After a three-year run, Chattanooga is losing the national championship bicycle races. Winston-Salem, N.C., has been selected to serve as the host city for the 2016 and 2017 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & TT National Championships.
The 2016 Volkswagen USA Cycling Pro Road & TT National Championships will be held May 22-30. The nine-day event will combine the Pro Road & TT Championships, Masters Road National Championships and the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic, ending on Memorial Day with the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic UCI road race.
USA Cycling is partnering with Visit Winston-Salem and the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic to put on the event.
“Winston-Salem is an excellent cycling town and is well equipped to host this nine-day celebration of road cycling next year,” said Micah Rice, USA Cycling Vice-President of National Events. “Combining the three pre-existing events into one occasion will make Winston-Salem the epicenter of American cycling next spring, and we are proud to partner with a city so deserving of that role.”
The city was awarded the 2016-17 Masters Road National Championships last December.
“We in Winston-Salem recognize the 2016 Volkswagen USA Cycling Pro Championships for road cycling and time trial as the premier event of the year for USA Cycling and are thrilled to have been selected as the host city,” said Winston-Salem Cycling Chair Dr. Richard Rauck. “May 2016 will showcase Winston-Salem as the leading city for cycling in the United States as we combine the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & TT National Championships with the Masters Road National Championships and the Winsto-Salem Cycling Classic into nine action-packed days of racing. This number of national cycling championships at one time and in one location is unprecedented and will welcome tens of thousands of spectators and racers to Winston-Salem.”
“The opportunity to host two national cycling championships, now combined in a nine-day event, reinforces Winston-Salem as a premier cycling destination,” said Richard Geiger, President of Visit Winston-Salem. “With strong local resources including the future cycling center in downtown, Winston-Salem is ready to be in the national spotlight and eager to welcome cyclists and spectators.”