The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge was the second edition of the

USA Pro Cycling Challenge The USA Pro Cycling Challenge, also known as USA Pro Challenge, was an annual multi-day professional road bicycle racing stage race that first took place in Colorado in 2011. Originally announced on August 4, 2010 by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter ...

stage race. The race took place from August 20–26, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the

UCI America Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

. The race began in

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

, wound its way through the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

at heights of up to , and finished in the streets of downtown

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Americans swept the podium, with

Christian Vande Velde Christian Vande Velde (born May 22, 1976) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist of Belgian descent, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the , , and squads. He has been a cycling analyst for ...

winning the race,

Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen (born August 12, 1988) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2021 for the , , and . Following his retirement as a cyclist, van Garderen became a directeur sportif for ...

finishing second, and

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. ...

finishing third.

Participating teams

Included in the participating team rosters were many of the top

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs ...

riders;

Vincenzo Nibali Vincenzo Nibali (; born 14 November 1984) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022. He is one of seven cyclists who have won all three of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours i ...

(3rd),

(5th),

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

(7th),

Janez Brajkovič Janez "Jani" Brajkovič (born 18 December 1983) is a racing cyclist from Metlika, Slovenia, who most recently rode for UCI Continental team . He was the world under-23 Time Trial champion in 2004. In 2018, while riding for the team, Brajkovič ...

(9th),

Andreas Klöden Andreas Klöden (born 22 June 1975) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2013. His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and finishing second in the gene ...

(11th),

Chris Horner Christopher Brandon Horner (born October 23, 1971) is an American retired professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2019. A current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American ro ...

(13th),

(32nd), and

(60th). The USA Pro Cycling Challenge invited six

UCI ProTeam UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

s, and

UCI Professional Continental Teams UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

; as well as five UCI Continental Teams. ;UCI ProTeams * * * * * * ;UCI Professional Continental Teams * * * * * * ;UCI Continental Teams * * EPM–UNE * *

Stage Results

Stage 1

August 20, 2012 —

, to Telluride, The opening road race for the pro challenge began in

Stage 2

August 21, 2012 — Montrose to

Crested Butte Crested Butte is a prominent mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The peak is in Gunnison National Forest, northeast by east ( bearing 59°) of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, C ...

Stage 3

August 22, 2012 — Gunnison to

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

Stage 4

August 23, 2012 —

to Beaver Creek,

Stage 5

August 24, 2012 — Breckenridge to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

Stage 6

August 25, 2012 — Golden to

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Stage 7

August 26, 2012 —

, The final stage was an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

held through the streets of downtown Denver.

Classification leadership

General classification

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:USA Pro Cycling Challenge, 2012

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2012 in road cycling 2012 in American sports 2012 in sports in Colorado August 2012 sports events in the United States