Charlotte loves cycling. From the Lowe’s Motor Speedway Time Trials Series to the Charlotte Mountain Biking Series to BikeFest, if it has two wheels, Charlotte is all over it.

So what better way for the Queen City to salute the sport than by putting up the biggest purse in cycling history? To the winner of the first-ever Bank of America Invitational Criterium on August 7 goes fame, glory, and the lion’s share of a cool $125,000. All you have to do to win it is best 125 of the best cyclists in the world as you tear through a twilight 50-lap circuit in the heart of downtown Charlotte. “People are going to be amazed at the color and speed of the event,” says race director Thad Fischer, who also served as the technical director for the Olympic cycling trials in Charlotte in 1996. “When you’re standing four or five feet from a rider going 40 miles per hour, it’s pretty exhilarating.”

Cycling teams confirmed for the Criterium include the United States Postal Service team and South Carolina’s own Hincapie Sports. Along with over a dozen United States teams, the race will field squads from Great Britain, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, and Canada, and individual riders hailing from as far away as Argentina and Serbia.

Among the individual riders set to compete are Frank McCormick, the reigning U.S. national road racing champion, and Chris Horner, the most recent winner of USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar series, of which the Bank of America Invitational is now a part.

Fischer says the race course has been designed to give spectators as many chances as possible to see the racers. The 1.2-mile barbell-shaped circuit features a bi-directional main drag along Tryon Street, with cyclists coming and going throughout the race, which Fischer estimates will last about one hour and forty-five minutes.

The race is the brainchild of Bank of America real-estate executive Rick McClure, an avid cycling fan, and Jim Palermo, an ambassador of sports in Charlotte whose son survived brain cancer and now works in the city as a doctor. The Criterium will not only to showcase competitive cycling at its finest but also to promote awareness of brain cancer and other related diseases. Over the next three years, the race will buttress efforts to raise $5 million for the Brain Tumor Fund of the Carolinas (BTFC), a Charlotte-based group dedicated to advancing programs and services focused on the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors.

“We wanted to have a special event to act as a marquee to the cause,” McClure says. “We knew that if we did something right, it could be on an elite level that in the cycling world would be akin to having the NFL or Major League Baseball or the NBA here in Charlotte.”

The Bank of America Invitational Criterium will mark the culmination of a week’s worth of bike-related events in Charlotte. A kickoff banquet on July 29 will feature former Dallas Cowboys great Roger Staubach as the keynote speaker. One of Charlotte’s favorite cycling events, the 24 Hours of Booty Endurance Challenge, begins the next day, with teams raising money for charity as they see how many laps they can complete on a 3-mile circuit in 24 hours.

Finally, cyclists of all levels are invited to sign up for August 4 time trials at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Elite racers will participate in a special time trial event under the lights.

For more information on the Bank of America Invitational Criterium, or to sign up for 24 Hours of Booty or Lowe’s Motor Speedway Time Trials, visit www.charlottecriterium.org.