Everything you need to know for the 41st El Tour de Tucson

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — As we enter Day 2 of the El Tour de Tucson Expo & Fiesta prior to Race Day, join KGUN 9’s Good Morning Tucson team for continued coverage of this weekend’s activities.

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El Tour de Tucson, now in its 41st year, serves the community in a number of ways, from raising more than $121 million for charitable causes, to bringing millions of dollars into the local economy.

John Cole, on the board of the El Tour, spoke with KGUN 9’s Claire Graham:

“After 40 years, we thought we’d have a down year, but we’re actually up,” Cole said. “We’re probably up to 10,000 cyclists this year, so really excited…probably about 40% of the people that come are from outside the state of Arizona, so we have a lot of visitors here that just want to enjoy our city.”

Riding for Courtney’s Courage

Year after year, El Tour produces a huge amount of money for nonprofit organizations. Last year, the event raised more than $5.8 million for charity and has raised more than $121 million since it began in 1983.

Among the organizations riders raise funds for are Courtney’s couragea Tucson nonprofit that supports childhood cancer research. The group has arranged its fourth annual trip for this weekend, Electric Tour for Tots. Claire Graham will have more on their story this morning.

Tasting Tucson: A celebration of bikes and drinks

Riders know hydration is key, and if you need to make a pit stop outside the Loop in Midtown, grab a refreshing drink at Hello Bike & Café off Fort Lowell and Dodge.

Good Morning Tucson’s José Zozaya caught up with co-owner Sam Lettes during a moment of calm inside the bike shop. Lettes said he knows it’s usually busy getting repairs in the week leading up to the El Tour.

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Team Access takes on El Tour de Tucson

Thursday night, KGUN 9’s Ryan Fish and Eddie Celaya told us about this year’s huge turnout for Team accessthe riders hitting the El Tour de Tucson routes with the nonprofit Adaptive Sports in Southern Arizona. With 136 riders on this year’s team, it is the group’s biggest year to date.

This morning Bri Pacelli will introduce a pair of riders, one of whom is blind, who are training for El Tour on their tandem bike. See the full story here:

MORE STORIES COMING GOOD MORNING TUCSON:

• Introducing one of KGUN 9’s own who is back in El Tour de Tucson after a break from the race

KGUN 9 | Judy Walsh

Above you can see the El Tour mural commissioned by Tucson Medical Center. As you can see, this was created by muralist Joe Pagac. It is located on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 26th, directly across from the library.

Downtown Tucson is looking forward to El Tour weekend