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If it wasn't official before, it is now. The Tour of Utah has hit the big time.
Tour officials announced Thursday that some of the most recognizable cycling names in the world will be battling it out along the Wasatch front in August.
The race, scheduled for August 9-14, has announced that HTC-Highroad, Team RadioShack and BMC Racing will be among the 15 teams participating.
Highroad is ranked No. 1 in the world, RadioShack is No. 4 and BMC is No. 7.
Also confirmed are UnitedHealthcare, Team Type 1, Team SpiderTech and Trek LiveStrong U23.
Now in its seventh year, the race was given a higher status this year by the governing body over cycling (UCI) and is now just one of three 2.1 category level stage races in the U.S., helping it to draw the high-profile teams.
Highroad is led by British sprinter Mark Cavendish, Germany's Tony Martin and Tejay van Garderen, the 10-time U.S. national junior champion.
RadioShack is led by Levi Leipheimer, who won the race last year riding for Mellow Johnny's. He'll be joined by German strong climber Andreas Kloden, sprinter Robbie McEwen and three-time USA Cycling National Racing Calendar champ Chris Horner.
BMC was one of the surprising teams of 2010 and will be a contender with local Jeff Louder, three-time U.S. national road champion George Hincapie, world road champion Cadel Evans and U.S. national time trial champion Taylor Phinney. The race consists of an opening prologue and five stages that will take the teams through Park City, Ogden, Provo, Tooele and Salt Lake City.
The remaining teams will be announced in the coming weeks.
Who's coming?
Some of the prominent teams and their key riders who will participate in the Tour of Utah:
Highroad • Mark Cavendish, Tony Martin, Tejay van Garderen
RadioShack • Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden, Robbie McEwen, Chris Horner
BMC • Jeff Louder, George Hincapie, Cadel Evans, Taylor Phinney —
Tour of Utah
P August 9-14 in Park City, Ogden, Provo, Tooele and Salt Lake City
• Prologue and five stages