By Dan Dakin
And then there was one.
Two major cycling event promoters in Canada were supposed to hold rides in Niagara this summer within a month of each other, but one has now been cancelled.
Both B.C.-based GranFondo Canada and Ontario-based Centurion Cycling announced in December they planned to stage large-scale events in Niagara in 2013.
GranFondo Canada, which hosts the largest group ride in the country every year in Vancouver, is running GranFondo Niagara Falls Sept. 14.
The Centurion Cycling event Aug. 17 and 18 was to start and finish in downtown St. Catharines. The company asked for support from city council and was offered a $3,500 cash grant and $7,500 in waived fees if the event happened. But when Centurion opened registration for its 2013 events last week, St. Catharines was off the list.
In a public posting on the Centurion Facebook page, owner Graham Fraser wrote of the Niagara event: “Unfortunately we just did not work out a long term arrangement. Plus, there are so many rides popping up it makes little sense to add more in the same time frame.”
The city’s director of economic development and tourism services, David Oakes, said he was disappointed to hear the ride was cancelled.
“I understand some of the reasoning behind it,” he said. “We still want to work with them to see if we can have an event in 2014 and beyond because there is a real economic impact to this type of event. Hopefully, we can make it happen in later years.”
The GranFondo Niagara Falls event is still moving forward as planned.
Organizers say they’ll spend more than $1 million to host the event that is expected to draw thousands of riders. Registration opened in late January and the company behind the ride said it’s on target to hit 1,000 people signed up by the end of February.
“Given the overall benefits to the cycling community and the anticipated economic impact to the region, we’re excited about what this project represents for the region,” GranFondo Canada’s director of events Stephane Deslisle wrote in an e-mail.
“Our goal is that it will be the largest timed cycling event Niagara has ever seen.”
Taken from: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/02/07/major-cycling-event-cancelled?utm_source=Endurance+Sportswire+Newsletter&utm_campaign=852a0fec09-ESW+Fri.+2%2F8%2F13&utm_medium=email
Louis
That is a shame that they cancelled it. I was looking forward to riding with some friends but I guess we will have to do it next year!