Overview The Tour of Somerville is a Memorial Day bike race around a flat, four-corner, 1.1-mile circuit in downtown Somerville, New Jersey, and in the men's pro race the No. 1 bib is never issued: it belongs to Furman Kugler, who won the first race in 1940 and died in World War II. The race calls itself America's longest-running bike race. The pro men ride 50 miles for the Kugler-Anderson Memorial and the pro women 50 kilometers for the Mildred Kugler, after a day of junior, masters and amateur races. It closes a Memorial Day weekend of racing that also takes in the Tour of Plainfield and the Easton Criterium. On site The day opens with a family ride on the course at 8 a.m. and the town's Memorial Day parade on it half an hour later. The start and finish sit on West Main Street, and the loop turns left four times, onto North Bridge, West High and Mountain Avenue and back past Unity Bank. At Turn 1 the Courthouse Lawn holds grandstands, a kids' bike course, bounce houses, a beer garden, food trucks and cycling vendors. Restaurants along West Main put tables out to watch the race go by, families grill along the back straight, and a memorial ceremony at the line comes just before the men's pro race, the last of the day. Audience The crowd is mostly local and stays put. The race counted 11,200 spectators in 2023, most from within 30 miles, and in 2025 its data put 47% of attendees within five miles and 62% within ten, staying an average of 136 minutes. Fans line the whole loop ringing cowbells. The riders come a long way: 758 raced in 2025, from 13 countries and 27 states. Talent and Influencers Winners of the men's race include Davis Phinney in 1984, Steve Bauer in 1980 and 1983, and Jonas Carney five times between 1992 and 2003; Tina Pic and Karen Strong each won the women's race four times. Lucas Bourgoyne, who arrived in 2025 as the newly crowned U.S. national criterium champion, won the men's race in 2025 and 2026, and the Cuban Olympian Marlies Mejías won the women's race both years, the first time both pro races had repeat winners. Track record Fred "Pop" Kugler, a former pro racer with a bike shop in town, started the race in May 1940. Main Street was State Highway 28 and state law banned racing on highways for prizes, so he called it a tour. His son Furman won the first two, and family friend Carl Anderson the third; both men were killed overseas, and when the race came back in 1947 the senior men's race took their names. It did not run from 1943 to 1946, or in 2020 and 2021. The 2026 race was the 81st. Brand presence Unity Bank presented the 2025 and 2026 races. Course boards line the barriers around the loop, clubs and pro teams can buy tents along the finish line, and in 2025 a VIP area catered by Wolfgang's Steakhouse ran a wine and beer bar. Local partners name pieces of the day: Pop's Bike Shop runs the kids' course, Village Brewing the beer garden, and RWJBarnabas Health piped race commentary to the back straight. The 2025 race drew coverage in Bicycling and Cyclingnews and a USA Today 10Best nomination.