Fourth annual Tour de Mont Pleasant promises to be largest yet
Anyone driving through downtown Mount Pleasant can already tell it’s race week.
The start/finish banner across Broadway Street is just the first step toward getting ready for the fourth annual Le Tour de Mont Pleasant, the latest installment in the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce’s local cycling event.
The main event is the pro cycling race series, which includes a solo time trial staged from the Student Activity Center on Friday, a circuit-style criterium through downtown on Saturday and a 120-mile road race through Isabella County on Sunday.
Winners of individual events are recognized, and a cumulative-point total of the three events, an omnium, will be scored.
Lisa Hadden, President and CEO of the MPACC, said the riders likely to race the event are high-profile.
“We draw elite, pro riders," she said. "The reason for that is we have the longest point-to-point race east of the Mississippi.”
This weekend's racing will likely draw multiple professional teams, she said, from the American Bisseau team to the French-Canadian Louis Garneau, last year’s omnium champions.
“It transports us to another world of high-end extreme sports,” Hadden said.
Not everyone who rides the races is a professional cyclist. Ben Rollenhagen, a physical education professor at Central Michigan University, is the winner of last year’s Category 3 Road Race and the 2010 Category 3 Criterium.
Rollenhagen said the criterium, in particular, is a great experience, as opposed to other races where it’s tough to get a good view.
“This (race) is just surrounded by accessibility,” he said. “You literally have fans standing on every corner of the course.”
Besides cycling, this weekend offers a wide variety of events. The band The Verve Pipe will play at Island Park Thursday. Carnival rides and a flea market will also be downtown all weekend.
The event has grown in popularity over its three-year tenure, from 350 registrants to 590 to 755. Currently, the race has 344 entrants with nearly a full business week to go.
Hadden is optimistic about the event’s continual growth.
“We’re projecting probably 900 to 1000 registrations this year,” she said.
The growth of the event is important to the Chamber of Commerce. Chairman of the Board David Moscardelli said the race has been valuable for local business and bringing tourist dollars to Mount Pleasant.
“It brings thousands and thousands of tourist dollars, it fills a lot of hotel rooms,” Hadden said. “A lot of businesses in town see (business) increase over the weekend.”
For more information on Le Tour de Mont Pleasant, visit the event’s website at http://www.tourdemontpleasant.com/.
