2011 Tour Of Utah Host Cities Announced

The Larry H Miller Tour of Utah, “America's Toughest Stage Race,” revealed the six cities along the Wasatch Front picked to host stages of the 2011 stage race. Steve Miller, president of the Utah Cycling Partnership, owner of the race, introduced the host cites. Governor Gary Herbert, retired professional cyclist Davis Phinney, former Olympian Eric Heiden and USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson, also gave brief remarks. The race will include a prologue, time trial, and a mountain finish at Snow Bird Winter Resort. Together, the six stages of the 2011 Tour of Utah will add up to nearly 30,000 feet of climbing and 400 miles of racing.

Overall Route

• Tuesday, August 9 Park City - Prologue 
• Wednesday, August 10 Ogden - Stage 1, Road Race 
• Thursday, August 11 Provo - Stage 2, Road Race 
• Friday, August 12 Miller Motorsports Park - Stage 3, Individual Time Trial
• Saturday August 13 Salt Lake City - Stage 4, Circuit Race
• Sunday, August 14 Park City to Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort - Stage 5, Road Race

The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah began as the Thanksgiving Point Stage Race & Cycling Festival as a three-day event over Memorial Day weekend in 2004. The Utah Cycling Partnership, owned by family members from the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, purchased the event in 2007 and re-launched the cycling event in 2008 as a five-day race. The race had grown from 9,000 feet of climbing in the first years to nearly 30,000 feet of climbing, becoming known as America’s Toughest Stage Race. The Tour of Utah is now sanctioned by both USA Cycling, Inc. and the UCI. 

The 2011 Tour of Utah has received a UCI 2.1 rating, a status it shares with the Amgen Tour of California and the Quizno’s Pro Challenge in Colorado. All three races are part of the Americas Tour, a regional designation by the UCI. The press conference named the race’s host cities, but not yet the full course details.

Following the conference, T Burke Swindlehurst, Technical Director for the Tour Of Utah offered up his opinion on this years race:

"I'm really excited about the new route we've laid out. Particularly the fact that we have even more elevation gain than in years past (in keeping with our claim as "America's toughest stage race") yet the overall layout of the courses well be less suited to the pure-climber and more toward the abilities of a true all-arounder with a strong team to support him. There will be 4 totally new courses for 2100 and each one has it's own unique character."

Race organizers have not yet revealed the full list of invited teams or all of the course details, but they have confirmed several of the invited teams. RadioShack with defending Tour of Utah champion Levi Leipheimer, Garmin-Cervélo, the team of World Champion Thor Hushovd, HTC-Highroad, a perennial powerhouse on the international circuit, and BMC Professional Racing Team, whose roster includes former U.S. National Champion George Hincapie and 2010 Tour of Utah prologue winner Taylor Phinney, are among the teams who will participate in this year’s edition of the Tour of Utah. In total, the 2011 race will include 150 riders from 15 of cycling’s elite ProTeam and Professional Continental level teams, and they will compete for a prize purse of $116,000.

Scenes from the 2010 Tour of Utah by Christopher See