The Nevada City Classic (previously: Tour of Nevada City; Father's Day Bicycle Classic), was a one-day road cycling race 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. While the first race brought out approximately 1,500 spectators, the numbers have swelled to 15,000 spectators in recent years. 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.

Course The 90-minute race included 40 laps on a twisting, hilly circuit with over 300 feet of climbing. The course, basically unchanged since its advent, was considered by experts to be the toughest one-mile criterium in the United States.

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. 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. 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. 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". Todd Gogulski (1986, 1988), Scott Moninger (1994, 1997, 1999, 2006), Alexi Grewal (1993), and Levi Leipheimer (1998) also took the top spot. Having participated in the race 19 years earlier, Lance Armstrong returned in 2009, and won using illegal drugs and methods, and has been disqualified with the result voided It was hailed at the time as the first victory of his comeback as it preceded his return to the Tour de France. Ian Boswell was the winner in 2010.

In 1997, the race was designated a National Classic Pro Points Race, and thirteen years later, in 2010, its course became the starting point of the Stage 1 of the Tour of California.

The race was canceled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and never resumed because of declining attendance in years prior.

Winners Men Year Winner Second Third 1961 Bob Tetzlaff 1962 Bob Tetzlaff 1963 Bob Parsons Dave Capron Ian Mahon 1964 Bob Parsons Tim Kelly Sharp 1965 Bob Parsons David Brink Ward Thompson 1966 Bob Parsons 1967 Bob Parsons David Brink Dan Butler 1968 David Brink John Allis Dan Butler 1969 Bill Wild 1970 John Howard 1971 Fred Fisk Geoffrey Conley Richard Baronna 1972 Dave Walters Don Davis Harry Morton 1973 Keith Vierra Gary Fisher Steve Lundgren 1974 Ed Parrot Bill Wild 1975 Bill Wild Don Davis 1976 Mark Pringle Larry Malone Tim Kelly 1977 Rick Baldwin Bob Cook Larry Shields 1978 Bob Cook Kent Bostick Ron Miller 1979 Greg LeMond William Watkins 1980 Greg LeMond Toby Power Keith Vierra 1981 Greg LeMond Greg Demgen Wayne Stetina 1982 Toby Power Jeff Pierce Glenn Sanders 1983 Dale Stetina 1984 Greg Demgen 1985 Jeff Pierce 1986 Todd Gogulski 1987 Gervais Rioux 1988 Todd Gogulski 1989 Mark Caldwell 1990 Nate Reiss Scott Moninger Bart Bowen 1991 Chris Huber 1992 Michael Engleman Scott Moninger Wayne Morgan 1993 Alexi Grewal 1994 Scott Moninger Michael Engleman Bobby Julich 1995 Michael Engleman Tyler Hamilton Nate Reiss 1996 Chad Gerlach Thurlow Rogers Scott Moninger 1997 Scott Moninger Chris Horner Chad Gerlach 1998 Michael Engleman Levi Leipheimer David Clinger 1999. Scott Moninger David Clinger Chad Gerlach 2000. John Peters Trent Klasna Frank McCormack 2001 Ernesto Lechuga 2002 Antonio Cruz 2003. Eric Wohlberg James Mattis Justin England 2004 Justin England Antonio Cruz Philip Zajicek 2005. Burke Swindlehurst Andrew Bajadali Alex Candelario 2006. Scott Moninger Gordon McCauley Antonio Cruz 2007. Darren Lill Scott Moninger Antonio Cruz 2008. Justin England Scott Nydam Graham Howard 2009.. Lance Armstrong Ben Jacques-Maynes Levi Leipheimer 2010. Ian Boswell Paul Mach Zachary Davies 2011. Ian Boswell Evan Huffman Nathaniel English 2012 Stephen Leece Nathaniel English Chuck Hutcheson 2013. Stephen Leece Roman Kilun Jon Hornbeck 2014. Walton Brush Torey Philipp Chris Harland-Dunaway 2015. Nathaniel English Max Jenkins Colin Daw 2016. Jason Saltzman Cameron Bronstein Chris Riekert 2017. Chris Riekert Cameron Bronstein Torey Philipp 2018. Chris Riekert Aria Kiani Robert Skinner 2019. Gavin Murray William Myers Ford Murphy Canceled

Women Year Winner Second Third 1978 Heidi Hopkins 1979 Heidi Hopkins 1980 Cindy Olivarri 1981 Cindy Olivarri Canceled 1983 Charlene Nicholson 1984 Cindy Olivarri 1985 Inga Thompson 1986 Rebecca Twigg 1987 Chris Paragary 1988 Katrin Tobin 1989 Inga Thompson 1990 Katrin Tobin 1991 Sally Zack 1992 Suzie Forsyth Michelle Blain Jacquie Phelan 1993 Shari Kain Jacquie Phelan Julie Young 1994 Shari Kain Linda Jackson Susy Pryde 1995 Stace Cooper Ellen Krimmel Belinda Heerwagen 1996 Laura Mullen 1997 Julie Hudetz Cynthia Mommsen Helena Drumm 1998 Joan Wilson 1999 Karen Kurreck Julie Hanson Caren Spore 2000 Belem Guerrero Julie Young Susy Pryde 2001 Cynthia Mommsen 2002 ? 2003 Eryn Hanna Jane Despas Cynthia Mommsen 2004 Cindy Carroll 2005 Barbara Howe Cynthia Mommsen Taitt Sato 2006 Helene Drumm Kimberly Anderson Amber Rais 2007 Shelley Olds 2008 Sarah Bamberger Betina Hold Ally Stacher 2009 Shelley Olds Brooke Miller Kateřina Nash 2010 Kateřina Nash Megan Guarnier Kendall Ryan 2011 Kateřina Nash Emily Kachorek Susannah Breen 2012 Kateřina Nash Flávia Oliveira Amy Thornquist 2013 Elle Anderson Joanna Bechtel Cristina Hughes 2014 Katie Hall Kathryn Donovan Alison Starnes 2015 Shelley Evans Chloé Dygert Liza Rachetto 2016 Diane Moug Sara Enders Amy Cameron 2017 Amy Cameron Megan Ruble Melanie Wong 2018 Lisa Cordova Amity Gregg Ellie Velez 2019 Ellie Velez Jennifer Tafoya Megan Brinkmeyer Canceled

References

External links Official website