The '15 UCI Road World Championships "far exceeded crowd predictions, with about 645,000 spectators" coming to the cycling event during its 10-day run, according to estimates cited by Louis Llovio in a front-page piece for the RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH. The figure "tops by almost 200,000 what organizers have expected for the past three years and is a significant increase" over the '03 event in Hamilton, Ontario, which was the "last time the event was held in North America." That event "drew about 230,000 spectators over six days." Richmond organizers long have said that it is "very difficult to come up with a specific attendance number because, unlike a ticketed event with turnstiles, fans at bike races spread out across long stretches, and they also leave and come back." As expected, crowds "grew as the week unfolded." The largest numbers of people "streamed into Richmond on Saturday and Sunday." Yesterday’s crowd "was the week’s largest, with large packs of people gathered in certain spots ... and lining up along the streets throughout the day." TV coverage "showed crowds consistently growing as Sunday’s six-hour-plus race progressed" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 9/28). Llovio in a separate front-page piece writes Richmond by most accounts "handled its time in the spotlight well." Often unprompted, fans, cyclists and officials have all said that they "enjoyed their time." Team USA members in particular have "talked about how the enthusiasm has pushed them, and there’s already talk about Worlds coming back to the U.S. one day." This year’s event was the first in the U.S. since Colorado Springs hosted in '86 (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 9/28).
