What if the Ohio State University football team played the Chicago Bears, or if the best college basketball players got to take on LeBron James? 

That David vs. Goliath dynamic happens every year at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, where smaller domestic American pro teams take on the big squads from the Tour de France.

Cycling's governing body segments teams into three tiers. Atop the ladder, WorldTeams compete in the biggest races, such as the Tour de France, Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain. One step down, the Professional Continental teams compete in many of the same races, but also have the option to compete in smaller, local events. Finally, Continental teams are comprised of up-and-coming riders, many of who will graduate into the higher ranks in the years to come.

At the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, teams from all three tiers compete together. The mixture of levels creates exciting and unpredictable dynamics. Riders from smaller teams go on the attack each day, hunting for breakaway opportunities. And while World Tour riders regularly win the overall, riders from the smaller teams try to shine.

As a fan, you get an opportunity to see the stars of the future compete against the stars of today.

"There are maybe two guys from [Continental] teams who can finish in the top-10, and I think I can be one of those guys," says Rob Britton who rides for the continental team SmartStop. "This race is a huge opportunity to show my abilities."

Every year, a handful of Continental riders prove themselves against the World Tour teams at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. In 2012, Australian Rory Sutherland from the United HealthCare team won the 6th stage into Boulder. The next year, Sutherland stepped into the World Tour with the Saxo Bank team. In 2013, Colombia's Janier Acevedo from the Jamis squad won the 4th stage into Beaver Creek and finished 4th overall. The performance earned Acevedo a spot on the Cannondale-Garmin World Tour team.

Last year, Kiel Reijnen of United HealthCare won the first stage into Aspen and secured the Best Sprinter jersey. Robin Carpenter of the Hincapie Development Team won Stage 1 into Crested Butte. And Serghei Tvetcov of the Jelly Belly-Maxxis team finished 3rd overall.

Alex Howes of the Cannondale-Garmin team says that World Tour teams often underestimate the strength of the domestic riders.

"Sometimes the World Tour teams are eyeing each other, and that opens the door for the domestic guys to take advantage," Howes says. "It happens every year."

Rob Squire of the Hincapie Development team says the USA Pro Cycling Challenge always increases his confidence as a professional. Each year, he competes against the best riders in the world, and each year he improves his performance against them. 

"It can be intimidating at first - you roll up and see Michael Rogers and other guys from the Tour de France," says Squire, who turned 25 this year. "Then you see he's suffering up the climb just like everyone else. Everyone is human at this race."

USA Pro Cycling Challenge Teams:

UCI WorldTeams
- BMC Racing Team
- Tinkoff-Saxo Bank
- Cannondale-Garmin
- Trek Factory Racing

Pro Continental Teams
- United HealthCare Pro Cycling
- Team Novo Nordisk
- Drapac Professional Cycling
- Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Continental Teams
- Jamis-Hagens Berman-Sutter Home
- Optum-Kelly Benefits Strategies
- Jelly Belly-Maxxis
- Axeon Cycling Team
- Cycling Academy
- Team Budget Forklifts
- Hincapie Racing Team
- Team Smartstop

About the author: 
Fred Dreier is a journalist living in Denver, Colorado. 
He has written about professional bicycle racing since 2004, and his work has appeared in a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Dreier has covered the USA Pro Cycling Challenge since its debut in 2011. He regularly rides his bicycle on many of the roads used by the race.