The Nevada City Classic (previously: Tour of Nevada City; Father's Day Bicycle Classic), was a one-day road cycling race[1] held in Nevada City, California. Established in 1960, the Nevada City Classic commonly occurs on Father's Day and brought thousands of visitors to Nevada County.[2] While the first race brought out approximately 1,500 spectators,[3] the numbers have swelled to 15,000 spectators in recent years.[4] Sponsored by the Nevada City Chamber of commerce, the schedule included Women's, Junior's, and Master's races, in addition to the Men's main event. Past winners include Greg LeMond.
The 90-minute race included 40 laps on a twisting, hilly 1.1mi (1.8km) circuit[5] with over 300 feet of climbing.[6] The course, basically unchanged since its advent, was considered by experts to be the toughest one-mile criterium in the United States.[3]
History
Established in 1960, the Nevada City Classic was the largest and oldest bicycle race on the West Coast, as well as the second-oldest bicycle race in the country.[6][7] It was initiated by Charlie Allert, a native of Dresden, Germany, who had been a bicycle racer and master lithographer before arriving in Nevada City by way of San Francisco.[3] With a course laid out by Allert, the first race was held on Father's Day 1961.
The 1961 and 1962 races were won by Bob Tetzlaff, a Los Gatos school teacher. Starting in 1963 when he was 18 years old, Bob Parsons from Pasadena won the race the next five years. John Howard won in 1970.[8]Greg LeMond was the winner for the three consecutive years of 1979-81 and he was subsequently honored when the Nevada City City Council proclaimed August 11, 1986 as "Greg LeMond Day".[3]Todd Gogulski (1986, 1988), Scott Moninger (1994, 1997, 1999, 2006), Alexi Grewal (1993), and Levi Leipheimer (1998) also took the top spot.[8] Having participated in the race 19 years earlier,[1]Lance Armstrong returned in 2009, and won using illegal drugs and methods, and has been disqualified with the result voided[9] It was hailed at the time as the first victory of his comeback as it preceded his return to the Tour de France.[10]Ian Boswell was the winner in 2010.[5]
In 1997, the race was designated a National Classic Pro Points Race,[11] and thirteen years later, in 2010, its course became the starting point of the Stage 1 of the Tour of California.[12]
The race was canceled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and never resumed because of declining attendance in years prior.[13]
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Bob Tetzlaff (USA)
