Lame

I am opposed, in principal, to complaining. I try to avoid complaining on my blog whenever possible. However, this is a situation where I feel complaining is warranted.

They announced the team selections for the Tour of Utah today. 

UCI Continental Teams

Bissell (USA), No. 1 NRC team
Endura Racing (GBR), No. 22 on UCI America Tour
Jamis-Sutter Home Pro Cycling (USA), No. 9 NRC team
Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth (USA), No. 14 NRC team
PureBlack Racing (NZL), No. 5 NRC team and No. 4 on UCI Oceania tour
RealCyclist.com (USA), No. 2 NRC team
Trek LIVESTRONG U23 (USA), No. 7 NRC team

Did you see Team Exergy on there? Neither did I. This news came as quite a blow. When we were glossed-over for the Tour of California, we could understand -- they announced the teams before any racing had taken place. It made sense to base the invitations on last year's performances. However, we were under the impression (and for good reasons) that entry into Utah would be contingent on how we raced at Redlands and at Gila. In both of those races, we had two guys in the top-ten of the final GC, one of whom was inside the top-five. So when we see teams like Kelly Benefits (ranked 14th in the NRC, top finisher at Redlands 17th, top finisher at Gila 25th) getting an invite to Utah, it stings a little. It smacks of non-merit-based decision making. Another bit that bothers me is that they've invited PureBlack and Endura, teams from New Zealand and Great Britain respectively. Now don't get me wrong, PureBlack is a great team and I'm sure Endura is too, but they're not American teams, and this is an American race. These are just regular continental teams like we are. If we want to grow the sport in this country, why are we giving away spots at our biggest races to continental teams that nobody over here has heard of (no offence Endura -- I hear you're all the rage in Europe)? What's done is done. I'm just really not looking forward to watching another on TV that we could be racing (yes, the Tour of Utah will be televised, nationally, on Fox Sports). 

Am I the only one who finds this lame? 

If you also find this lame, you should consider letting the Tour of Utah promoters know. I mean come on -- don't you want to see Krogg swing his axe at Utah again!? My request is that if you contact either of the individuals below, that you be as polite and respectful as possible. They're both extremely busy people, and they do a fantastic job on the Tour of Utah. They put on one hell of a race, and we really want to be there! 

From the Tour of Utah website:

Karen Weiss
Executive Director
Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah
karen@tourofutah.com
(801) 325-2500

Chris Aronhalt
Operations (Medalist Sports)
Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah
chris.aronhalt@medalistsports.com
(770) 631-1239