The elite men's start with the city of Louisville in the background. (Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net)
Louisville, Kentucky, USA, may be on the verge of losing the 2013 Cyclo-Cross world championships. It must provide financial and organizational guarantees to the International Cycling Union by the end of this week, or the UCI will award the championships to another location.
According to the Gazet van Antwerpen, the event has no commercial sponsors, which would indicate financial difficulties.
In addition, 'cross riders Bart Wellens and Rob Peeters were in Louisville last week to see the course, which is to be ridden February 2-3, 2013. However, the newspaper reported, they saw “nothing which in any way appeared to be a cyclo-cross course.”
The matter was discussed at last weeks UCI meetings in Copenhagen, with the UCI giving Louisville organisers until the end of this week to clarify the financials and meet the timing requirements for work on the course. However, “promoters remain deaf to the UCI's hints that Louisville might lose the rights to organise the world championships.”
France or Luxembourg as fallback
Both France and Luxembourg are mentioned as possible candidates to take over the championships, with the smaller country appearing to have the edge. “Luxembourg City has long flirted with the idea of organising a cyclo-cross world championship on the Kirchberg plateau,” the GVA said.
Belgium is scheduled to host the Worlds in 2012 and 2016, and is not interested in 2013 as well.
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