U.S. professional road race champions Alex Howes (EF Pro Cycling) and Ruth Winder (Trek Segafredo) will compete in the Old Man Winter Rally, a gravel race in Colorado on Sunday with Dirty Kanza winner Colin Strickland and He will be competing with Amity Rockwell.

Many of the cycling world's growing number of "gravel pros" will be in Lion's Town this weekend for their next destination. The sixth annual Old Man Winter Rally will test riders on the course and in the wind and rain with a 100-km course.

Boulder County, where the race will be held, was hit with more than a foot of snow this week, but race organizers say that only adds to the epic adventure for the 1200 registered participants.

"Old Man Winter is about getting geared up for a winter adventure, having fun with friends, and enjoying a great party at the finish line," said event founder and Boulder-based active entertainment event company Adventure Fit Josh Kravetz, president of Adventure Fit, a Boulder-based active entertainment event company, said.

Howes, who won the Stars and Stripes jersey last June with a gutsy ride in Knoxville, Tennessee, has yet to start the 2020 road season with the WorldTour team and instead plans to dust off his racing legs on gravel roads near his Boulder home.

Winder won the U.S. road title in a hard-fought run in Knoxville and took his first win of the season with Trek-Segafredo at the Tour Down Under in Australia.

Defending winter Oldman champion Yannick Ekman is not only passing Dirty Kanza winners and American pro champions, but also former World Tour road pro Peter Stetina, who won last year's Belgian Waffle Ride, and former Team Sky and Katusha's Ian Boswell.

Others include Sara Sturm, winner of the women's Belgian Waffle Ride and current U.S. cyclocross single speed champion, and Erin Hack, a member of the U.S. National Mountain Bike Team and a 2020 Olympic contender, Top riders such as Ironman World Champion Top 10 finisher Heather Jackson and Ironman World Champion Top 10 finisher Chris Leiferman are expected to be on the start line.

The event will also include a 50 km bike course and a 10 km run; cyclists on the 100 km course will be able to enjoy the undulating gravel roads, classic Boulder County climbs, fast paved roads, and the infamous Rowena Trail (Left Hand Canyon and Sunshine Canyon The trail traverses a variety of terrain, including the infamous Rowena Trail (a two-mile section of the historic gold mining railroad that connects Left Hand Canyon and Sunshine Canyon). The first timed section ends as we descend a winding gravel road. For safety reasons, the sections down Sunshine Canyon and through the city of Boulder are not timed; the timed section begins again as the runner begins the first of two punchy climbs; after the second climb, the 32-km gravel road back to Lyons is relatively flat; after the first climb, the runner will be timed on the first of the two climbs.