Hamburg Vying To Play Host To 2017 Cycling Road World Championships

The German city of Hamburg "has an excellent chance to play host to the 2017 Cycling Road World Championships," according to Rainer Grünberg of the HAMBURGER ABENDBLATT. Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) Communications Dir Enrico Carpani said, "The enthusiasm of Hamburg's people for cycling is unique. This city has to get a World Championship." Those comments sparked the fantasy of event agency Upsolut, which organizes the Vattenfall-Cyclassics. Upsolut CEO Frank Bertling and his team have already worked out first plans for a possible UCI Road World Championship in Hamburg in '17 or '18. Swiss-based UCI said that "should Hamburg apply to host a World Championship in the near future, it would most likely be awarded with it." Cycling World Championships are typically five-to-seven-day events, in which men and women compete in 12 different events. To host an event like that would cost Hamburg about €6M ($7.6M) (HAMBURGER ABENDBLATT, 8/18)