The 2020 Tour of Utah gains prominence in world cycling

The Tour of Utah professional cycling race this year finds itself in rare air.

Newly christened a UCI Pro Series race — just a step down from World Tour races like the Tour de France — it is the only stage race with that designation in North America and is one of only two multi-day races of that caliber in all of the Americas.

Tour organizers apparently decided its cyclists needed rare air as well. They announced Friday that the 15th running of the seven-day race, which will be held Aug. 3-9, will wrap up with four mountain stages. The stages will take them from Woodward Park City to Snowbird on Day 4 and into a circuit race in downtown Ogden on Day 5 before finishing with two stages in Park City.

Herriman City will make its debut as host of the opening stage on Aug. 3. From there, the teams of professional cyclists, up to 70 percent of which can be elite UCI WorldTeams, will race from Pleasant Grove through Provo and then through Payson.

Exact routes, mileage and, yes, elevation are expected to be announced in the spring.

“Our designation as a UCI ProSeries race by the International Cycling Federation is new, but the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah remains a crowd favorite and one of the most successful races in North America,” John Kimball, managing director of the Tour of Utah, said in a press release. “We are fortunate to have welcoming host venues that roll out the red carpet, picturesque courses that show beauty and brawn and a very supportive cycling community that enjoys watching great athletes.”

The Tour of Utah has begun extending invitations to UCI WorldTeams, UCI Pro Continental and UCI Continental squads and will announce a field of 16 men’s teams in early spring.

Belgian Ben Hermans of the Israel Cycling Academy won the yellow jersey last year. The ICA team has since been granted WorldTeam status and is expected to compete in the Tour de France, Paris–Roubaix, Tour of California and other World Cup races this season.

Other General Classification champions have included Sepp Kuss (2018), Rob Britton (2017), Lachlan Morton (2016) and Joe Dombrowski (2015). Stage winners have included Tejay van Garderen, Cadel Evans, Chris Horner, Travis McCabe, Brent Bookwalter, Marco Canola, Giulio Ciccone, Rob Carpenter and Levi Leipheimer, among many others.