Riders descend a hill near Martigny, Switzerland; part of route that would have been used for the … [+]
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has cancelled the Road World Championships which were due to take place in the Vaud and Valais regions of Switzerland in September. The decision was announced on August 12 and follows news that the Swiss Federal Council has extended a ban on events with more than 1,000 people.
The UCI is now scrambling to find another country to stage its annual flagship event although this will be incredibly difficult considering that a recent study rated Switzerland as the most coronavirus-safe country in the world.
Martigny road sign promoting the World Championships.
The UCI road cycling world championships were due to be staged September 20-27, centering on the towns of Aigle and Martigny. (The UCI is headquatered in Aigle.)
A statement from the UCI said the organization “would like to sincerely thank the organizers, cities and cantons as well as the Swiss Confederation, partners and volunteers for their work over the last months during this extremely difficult international health crisis that we are all going through.”
The statement continued: “Our Federation, which was greatly looking forward to welcoming the world’s best riders to “its” home, close to its headquarters and its training centre in Aigle, shares the disappointment of the athletes, national teams, organizers and everyone implicated in this exceptional project.”
Riding past road resurfacing works close to the town of Martigny.
Grégory Devaud and Alexandre Debons, organizing committee co-presidents, said in a joint statement: “We are sad and disappointed. We have worked hard for more than two years to deliver a magnificent event on an extraordinary circuit.
“”In spite of the constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to work with passion to organise the UCI Road World Championships, which would have been remembered for their sporting value but also for the beauty of our cantons and the richness of our culture and region.”
The statement added: “We realize that the national and world health situation requires precautionary measures and our thoughts are with all those affected by this virus.”
While the event will no longer take place in Switzerland (or perhaps anywhere), the regions it was due to visit are still perfect for cycle holidays, especially as many of the mountain roads that the multiple races would have used have been freshly resurfaced.
Verbier-based Swiss Cycling guide Christian Paul said that attracting “such a beautiful race” meant that the locals and visitors would still benefit from the provision of “wonderful infrastructure.”
He told me that many people in Switzerland’s ski resorts were infected with the virus earlier in the year.
“I had it in the beginning of March. I was down for a week, and could not move. I had all the symptoms and I was unable to do serious sports for two months afterwards.”
Verbier is one of the ski resorts which would have accommodated visitors to the World Championships.
“We had very international clientele coming from the four corners of the world and obviously we were one of the hotspots of the coronavirus in Switzerland,” he said.
“70% of the people around me had it,” he estimated. The country clamped down hard on the virus, all but eradicating it.
The climb to Italy from Martigny via the St. Bernard pass.
Life has almost returned to normal in Switzerland, which is why the organizers of the World Championships were confident the event could be staged safely and still attract international visitors.
Those visitors can still come—many may have non-refundable—travel and hotel reservations—but there will be no professional racers to watch.
The roads remain open, and local hotels and restaurants are very much still open for business.
“Our government was really proactive in the way they handled all the early pandemic restrictions,” said Elise Farquet of Verbier tourism.
“The population got really involved in following the rules.”
Verbier was one of the official sponsors of the World Championships.
“For us, it was really a big chance to be associated with such such a famous race,” said Farquet.
Swiss Cycling guide Christian Paul hands cherries to riders on a pre-World Championships event.
The race’s removal from the region will hit businesses hard. The organizers had been expecting an economic boost before, during and after the eight days of the competition. 11.8 million Swiss Francs had been invested by public authorities in the event.
Swiss cycle holiday companies are hoping people will still come to the country even though the World Championships won’t now be staged in the country.
Haut Velo’s Adam Sedgwick said his company attracts riders looking for high mountain challenges.
“You probably need to be an experienced rider to ride here, and to do justice to the area. I mean, it’s Alpine: long long climbs with nice sweeping descents.”
Those nice sweeping descents won’t see 1,200 of the world’s best riders on them in September and nor will it host 800 journalists and tens of thousands of spectators but, if Switzerland keeps its status as the most COVID-safe country in the world that shouldn’t stop international cycle tourists from visiting.
