Date August Editions 37 First winner John Allis (USA) Edition 37 | Type One-day race Discipline Road bicycle racing First edition 1973 | |
Region Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, United States Most wins Tyler Hamilton (USA) (4 times)
Marti Shea (USA) (4 times) Most recent Eneas Freyre (USA)
Victoria DiSavino (USA) | ||
Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American racing event designed to raise money for Albany, New Hampshire's Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.
Background
In August of each year, up to six hundred riders take part in the race which centers around a 7.6 mile (12.2 km) climb to the top of New Hampshire's Mount Washington—the highest peak in New England. The Mount Washington Auto Road has an average gradient of 12% and reaches gradients of up to 22%.
The race's most famous victor is Tyler Hamilton who got his fourth victory in the race in 2006 in a time of 52:21, beating out Ned Overend by 2:20. Jeannie Longo holds the women's record at 58:14, while Tom Danielson owns the men's record of 49:24.
In June 2011 race organizers announced that the times ridden by Tyler Hamilton of the United States and Genevieve Jeanson of Canada would no longer be considered official records. This decision followed the admissions by both athletes that during their professional racing careers they regularly used performance-enhancing drugs.