Options explored for cycling world championships in Groningen

Courage Events and TIG Sports are exploring the possibility of bringing the Road World Championships to the Northern Netherlands. This was first reported by Thijs Zonneveld on Wednesday and confirmed to WielerFlits.

Currently, the various parties are still in the exploratory phase. They are in discussions with all stakeholders in the region, and more clarity on the feasibility is expected in April or May. If things continue to develop positively, the parties will first look at 2032 within the bidding process for the 2032-2034 period. Several strong countries have applied to host the World Championships for that year, so Courage Events and TIG Sports are also looking further afield.

This weekend, during the Cyclocross World Championships in Hulst, the KNWU (Royal Dutch Cycling Union) held talks with the UCI about bringing the World Championships back to the Netherlands after twenty years. The last Dutch World Championships were held in Limburg in 2012. Philippe Gilbert and Marianne Vos became world champions at that time, along the Cauberg. Last year, Courage Events and TIG Sports jointly organized the NIBC Tour of Holland and the Simac Ladies Tour for the first time.

The World Championships have already been scheduled until 2031. This year, they will take place in Montreal, Canada. The 2027 Super World Championship will be held in Sallanches, France, while the 2028 World Championship will be held in Abu Dhabi. The Danish and Belgian capitals of Copenhagen and Brussels will host the next World Championship in 2029 and 2030, respectively. The next Super World Championship, in 2031, has been awarded to Trentino, Italy. Starting in 2032 and continuing until 2034, Groningen aims to host the World Championship for one of those seasons in a three-year period.

Groningen previously made an attempt
Groningen, along with Drenthe, previously attempted to bring the World Championships to the Northern Netherlands. This was initiated by former sports journalist Dick Heuvelman, who previously organized the Giro d'Italia (Groningen 2002) and Vuelta a España (Assen 2009). Former speed skater Renate Groenewold was also involved in the working group. Initially, the focus was on the 2020 World Championships, then shifted to 2021 and 2023. The province of Groningen eventually submitted the proposal.

The parties currently exploring the possibilities of bringing the World Championships to the same region for the period 2032-2034 are completely separate from the initiative launched a few years ago.