Photo: fayetteville2022.com
Fayetteville will be the site of the world’s biggest cyclocross event in a few years.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) today announced that the Cyclocross World Championships will be held at Millsap Mountain in Fayetteville on Jan. 29-30, 2022.
It will be just the second time the United States has ever hosted the event, which was first held in 1950 in Paris, France. The announcement was made in Bogense, Denmark at the site of the 2019 world cyclocross championships.
Local organization BikeNWA will lead a coalition of community partners in organizing the event, which will be made possible by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. It is expected to be the culmination of a four-year plan to bring world-class cyclocross racing to the Northwest Arkansas region.
Competitors from at least 30 nations are expected to travel to Fayetteville to compete at the event. Champions will be crowned in six categories during the two days of racing: Elite Men, Elite Women, Under-23 Men, Under-23 Women, Junior Men, and Junior Women.
For those unfamiliar, cyclocross is a unique type of competitive racing that combines the speed of road bike races with the terrain of mountain bike events, held on shorter, spectator-friendly courses. Cyclocross bikes resemble road bikes, but with slightly wider, knobby tires for traction on off-road surfaces. Racers typically hop off and carry their bikes up steep uphill sections and over various types of obstacles in races that last between 30 and 60 minutes.
Millsap Mountain was purchased by the City of Fayetteville in 2018 with a grant and loan from the Walton Family Foundation as part of a plan to build a 228-acre bike park.
It was the site of Oz Cross, a two-day cyclocross event held in November as part of USA Cycling’s American Cyclocross Calendar. It was also one of six local races included in the NWA CX Series, which ran from September through early December in cities across the region.
Co-managing the Fayetteville 2022 organization and serving as race director will be Brook Watts, a veteran race organizer familiar to cyclocross fans as the first to bring UCI World Cup cyclocross to the United States. Watts has a long history in the sport of cycling and cyclocross in particular.
“I’m excited to partner with BikeNWA on the culmination of the annual cyclocross season in 2022,” said Watts. “That may seem quite far away, but we’ll have elite international races each year beginning in 2019.”
The first and only other time the event has been held in the United States was in 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan said he’s excited to roll out the city’s hospitality red carpet and share the city with visitors from across the globe.
“When we acquired the acreage for Centennial Park at Millsap 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.”
For more information, visit fayetteville2022.com.
Cyclocross World Championships Locations
1950 – Paris, France
1951 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
1952 – Geneva, Switzerland
1953 – Quato, Spain
1954 – Crenna, Italy
1955 -Saarbrücken, Saar
1956 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
1957 – Edelare, Belgium
1958 – Limoges, France
1959 – Geneva, Switzerland
1960 – Tolosa, Spain
1961 – Hanover, West Germany
1962 – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
1963 – Calais, France
1964 – Overboelare, Belgium
1965 – Cavaria, Italy
1966 – Beasain, Spain
1967 – Zürich, Switzerland
1968 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
1969 – Magstadt, West Germany
1970 – Zolder, Belgium
1971 – Apeldoorn, Netherlands
1972 – Prague, Czechoslovakia
1973 – London, United Kingdom
1974 – Bera, Spain
1975 – Melchnau, Switzerland
1976 – Chazay-d’Azergues, France
1977 – Hanover, West Germany
1978 – Amorebieta-Etxano, Spain
1979 – Saccolongo, Italy
1980 – Wetzikon, Switzerland
1981 – Tolosa, Spain
1982 – Lanarvily, France
1983 – Birmingham, United Kingdom
1984 – Oss, Netherlands
1985 – Munich, Germany
1986 – Lembeek, Belgium
1987 – Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
1988 – Hägendorf, Switzerland
1989 – Pontchâteau, France
1990 – Getxo, Spain
1991 – Gieten, Netherlands
1992 – Leeds, United Kingdom
1993 – Corva, Italy
1994 – Koksijde, Belgium
1995 – Eschenbach, Switzerland
1996 – Montreuil, France
1997 – Munich, Germany
1998 – Middelfart, Denmark
1999 – Poprad, Slovakia
2000 – Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands
2001 – Tábor, Czech Republic
2002 – Zolder, Belgium
2003 – Monopoli, Italy
2004 – Pontchâteau, France
2005 – Sankt Wendel, Germany
2006 – Zeddam, Netherlands
2007 – Hooglede-Gits, Belgium
2008 – Treviso, Italy
2009 – Hoogerheide, Netherlands
2010 – Tábor, Czech Republic
2011 – Sankt Wendel, Germany
2012 – Koksijde, Belgium
2013 – Louisville, United States
2014 – Hoogerheide, Netherlands
2015 – Tábor, Czech Republic
2016 – Zolder, Belgium
2017 – Belvaux, Luxembourg
2018 – Valkenburg, Netherlands
2019 – Bogense, Denmark
