US Pro XCT expands for 2015

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The US Pro Cross Country Tour (Pro XCT) will be back up to nine rounds for 2015. At the end of the nine-round calendar, the top five male and female riders will be awarded an equal share of USA Cycling's $15,000 prize purse. This year, Todd Wells (Specialized Racing) and Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) topped the men’s and women’s standings, respectively, and the Luna Pro team won the Pro XCT calendar team standings.

The Pro XCT calendar, which enters its seventh year in 2015, features the premier US domestic cross country mountain bike races and will crown the top professional male, female and team as calculated by season-long standings. The calendar boasts a lineup of races with high-level UCI categories. Last year's series featured just seven rounds and races with somewhat lower level UCI categories.

The US Cup Series provides five of the nine races as it enters its second year with four familiar venues and one addition, as the Sea Otter Classic will join as the fourth of five rounds. The series will be bolstered by the full support of the UCI, as the Fontana, Bonelli and Colorado Springs events have been awarded HC status. As a result, the overall US Cup prize purse, combined with the payout for the individual races, will approach $100,000. Nash and Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox) walked away with the top prizes at last year's US Cup series competition.

The Pro XCT calendar and US Cup kicks off on March 14 with the Bonelli Park US Cup C1 event in San Dimas, California. This is followed up the next weekend in Fontana, California, at the Fontana City US Cup for an HC and UCI Juniors event on March 21. Three weeks later on April 11, Bonelli Park returns to the schedule with its Bonelli Park US Cup HC and UCI Juniors event being held one week before the Sea Otter Classic (a UCI C3 event) on April 18 in Monterey, California.

"I would like to thank Scott Tedro and his team at Sho-Air for their extraordinary support of the series," said USA Cycling CEO and President Steve Johnson. "We are thrilled to see the US Cup Series grow in both stature and number as we head into the second year of competition. To have three of the events awarded HC status adds even more prestige to the series and we look forward to hosting the final race once again in the hometown of USA Cycling's headquarters, Colorado Springs."

The final two races on the Pro XCT calendar include the newly added Boston Rebellion XC (UCI C2) in Walpole, Massachusetts, on July 11, and the returning WORS Cup (UCI C1) event on July 25 in Portage, Wisconsin.

2015 Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour
March 14: Bonelli XC #1 (US Cup) - San Dimas, California (C1)
March 21: Fontana XC (US Cup) (Juniors) - Fontana, California (HC)
April 11: Bonelli XC #2 (US Cup) (Juniors) - San Dimas, California (HC)
April 18: US Otter Classic (US Cup) - Monterey, California (C3)
May 8-10: Nordic Valley Stage Race - Ogden, Utah (S2)
June 20: Missoula XC (Jrs) - Missoula, Mont. (C1)
June 27: Colorado Springs US Cup (US Cup) - Colorado Springs, Colorado (HC)
July 11: Boston Rebellion XC- Walpole, Massachusetts (C2)
July 25: WORS Cup - Portage, Wisconsin (C1)