DURANGO — One team that won’t get as much attention as it deserves Monday when the USA Pro Challenge begins is a team of Australian and American military, police and firefighters.
They’ve formed their own cycling team, the Tour of Duty, which is riding from San Diego to New York in honor of military, police, firefighters and emergency personnel, particularly those who served in 9/11.
Tour of Duty left San Diego on Aug. 12 and plans to cover 2,600 miles. It is scheduled to ride through Denver, presumably on Sunday when the city hosts the closing time trial.
The team plans to arrive in New York on Sept. 10.
Hincapie to retire in Denver. George Hincapie will end his career in Denver on Sunday.
Hincapie, 39, is one of only two riders to compete on nine teams that won the Tour de France. That includes all seven of Lance Armstrong’s wins. Why did Hincapie choose this race for his swan song?
“Being such an important race on the calendar, and in the United States, you can tell how far the sport has come since when I turned pro,” Hincapie said at the team introductions during Saturday night’s gala.
“There was no race like this. To finish my career in the U.S. felt like the right thing.”
Danielson to Durango? Tom Danielson lives in Boulder but graduated from Durango’s Fort Lewis College and strongly hinted about moving back to the southwest Colorado town during Saturday’s gala.
“I’m really looking forward to moving back here and convincing my family,” he said. “So if you see them around, tell them, ‘Move back to Durango.’ We just need to get the two kiddos and my mother-in-law on board and we’re good. I think my kids are in for it, so it’s just the mother-in-law. She’s about 4-foot-8, pretty small, French-looking, probably in a bread bakery eating bread.”
For what it’s worth, on the team website, under “Current Residence,” Danielson lists Durango.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
