Valley lands two stages of Quiznos Pro Challenge

Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte and Gunnison all awarded a piece

Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte and Gunnison will all be part of next summer’s inaugural Quiznos Pro Challenge road bike race. One of the local ideas is to have the racers take a turn in downtown Crested Butte along Elk Avenue. The race will take place August 22-28 and each town will have riders cruising through in the early part of the event.

The official announcement was made Thursday, November 4 in Denver. More than 120 racers are expected to participate in the 600-mile race. Eleven Colorado towns will act as “host cities” where the race either begins or ends. There will be seven stages.
“This is a two-year commitment, right?” Mt. Crested mayor William Buck asked to laughter at the announcement event. He then went on to tout his community. “We offer challenging cycling terrain with great spectator access,” he said.
Crested Butte mayor Leah Williams informed the crowd that the ride from Gunnison to Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte would be spectacular. “You get to see the ‘Oh-My-God’ view that we experience all the time,” she said. “It will be great for the race, the riders and the spectators.”
Gunnison mayor pro tem Jonathan Houke said Gunnison was very happy to have been chosen as a host city. “We are excited to help showcase the diverse beauty of the area,” he said Thursday to the crowd. “This event is poised to be a premier event in Colorado.” Houke also touted Western State College and Cattlemen’s Days in his speech to the state media.
The route will bring the racers to the upper valley on day two. That stage will start from Salida and finish in Mt. Crested Butte. The next morning the racers will depart from Gunnison, head over Cottonwood Pass and Independence Pass and end up in Aspen. That is the longest stage of the race.
Now the hard work begins. Local organizers say the selected towns will have a lot of preparation to do. The municipalities will provide things like safety services and traffic control. Crested Butte Mountain Resort will provide rooms; services like feeding the race participants will take place at the resort’s conference facilities.
“This will be a great boost at the end of August,” said Williams.
“We are proposing that they route the race so that it gets into town. Maybe it heads up Whiterock and they come down Elk. The state organizers will have the final say. They are the pros. They said they would officially announce all the route details in January.”
The race will finish in Mountaineer Square in Mt. Crested Butte. “It’s an obvious boon to the valley,” said Buck, “and in the long term it will be a great showcase for us to the world and even the state. Finishing in Mt. Crested Butte is great and we are excited about it. We have the facilities to do the event. There is plenty of space for the racers and spectators. The base area is a great place for this size of operation.
“We are looking at doing in-kind contributions along with a cash contribution,” Buck continued. “My hope is that in the future, the race will look at different routes and Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte will be a regular on the route. It’s a chance for people in the state to see us and I think it will carry over and help the ski business.”
That idea sounds good to CBMR chief operating officer Ken Stone. “It is great to see the entire community come together on this winning bid,” Stone said. “Hosting two stages of the Quiznos Pro Challenge in our valley is certainly a testament to everyone’s hard work on the proposal. Hosting a major international bike event will create widespread positive impacts in our community.”
Stone said CBMR is “participating with both comp and discounted rooms along with other event-related support.”
“This would not have happened without the help, energy and creativity of a lot of individuals, which is a testament to the quality of people that live here,” commented local organizing committee co-chair Aaron Huckstep. “We will host two of the most exciting stages of the entire tour, showcasing our valley to people across the world. The race promoters want to showcase the unique local culture of Crested Butte: the costumes, the fun, everything that comes from the passion of the people that live here.
“In the short-term, the LOC [local organizing committee] will be heading to Denver in mid-December with all the other host city committees for a symposium put on by Medalist Sports,” Huckstep continued. “We are already planning how best to market our valley, how best to raise funds to support the event, and also planning events that will bring people to our valley in conjunction with the race stage. Lots of new ideas are on the table. In mid-December, we will likely have a valley-wide meeting to share information about what exactly will be happening, and how people can help.”
Huckstep said the area has some fundraising and organizing to do in the next 10 months. “From a long-term perspective, we’ve got 10 months or so to find a boatload of volunteers, and to get all our i’s dotted and t’s crossed,” he said. “There will be a ton of work to do, so we will welcome everyone who wants to help. If we do our job right, everyone—locals and visitors alike—will know that the stage is coming to Crested Butte next August, and will be making plans to come visit at that time.”
“We have a commitment to support the race,” added Williams. “We’ll do things like traffic control and site preparation. Now the good news is that they will be coming through on a Tuesday so not as much overtime will be needed with the town staff. We are also already seeing that a lot of people are excited and want to get involved and volunteer for the race. We still need to figure out specifics.
“One reason they chose Crested Butte was because they love the Crested Butte style of celebration and partying,” Williams continued. “We need to figure a way to incorporate that when the race comes here. What can we do as a town to bring the feeling of Crested Butte up at the finish in Mt. Crested Butte is a question we need to answer. We want to have some fun with this.”
The event will start with a time trial race in Colorado Springs. Day two, Tuesday, August 23, will be the first stage. That will run from Salida to Mt. Crested Butte over Monarch Pass. The third day will begin in Gunnison and end in Aspen.
Day four is a time trial in Vail. Stage four is Avon to Steamboat Springs. Stage five is Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge. The final stage is a race from Golden to Denver.
Other host cities include Vail, Colorado Springs, Avon, Breckenridge, Salida, Aspen, Golden, Steamboat Springs and Denver. Twenty-three communities had applied to be part of the race in its inaugural year.
Quiznosprochallenge.com is the official website to stay informed about progress with the event.