SA wants be part of a bid to bring the UCI world championships Down Under

SOUTH Australia wants be part of a national bid to bring the UCI road world championships Down Under in 2022 after a meeting of the sport’s top ranking officials in Adelaide yesterday.

SOUTH Australia wants be part of a national bid to bring the UCI road world championships Down Under in 2022 after a meeting of the sport’s top ranking officials in Adelaide yesterday.

Cycling Australia (CA) chairman Steve Bracks, chief executive Nick Green and UCI Oceania president Tracey Gaudry met with new UCI president David Lappartient where they confirmed their interest in hosting the prestigious nine-day festival of cycling in September, 2022.

On the back of the Tour Down Under’s 20-year success and with three-time reigning world champion Peter Sagan again choosing to open his season here this week, the State Government wants the world titles in Adelaide and will meet with the UCI today.

“We’d love to host the UCI road world championships here in South Australia,” Tourism Minister Leon Bignell told The Advertiser yesterday.

“We’re in discussions with Cycling Australia and the UCI with the first opportunity to host in 2022.”

Australia last hosted the road world titles in Geelong in 2010 - and the track world championships in Melbourne in 2012 - and CA is working towards a July, 2019, deadline to submit a formal bid to be host in 2022.

This year’s world championships will be held in Innsbruck, Austria, 2019 in Yorkshire, UK, while the host cities for 2020 and 2021 are yet to be determined.

The total cost of staging the event is estimated at $20m and would need to be predominantly funded by government which would rely on sponsorship, TV rights and tourism for return on investment.

“It’s always on the agenda and we know technically the first available world championships is 2021 but I think we took a view that 2022 is the first best opportunity for our region,” Green said.

“We’ve been running a process with the State Governments and from a South Australian point of view they’ve clearly indicated they’d love to be in the mix of those conversations.

“They’ve got the capability, the experience, the proven track record, all those sorts of things.

“What we hope to do over the next 12 months is allow State Governments to express their interest to Cycling Australia and then ideally we would work with one government to get to the final outcome.

“We would go to the UCI and say ‘this is our host’ and develop a bid with that particular host.”

Green said Friday’s meeting with Lappartient was about strengthening the relationship between CA and world cycling’s governing body.

“He will know this region has a great history of producing great athletes and hosting major events, the success of the Tour Down Under for 20 years in delivering great benefits not only for cycling but also for the UCI the event is in very, very safe hands,” Green said.

“That’s important for the UCI when they go to a region they know they can trust the organisation that they know what they’re doing and if Australia was to put up a hand to host other events - road, track, mountain bike or BMX - they know they can trust the organisation and the national federation to deliver great events.”

Green said discussions with government would include details of a commercial partnership in hosting the race for the men’s and women’s rainbow jerseys.

“Where the offset can be is what is the commercial revenue that can be available to the event?” Green said.

“The national federations don’t have the propensity or the resources to underwrite the event but it’s a joint venture and partnership where everyone benefits.

“Historically in 2010 the Victorian Government at the time funded the majority of the operational costs and that’s offset by the event trying to deliver commercial revenues, sponsorship, broadcast.

“But this event can’t be ticketed so there is no ticket revenue.”

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Originally published as SA wants be part of a bid to bring the UCI world championships Down Under