March 18, 2004 – The three-day, four-stage, La Vuelta de Bisbee (LVDB) road race, expects a sold-out elite men's field for this year's event. The optimism comes from race organizer Albert Hopper's experience in 2003. “When the Tour of Georgia was held the same week as our race last year, we worried that our race would be negatively impacted,” he says. 'But we found that we offer something completely different to the men and women who chose to race here instead. Since we have a 26-year history, a fantastic and challenging venue and are economically attractive to racers, we ended up selling out the men's field in 2003. And we expect to do it again.”

A USA Cycling National Racing Calendar event, LVDB has been hosted by this small Southeastern Arizona community for 26 years. With a population of about 10,000, Bisbee sits at 5,500 feet and is about 100 miles southeast of Tucson. Unlike its more notorious western-frontier-town neighbor, Tombstone, Bisbee has a relatively tame history as a copper-ore mining camp.

Most of the mining operations shut down in the 1970s though, and the almost thousand-foot deep open-pit mines have since become tourist attractions. And once the mining community moved out of Bisbee, artists and retirees transformed the town into what it is today; a quirky destination for historical tourism and art and a community into which cycling seems to be readily accepted, judging by the effort put forth by local promoters to put on a nationally-sanctioned stage road race in such a small town.

The terrain that made Bisbee queen of the copper camps is a perfect challenge for cyclists. Nestled in a cluster of high-desert mountain ranges, rural highways both lace through mountainous desert canyons and slope down and away from town allowing event promoters several race course choices. Two of the four stages include the brutal climb up Mule Pass. These roads were even distinctive enough to attract the 1980 USCF National Championships.

A prominent national race since the 80s, LVDB boasts past winners such as Greg Lemond (who won as a 16-year old in 1978), Bob Cooke (1977, 79), Alexi Grewal (1992), Scott Moninger and Jeannie Longo (2002), and most recently Drew Miller and Manon Jutras (2003).

And although some top-level professional road teams will divert their brand-name athletes to Georgia, LVDB provides an excellent, affordable, alternative for national-caliber cyclists to gain valuable NRC series points. LVDB is ranked with a NRC value of 2.6. “We get a lot of young riders, 19- to 23-year-olds,” says Hopper. “For me, if LVDB gives them a chance to shine, I'll be happy.”

LVDB's location is also attractive for racers making an early-season, West Coast swing. It is wedged both on the calendar and on the map between the Sea Otter and Redlands Bicycle Classics (held west of and in the weeks before LVDB), and the Tour of the Gila (one week later and a 2-hour drive east, Silver City, New Mexico).

Average climate for Bisbee in late April means racers usually receive a dry and warm welcome in Arizona. This, coupled with rolling enclosures provided by local Sheriff's, officiating by a full USA Cycling crew, professional timing and scoring and scores of dedicated local volunteers, and LVDB is the race of choice in late April for NRC points.

The Stages:

LVDB opens with a punishing time trial that gains 837 feet of elevation in just 2.8 miles. The three stages that follow will test competitors climbing, sprinting, and time-trialing skills. If this race has not sorted itself by Sunday, the final stage features an extended uphill finish that should leave all questions of who are the toughest racers answered.

The field is divided into three elite categories. The A race is comprised of professional Senior and amateur Category 1 and 2 men, the B race is for Masters men and the C race is for Senior and Master women of all categories.

Prologue – Friday April 23: the Mule Pass Individual Time Trial climbs straight up Tombstone Pass.

Course records for the prologue are: — Men: 9:18 by Malcom Elliot in 1993 — Women: 10:33 by Leslie Schenk in 1987 — Master Men: 11:22 by Mark Weideman in 2001

Stage 1 — Saturday April 24: in the Sulpher Springs Road Race, riders are tested on the rolling rural highways around Bisbee. The A men complete a two-lap circuit that includes 2,300 feet of total climbing over 79.3 miles. The women and B men race one of the circuits.

Stage 2 — Saturday April 24: the Warren Time Trial, named for a city founder, tests the riders for a second time on Saturday over 10.6 miles.

Course Record for the Warren Time Trial Course: – Men: 19:11 by Chris Wherry in 2002 – Women: 23:02 by Marianne Berglund in 1994 – Master Men: 21:35 by Mark Weideman in 2001

Stage 3 – Sunday, April 25: Tombstone Road Race – Starting and finishing in downtown Bisbee, Sunday's 65 (A men) and 59 (women and B men) mile road race promises to settle any tension and drama built over the weekend. The race gains more than 5,000 feet and finishes with a 5 mile, 6% grade uphill climb. Most LVDB's are settled on the final climb of the final stage.

In all, the elite male field will compete over 156 miles and climb more than 8,800 feet.

For complete schedule, event information, host-housing requests and registration information, visit the LVDB Web site at www.lavueltadebisbee.us