Showdown in the Desert

The Tucson Bicycle Classic Reaches New Heights in 2025

The Tucson Bicycle Classic is one of the longest-running stage races on the American calendar and is still evolving in its thirty-seventh year. After a nail-biting edition in 2024, the organization has added a new criterium stage and a new circuit race course that promises selective racing and more action on the race’s final stage. The crit is a demanding, technical course in downtown Tucson and will be the second part of a double-day following the opening 7.2km Marana Time Trial on Friday. On day two, the peloton will take on the classic Sahuarita Road Race, where the peloton is often torn apart by wind and significant climbing. As we saw last year, the final stage Oro Valley Circuit Race pb Rutledge Dental can flip the race on its head with significant climbing on a short, technical lap. The revised course for this year’s edition runs through Naranja Park on a hilly and winding 4.5km course that could reward aggressive riding and present difficulties to any team trying to control the race.

TBC has a long, star-studded list of former winners, including Olympians, National Champions, and World Tour Pros. The race has always been a coveted early-season target, and with its growth and refinement in recent years, it could soon reach the level of races like Redlands Bicycle Classic and Tour of the Gila as a top-tier stage race in the country. For this week at least, TBC is the most important race in the world for the domestic peloton as teams look to make an early impression on the 2025 season.

The Men

The TBC men’s race is there for the taking this year. The 110+ rider field is filled with talent but features only a few of last year’s top 10 riders on General Classification. Defending champion Brendan Rhim of Project Echelon is not returning to the race, nor is runner-up Kellen Caldwell of Team California. The Above+Beyond Cancer squad is in attendance, however, and will be led by last year’s third-place rider Patrick Welch. Welch was part of the race-defining breakaway in last year’s road race, which vaulted him up the classification and nearly stole the race from the powerful Project Echelon team.

Echelon was the best team in North America last year, but they will only have three riders on the starting line this time around. Jonas Walton and Troy Fields are among the country's strongest time trialists and GC riders, so we could see Echelon in the leader’s jersey after the Marana time trial. They will have their work cut out to defend a potential lead with a reduced roster. Butcher Box’s Eddy Huntsman is in a similar position. He is well suited to a ride like TBC, but will be in it alone against some strong teams.

The race’s biggest team in number is the Landis Cyclery squad. They could use their 10 riders to make an impact on breakaway-friendly stages, but that will take a professional level of team riding for the amateur squad. There are many other teams with five or more riders in the race, but one that sticks out is the Canadian TaG Racing U23 team, coming off a GC victory with Carson Mattern at Valley of the Sun last week. TaG won VOS the hard way with an ambitious attack in the road race, a style of racing that will be well suited to the more dynamic TBC courses.

In terms of predictions, this year’s race is difficult to forecast. Often, stage races are won on certain “GC days,” like time trials and mountain climbs. At this year’s Tucson Bicycle Classic, any stage, even the highly technical criterium, could be a GC day and determine the overall. The winner has to be strong, technically skilled, and tactically savvy to make their way through climbs, corners, and desert crosswinds ahead of the rest.

Top Contenders:

Carson Mattern (TaG), Troy Fields and Jonas Walton (Echelon), Patrick Welch (ABC), Eddy Huntsman (Butcher Box)

Dark Horses:

Quinn Felton (Cyclosport), Campbell Parrish (TaG), Michael Hemmerlin (Landis)

The Women

While the men’s race is wide open, the women’s side features a Goliath contender in the Virginia’s Blue Ridge 2028 team. Blue Ridge returns with eight riders, including defending champion Sofia Arreola, and plenty of firepower to go for the repeat in this year’s edition. The team also features time trial ace Emily Ehlrich and fast finishers like Rylee McMullen and Marlies Mejias Garcia. The same group dominated Valley of the Sun last week, taking two stages overall, and they could very well do the same in Tucson.

However, there are no guarantees in cycling, especially in a race like TBC, where riding the front in an attempt to control proceedings can often be a team’s downfall. The TBC road race is one of the longer races of the year for the women’s peloton at 82 miles and was won by a breakaway last year. Teams like Orion Racing, United Cycling, and TaG Racing all have five or more riders and could roll the dice and come up lucky if the attacks fly over the weekend. Names like Cheyenne Noble (Orion), Taylor Tompkins (Milton U23 Project), Mairen Lawson, and Alex Fangeant (TaG) may not jump off the page as familiar contenders. Still, they all posted top results at VOS and could find their way onto the final podium.

I would expect Ehlrich and Blue Ridge to take the Prologue stage and place multiple riders in the top ten to set themselves up with options for the unpredictable road stages. Blue Ridge also looks to be a heavy favorite for the criterium stage, with specialists like Mejias Garcia and McMullen, but they could be toppled in the final meters as they were in the VOS crit. Katja Verkerk, the lone Cynisca pro in attendance, could provide the upset after proving her crit mettle with a podium at the highly competitive Gastown Grand Prix last year. Blue Ridge should have their bases covered in the road race, even if an attack succeeds. They will need to be careful to put the right riders in the right moves to maintain the GC lead, and a wrong move or miscalculation could be devastating as it was for Project Echelon in a similar position in last year’s men's race. Depending on the outcome of the road race, the final stage circuit could either be a controlled sprint stage or an all-out battle for GC positions on the beautiful, undulating roads of Oro Valley.

Top Contenders:

Mejias Garcia, Ehlrich, Arreola (Blue Ridge)

Dark Horses:

Noble (Orion), Tompkins (Milton), Lawson and Fangeant (TaG), Dressler (Trek Red Truck)