In 1975, Mo Siegel and John and Wyck Hay, founders of the Celestial Seasonings herbal tea company in Boulder, Colorado, launched the Red Zinger Bicycle Classic race to promote their new Red Zinger tea. The race was also meant to draw attention to cycling as a sport and a healthy lifestyle—good for people and the environment.
In 1979, Michael Aisner, the races’ then PR director, bought the race for one dollar from Siegel, and with his blessing, took the idea of a grander event to Peter Coors, the beer impresario. Over the next eight years, the Coors Classic grew into two weeks of racing in California, Nevada and Colorado, with stages in some years in Hawaii and Wyoming.
The Red Zinger and Coors Classic stage races showcased world-class men's and women's cycling throughout the scenic terrain of Colorado, California, Nevada, Wyoming, and Hawaii. The race was considered the fourth biggest race on the world cycling calendar and was ground-breaking as the single biggest women's stage race ever held.
Journalists and fans of the sport agree that the Coors Classic launched the careers of some of the world's greatest cyclists and paved the way for the sport's growth in the U.S., culminating in Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France victories and Greg Lemond's three Tour de France wins along with the success of today's top American riders like, Dave Zabriskie, George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer.
The third and final stage of the Colorado Stage International Cycle Classic is the 10-mile individual time trial from Vail Village to the East Vail cul-de-sac on the traditional Coors Classic course.
| Winners of the Coors Classic/Red Zinger: | ||
Year: | Winner: | Country: |
| 1976 | John Howard |  United States |
| 1976 | John Howard | United States |
| 1977 | Wayne Stetina | United States |
| 1978 | George Mount | United States |
| 1979 | Dale Stetina | United States |
| 1980 | Jonathan Boyer | United States |
| 1981 | Greg LeMond | United States |
| 1982 | Patrocinio Jimenez |  Columbia |
| 1983 | Dale Stetina | United States |
| 1984 | Doug Shapiro | United States |
| 1985 | Greg LeMond | United States |
| 1986 | Bernard Hinault |  France |
| 1987 | Raúl Alcalá |  Mexico |
| 1988 | Davis Phinney | United States |
