Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Photo courtesy Steve Anderson and Team Ajax Inc. via the Aspen Times

By SCOTT CONDON, THE ASPEN TIMES

Pro bike racer Jessica Phillips of Aspen is thrilled that the world's top male cyclists are getting lots of attention for their return to Colorado this month. She is trying to get some of the spotlight shining on the pro women as well.

Phillips has helped organize a three-day stage race in Aspen for the top female U.S. and Canadian cyclists. They will race Aug. 22-24, overlapping with the day when the men blow through Aspen on what is being billed as the Queen Stage of the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge.

Phillips was the U.S. National Road champion in 2002 and the U.S. time trial champion in 2009. She knows how talented the female racers are, and she wants them to have the same regard as the men.

“To say it's an uphill challenge is an understatement,” Phillips said.

The women's races typically don't draw the big crowds, the lucrative sponsorships or the community effort that the men's races attract, she said. Phillips aims to change that, and she feels Aspen is the right place.

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