Bicyclists race through the streets of Greenville, S.C., in the 2011 cycling championship.Chattanooga has Volkswagen and its new brand partnership with USA Cycling to thank for the organization’s decision, announced Thursday, to bring the nation’s most elite competitive bicycling events here for three years beginning next year. The nationally recognized events will feature USA Cycling’s Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships for men, and its inaugural championships in those categories for premier professional women cyclists.
The city hasn’t seen an event similar to this since the now-defunct Tour de Georgia made its last appearance here five years ago, and that was nowhere close to being as large, competitive and widely followed as USA Cycling’s professional championships. The latter are tracked by members of more than 2,500 USA Cycling clubs around the country and draw far more intensive media coverage.
The men’s races for these titles, staged in Greenville, S.C., the past six years and in Philadelphia the first 22 years, typically draw around 50,000 spectators and approximately 100 elite riders, many of whom compete at the international level, including the Tour de France. The inaugural women’s events may nearly double the number of riders next year. Both groups will bring their support teams and arrive up to a week before the races to train on the routes.
The road race, a USA Cycling spokeswoman said, will be from 100-to-150 kilometers. Though the precise route hasn’t been determined, it will begin on the Riverfront, cross Lookout Mountain, wind around other scenic roads, and traverse a circuit of downtown streets before finishing back at the Riverfront. The time trials will be centered around the Volkswagen plant.
USA Cycling’s decision to stage the races here marks a grand opportunity to showcase the city to a national audience, and it will create a significant economic impact. It also confirms the city’s widening renaissance and the growing appeal of our outdoor environment and diverse natural resources, which provide both recreational enjoyment and an increasing range of major competitive events that draw participants regionally and nationally. These include the Head of the Hooch rowing regatta, Rock Creek’s 50-kilometer Stump Judge trail race, and an array of other sports tournaments.