Tour of Utah has a tough reputation

With 336 miles and more than 30,000 feet of ascent, the Tour of Utah proudly bills itself as "America"s Toughest Stage Race" and warns participants of five days of action unlike any other race in the country.

When it wraps up Sunday afternoon in the heat of the west desert following a time trial race at Miller Motorsports Park, there will probably be few participants willing to dispute those claims.

And it kicks off today with an "easy" 101-mile roll from Nephi through the Sanpete Valley before about 120 cyclist find their way back to Nephi.

"I honestly don"t think there is a more challenging race in the country," Burke Swindlehurst, a Salt Lake resident riding for the Bissell Pro Cycling team, said. "With everything you throw into this race, from the high altitude and the amount of climbing in the heat we have, this is going to be a race unlike anything else we have."

The five-day, five-stage race is one of the highlights of the National Racing Calendar. With a purse of $75,000 on the line, 17 teams of seven cyclists each will begin the race chasing a chunk of the money. Almost as importantly, they will be chasing the honor of being called the Tour of Utah winner.

"We've got our best guys here," BMC Cycling"s Jeff Louder, also a Salt Lake resident, said. "I circled this date on the calendar as soon as it came out. We"re looking forward to this race."

Among the 17 teams racing this week are Garmin-Chipotle, Health Net, Toyota-United and Rock Racing. There are a handful of Tour de France veterans — including Garmin's William Frischkorn and Danny Pate who stood on the podium following stages of the Tour this year — and an Olympic gold medalist. Current NRC points leader Rory Sutherland of Health Net/Maxxis is considered one of the favorites to win the race, as is Garmin's Tom Danielson.

Louder and Swindlehurst may be the biggest local names in the field, but they are certainly not the only ones. Darren Lill, Louder's teammate on BMC, has moved to Utah to train and has shown his form by winning a few local races where the focus is on climbing. American RADD (Racers Against Drugs and Doping) is a Utah-based team featuring several local racers and even an Olympic cross country skier in Billy DeMong.

There is also a composite team of local racers, including current state champion Todd Hageman, Ryan Barrett Dave Harward and others.

While finishing atop the final podium may be out of reach for most locals, there will be a competition within the competition to wear the red jersey as the top Utah cyclist.