USA Cycling announced today the 2010 USA Cycling Professional Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (ProGRT). In its second year, the five-race series will continue to raise the level of competitive gravity racing across the United States by providing a consistent stage of international-caliber events for elite gravity racers to showcase their downhill skills.
The ProGRT is a downhill-only series for 2010 and will visit four states from April to September, beginning with a return visit to Port Angeles, Wash. for the Northwest Cup, April 24-25. The series will then make a trip to the opposite coast for the Plattekill Gravity Open in New York’s Roxbury Bike Park, May 22-23. Midway through the season, racers will contest the Northstar-at-Tahoe event in Truckee, Calif., June 26-27. The ProGRT will then move to Winter Park, Colo. for the Trestle Bike Park (Crankworx Colorado), July 31-August 1, before concluding again with the Whiteface 5th Annual 5K Downhill in Lake Placid, New York, September 11-12.
Each of the five stops will offer series ranking points to top finishers, resulting in overall individual titles for professional men and women. Additionally, competitors will have the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points as two of the five races are inscripted on the UCI calendar. The racers with the most points throughout the five-race series will be recognized as the best gravity athletes competing on U.S. soil.Â
The leader of the Pro GRT overall rankings as of July 14, 2010 will also be an automatic selection to the United States World Championship team. In addition, the Plattekill and Northstar-at-Tahoe rounds of the Pro GRT will be junior downhill qualification races for the World Championships.
The 2010 series will also feature an Amateur GRT which, like the Pro GRT, will give Expert-level Category 1 racers the opportunity to compete against each other for an overall series crown.
Click here to see the full calendar. For more information on the series, please visit USA Cycling’s ProGRT webpage
2010 USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Gravity Tour (Pro GRT)
April 24-25: Northwest Cup – Port Angeles, Wash.
May 22-23:Â Plattekill Gravity Open – Roxbury Bike Park, NY
June 26-27: Northstar-at-Tahoe – Truckee, Calif.
July 31-August 1: Trestle Bike Park (Crankworx Colorado) – Winterpark, Colo.
September 11-12: Whiteface 5th Annual 5K Downhill – Lake Placid, NY
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Every year you pay USA Cycling $30 for a collegiate cycling license ($60 if you purchase a Road or Mountain Bike license, as well), your club pays a $50 renewal fee, and you pay to promote a race through USA Cycling, as well. So where does this money go? What do we do with it? First and foremost, every USA Cycling staff member is issued a company Porsche and a Learjet on his or her first day.