Svein Tuft won the 2007 US Cycling Open, Richmond's last big race. (Image credit: Emory Ball)
The US city of Richmond, Virginia officially announced that it would put in a bid to host the 2015 UCI road world championships today. Mayor Dwight C. Jones, Shadetree Sports principals Darach McQuaid and David Kalman and USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson confirmed speculation about the bid that came out of a previous announcement of the press conference.
It has been almost 25 years since the worlds were held in the USA when Colorado hosted the event. Johnson detailed how far the country has come in professional cycling since the Olympic Games opened up to professionals in 1996 when professional cycling "barely existed" in the country.
"Fast forward to today and there are more than 130 American riders going to Europe, and we have 6000 racing and training days there and facilities Italy, Belgium and Germany," Johnson said.
"The future has never been brighter, so it's time to bring the sport back to America, which is why I'm so excited that Richmond has started developing the bid to bring the world championships back to America."
Mayor Jones described the cycling palmares of his city, saying, "We were the only city to host a stage of the Tour de Trump and Tour Dupont every year during the history of that event, as well as the Cap Tech classic from 2003 to 2006."
US Pro road champion Ben King, born in nearby North Garden, Virginia, explained how important the world championships are to every professional cyclist. "Everyone dreams of representing their country at the world championships. I've dreamed of bringing myself to the world championships, but to have the world championships come to us would be amazing."
The bid will be registered with the UCI next year.
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