New Tour de Twin Cities, Jan. 21-29, for novice to elite skiers

Tour de Twin Cities, a new nine-day cross-country skiing stage race and community tour in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, is set to start January 21, 2012.

In addition to races, the urban ski event will provide opportunities for beginners and novice ski enthusiasts who prefer a slower pace and simply want to get outside and enjoy cross-country skiing.

The Sisu Foundation, in partnership with the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation, will put on the Tour de Twin Cities hoping to attract top elite racers, regional college athletes, aspiring Midwestern juniors hoping to qualify for Junior National races, local citizen racers and developing youth skiers.

"By joining forces with the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation, we're able to bring a metro-wide event that has something for skiers of all levels," said Ben Popp, executive director of the Sisu Foundation. "Our goal for this event is to showcase the best racers, inspire developing youth and provide opportunity for the community at large to get out, be active and enjoy Minnesota's winter."

Based in St. Paul, the Sisu Foundation is dedicated to the development, support and promotion of Nordic skiing and other outdoor silent sports. The nonprofit City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation has a similar mission in Minneapolis with an emphasis on providing inner-city youth programming, events and trail maintenance.

"The Twin Cities is arguably the greatest cross-country ski community in the world," said John Munger, executive director of the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation. "The Tour de Twin Cities represents a long overdue union between the St. Paul and Minneapolis area ski communities,"

The Tour de Twin Cities will begin January 21 at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis for two days of individual start racing. A mid-week night sprint race on Wednesday, January 25 also will be hosted at Wirth Park. The event will then move east to Battle Creek Park in St. Paul where racing will continue with a mass start classic race on Saturday, January 28. The week's events will culminate with a pursuit start freestyle event on January 29 to crown the winners of the various events. Racers will be vying for more than $16,000 in prize money.

Community tours and family events will be spread throughout the week.

For additional information, including event schedules and registration, visit www.tourdetwincities.com.