With regional COVID-19 restrictions changing every day and the border closure between the US and Canada extended, there’s been an official announcement on what this year’s Tour Divide will look like. Find that here, alongside details on the US border-to-border Great Divide Classic…
Photos by Eddie Clark (@eddieclarkmedia) from our 2019 Tour Divide Recap
With a lot of uncertainty surrounding cross-border events this year, Matthew Lee (Founder of Tour Divide), Pete Basinger (veteran), Jay Petervary (veteran), and Scott Morris (Trackleaders) have worked together to provide some updates to this year’s Tour Divide. Find their official press release below. As a friendly reminder, we encourage everyone participating to look up the current restrictions along the route and at borders. As of today, there is no non-essential travel from Canada to the US, so a Banff start won’t be feasible. Sorry, Canadians!
Press Release:
The border closure between the United States and Canada has just been extended again, through at least June 21, 2021. Because of that the annual Grand Depart of the Tour Divide on the 2nd Friday of June from Banff Canada will not be feasible.
As a result the Tour Divide will be observing a US border-to-border race called the Great Divide Classic.
The pandemic has forced us all to adapt and as Divide riders we thrive in that environment.
It’s not necessarily a year to celebrate but this change presents the opportunity to make something different while also paying homage to the route, the designers – Mike Mccoy, John Stamstad for being the first to time trial the route, and the Great Divide Race for influencing what has morphed into what we know today as the Tour Divide.
Over the years the Tour Divide has implemented some route changes from ACA’s GDMBR (Great Divide Mountain Bike Route). The Great Divide Classic will follow ACA’s main GDMBR as John rode and the Great Divide Race followed, more or less. With several alternatives along the route, in New Mexico in particular, riders are encouraged (but not required) to take the dirt alternative instead of the pavement. A quote from route designer Mike McCoy: “TD racers are missing out on one of the coolest, most otherworldly sections of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route by taking the paved Chaco Alternate from Cuba to Grants. Is the main route short on water supplies? Yes. Can the tracks get super-yucky after a downpour? Yes. Is it remote, beautiful, and unforgettable? Absolutely.”
The history and rules of the Tour Divide are important to know and to understand, for its unique existence and to help with the preservation of, but as time goes by, more people get into sport and content gets published, some of that gets lost, buried, and/or ignored. So, please visit TourDivde.org to learn more.
In this year of paying homage we hope that the community embraces the spirit and ethos of racing the GDMBR: “The Tour Divide challenge is based on one guiding principle: Cycle the GDMBR end-to-end, as fast as possible in a solo, self-supported fashion.” This is a true pioneer’s approach with being self sufficient and by yourself being a major challenge of it all.
Start of Great Divide Classic – June 11th, 2021, high noon, Eureka MT, Roosville Border Crossing.
Joe Polk is firing back up MTB Cast and call-ins are encouraged. Like the “old” days…but with no payphones!
This is a result of cumulated conversations between Matthew Lee (founder of Tour Divide), Pete Basinger (veteran), Jay Petervary (veteran), and Scott Morris (Trackleaders).
See TourDivideUpdates.com for additional information on the Great Divide Classic.
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