Italian Six Day event faces hurdles in testing times
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Leigh Howard and Glenn O'Shea have settled into the big league Six Day races without a problem.(Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)
A close run thing: Rasmussen and Mørkøv triumphed by just three points, the same margin they'd lost by at the Six Days of Munich.(Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)
Cremona Six Day organiser Claudio Santi has admitted that he still needs to overcome problems threatening next year's event, which gets underway on January 21. The challenges relate to sponsorship funding for the race as Cremona's Six-Day joins the growing list of events in this category that face an uncertain future.
"Unfortunately we are not yet certain that the International Six Day of Cremona will take place, despite our organisation, which has decided to commit to setting up [the event] after some months' work - there are problems about which we need to take advice," said Santi.
Santi explained that financial contraints imposed by the diminishing budgets of companies is the most pressing challenge. "The sponsors, as forecast, have their respective budgets dictated by economic crises, but the expenses that will be incurred remain; a reduction [in expenses] or lack thereof means we have provided an estimate which currently does not allow for the risk of not reaching unattainable figures," he added.
"But there is still hope that in our meetings over the next 48 hours this lack of budget will be rectified and we can conduct an event included in the international calendar from [cities such as] Rotterdam, Bremen, Berlin and Copenhagen," Santi continued. "Friday is the last day [40 days before the event] to present [event] programs to the Italian Cycling Federation and the UCI."
Santi said that the success of this year's event may help in guaranteeing its future, as he makes a presentation to the President of Cremona Fiere, Antonio Piva, about the likelihood of presenting the event's program to the Italian federation and cycling's governing body or giving up. "The success of 2009 is irrefutable however; it met with enthusiasm from around the world, for the warmth and beauty of the City of violins, nougat, cycling and song.
Should next year's 6 Giorni di Cremona Internazionale go ahead, the official launch will be held on Jaunary 9 in the Ponchielli Theatre, with the event to be run from January 21-26.
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