USA Cycling announced the creation of a new professional cross-country mountain bike series designed to recognize the top off-road racers in America. The USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross-Country Tour presented by Sho-Air will consist of seven UCI-sanctioned events throughout the United States, providing world class athletes with a consistent stage on which to ply their trade. Beginning in March of 2009, the Pro XC Tour will visit six states and offer series ranking points to top finishers, resulting in overall individual and team titles for men and women. In addition, competitors will also have the opportunity to accumulate international ranking points since all seven races are inscripted on the UCI calendar.
With its support of the Pro XC Tour, presenting sponsor Sho-Air International, an airfreight forwarder and tradeshow transportation expert, has become a significant backer of mountain biking in the U.S., also sponsoring a racing team as well as the equally all new Kenda U.S. Cup series. President and CEO Scott Tedro sees his investment in the Pro XC Tour as an effective marketing venture for not only Sho-Air, but for other non-endemic companies as well.
“I’m lucky and excited to have been chosen to champion the Pro XC Tour and honored to work with USA Cycling as a supporter of mountain bike racing in America,” commented Tedro. “The leadership that USA Cycling has demonstrated throughout the process in order to fuel excitement about pro cross-country racing has been integral in developing a model which I believe represents an intelligent business decision. I’m hoping that the momentum we’re creating encourages additional non-industry dollars to follow. USA Cycling has been a great partner in this endeavor and I’m looking forward to making the Pro XC Tour something to be proud of.”
WHO IS SHO-AIR?
Scott Tedro is president of Sho-Air International, an independent, worldwide airfreight transportation service for time sensitive tradeshow event material. In his spare time Scott also mountain bikes. His passion for the sport is so strong that he wants others to enjoy the same life improvements he has received through mountain biking. Scott first began paying the sport back by sponsoring over 475 amateur and professional riders with the creation of Team Sho-Air. Next he got his feet wet in the mountain bike event promotion by hosting Brain Head’s American Mountain Classic Stage Race with Team Big Bear’s Tom Spiegel. Next up was the USA Cycling Pro XC Tour.
Scott is largely responsible for seeing this exciting new series through to fruition. Scott stated that putting the series together at the 11th hour was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life; it seems like everyone is only out for themselves in the mountain bike industry…”
At the same time, Scott still finds time to run his company as well as to continually step it up as a cross-country competitor. This year Tedro not only proved himself by winning Sport-level National Mountain Bike Series events, but he also secured the Masters Sport California State XC Series Championship.
The best part of all this? Scott Tedro has absolutely no grandiose long term plan of profiting off the Pro XC Tour. Sho-Air’s involvement is being paid for by Scott himself. He is doing it simply because he loves the sport of mountain biking.
RACE SERIES OVERVIEW
The series opens with the Fontana round of the Kenda U.S. Cup in California on March 29, then continues with the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey on April 19. The Bump N’ Grind in Birmingham, Ala. on May 31 marks the third stop before Colorado Springs hosts the fourth round on June 13 with the Carmichael Training Systems Sand Creek International Classic. Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont welcomes round five on August 8, while the Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain in New York on August 15 provides back-to-back East Coast stops. The season then concludes with the USA Cycling Pro XC Tour Finals in Las Vegas on September 26, one day after the conclusion of the industry’s annual gathering at the Interbike Expo.
2009 USA CYCLING PRO CROSS-COUNTRY MOUNTAIN BIKE TOUR SCHEDULE
Mar 29: Southridge Park, Fontana, CA
Aprl 19: Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, CA
May 31: Bump N’ Grind, Birmingham, AL
Jun 13: Sand Creek International Classic, Colorado Springs, CO
Aug 8: Mount Snow, West Dover, VT
Aug 15: Windham Mountain, Windham, NY
Sep 26: Mountain Bike Pro XC Tour Finals, Las Vegas, NV
WHAT USA CYCLING HAS TO SAY
“The new Pro XC Tour represents a tremendous step forward for professional mountain bike racing in the U.S.,” said Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling. “I am very excited by the strong support of our presenting sponsor, Sho-Air, and the fact that we have seven great venues in the inaugural year of the tour.”
“Now that a nation’s qualification for the Olympic Games is based on a four-year cycle, it’s even more important we have UCI races in the U.S. this far in advance of London,” commented USA Cycling’s National Mountain Bike Development Director Marc Gullickson. “The Pro XC Tour not only creates opportunity for our athletes here at home, but the consistent exposure to a highly competitive environment will raise the level of everyone’s game.”
Although the USA Cycling Pro XC Tour will focus solely on professional cross-country racing, plans to roll out a gravity-based tour are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.