The elite professional roster of teams, which includes 126 riders from 24 countries, is comprised of six teams that competed in the Tour de France, five Pro Continental teams and five Continental teams. Following is the preliminary complete list of riders that will be competing in the 2012 USA Pro Challenge.
*Team rosters are subject to change
UCI ProTeams
1. Astana Pro Team (KAZ)
- Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
- Sergey Renev (KAZ)
- Tanel Kangert (EST)
- Robert Kiserlovski (CRO)
- Dimitriy Muravyev (KAZ)
- Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy (KAZ)
- Evgeny Petrov (RUS)
- Fabio Aru (ITA)
2. BMC Racing Team (USA)
- Cadel Evans (AUS)
- Mathias Frank (SUI)
- Ivan Santaromita (ITA)
- Michael Schär (SUI)
- Johann Tschopp (SUI)
- Taylor Phinney (USA)
- George Hincapie (USA)
- Tejay Van Garderen (USA)
3. Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda (USA)
- Thomas Danielson (USA)
- Tyler Farrar (USA)
- Nathan Haas (AUS)
- Alex Howes (USA)
- Peter Stetina (USA)
- Christian Vandevelde (USA)
- David Zabriskie (USA)
- Lachlan David Morton (AUS)
4. Liquigas-Cannondale (ITA)
- Timothy Duggan (USA)
- Valerio Agnoli (ITA)
- Damiano Caruso (ITA)
- Edward King (USA)
- Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA)
- Vincenzo Nibali (ITA)
- Ivan Basso (ITA)
- Moreno Moser (ITA)
5. Omega Pharma-QuickStep (BEL)
- Levi Leipheimer (USA)
- Martin Velits (SVK)
- Peter Velits (SVK)
- Matt Brammeier (IRL)
- Jeroen Hoorne (BEL)
- Francesco Chicchi (ITA)
6. RadioShack-Nissan-Trek (LUX)
- Christopher Horner (USA)
- Jakob Fuglsang (DEN)
- Andy Schleck (LUX)
- Benjamin King (USA)
- Andreas Kloden (GER)
- Thomas Rohregger (AUT)
- Jens Voigt (GER)
- Oliver Zaugg (SUI)
UCI Professional Continental Teams
7. Champion System Pro Cycling Team (CHN)
- Craig Lewis (USA)
- Chris Butler (USA)
- Matthias Friedmann (GER)
- Pengda Jiao (CHN)
- Biao Liu (CHN)
- Aaron Kemps (AUS)
- Cameron Wurf (AUS)
- Gang Xu (CHN)
8. RusVelo (RUS)
- Matvey Zubov (RUS)
- Ivan Rovny (RUS)
- Dmitry Kozontchuk (RUS)
- Artem Ovechkin (RUS)
- Sergey Firsanov (RUS)
- Arkimedes Arguelyes Rodriges (RUS)
- Alexander Mironov (RUS)
- Sergey Klimov (RUS)
9. Team SpiderTech powered by C10 (CAN)
- David Boily (CAN)
- Flavio de Luna (MEX)
- Lucas Euser (USA)
- Caleb Fairly (USA)
- Hugo Houle (CAN)
- Ryan Roth (CAN)
- Zachary Bell (CAN)
- Brian Vandborg (DEN)
10. Team Type 1-SANOFI (USA)
- Kiel Reijnen (USA)
- Alexander Efimkin (RUS)
- Julien El Fares (FRA)
- Javier Megias Leal (ESP)
- Georg Preidler (AUT)
- Rubens Bertogliati (SUI)
- Alessandro Bazzana (ITA)
- Daniele Colli (ITA)
11. UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)
- Rory Sutherland (AUS)
- Karl Menzies (AUS)
- Philip Deignan (IRL)
- Robert Forster (GER)
- Jacobe Keough (USA)
- Benjamin Day (AUS)
- Christopher Jones (USA)
- Jeffry Louder (USA)
UCI Continental Teams
12. Bissell Pro Cycling (USA)
- Christopher Baldwin (USA)
- Jeremy Vennell (NZL)
- Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA)
- Carter Jones (USA)
- Frank Kevin Pipp (USA)
- Eric Young (USA)
- Julian Kyer (USA)
- Joseph Schmalz (USA)
13. Bontrager Livestrong Team (USA)
- Joshua Atkins (NZL)
- Charlie Avis (USA)
- Lawson Craddock (USA)
- Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA)
- Ryan Eastman (USA)
- Connor O’Leary (USA)
- James Oram (NZL)
- Gavin Mannion (USA)
14. EPM-UNE (COL)
- Rafael Infantino Abreu (COL)
- Giovanni Manuel Baez Alvarez (COL)
- Francisco Jarley Colorado Hernandez (COL)
- Ramiro Rincon Diaz (COL)
- Robigzon Leandro Oyola Oyola (COL)
- Freddy Orlando Piamonte Rodriguez (COL)
- Eduard Alexander Beltran Suarez (COL)
- Javier Eduardo Gomez Pineda (COL)
15. Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies (USA)
- Jesse Anthony (USA)
- Andrew Bajadali (USA)
- Alexander Candelario (USA)
- Michael Creed (USA)
- Tom Zirbel (USA)
- Sebastian Salas (CAN)
- Marsh Cooper (CAN)
- Michael Friedman (USA)
16. Team Exergy (USA)
- Kirk Carlsen (USA)
- Andres Diaz Corrales (COL)
- Mathew Cooke (USA)
- Noe Gianetti (SUI)
- Morgan Schnitt (USA)
- Fred Rodriguez (USA)
- Serghei Tvetcov (MOL)
- Sam Johnson (USA)
On Saturday, Aug. 18, the teams will be introduced to fans at the official gala and team presentation, taking place in Durango on the rim of Fort Lewis College, overlooking the beautiful La Plata Mountains. Celebrity hosts Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and local Durango hero Bob Roll will introduce the riders during an intimate dinner, giving people a chance to check out the best of the best in cycling before the start of the race. Tickets are available at www.Durango2012.com.
Stages for the 2012 USA Pro Challenge include:
- Stage 1: Monday, Aug. 20 – Durango to Telluride
- Stage 2: Tuesday, Aug. 21 – Montrose to Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte
- Stage 3: Wednesday, Aug. 22 – Gunnison to Aspen
- Stage 4: Thursday, Aug. 23 – Aspen to Beaver Creek
- Stage 5: Friday, Aug. 24 – Breckenridge to Colorado Springs
- Stage 6: Saturday, Aug. 25 – Golden to Boulder
- Stage 7: Sunday, Aug. 26 – Denver Individual Time Trial
About the USA Pro Challenge
For seven consecutive days, the world’s top athletes race through the majestic Colorado Rockies, reaching higher altitudes than they’ve ever had to endure as they ascend over three mountain passes, each exceeding 12,000 ft. in elevation. After attracting more than 1 million spectators in 2011, making it one of the largest cycling events in U.S. history, the USA Pro Challenge is back for 2012. Featuring a challenging, 683-mile course with more than 42,000 ft. of vertical climbing, the second annual race will spotlight the best of the best in professional cycling and some of America’s most beautiful scenery.
Referred to as “America’s Race,” the USA Pro Challenge will take place August 20-26, 2012, a week proclaimed by Governor John Hickenlooper as “Colorado Cycling Holiday,” and travel through 12 host cities from Durango to Denver. More information can be found online at www.USAProCyclingChallenge.com and on Twitter at @USAProChallenge.
