The Dutch provinces of Groningen and Drenthe are aiming to bring the 2021 UCI Road World Championships to the northern Netherlands rather than 2020 as originally planned.
A feasibility study has shown that the organisers are better focused on 2021 and beyond as the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Worlds are all being held in Europe.
“A delegation from our organization travelled to the World Championships in Doha,” Renate Groenewold a board member of the organisers explained to Wielerflits.
“We have been unofficially informed that it is not wise to go for 2020, because after three years it is usual for another continent to host the World Championships. For 2020, Colombia is in the running, but the decision will only be made at the 2017 Worlds.”
The organisation must submit a letter of intent along with €25,000 to the UCI by the 1st of January 2018.
According to Groenewold, €15m is needed to organise the championships.
“We must first examine now whether there is enough support to organize the World Championships. That means gauging the authorities and the business community, to find out how they stand on it. And only then we can take the next step.”
The Championships were first held in the Netherlands in 1925 in Apeldoorn. The event has been held in the country another seven time since then. Heerlen (1967) and Zandvoort (1959) were the host city on one occasion with Valkenburg hosting the Worlds five times, most recently in 2012.
