, but officials said Tuesday that the women will be racing on the same courses as the men over the final three days. Women will also compete for the same prize money as the men on those days.

Women’s professional cyclist Mara Abbott, who grew up in Boulder and in 2010 was the first American to win the prestigious Giro Donne, said she couldn’t watch in 2012 when the USA Pro Challenge finished on Flagstaff Mountain, just blocks from where she grew up, because she was “jealous and sad.”

“I am beyond thrilled to have a chance to compete at the Women’s USA Pro Challenge this year,” Abbott said in a release from race officials. “To get a chance to compete in the Colorado mountains is a dream come true.”

Top national riders and Olympians will be among the women invited to be a part of the race field.