Colorado Springs, Colo. (Nov. 18, 2011) — Locations for several national championship events in 2013 and 2014 are determined, USA Cycling announced Friday.
The following events will be held in these cities for the 2013 and 2014 years:
Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic National Championships Madison, Wisconsin
Professional Criterium National Championship High Point, North Carolina
Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships Sun Valley, Idaho
“We’re excited to get ahead of these events,” Managing Director of National Events Micah Rice said. “To be able to announce some our national championship events this far in advance creates great opportunities for our partner cities as well as the riders to plan ahead.”
The USA Cycling Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic National Championships in Madison, Wisc., will utilize road courses that proved themselves during the 2010 and 2011 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships. Among those road courses is the Blue Mound road course, which has served as a challenge to riders during the Tour of America’s Dairyland and would have been part of the road course had Chicago’s bid to host the summer Olympic Games succeeded.
“The Greater Madison area has a rich history of hosting premiere cycling events. We are thrilled to be able to share our extraordinarily scenic, yet incredibly challenging landscape with USA Cycling athletes,” said Director of Sports Sales & Program Development for the Madison Area Sports Commission Jamie Patrick.
The triad region in North Carolina comprised of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem has proven to be a strong spectator base for cycling events and offers a spectacular venue for criterium racing. The High Point City Criterium routinely draws large numbers of fans from the surrounding area.
“We are excited to host the USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship in High Point, N.C., as the culmination of three days of events and racing,” Chip Duckett, owner of Mock Orange Racing, “We look forward, through the resources and the energies of this city and region, to making this a National Criterium Championship to be remembered.”
The Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Lehigh Valley, Pa., received strong support from Discover Lehigh Valley Sports and allows USA Cycling the opportunity to host Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships in an eastern location, marking the first time this event will be held in the mid-Atlantic region. Additionally, it is located 10 miles from cycling hotbed Trexlertown, Pa. and approximately an hour away from Philadelphia.
“Bear Creek is excited to showcase our resort and challenge the best riders in the country on our demanding and technical trails.” Bear Creek Mountain Resort Events Manager Gary Klein, who will be the event’s Race Director.
On the heels of what will be two years of hosting USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships, Sun Valley, Idaho has proven to be a huge hit as a destination. The vast network of trails and the atmosphere created by the Ride Sun Valley Festival, makes this area of Idaho an ideal location for an endurance event such as the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships.
USA Cycling had previously announced that its Collegiate Road National Championships will be held in Ogden, Utah on May 4-6, 2012, and May 3-5, 2013.
Additionally, USA Cycling is excited to announce the 2013 Masters Road National Championships will return to Bend, Ore., for a third-consecutive year. After receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from riders after the 2011 event, USA Cycling asked Visit Bend to make a bid to host the 2013 event.
The 2012 USA Cycling National Championship calendar has already largely been announced.