The UCI has announced that the Cyclocross World Champions will be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2022, marking the second time the Worlds have been held in the United States, following the event in Louisville, Kentucky in 2013.
BikeNWA, a Northwest Arkansas-based nonprofit, will lead a coalition of community partners in organizing the event. The Walton family gave a grant to BikeNWA to help make the event happen.
The plan includes continuing the support and growth of the local cyclocross scene through infrastructure development and education, as well as bringing multiple national-level cyclocross events to Northwest Arkansas leading up to the World Championship event in 2022.
The event will be held at Millsaps Mountain, a cycling park that is part of the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation system, located close to the University of Arkansas. The park was funded in part by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.
Veteran race director Brook Watts will be co-managing the Fayetteville 2022 organization and serving as race director, “I’m excited to partner with BikeNWA on the culmination of the annual cyclocross season in 2022,” Watts said. “That may seem quite far away, but we’ll have elite international races each year beginning in 2019.”
The mayor of Fayetteville, Lioneld Jordan, said an event of this scale serves to further highlight the extraordinarily rich cycling culture that exists throughout Northwest Arkansas.
“The City is thrilled to welcome the UCI Cyclocross World Championship to Fayetteville in 2022! When we acquired the acreage for Centennial Park at Millsaps Mountain, our vision was to develop a new trail system to serve the emerging mountain biking industry as well as to preserve lands to serve local hikers and trail runners,” Jordan said. “This event is proof certain that we can continue to dream big for our future. We are always happy to roll out Fayetteville’s hospitality red carpet and share the unique attributes of our beautiful city with visitors from across the world!”
More information: Fayetteville2022.com.
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