Ponferrada, Spain Mayor Confirms City Will Be Able To Foot Bill For UCI World Championships

Ponferrada, Spain Mayor Samuel Folgueral assured that his city, which will host the 2014 UCI Road World Championships in September, has "raised 70% of the event's budget," according to Chema Bermejo of AS. Folgueral confirmed after a meeting with Spanish Superior Sports Council (CSD) President Miguel Cardenal and Spanish Cycling Federation President José Luis López Cerrón that the budget for the event has reached €11M ($14.9M), of which €6M ($8M) will go toward hosting the event and €5M ($6.8M) will cover a fee to the Int'l Cycling Union (UCI). Folgueral said, "We still owe two payments -- of €1M ($1.3M) apiece -- which we will make in March and June of this year. I can say there is an absolute guarantee from our City Council that we will make these payments." After "facing numerous problems, it seems that Ponferrada's hosting of the event is now assured thanks to government support." Cardenal "explained that the government support will not be financial" (AS, 2/4).