No Truckee leg in Tour de Nez this year

The Tour de Nez is set to bring professional bike racing and other fun events to the Reno-Tahoe region for the 18th year, but one of its anchor stages - a downtown Truckee leg - is missing from the lineup.

Tim Healion, founder and director of the multi-day bicycle event, said it's a matter of money.

"I get a lot of sponsorships from Northstar and Reno, but not Truckee, and we can't let Reno and Northstar pay for the race in Truckee," Healion said. "It's too bad because it's everybody's favorite day."

He said the Truckee leg could come back in the future.

"Our bottom line is about $30,000 a day ... contributing to production, staffing and prize money," Healion said.

Town Clerk Judy Price said she wasn't aware of the Tour De Nez approaching the town for money this year, but those requests usually go through the town's partnership with the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce.

Lynn Saunders, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, said the Tour de Nez didn't apply for its tourism grant this year, which had contributed between $1,000 and $1,500 to the race in past years.

"I think any time we have an event downtown it's always good - it draws people downtown, especially from out of the area. I'm not sure how much of an economic boon it was, but it was a nice event," Saunders said.