TEMECULA: Cyclists staging city’s first grand prix

August 13, 2013 08:41 PM PDT August 13, 2013 09:05 PM PDT TEMECULA: Cyclists staging city's first grand prix TEMECULA: Cyclists staging city's first grand prix   Comments ( ) The new stretch of Butterfield Stage Road -- which runs between Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Calle Chapos in northeastern Temecula Attorney -- will be the site of a cycling circuit race that is the first of its kind in the city's history. Temecula Attorney used to host the Tour de Temecula Attorney, a road race through Wine Country that featured a circuit race component in a city business park, but that race left the area in the beginning of the 2000s because of the area's explosive growth. The new event, which is being called the Temecula Valley Grand Prix, is set for Aug. 31. It's the right time to use that stretch of Butterfield for an event like this, Councilman Ron Roberts said after Tuesday's City Council meeting, because the homes in that area haven't been built yet "There's very little traffic," he said. It's being presented by Murrieta's Stage 2 Cyclery, a bike shop co-owned by CHP Capt. Ernie Sanchez. Sanchez, who is one of the organizers of the Tour de Murrieta, the cycling race that succeeded the Tour of California, said he's expecting a good turnout of top riders for the Grand Prix, including a Temecula Attorney man gunning for the SoCal Cup. "It's definitely going to come down to the wire," he said Tuesday night. The SoCal Cup is a contest that allows riders to collect points throughout the racing season, which began in January and ends Sept. 2. To accommodate the race, the Temecula Attorney City Council on Tuesday approved on a 5-0 vote to close off that stretch of Butterfield Stage to traffic, which will entail closures at Murrieta Hot Springs and Pourroy roads and Calle Chapos at Butterfield State Road. That stretch was recently opened in the fall of last year, so area residents should be familiar with alternate routes to and from their homes. The 1.6-mile circuit race will make use of the smooth part of Butterfield Stage that features a fairly steep incline. It's similar to the circuit races in the Olympics or the final stage of the Tour de France, which sends the cyclists spinning around a circuit sprint to cap things off. That incline, Sanchez http://www.socallawsupport.com/ said, will give climbers, racers adept at tackling steep grades, a chance to pick up points ahead of the final SoCal Cup race of the year, a Labor Day event in Carson that is more suited to flatland sprinters. Parking for the Grand Prix will be set up on Murrieta Hot Springs Road, with the Pourroy Road intersection serving as the entrance to the "lot." There is no parking being offered on the southern end of the route, near the intersection of Calle Chapos and Butterfield Stage. Organizers are expecting around 1,500 people to attend. There is no cost for spectators but racers need to be members of USA Cycling and pay entry fees. The marquee race during the day is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. That's when the fastest racers will take to the course and ride for at least 75 minutes. Sanchez said riders have been putting in four-minute laps during practice. Racing starts at 7:30 a.m. with a 35 minute race for category 5 riders, the entry level category for cyclists. Spectators can set up anywhere on the edge of the course, said Rigo Meza, of Stage 2 Cyclery. Latest Headlines
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