Distance, uphill finishes highlight 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge course

"At first glance, the most striking difference between the 2011 and 2012 editions of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is the length of the stages," begins an article in Cycling News. "Last year's race totaled 509 miles over seven days whereas the 2012 route covers 680 miles - a whopping increase of 25 miles per stage."

But, as the article notes, it's the two uphill finishes, including the climb up to Flagstaff Mountain outside Boulder on stage 6, that have everybody talking.

Cycling News talked to Tom Zirbel of Boulder, a member of the Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies team, about this year's course.  It's a good read.

It includes this:

"I think a lot of people are going to be jazzed up for that Boulder finish just because the crowds are going to be enormous. It is going to be a lot about who is feeling good after five hard days of racing.

"There is a lot of 'who's got the biggest balls' situations ... and sometimes you just don't feel like playing. A lot of time it depends on the day. Maybe it is the tire selection. Maybe you overcooked a corner earlier in the stage and lost your nerve."