took part as an amateur, won the first stage of the race (following a prologue time trial). Articles published the following year reported that Ekimov "had had the nerve to win a stage as an amateur ... and some pros reportedly rewarded him by jamming a feed bag into his wheel", and that he "threatened to win the Tour de Trump last year as an amateur before the pros banded together to eliminate any chance he had of winning". Nonetheless, the first edition of the race was described as "a smashing success" in Sports Illustrated, which noted: "If you could get past the name, the Tour de Trump, without losing your lunch, and if you could somehow divorce the sporting event from the excess baggage that went with it ... what you had was a pretty nice bicycle race". Following the first event, Packer wanted to expand the race to take in more states. The 1990 race started on May 4 in Wilmington in Delaware, a state which Trump considered important for his three casinos in Atlantic City, and also visited Baltimore, after Trump agreed to local racecourse owner Joe De Francis's condition that he moor his yacht the Trump Princess in Baltimore Harbor during the race. It finished in Boston on May 13. Entrants in 1990 included 1989 winner Dag Otto Lauritzen, Greg LeMond, who was coming back from a virus and food poisoning, Steve Bauer, who had finished second in Paris–Roubaix that year, Andrew Hampsten, Davis Phinney, Ekimov, in his first year as a professional, and East German rider Olaf Ludwig. The race was won by Mexican rider Raúl Alcalá of the PDM–Concorde team. After two editions, Trump withdrew his sponsorship of the race due to his business's financial problems. According to Packer, reflecting on the event in 2016, he and Trump "parted as good business friends", although he also explained that Trump's personality and celebrity, as well as the scandals surrounding Trump's marriage and business affairs, distracted from the event and annoyed European riders in the race. DuPont sponsorship era After Trump withdrew from sponsoring the event, DuPont became the primary sponsor. Between 1991 and 1995, national amateur teams took part alongside professional teams. The event attracted well-known competitors, including Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond, and was attended by high-profile European-based professional cycling teams. In 1996, the Union Cycliste Internationale upgraded it to a 2.1 ranked race,