SCOTT BROCATO:
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
MICHAEL ENGLEMAN:
I'm 37 years in the sport. I actually raced Tour of the Gila in 1987, one of my first years as a cycler. And then I directed teams, women's teams, at the Tour of the Gila, and I've been a competition director since 2014.
As far as the race director parts, I'm really interim. The board had offered me the race director’s job and I turned it down, saying of course I would stay involved. But you know, I really wanted somebody local to do it. But transitions are tough enough without having somebody in the league.
SCOTT BROCATO:
Well, for those who aren't familiar with it, talk about what the Tour of the Gila is. It will be taking place April 24-28 2024, correct?
MICHAEL ENGLEMAN:
Correct. It's always been one of the most interesting stage races in America. Silver City’s a little bit remote. The courses are unbelievable. Great climbs. You know, it's always just had this great reputation as the race that you have to do, particularly for athletes that are trying to get to the professional level. It's probably the closest thing we have to a really European-style, super difficult stage race, because in 2012 we went UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), which is international, which means we can attract the international teams. That brings in talent from outside the US and Canada and Mexico to kind of challenge everybody. So it just really has the reputation of being a super hard race and very tactical race. And you know, one of our mottos is "Gila-proven". It's just to ride the courses. It may be the only stage race in America where the amateurs race on the same courses on the same day as the UCI riders.
SCOTT BROCATO:
What are some of the things that make it so difficult?
MICHAEL ENGLEMAN:
Well, you know, we go up the Mogollon, and it's a race that finishes on a climb. You know, the Gila Monster, the last stage, is just a super-tactical race with lots of climb. And I can't remember the total feet of climbing from the Men's off the top of my head, but it's a bunch. And if you know cycling, it's a really tactical sport. There's a lot going on. It's teamwork, right? It's teams competing against each other with their individual, their best individuals, to try to win the overall or an individual stage.
So some races in America, people are really familiar with Criterions, which is really about speed. It's also tactics, but it's numerous corners, occasionally little bits of climbs. But, you know, Tour of the Gila is more like you see at the Tour de France. I mean epic climbs. It's really challenging teams to get their best riders to the front. Tour of the Gila’s a global brand. It's known across the world. And it's basically put on by a small town in southwest New Mexico, which is a whole other story all by itself. Just what that town can pull off every year for 36 years is pretty incredible.
SCOTT BROCATO:
In what ways does the Tour of the Gila help the area economy, especially the outdoor economy?
MICHAEL ENGLEMAN:
Number one, it brings attention. I mean, I worked with a rider who won a classic in Europe, and they said to her, you know, how does somebody who races mostly in America win a European classic? And she said racing in America is hard. And they said, “Oh yes, like Tour of the Gila”. So I mean, sports fans know their events, they know their races, they know their athletes, they know their teams. So that brings attention. Tourism and outdoor activities are a big thing in New Mexico, and this is a spotlight for it.
But it also, you know, we're talking 20 UCI teams, 20 men's teams, and 15, hopefully 18 women's teams, plus staff, plus the people that come with that. So we're talking, what, 250 plus staff people that stay in Silver City for a week. And then you've got the amateurs, so another 250, plus the people that work around them or who come to watch the race. So you bring those people into town for a week, they're buying food, they're buying gas. And honestly, you know, there's a couple former pros that have bought houses in Silver City because they loved the town so much. And when I was working with international athletes, I would bring athletes to Silver City to train. If you're a tourist community, always looking at ways to how do we get our name out, and Silver City, honestly, has a global reach because of this race. And for other reasons, obviously: there's so much art and culture and music and food. And then, you know, there's the Western history.
SCOTT BROCATO:
How can participants register, or can they still register? And if so, when does registration begin?
MICHAEL ENGLEMAN:
For the UCI races, for the men's and women's races, those are invitation only. So we're still selling those. So domestic elite, men's and women's, and UCI teams, can register for the UCI. We will have on our on our website, tourofthegila.com, we will now have some registrations up, so the amateurs can link to bike ride through our website to register themselves as individuals or teams.
We're really working on the next 36 years of the Tour of the Gila. So there's so many stories I think that haven't been told about the race where, you know, riders that have gone on to the Tour de France and Olympic medals and many other things. So we're working on some new stories around that with the website. So if people can come compete or also just come and watch the races.
