| 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge | |
| Series: | 2010–2011 UCI America Tour |
| Date: | August 22–28, 2011 |
| Stages: | 7 |
| Time: | 20h 00' 24" |
| First: | Levi Leipheimer |
| First Nat: | USA |
| First Color: | yellow |
| Second: | Christian Vande Velde |
| Second Nat: | USA |
| Third: | Tejay van Garderen |
| Third Nat: | USA |
| Mountains: | Rafael Montiel |
| Mountains Nat: | COL |
| Mountains Team: | Gobernación de Antioquia |
| Mountains Color: | red |
| Youth: | Tejay van Garderen |
| Youth Nat: | USA |
| Youth Color: | light blue |
| Sprints: | Elia Viviani |
| Sprints Nat: | ITA |
| Sprints Color: | green |
| Next: | 2012 |
The 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge was the inaugural edition of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stage race. The race was held from August 22–28, and was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI America Tour. The race began with a short prologue time trial in Colorado Springs, wound its way through the Rocky Mountains at heights of up to, and finished in the streets of downtown Denver.
Included in the participating team rosters were the top three 2011 Tour de France riders Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Fränk Schleck. The full team list included:
| Stage | Date | Route | Terrain | Length | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 22 August | Colorado Springs | 8.34km (05.18miles) | ||
| 1 | 23 August | Mountain stage | 160km (100miles) | ||
| 2 | 24 August | Gunnison – Aspen | Mountain stage | 211km (131miles) | |
| 3 | 25 August | 16km (10miles) | |||
| 4 | 26 August | Medium mountain stage | 133km (83miles) | ||
| 5 | 27 August | Mountain stage | 169km (105miles) | ||
| 6 | 28 August | Medium mountain stage | 118.8km (73.8miles) | ||
August 22, 2011 — Colorado Springs,
The opening time trial for the race began in the Garden of the Gods national monument and followed a short downhill course that finished in downtown Colorado Springs.
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | + 2" | |||
| 3 | + 4" | |||
| 4 | + 5" | |||
| 5 | + 7" |
August 23, 2011 — Salida to Crested Butte,
The first stage of the race saw the riders ascending over Monarch Pass and ending with a short mountaintop finish up to the resort municipality of Mount Crested Butte.
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | + 4" | |||
| 3 | + 7" | |||
| 4 | + 7" | |||
| 5 | + 7" |
August 24, 2011 — Gunnison to Aspen,
The queen stage involved nearly of climbing, bringing the riders over two of the highest passes in Colorado: the dirt road climb of Cottonwood Pass, and to Independence Pass.
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | s.t. | |||
| 3 | s.t. | |||
| 4 | s.t. | |||
| 5 | s.t. |
August 25, 2011 — Vail,
Contrasting with the prologue time trial, stage 3 was a steep uphill individual test with of climbing over only . The route was the same one used during time trials for the Coors Classic in the 80s. The record for the course, 25:48, was set in the 2008 Teva Mountain Games by Ben Day.[1]
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | + 0" | |||
| 3 | + 4" | |||
| 4 | + 33" | |||
| 5 | + 40" |
August 26, 2011 — Avon to Steamboat Springs,
This stage included one sprint point, 99.1 km into the stage.
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | s.t. | |||
| 3 | s.t. | |||
| 4 | s.t. | |||
| 5 | s.t. |
August 27, 2011 — Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge,
Immediately after leaving Steamboat Springs, the riders ascended Rabbit Ears Pass, a steep pass with about of climbing and a false summit. After the descent, it's a long slow climb through some of Colorado's most popular ski resorts that culminated in a downhill finish into Breckenridge.
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | s.t. | |||
| 3 | s.t. | |||
| 4 | s.t. | |||
| 5 | s.t. |
August 28, 2011 — Golden to Denver,
The final stage of the race began under the "Howdy Folks!" sign on Golden's Main Street, as featured in the film American Flyers. Riders climbed Lookout Mountain, a short but steep climb in the foothills near Golden, and then descended into Denver. Once in the city, they completed six laps through downtown Denver, finishing on Broadway in front of the state capital building. The final day of the race was broadcast live on NBC.
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | s.t. | |||
| 3 | s.t. | |||
| 4 | s.t. | |||
| 5 | + 2" |
| Rider | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | + 11" | |||
| 3 | + 17" | |||
| 4 | + 21" | |||
| 5 | + 53" | |||
| 6 | + 1' 14" | |||
| 7 | + 1' 18" | |||
| 8 | + 1' 42" | |||
| 9 | + 1' 49" | |||
| 10 | + 1' 50" |