Lance Armstrong helped shine an international spotlight on the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico last year when he showed up to compete in the five-day race with two compadres from the Astana team.
He's returning to the bike race again this year from April 28 through May 2 with defending champ Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney from the RadioShack pro cycling team. They'll be joined among the elite cyclists with three from Garmin-Transitions — David Zabriskie, Danny Pate and Tom Danielson.
The arrival of the pros will definitely spark more interest in the race located in southwestern New Mexico near the Gila National Forest.
Rules
The UCI forbids ProTour and Continental teams from competing in lower level national events, like the Tour of Gila based in Silver City, NM.
The Armstrong trio found a way around that rule last year by racing as the Mellow Johnny team, based on Armstrong's bike shop in Austin. The Garmin cyclists will compete as DZ Nuts, a chamois cream developed and sold by Zabriskie. The UCI allows this as long as only three members compete.
Armstrong chose Gila last year as a recovery race from a collarbone break he suffered while racing in Europe.
Mountains
The Tour of Gila is a good training race for the pros, as it features three mountainous road stages, a long individual time trial and a downtown criterium.
CyclingNews reports other teams competing include UnitedHealthcare, Jamis-Sutter Home, SpiderTech, Jelly Belly, Fly V Australia, Mountain Khakis, Bissell, Team Type 1, Holowesko Partners and Trek Livestrong.
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