Fans will recognize at least one cyclist competing in the 31st annual Tucson Bicycle Classic this weekend —Tyler Stites.
Stites, 19, grew up here. He started racing for El Grupo, a Tucson-based youth cycling organization when he was 9.
Stites also has quite a bit of history with the TBC, a three-day stage race. He won the circuit race and time trials in his category in both 2015 and 2016.
Last summer he signed a pro contract and was named to the USA Cycling Junior National team for the men’s road race. In July he won Stage 2 at the Tour de L’Abitibi in Quebec and finished second in the Santa Catalina Omnium UA Crit and seventh in the road race at the end of January.
“His parents are gifted athletes,” said Steve Bohn, founder and promoter of the TBC. “When he got into cycling, he just took off. You could see his skill and determination. And he worked hard.”
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Stites is just one of nearly 450 cyclists from 25 states and Canada and Mexico to compete this weekend in this USA Cycling-sanctioned race.
“The main reason people come back year after year is that we have an open road race,” said Bohn. “People like a race that is challenging, but not courses that are so difficult that you get blown out. The terrain here is varied and doesn’t favor a specialist. You can have different qualities and shine, be in the mix of it. Tucson is the bike mecca of the West.
“It’s a great stage race over multiple days against the clock. And it’s strategic race early in the season. It is good training for the serious racer as next weekend is the race in San Diego at San Dimas.”
The racers are divided into 28 categories based on age, gender and level of experience from juniors to masters and amateurs to professionals.
“The masters are serious athletes and competitive,” said Bohn, who is in his early 60s. “I ride with them and they are way stronger than I am. I did the TBC twice and it was overwhelming. Another level of stress with everything, including my kids racing. It’s hard to find time to train in the weeks coming up to it as we are working on logistics. And I am not nearly as fast as these guys. Over the years, cycling has really changed with nutrition and specialized training in terms of fitness.”
The TBC gives more than $90,000 to two local charities: El Grupo and the domestic-violence center Emerge, which it has been supporting since the early 1990s.
