Celebrating the 40th anniversary of iconic road bicycling race in New Mexico
Silver City, NM — The 40th anniversary edition of Tour of the Gila will occur over the bicycle race's traditional dates on the spring calendar. Spanning five days, the iconic road stage race is slated for April 28 – May 2, 2027, in southwest New Mexico.
The Union Cycliste Internationale 2.2 competition is designed for developing talent and mixed-level squads. This class of stage race represents an accessible tier of multi-day professional international road races. The Tour of the Gila Elite Women's and Men's races feature five stages over as many days and are open by invitation to UCI ProTeams, UCI Continental teams, National teams, UCI foreign ProTeams, and Regional and club teams. Tour of the Gila has maintained sanctioning from the UCI for men since 2012 and for women since 2014. Rory Sutherland was the first UCI men's race winner, while Mara Abbott was the first UCI women's race winner. Tour of the Gila is one of five UCI road bicycle races in the U.S. but the only road stage race already confirmed on the UCI America calendar for 2027.
"It's encouraging that the United States will have more UCI races available," says longtime Tour of the Gila race director Jack Brennan. "We'd love to see more stage races grow from the grassroots level into established UCI events like ours to give riders opportunities to race and develop. That's important for the future of road racing in this country. One-day races are great, but stage races are extremely valuable."
Dates of UCI-sanctioned road bicycling races in the United States for 2027:
- April 28 – May 2: Tour of the Gila, Silver City, NM, 2.2 (Multi-day, Class 2), Elite Women's and Men's
- May 22: Battenkill, Cambridge, NY, 1.2 (1 day, Class 2), Men's Only
- June 5: Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic Capitol Cup, Washington DC, 1.2 (1 day, Class 2), Men's Only
- June 14 – 20, 2027: American National Championships, Charleston, NC, Junior, U23, Elite Men's and Women's
- August 22: Philadelphia Cycling Classic p/b Amerigas, Philadelphia, PA, 1.1 (1 day, Class 1) Elite Women's and Men's
"Seeing the UCI calendar filling in is wonderful. All the other races are quality events with strong promoters, so it should be a better season of showcasing American cycling," Brennan says.
Simultaneously, Tour of the Gila holds USA Cycling races, historically offering five amateur fields for athletes who compete on the same roads as the pros over three and four days. The USA Cycling events are open to individual athletes. Sign-up begins in January.
At Tour of the Gila, nine Citizen Fun Races on Saturday, May 1, and Sunday, May 2, provide a gateway for recreational cyclists looking to enjoy friendly competition on bikes.
To receive race info and updates, anyone can opt into the e-newsletter at tourofthegila.com.
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With the 40th edition set for April 28 - May 2, 2027, Tour of the Gila is the iconic road bicycling stage race based out of Silver City, New Mexico. Since 1987, the race has become renowned worldwide for notoriously challenging courses and is a treasured favorite among cyclists at all levels. Over five days, athletes follow routes leading from the town's colorful streets, through the region's rich history, and along the edges of the nation's first designated wilderness. Sanctioned by both the global and national governing bodies of cycling, Tour of the Gila is where amateur competitive cyclists compete on the same courses on the same days as the pros. Each fall, during the Lael Wilcox Gila Monster Gran Fondo, recreational cyclists pedal a supported ride on the road comprising two mountainous racecourses.
