The Women's Challenge bicycle race (originally known as the Ore-Ida Women's Challenge as the lead sponsor was the

Ore-Ida Ore-Ida (; ) is a brand of potato-based frozen foods owned by Kraft Heinz's, H.J. Heinz Company Brands LLC. based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ore-Ida's primary production facility is located in Ontario, Oregon, near the Idaho border where the co ...

brand of frozen potato products) was held annually in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

in southern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, beginning in 1984 until its demise in 2002. Later primary sponsors were

PowerBar PowerBar is an American brand of energy bars and other related products including sports drinks, gels, and the ''Pria'' bars targeted at women. The company was established in 1986, and was later acquired by Nestlé. History The PowerBar company ...

and

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

. During much of its 19-year history, it was the most prestigious women's cycle race in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. From 1995, when it first obtained sanctioning from the

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

(UCI), the international governing body for cycling, it developed into one of the strongest races in the world, attracting numerous World and Olympic Champions. Prior to that, in 1990, the UCI had refused to sanction the event, citing as their reason the "excessive climbing, stage distances, number of stages, and duration of event." The race that year, Idaho's centennial, began in

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

Idaho at

Sandpoint Sandpoint is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 9,777 as of the 2022 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, tourism, recre ...

, was 17 stages and , and was won by

Inga Thompson Kristin Inga Thompson (born January 27, 1964) is a retired road bicycle racer. She competed at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics with the best result of eighth place in 1988. She won silver medals at the UCI Road World Championships in 1987, 1990 ...

. The fifth stage through Lewiston ended with the climb up the Spiral Highway, a twisty rise of . The following year (1991) marked the debut on the international scene of a team representing

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, which had just recently declared its independence and was still awaiting recognition as a country. Professionals were allowed to compete beginning in 1993. The race, which was run almost entirely by volunteers, set a very high standard in terms of technical administration and conduct of the race itself. Jim Rabdau, the race founder, served as chief organizer of the race throughout its entire history. By the late 1990s, the race was able to attract sufficient sponsorship money to offer the richest prize fund ever in women's cycling and, for a while, was the richest prize fund race in North America, men's or women's. At its peak, it offered $125,000 in prizes. However, cuts in sponsorship forced a reduction in prize money to $75,000 in its last year (2002) and no title sponsor could be found to replace the outgoing sponsor for the following year, forcing the cancellation of the race. Race organizers cited a downturn in the economy as the reason. One of the stages crested

Galena Summit Galena Summit is a high mountain pass in the western United States in central Idaho, at an elevation of above sea level. The pass is located in the Boulder Mountains, in the northwest corner of Blaine County, within the Sawtooth National Recre ...

at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

on Highway 75, the Northwest's highest highway pass.

Women's Challenge winners

References

External links

Official Site of event
(contains info on why event ended)
Cycling News article on 2002 event
{{coord, 43.870, -114.713, type:pass, display=title Women's road bicycle races Cycle races in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1984 1984 establishments in Idaho 2002 disestablishments in Idaho Women's sports in Idaho