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By Matt Hickman
Herald/Review
BISBEE — After years of steady growth in participation since it came back from the dead in 2000, La Vuelta de Bisbee has gotten smaller.
This weekend, the 30th edition of the race will feature 183 riders in three classes, a number down from 227 in 2007.
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The culprit — the sluggish economy which has reduced the participation in cycling events around the state and probably across the nation.
“I talked to a lot of the pros from last year’s race who’ve backed down and they say it all comes down to money and the economy,” race organizer Albert Hopper said. “Every time they fill up a tank to go to a race, that’s 50 or 70 dollars. For some of the younger (professional) men, they have to make a choice.”
Participation in the Senior Men’s event, or the pro class, is at 63, down 37 from last year. The women’s class is down to 25 from 37 a year ago. The Men’s Masters (amateur) class is holding steady at about 95, but unilke the younger pros, many of those in the B race, have other steady employment and aren’t so burdened by the rising costs of racing.
The only past pro champion entered in this year’s field is Drew Miller of Flagstaff, who represents the six-man Landis/Trek team.
The top teams represented this weekend are a pair of teams from Mexico — P.S. Specialized from Chihuahua and the nine-man Tecos riders from Guadalajara.
The team with the biggest representation is the fairly new Team Waste Management from Phoenix, featuring 13 riders.
The race begins today with the prologue starting at 4:10 p.m. with riders going off one at a time in front of the Copper Queen Hotel in Old Bisbee. The riders in the Mule Pass Time Trial will climb 837 feet through Tombstone Canyon and to the top of the Mule Pass Tunnel for a time in the 2.8-mile prologue.
Saturday morning at 8 a.m., the riders will embark on the 79.3-mile Sulphur Springs Road Race that will finish around 11 a.m. on Main St. in Bisbee and that afternoon starting at 3 p.m. will be the Warren Time Trial.
The final stage is Sunday morning’s Tombstone Road Race that starts at 8 a.m. and ends with a steep climb up the pass to the finish line. The first riders are expected to finish sometime after 10 a.m.
