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Celebrating its 20th year as part of the USA Cycling Pro Road Tour, the UCI 2.2 Walmart Joe Martin Stage Race kicks off Thursday, May 19. The four-day event will bring together men’s and women’s teams celebrating a tradition of equal prize money for both.

Walmart’s new title sponsorship also allowed the race to provide a live stream for fans to watch Sunday’s critical finale in downtown Fayetteville on Global Cycling Network.

Read also : Walmart named title sponsor of 2022 Joe Martin Stage Race

“Walmart’s partnership with Joe Martin Stage Race is a game-changer for our event,” said Bruce Dunn, Race Director and CEO of All Sports Productions. “Through the partnership with Walmart, we will be able to not only increase awareness of the race, but also improve key areas of the overall participant and spectator experience.”

No less than 15 professional women’s teams are expected to start. EF Education TIBCO-SVB is back after a strong performance at the Tour of the Gila. Clara Honsinger, who narrowly missed out on the overall podium last season, Elizabeth Banks, and current U.S. National Road Champion Lauren Stephens are on the starting roster. Emily Marcolini returns with her 3T/Q+M cycling team, hoping to snatch the elusive overall leader jersey after her victory atop the Gila Monster and top of the GC at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

DNA Pro Cycling will take the line, with Gila’s best young rider Anet Barrera and also Maggie Coles-Lyster returning after crashing into the crit at the Tour of the Gila. Look for the Specialized Critical Team to be a serious contender in Sunday’s finale. The L39ION ladies of Los Angeles will be strong rivals, in their first stage race of the season with the Schneider sisters, Skylar and Sam, as well as Alexis Ryan and Shayna Powless supporting them. Skylar is the defending 2021 champion. Other teams to watch include Fount Cycling Guild with Jennifer Wheeler, Instafund Racing with Heidi Franz and Maddy Ward, and ATX Wolfpack with guest rider Austin Killips, who finished third overall at Gila.

In the men’s race, 18 teams plan to race, including Wildlife Generation and Team Novo Nordisk, which will field full teams for the first time in the United States this season. The men’s pro field will feature a mix of road racing and crit teams. CS Velo will arrive after their surprising upset at the Tour of the Gila, winning the overall with Sean Gardner and Xander White who led Redlands Bicycle Classic. Project Echelon will be hot on CS Velo wheels with Tyler Stites and Stephen Vogel looking to continue their success from Redlands and Gila.

Best Buddies Racing will come to Arkansas after a string of successful races recently at Speed ​​Week. While they’re mostly review-focused, make no mistake about it. The Florida-based team has a strong roster filled with stage race veterans, including Ruben Companioni, Bryan Gomez, Michael Hernandez and Alfredo Rodriguez. Joining them will be rivals from the critical L39ION racing team of Los Angeles and the Miami Blazers, including Jonathan Brown and Frank Travieso for Miami, and Mexican national road racing champion Eder Frayre and Tyler Williams for L39ION.

Other teams to watch include Canadian team Toronto Hustle with Matteo Dal-Cin following their four-second overall loss in Gila. Yoeleo Test Team will race for the first time in Arkansas with Andre “Toby” Røed, the winner of Stage 1 of Gila. Canel’s ZEROUNO will be absent due to disputes over track races, but their compatriots in Mani Zabala-Jagafa will race, including Mexican veterans Jose Aguirre Infante and Nacho Sarabia.

Racing begins Thursday with the Mount Gaylor Road Race for UCI Men’s Stage 1, a loop that begins and ends in Fayetteville. Professional men will stretch their legs on a 119-mile course that includes more than 7,300 feet of rock climbing. On a slightly different course, which features the same finish, the women’s UCI Arkansas Tourism Devil’s Den Road Race will see them race 69 miles with 4,300 feet of elevation gain. After both a category 2 climb and an intermediate sprint towards the second half of the stage, the last 2 miles promise to be fast with a new arrival on a very slight climb before awarding the first jerseys of the race.

A similar loop is planned for day two – the Mount Sequoyah road race – with the UCI men starting first to tackle 6,499 feet of climbing with three intermediate sprints, two KOMs before finishing the stage of 103 miles. The UCI women will start 45 minutes later, covering 61 miles with 2 intermediate sprints and 2 QOMs. Both finish atop the Category 1 climb of Mount Sequoyah.

GC contenders will be aiming for the Stage 3 time trial, a short 3-mile point-to-point course, ending in around half a mile and a 700-foot climb to the finish. The UCI women will start at 2:00 p.m. local time, followed shortly after by the UCI men. Sprinters and critics alike will be eagerly awaiting Sunday’s grand finale, which will take place over a relatively flat unique eight-turn course. Significant time bonuses are at stake, with three for UCI men and three for UCI women.

Last season, the men’s and women’s final GC podiums were all within a minute of each other. L39ION’s Tyler Williams won just five seconds ahead of Gage Hecht (Aevolo) and Oscar Sevilla (Medellín). Aevolo and Medellín are not coming back. Four of the top five professional women in the GC from last season will start, with spectators expecting a hotly contested four days of racing!

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