World-class cyclist and Fort Lewis College alum Tom Danielson returned to Durango on Saturday for the first time in four years to ride in the sixth annual Durango Fall Blaze Bicycle Tour.

After placing ninth overall in the 2011 Tour de France, Danielson earned national attention as the highest-ranking American in this year’s race.

He followed that with a fourth-place finish in the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado.

Danielson, a Boulder resident who became a father 18 months ago, headed back to the Campus in the Sky to celebrate his success and give back to the program that helped kick-start his career.

The Fall Blaze is a three-route (37, 60 and 100 miles), noncompetitive bike tour that raises money for the Tom Danielson Cycling Scholarship Fund at Fort Lewis College.

The fund provides scholarships to student-athletes on the FLC cycling team who display a passion for the sport, maintain a grade-point average of 2.7 or higher, and are active in the community.

So far, the fund has raised more than $200,000 for scholarships for the team, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation for the second year in a row. FLC cyclists have won 17 national championships.

“Tom Danielson brings visibility to Fort Lewis College, and we’re so proud of his accomplishments,” FLC President Dene Thomas said. “He makes Fort Lewis look so good.”

Thomas’ husband, Gordon Thomas, finished the 60-mile loop in time to ride through the finish line just behind Danielson, who rode the 100-mile loop.

Danielson cruised through the finish line, near the FLC clock tower, alongside two FLC cyclists and several other local riders.

“Tom’s an animal,” said Alister Ratcliff, a Fort Lewis cyclist who benefits from the Danielson fund.

“I felt like I was riding in the Tour de France with him,” Ratcliff said. “We went around one turn, and he looked like he was like 2 millimeters from going off the road, but he was fine.”

Rotem Ishay, a senior exercise science major who also is benefiting from the Danielson fund, said Danielson is a laid back, nice guy, and said his scholarship money has been a big help.

Ishay, like Danielson, won a national collegiate mountain bike title for FLC.

The animal himself was impressed with the college riders.

“I got to ride with a cool group,” Danielson said. “The FLC kids were really strong, and they look good for nationals.”

The 100-mile loop which took riders through stops at Shalona Hill, Helen’s Store, Vallecito Dam, Eagle Park in Bayfield, Florida Mesa Elementary School, and FLC was a first for Danielson, who said he’d never ridden that combination of roads in that direction.

“I was like a kid in a candy store. I was probably really annoying because I was so excited and riding so fast,” he said. “It was so cool climbing up Shalona, going through Bayfield, and cruising through Ignacio,” he said.

Danielson, who started out mountain biking at FLC, listed Horse Gulch, the Colorado Trail and Hermosa Creek as some of his favorite local trail rides.

After his road ride Saturday, Danielson turned down an offer to take a break and change out of his gear, instead hanging out to pose for pictures, sign autographs, and casually mingle with local riders and fans.

“This is a small school that does big things, and the location and community on campus are part of that,” he said. “Everyone who lives in Durango is here because they love it, and it’s the motivation for the coaches, community, businesses and professors.”

The event certainly motivated many locals to pay the $59 registration fee and join the ride, including Chris Wherry, a Durangoan who was the U.S. national road race Champion in 2005, and Gary Hunter, FLC’s new athletic director, who is relatively new to cycling.

“Gary did a great job; we’re indoctrinating him into the cycling world,” said Ed Zink, a Fort Lewis College Foundation member and leader of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Zink also was the event director for the 1990 World Mountain Bike Championships in Durango.

He also helped produce several World Cup cycling events in Durango.

Events like the Fall Blaze that encourage community support are part of the reason why FLC is a national powerhouse and is ranked first in the nation, Zink said.

Unlike football, cycling doesn’t have a stadium, so community rides help show financial support and encouragement for the sport and athletes, he said.

“Tom helps bring money in, and he’s paying the community back for the good education and strong start that he got,” Zink said. “He’s paying it back so other kids can have a good start, too.”

The idea to help the community was hatched when Steve Schwarts, FLC’s vice president of finance and administration, helped Jana Goldstein arrange for her husband, Garry Goldstein, to go on a bike ride with Danielson as a 50th birthday gift, Jana Goldstein said.

On the ride, Goldstein mentioned to Danielson that people would pay to ride with him, and from there the plan was hatched, she said.

“We had fabulous weather, Tom Danielson, and great food,” Garry Goldstein said. “We can’t mess this one up."

The Durango Fall Blaze Tour, which has a cap of about 400 riders per year and has been held annually since 2006, is now in the hands of Dave Hagen, who is also the director of operations for the FLC cycling team.

“It’s good to have him back. There’s a lot of positive energy surrounding him because of the Tour de France,” Hagen said. “It’s great to have him back in town, and it helped give this year one of the biggest turnouts.”

Last year, the event raised $40,000.

The amount raised this year was not yet known, but if enthusiasm is any predictor, the dollar amount should be high.

“I did the 60-mile, and it was hard, merciless, but the colors were beautiful,” said Mimi Thurston, an FLC graduate from 1984 who has participated in all six Fall Blaze Bicycle Tours.

“It’s hard, but we’ll do it for FLC,” she said.