Nearly 600 cyclists from across the country and around the world will descend on Southern Arizona next week for four days of racing as the 38th Tucson Bicycle Classic returns to roads in Marana, Sahuarita, downtown Tucson and Oro Valley.

The 38th installment of the Tucson Bicycle Classic, presented by The Meteor, returns Thursday, Feb. 19, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 22.

Race Director Marco Colbert previously participated in the TBC and El Tour de Tucson. This is his fifth year running the event.

“I started coming to El Tour de Tucson in 1998 and that introduced me to Tucson,” said Colbert, who has been promoting bike races since 2011. “ I started promoting bike races in Chicago, which I still do to this very day. Tom Schuler and I have a series in Chicago which is called Chicago Grit,”

The four-stage road race will pass through Marana, Sahuarita, downtown Tucson’s Barrio Viejo neighborhood and Oro Valley.

“The first day, we’re in the town of Marana, where we will have our individual time trial. All the riders will race not against each other, but against the clock. The second day we're in the town of Sahuarita and we have our road race,” Colbert said. “The newest thing for us is Saturday in downtown Tucson, we're doing a criterium (race) right by the Tucson Convention Center, right on Cushing (Street.)”

The final day’s events will be a circuit race in Oro Valley at Naranja Park.

Last year’s event saw 577 riders from around the globe and the country. However, this year Colbert wants the total to grow.

"It'll at least be the same number of riders as last year. I hope it'll be around 600, maybe more. Two years ago, we had 600 riders,” Colbert said. "They're coming from all over for two reasons: they want to test their legs and see how their training is going, and the weather's nice.”

Participating riders represent some of the top cycling teams from around the country, with organizers saying that Virginia Blue Ridge 2028 is a team to watch again this year.

“Virginia Blue Ridge 2028 is maybe one of the very best pro women's teams in America,” Colbert said. “Every four years, they concentrate on the Olympics, sending riders to the Olympics.”

Anna Hicks of Virginia’s Blue Ridge 2028 and Patrick Welch of the Above & Beyond Cancer Cycling Team were the overall women’s and men’s winners of the 2025 TBC.

Hicks held the women’s general classification lead from start to finish across all four stages, while Welch earned the men’s title by posting the most consistent results.

The TBC is free and open to the public and will feature food trucks and a beer garden. Volunteers are also needed to help make the event a success, Colbert emphasized.

To learn more about volunteering, visit tucsonbicycleclassic.com/volunteers. Find details about the race at tucsonbicycleclassic.com.

Patrick Moore is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and an intern with Tucson Spotlight. Contact him at patrickcmoore@arizona.edu.

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