Race Report: 2025 Tour de Bloom - Men’s 35+ 123

Race: 2025 Tour de Bloom Men’s Masters 35+ 1/2/3

Date: May 2-4

AVRT racers: Erik Levinsohn

Top result: Erik 1st stage 1, 2, and 4. 1st GC.

Courses/Strava: 

Stage 1: 51.4 mile rolling road race

Stage 2: 4 mile hillclimb

Stage 3: 45 minute 4-corner ovalish criterium with a short climb and descent each lap

Stage 4: 79.8 mile rolling road race finishing on a short, steep climb

Nutrition: Thankfully each race was short enough that two bottles at the start with malto/fructose was plenty for stages 1 and 4; nothing needed for 2 and 3. I don’t think there were neutral feeds for the amateur races, but they weren’t really necessary.

Recap: 

I love stage races. For me these are the single best parts of being part of a team and doing road racing. These events tend to foster camraderie, require teamwork, and occupy a particularly joyful part of racing that single-day events just can’t match. I had heard about TdB being one of the best stage races on the west coast and couldn’t wait to check it out. Sadly, due to work requirements I wasn't able to stay for the full five days of the P12 stage race, so registered for the masters race instead, which is just three days.

The most important things I want to emphasize about this race are (1) eastern Washington is absolutely stunning and this race is worth doing just to be able to ride out there. It’s the closest I’ve gotten to feeling like I’m in the Alps while staying in the US. Also, (2) the race is incredibly well-run and one of the most professional stage races I’ve done. So even though it’s a bit of a hike to get there, I think it’s absolutely worth putting on your bucket list.

The team got some rooms at a local hotel which was a nice staging area for the races, which were all within about an hour of Wenatchee. The town itself has some fun restraurants but the real draw is being surrounded by huge mountains.

Stage 1: I tried my signature (mostly idiotic) move of sticking a solo break, and thankfully was able to stick it. After putting in a hard attack a few miles into the race the field mostly sat up. It did end up being pretty toasty and by the end of the race I was exhausted and dehydrated. The most defining element of this race was for sure the wind. None of the climbs are more than ~1-2 minutes in length but the wind can definitely lead to some fun dynamics. In retrospect, this was a particularly tough race to stick a break as the field started to make up meaningful time on me as I got tired off the front.

Stage 2: I absolutely love hillclimbs and this was a pretty fun one. I was feeling pretty exhausted from the previous day so wasn’t able to do the kind of wattage I was hoping but still managed to eke the W. The climb is a pretty steady grade and while it is raced as a mass start, the grade (7-8%) limits most meaningful drafting. At the very least, it was nice to have a chance to ride up in the mountains given where we were.

Stage 3: While I don’t particularly enjoy criteriums I did really enjoy this race. The relatively short length (45 minutes) meant that it was full-gas the entire time and attacks happening pretty much non-stop. The wind again played a huge factor. One fun part of this race was some pretty spicy primes (up to as much as $300!) that meant people were taking some laps crazy fast. I made a few attacks off the front but couldn’t get away. Most importantly, I was able to stay upright and maintain my GC position for the last race.

Stage 4: 45 minutes northwest of Wenatchee is the town of Leavenworth, which is the closest you’ll get to Bavaria in the United States. Just next door is the town of Plain which hosted the last race. I will also note that all the races had a fun turnout of local folks to volunteer and spectate and this race was no exception. This was definitely my favorite of the races with beautiful roads, fun terrain, and dynamic racing. I managed to sneak away with about 30 miles to go and just barely stayed away from a concerted chase not far behind.

Between safe courses, beautiful views, awesome prizes (see cowboy hat below), and good competition, this is definitely a race to put on your calendar. The only real bummer for me what not being able to race with teammates, though I had a wonderful time hanging with Riley, Clark, Nathan, Henry, Flo, Leo, and Devin between races and cheering them on.