The inaugural USA Cycling Pro Challenge, a seven day stage race in Colorado, begins Monday with an 8.3 kilometer prologue in Colorado Springs. The Schleck brothers headline a strong LEOPARD TREK roster eager to tackle the challenges posed by the high altitude and lengthy mountain passages that characterize the newest American stage race.

"What makes this race special is the altitude,” said Sports Director Kim Andersen. “We are racing very high every day. On the second stage, we reach nearly 4000 meters. I don’t know that any of our riders have raced that high.”

Andersen was full of praise for information provided by the race organization.

“On the website, I could look at the course profiles and zoom into maps that show the roads for all the stages,” Andersen noted. “This gave me a good sense of what to expect. With a first year race, it’s difficult to say what will happen until the race begins to unfold, but I can tell you this should be an interesting race.”

Both Andy Schleck and Stefan Denifl have spent the last week in Colorado acclimating to altitude. The rest of the team arrived on Wednesday.

“Everyone is excited to be here,” commented Andersen. “We are motivated to put on a nice race. One of our main sponsors, Trek, will be here with us. It is an important race for them, and we have made it an important race for us.”

Following the opening prologue, the peloton will tackle two road stages. The first, a 160 kilometer course between Salida and Crested Butte, will offer the race’s only mountaintop finish. The second, the queen stage of the race, includes two major mountain passes that top out above 3700 meters. The entire stage between Gunnison and Aspen is at or above 2500 meters above sea level

“The mountains we will face are not especially steep -- but they are long,” Andersen said. “They are long and they are high. I expect altitude more than course difficulty to be a decisive factor in this race.”

The stage three Vail Pass time trial has been resurrected from the Coors Classic held in the 1980’s. The 16.1 kilometer course profile appears entirely uphill but those familiar with the course claim the first half of the time trial is more of a false flat where aerodynamics still matter.

The individual time trial is followed by two less mountainous stages that could favor a breakaway. Sprinters may have their chance on the fourth stage between Avon and Steamboat unless crosswinds spoil their fun.

The final day of racing begins in Golden and ends in the state capitol of Denver. The short stage features the popular local climb up Lookout Mountain early on in the course before six laps of the eight kilometer circuit in Denver.

“American racing is different,” said Andersen. “The courses are different. The fans are different. The logistics are different. We’re not sure what to expect. We are sure that it will be a good experience.”

LEOPARD TREK for USA Pro Cycling Challenge: Stefan Denfil, Brice Feillu, Anders Lund, Martin Mortensen, Bruno Pires, Andy Schleck, Fränk Schleck and Jens Voigt