Each year on Memorial Day weekend, a spandex-clad army on wheels invades the normally sleepy seat of Somerset County to celebrate the Tour of Somerville cycling series. A four-day bonanza for amateur and professional racers, the event is the country’s oldest of its kind.
The series starts on the 26th and culminates on Memorial Day with a parade and the signature 50-mile Kugler-Anderson Tour of Somerville, regarded as the Kentucky Derby of cycling.
Riders reach 40 mph on the flat course, a 1¼-mile loop around the downtown district, which is sure to be lined with tens of thousands of race fans. “Sprinters really like it,” says Daniel Puntillo, executive director of Middle Earth, a local nonprofit that organizes the event.
Among the top contenders will be Vassili Davidenko, 36, of Mount Arlington, who rode for the Russian Olympic team at the 1996 Atlanta games and finished second in the 2002 Tour of Somerville.