A closer look at the 2010 NRC

Posted on 19. Oct, 2009 by lyne in news

Last week, USA Cycling published the 2010 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (NRC) with 27 events total, where 15 are criteriums and 8 are multi-day stage rages.

Alison Powers (Team Type 1) won the women's individual NRC classification in 2009

Last year, the initial NRC had 34 events, but as races were canceled throughout the year, only 26 events were finally completed. The 2010 includes 8 men’s-only and 2 women’s-only events. The remaining 17 races will include both men’s and women’s divisions. Of note, only one women’s race is on the UCI Calendar this year, the Liberty Classic in June.

Speaking of the Liberty Classic, the most prestigious single-day event for women in the U.S is on the same day as the final day of  Tulsa Tough which has the biggest purse for women at $39,000. Why were these races allowed to be on the same weekend?

Also of note, there is no women’s race to be run concurrently with the Amgen Tour of California this year, which was moved to May 16-23, 2010.  Same for Tour of Missouri, if it happens.

None of the events that were canceled in 2009 are returning in 2010, at least not as an NRC race. Three new events were added to the calendar this year: the Richmond Twilight Grand Prix in Virginia on June 3rd and the Meijer Grand Cycling Classic in Michigan on July 3rd who both offer up men’s and women’s races and the Basking Ridge Twilight Grand Prix, a men’s only race on May 26 in New Jersey.

Tom Zirbel (BISSELL) won the men's individual NRC classification in 2009

Also interesting to note are the other races on US soil which are listed as part of the UCI America Tour: Tour of the Battenkill on April 18, Tour de Georgia (??) on April 20-24, Air Force Cycling Classic on May 2, Philadelphia International Championship on June 6, U.S. Open of Cycling on July 4, Tour de New York on August 7-12, Tour of Missouri on August 30-September 5 and Univest Grand Prix on September 11. By the way, the U.S. Open of Cycling and the Tour de New York were also on the 2009 UCI America Tour but were canceled.

The overall prize list for the 2010 NRC is $981,310.00, down nearly $400,000 from last year’s initial NRC which included seven more events. The 2009 NRC however lost seven events and a total of nearly $250,000 of that prize money. Of the 2010 total, $719,000.00 is up for grabs to the men, while the overall women’s purse is $262,310.00. With $155,000 in prize money on the line, the men’s-only Tour of Elk Grove is not only the richest men’s race on the 2010 NRC, but also the richest race overall.

While USA Cycling computes and disseminates the ongoing leader in both the individual and general classification throughout the year via press releases, but no special jersey or prize is given to the winner of the series. At the conclusion of the 2009 NRC, Tom Zirbel (BISSELL) and Alison Powers (Team Type 1) won the individual NRC classification. Team titles went to the Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking-Light Pro Cycling Team on the men’s side and Team TIBCO on the women’s.

*: Women’s race is also on the UCI International Calendar

Tags: nrc