Race Report: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic - Men’s Cat 4
Day 1 - Prologue TT
Pre TT warmup
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Prologue TT - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 19, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 17/41
Course: 7.23km slight false flat (0.3%) bike path with one S turn. https://www.strava.com/segments/38619019
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17452794493
Nutrition: 1 90g bottle drink half before during warm up, half after during cooldown
I tried my best to be aero, but it ain’t that simple when my legs' CdA is not optimal lol. I could have used aero socks and other aero garments, but it was also my first TT. I think marginal gains can be sought once the aero position is locked down. I'd better practice staying low while pushing power a bit more. My gap to the leader was 1:22 on a ~10-minute TT, but it wasn’t a big deal, as TBC is an omnium-based GC for Cat 4.
Day 2 - Sahuarita Road Race
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Sahuarita Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 20, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 12/43
Course: ~30km lap, 300m elevation. Mix of rolling hills, big descent and slight uphill finish. Nice pavement. https://www.strava.com/segments/9060244
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17463431007
Nutrition: 2 90g bottles, half during warmup, 1 bottle during race, half during cool down
The race started with the rolling hills. Nothing much happened, and a few attacks occurred, but no one was actually serious about their attacks. The rest of the lap was very Z2, so much so that I thought the racers at the front were sagging. It turned out there was a gnarly headwind at the front that I was completely sheltered from at the back of the pack. There were omnium points on the line on the first lap. With about 500m to go, a small sprint field launched, and it sparked a series of attacks and counters throughout the rolling hills on the second lap. I was still pretty fresh by that point, as I had spent most of the first lap in Z2. I attacked on the downhill and broke away with another racer. We got caught by the group after the downhill, right before turning onto La Cañada. The headwind was still present on the small climb to the finish line. I tried to position myself for a sprint finish, as there was no way anyone was going to go for an attack. I thought I was well placed, being on the second row of a dense pack, but with 500m to go, the left lane became free game, and I was boxed in and missed the leadout. I still tried to sprint, but I could not really launch, as I was stuck behind slower sprinters.
DAY 3 - Downtown Criterium
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Downtown Criterium - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 21, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 4/44
Course: 1.15Km lap, 7m elevation. Super bad pavement (one of the worst I’ve seen and I lived in a northern climate where roads are obliterated by winters.). Good pavement in the sketchiest part of the course though which is a downhill into an hairpin. https://www.strava.com/segments/38617887
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17474010552
Nutrition: 2 90g bottle, half during warmup, half during the race, half during cooldown.
This was a very effective sprint interval training ride.
The race was very attritional, and I managed to stay in the front pack the whole time by constantly fighting for my position and moving up. A solo rider (the GC leader) broke free on the first lap and completed most of the race alone. He was on another level. Every lap, coming out of the hairpin, it was a matter of putting down power as fast as possible to stay in the game. I still had some legs coming into the last lap, so I positioned myself on the third wheel and launched out of the hairpin. I managed to finish third in the bunch sprint.
Day 4 - Oro Valley Circuit
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Oro Valley Circuit - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 22, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 17/41
Course: 4.36Km with 54m elevation per lap. Nice pavement, 4 wide corners, very draftable uphill. https://www.strava.com/segments/38626970
View from the warmup area
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17487376458
Nutrition: 2 90g bottle, half during warmup, half during the race, half during cooldown.
I didn’t know what to expect for this race, as I’m not optimized for uphill. It turned out alright, as the hill was very draftable. We were flying up it at around 30 kph. The race started hard and didn’t stop being hard, as it was only 30 minutes. Nothing notable happened on any laps, as there was no attrition at all in my field. There were small attacks here and there, some of which I covered, but they were always brought back given the short length of the race. On the downhill, there was a small, punchy bump where I channeled all my knowledge from the many Egans I have attended. It gave me an edge where I was not working as hard as the competition to stay in the pack. After four days of racing, my body was a little fatigued from the hard racing, which showed in my HR staying over 200 bpm for the majority of the last lap. It was clear that it was going to be another bunch sprint finish, and I had nothing left to give, so I gave nothing and maintained a steady power until the finish line.
Day 5 - Bonus Mt. Lemmon
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17498744996
Recap (Adam): Solid morning climbing Mt. Lemmon in the goal of eating a giant cookie at the top. Definitely recommend the climb if in the area.
Midway up the climb
Cookies
The whole group