USA Cycling announced the creation of a new professional gravity mountain bike series—the USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (ProGRT)—which will consist of five events, including three UCI-sanctioned races.

The ProGRT will offer series ranking points to top finishers, resulting in overall individual titles for men and women in downhill and 4-Cross. In addition, competitors will also have the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points at the three races inscripted on the UCI calendar.

The objectives of the inaugural USA Cycling Pro GRT are to provide international-caliber events for elite gravity racers, to recognize the best gravity athletes competing on U.S. soil, to spotlight America’s top races that have made a commitment to host high-level events and to raise the level of competitive gravity racing in the U.S.

“With the development of the ProGRT we were looking to showcase the country’s strongest gravity venues,” said USA Cycling Mountain Bike Events and Program Director Kelli Lusk. “We want to bring the elite riders together to compete against the best on the country’s top courses and ultimately crown the season’s preeminent gravity riders.”

2009 USA Cycling Pro Gravity MTB Tour:

• May 1-3: Fluidride Cup – Port Angeles, WA (DH $5,000 purse)
• May 23-25: Chile Challenge – Angel Fire, NM (DH and 4-Cross UCI category 2)
• Aug. 8-9: Blast the Mass – Snowmass, CO (DH and 4-Cross UCI category 2)
• Aug. 15-16: Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain – Windham, NY (DH and 4-Cross UCI category 1)
• Aug. 29: Whiteface 5K (DH) – Wilmington, NY (DH $5,000 purse)

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 7:21 am and is filed under Bike Industry, Fresh Dirt, Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.