First-ever USA Pro Cycling Challenge Starts Today!

Today kicks off the start of the first-ever USA Pro Cycling Challenge, featuring 128 professional cyclists climbing 12,000 feet over 518 miles in the Colorado Rockies throughout the 7-day competition.  Over 16 countries are represented, and some of the best cyclists in the world will be competing including the Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and fellow podium finishers the Schleck brothers. The Prologue of what promises to be “the most demanding bike race ever held on American soil” begins this afternoon in Colorado Springs. You can bet there will be cyclists needing KT Tape for common cycling injuries and applications! To view a preview of the course, watch the USA Pro Cycling Challenge Sizzle.  For complete viewing schedules to watch the USA Pro Cycling Challenge on NBC and Versus, click here.  See below for further information excerpt from event’s website: “The USA Pro Cycling Challenge will provide a spectacular backdrop in Colorado for a great new professional stage race that will automatically become a major competition on the international calendar. It will be a big goal to win there for me and my teammates.” George Hincapie
Three-Time U.S. Professional Cycling Champion “We are an American team based in Colorado so we’re extremely excited about the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Colorado has some of the best training grounds in North America and the racing is going to be incredible.” Ryder Hesjedal
Seventh-Place Finisher in the 2010 Tour de France The mountain changes everything. Breathtaking altitudes, treacherous climbs and 128 of the worlds best riders. It’s the most challenging race held on American soil. The USA Pro Cycling Challenge is the most demanding bike race ever held on American soil, with racers experiencing breathless altitudes, day after day. The race is on the level of the Tour de France, bringing the high speeds, danger and adrenaline of professional biking to elevations over 2 miles high in some of the most picturesque terrain in the world—the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Partnering with the #1 most influential athlete.* According to a USA Today survey, Lance Armstrong has more influence than LeBron James. The cycling star recognized that professional cycling needed a race in the United States, on terrain that is unmatched in Europe or around the world. With altitudes and downhill peaks double what riders usually endure, the Colorado Rocky Mountains present a course that is as much a part of the race as the riders themselves.  *According to Encino (Calif.) E-Poll Market Research as published in USA Today Survey. 16 international teams. 128 of the gutsiest riders. The USA Pro Cycling Challenge features the world’s top riders from teams such as RadioShack, HTC, Garmin and Liquigas. They will compete for their teammates, their fans, their families and themselves as they endure the highest elevations in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Traveling at blistering speeds, riders will risk it all in this high speed, high-adrenaline competition—with the fans there at every turn; up close and personal, with the action flying by, in person, and online. At 12,000 feet, every breath brings in only two-thirds of the oxygen that you would get at sea level. If that isn’t enough, you have to factor in the temperature as well. Air temperature drops about 3.5 degrees for every 1000 feet of elevation gain. At 12,000 feet, you’re experiencing temperatures nearly 40 degrees lower than at sea level. The USA Pro Cycling Challenge begins today, August 22nd and races through August 28, 2011.  Don’t miss it!