USA Pro Challenge CEO & Exec Dir Shawn Hunter yesterday said that he "is not pursuing" the popular Colorado cycling race next year, according to a front-page piece by Jason Blevins of the DENVER POST. Hunter said, "We are going to continue exploring opportunities in the sport and certainly opportunities here in Colorado when they arise. But all the elements were not there for us to put it together for 2017." Hunter was working with AEG Chair Phil Anschutz to "support the Pro Challenge." Hunter: "My conversations with AEG have been that if we are going to do it, we want to do it at a level and world-class standard that Colorado has to expect. We didn't get all the elements done that we would have liked, and we didn't feel comfortable that everything was in place to return to the level we would like." Blevins notes the departure of Hunter is the "latest dramatic twist" for the race. Another group, led by Denver-based businessman Ken Gart, is "working on a new professional biking event" for '17. The group, which consists of community leaders, worked "separately from Hunter to revive the race." The group said that it is "planning a professional bike event next summer in Colorado" but it would have a "different format than the Pro Challenge." Hunter owns the trademark and intellectual-property rights to the "USA Pro Challenge" name. He said that "no one has approached him with an offer to buy." A pro cycling event in Colorado without Hunter "would be different," as he was "ever-present at the Pro Challenge" (DENVER POST, 8/3). In Colorado, Stephen Meyers notes the race did not run this summer, as Hunter "tried to build a new ownership structure and secure long-term investors." The event began in '11 and had "grown into Colorado's largest sporting event, with an estimated economic impact" of $130M (Ft. Collins COLORADOAN, 8/3).
