October 26/10 10:56 am - CCA Begins Bid Process for 2015 Road Worlds

Posted by Editoress on 10/26/10
 

It is no secret that two Canadian event organizers are hoping to host the Road Worlds in the future - both Gestev (organizers of the 2010 and 1998 Mountain Bike Worlds, plus dozens of World Cups) and Serge Arsenault's organization (organizer's of the ProTour races in Quebec City and Montreal) have told us in previous interviews that this is their ambition.  Either (or both) could do a superb job.

The UCI faces immense pressure for the right to host their premier event - the Road World Championships.  In the past, they have had an unofficial policy of taking it out of Europe every seven years - hence Hamilton, Canada in 2003 and Melbourne/Geelong, Australia in 2010.  However, UCI President Pat McQuaid, in interviews with us and others has stated that the UCI should consider shortening that to five years.

Therefore, the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) has announced today that they are beginning the process of soliciting bids from organizers to produce the 2015 Road Worlds in Canada.  The UCI actually awards the bid to the host country, who then appoints the organizer.

Canada will likely face tough competition for this honour, with some countries point out that we have hosted it twice (1974 and 2003), in the seven times it has gone outside of Europe.  Having said that, Canada has an excellent record with every international event it has hosted.

Below is the official CCA statement:

The Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) has initiatied the bid process to host the 2015 UCI Road World Championships to eligible candidates.

Held annually, the UCI Road World Championships represent the most important road cycling event in the World for National Cycling Associations.

Eligible organizing committees have until November 7th, 2010 to present in writing their intent to present a candidature for consideration to the CCA. The deadline to file candidatures, which must be inclusive of the majority of the UCI candidature file requirements, has been set as December 7th.

The CCA will publicly inform the selected candidate on December 15th, and will then proceed to file the international candidature. The successful international candidate will be announced by the UCI at the 2011 Road World Championships.

Eligible organizing committees are those with experience hosting major cycling events in the last five years, such as UCI ProTour events, UCI 1.1 / 2.1 road events, or a UCI World Cup/UCI World Championships.

Canada has hosted the UCI Road World Championships twice in the history of the event, most recently when Hamilton, Ontario welcomed the world's top cyclists in 2003.  The other occasion was 1974 in Montréal as an Olympic test event.

In 2010, Canada successfully hosted two UCI World Championships: the UCI Para-cycling World Championships in Baie-Comeau, QC and the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC.