The show will go on for the 2022 Pan American Cyclo-cross Championships, as the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross in Falmouth, Massachusetts has been confirmed as the new host venue, just days after the event was canceled.
Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross has been a fixture of cyclo-cross in New England for more than 42 years. The 2022 event will be held at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds on November 5-6, and organisers will an extra day, Friday, November 4, to dedicate competitions for the Continental Championships.
“We are thrilled to announce the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross as the host organization for our 2022 Pan American Cyclo-cross Championships,” said Josh Peacock, the interim President of Cross Commission for the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI), in a statement Friday. He also serves as the director of marketing and events for Cycling Canada.
“The organization behind the event, in close collaboration with USA Cycling, were quick to respond and adapt following the cancelation announcement of the originally planned event in Costa Rica. Given the event’s reputation and calendar placement, the collaboration with Really Rad was an easy choice.”
The original championships were scheduled to take place in San Jose, Costa Rica on November 5-6. On October 4, organisers announced the cancellation because of the loss of its host venue, Parque Viva, and subsequent difficulties in finding a replacement, as the reason to call off the multi-national event.
Only a week ago Peacock said he was made aware of the cancellation with the UCI, saying, "We are currently examining multiple avenues to try and find a replacement event/venue, but cannot comment specifically on which venues are in play until we’ve done our due diligence with the local organizing committees in question.”
Timing was the issue. COPACI looked at existing events which could add the championships to their schedule as the best-case scenario. Cycling Canada have only one UCI-sanctioned event, the C2 Bear Crossing Grand Prix in Langford, British Columbia on November 27, that race is being held in conjunction with their national championships.
USA Cycling was contacted about several races on the Pro CX calendar prior to their national championships December 6-11 in Hartford, Connecticut and a decision took only a matter of days.
“We are honored to share the exciting news that the United States will be hosting the Cyclocross Pan- American Continental Championships this year as part of the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross,” said Brendan Quirk, president & CEO of USA Cycling. “USA Cycling was proud to play an integral part in securing this event and we are excited to add another high-level cyclocross event to the U.S.”
The UCI Continental Championships offer prestige and valuable points for riders, and this year would have been the first time since the event's inception in 2014 that the races would have taken place outside North America. The last Pan Am championships took place in Garland, Texas after being cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“Cyclocross in New England has a long and storied history,” said Adam Sykes, race director of the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross. “In addition to being the final race of the USCX, we are excited to add the 2022 Pan American Cyclo-cross Championships to our block of races.”
The Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross offers a weekend of C1 and C2 events and is the final event of the four-stop US Cyclocross Series (USCX), which will crown winners on November 6. The Pan American titlists for men and women will be crowned November 4 in UCI categories for junior, U23 and elite riders, as well as various masters categories.
Peacock noted that all registration and technical guide information will be updated in the coming days and will be hosted on the website for the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross.
