10/07/2006

Tour de Leelanau hits circuit

USA Cycling Professional Tour kicks off in 2007

FROM STAFF REPORTS

LELAND — The Tour de Leelanau will be included in the new USA Cycling Professional Tour.

USA Cycling announced the creation of the USA Cycling Professional Tour to recognize the top international-caliber foreign and domestic UCI professional teams and riders over the course of the racing season in the United States.

Beginning in 2007, all elite men's events on the UCI calendar in the U.S., plus three USA Cycling professional national championships, will be a part of the USA Cycling Professional Tour.

The 2007 Tour de Leelanau — slated for Sept. 15 — will be the final leg of the Cycling Tour that will include 15 races in 11 states with 40 days of racing.

At season's end, the USA Cycling Professional Tour will crown an overall champion based on an overall points system to declare the top international-level rider on U.S. soil.

The 2007 USA Cycling Professional Tour kicks off in February with the second-annual AMGEN Tour of California on Feb. 18.