The Denver Post is reporting that the new major professional cycling race set to debut in 2011 will be sponsored by Quiznos and dubbed the Quiznos Pro Challenge. The planned week-long event next August will mark the return of top level stage racing to Colorado since the Coors Classic in 1988.
Quiznos is a Denver-based sandwich company, and the paper is basing their information on the name being confirmed through the trademark website trademarkia.com.
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has planned to join Governor Bill Ritter for the official announcement tomorrow to confirm the sponsorship details. The Texan now owns a house in Aspen and has been an advocate of the race. It has been rumored that the event would be sponsored by Michelob Ultra since details of the race began to emerge around the same time Armstrong became a spokesman for the product.
Colorado is the home to many professional cyclists because of its varied terrain. Garmin-Transitions boss Jonathan Vaughters is also a Colorado resident and spoke to the Governor about the possibility. "Basically I told [Governor Ritter], from an exposure and economic and enthusiasm standpoint, the state of Colorado should have a bike race," Vaughters told the Denver Post. "It's ridiculous that California has the biggest race in the U.S., and Colorado only has a couple of medium-level local events."
American cycling took a hit earlier this year with the announcement that the Tour of Missouri had been cancelled. The Tour de Georgia also disappeared from the calender due to financial difficulties, and the Quiznos Pro Challenge will be seen as a huge step forward for sport in the US.