Varese hoping for 2008 World's

Next Tuesday, September 20, just before the opening of the 2005 Cycling World Championships in Madrid, the Management Committee of the Union Cycliste Internationale will assign the 2008 Road Cycling World Championships to either Varese, Italy, Valkenburg, Netherlands or Lucca, Italy.

Amedeo Colombo, president of the 'Varese Mondiale 2008' promoting committee, is convinced that Varese will succeed: "I think Varese is definitely favourite compared to its opponents ," he said. "The UCI Management Committee will decide on the grounds of three parameters: the validity of the routes, logistics resources and the economic offering."

At the moment, the proposed parcours for a possible Road Race in 2008 is a town circuit of 17,6 km including two climbs, with a technical descent and a finishing straight of 400 metres. For the Time Trial, Varese offers three different routes (starting and finishing inside the hippodrome "Le Bettole", as for road races). The Elite Men's parcours of 45 km would be a loop around the lake of Varese.

The organiser also hosts the Tre Valle Varesine race every year.

The town of Lucca in Tuscany, meanwhile, also received a lot of support within Italy. Its Road Race proposition to the UCI involves a 19.6 km-long circuit from Viareggio to Massarosa, to be completed 14 times for a total of 274.4 km.