USA Cycling announces shrinking NRC, growing NCC
Date change for Bucks County Classic
USA Cycling has announced its 2013 National Racing Calendar (NRC) and National Criterium Calendar (NCC), including a date change for one of the few UCI one-day races, the Bucks County Classic, which moves from September 14 to September 7.
Race director John Eustice explained to Cyclingnews that the original date fell on Yom Kippur. “The community felt if respectful and proper to move the event forward a week for 2013 only, as there are no more holy days on our original weekend for many years to come.”
The Bucks County Classic Criterium, which will still take place on September 8, was removed from the NCC due to the conflict with the new Tour of Alberta.
“Since the purpose of NCC is to allow the Pro Continental teams, and since chances that they will be attending are slim due to our conflict with the Tour of Alberta, the sponsors decided to hold off on the added expense of the NCC until 2014,” Eustice said.
USA Cycling also removed the Tour of Vail Criterium, which was scheduled for August 17.
Even still, the NCC has grown by six events, with the incorporation of the USA CRITS series events. New on the calendar are the Old Pueblo GP on March 9 in Tucson, Arizona, the Delray Beach Twilight in Florida on March 23, the July 6 Iron Hill Twilight, Chicago’s Prairie State Cycling Series July 18-21 and the USA CRITS finals in Las Vegas on September 19. Additionally, the USA CRITS Speedweek has been split into two events: the A-series from April 27-May 1 and B-series from May 2-5.
While the NCC has grown, the NRC has been decimated – it shrinks from 10 events to seven with the cancellation of the Liberty Classic, American Cycling Open and Keystone Open. The Tour of the Battenkill organizers pulled their event from the UCI calendar and replaced the pro men’s race with a gran fondo. The women’s Exergy Tour is also not listed on the NRC for 2013, but is still on the UCI’s website as a 2.HC event.
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USA Cycling has also modified its points tables for the series, giving more weight to UCI-sanctioned events and adding points for winners of the mountains and sprint classifications.
The NCC will be broken into two tiers, with more points given to races meeting criteria such as prize purses, equal payout for men and women, audience size, live stream or television production.
2013 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar
April 4-7: Redlands Bicycle Classic
Apr. 25-28: Joe Martin Stage Race p/b Nature Valley
May 1-5: SRAM Tour of the Gila
June 12-16: Nature Valley Grand Prix
July 16-21: Cascade Cycling Classic
Aug. 2-4: Tour of Elk Grove
Sept. 7: Thompson Bucks County Classic
2013 USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar
9-Mar: Old Pueblo Grand Prix
16-Mar: Cigar City Brewing Criterium
23-Mar: Delray Beach Twilight Festival
13-Apr: Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium
20-Apr: Sunny King Criterium
April 27-May 1: USA CRITS Speed Week "A"
May 2-5: USA CRITS Speed Week "B"
5-May: Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling
11-May: Tour de Grove
18-May: Wilmington Grand Prix
27-May: Middle Earth Tour of Somerville
30-May: Base Camp Intl. p/b Verizon Wireless
1-Jun: Glencoe Grand Prix
June 7-9: Saint Francis Tulsa Tough
June 8-9: Air Force Cycling Classic
16-Jun: Skyscraper Harlem Cycling Classic
June 20-23: Tour of America's Dairyland
7-Jul: Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix
13-Jul: Exergy Twilight Criterium
29-Jun: Herman Miller Brickyard Classic
6-Jul: Iron Hill Twilight Criterium
Aug. 24-25: Chris Thater Memorial
Sept. 21: TD Bank Mayor's Cup
July 18-21: Prairie State Cycling Series
Sept. 19: USA CRITS Finals
Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.