Winston-Salem gets 2016 and 2017 USA Cycling Professional Road and TT Championships

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The 2016 and 2017 USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial Championships will be held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA Cycling announced on Thursday.

Next year’s event will be held from May 22-30 and will combine the professional road races and time trials along with masters road nationals and conclude with the UCI Winston-Salem Cycling Classic on Memorial Day.

"We in Winston-Salem recognize the 2016 Volkswagen USA Cycling Pro Championships for road cycling and time trial as the premier event of the year for USA Cycling and are thrilled to have been selected as the host city," said Winston-Salem Cycling Chair Dr. Richard Rauck.

"May 2016 will showcase Winston-Salem as the leading city for cycling in the United States as we combine the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & TT National Championships with the Masters Road National Championships and the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic into nine action-packed days of racing. This number of national cycling championships at one time and in one location is unprecedented and will welcome tens of thousands of spectators and racers to Winston-Salem."

USA Cycling has partnered with Visit Winston-Salem and the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic to host the events.

"Winston-Salem is an excellent cycling town and is well equipped to host this nine-day celebration of road cycling next year," said Micah Rice, USA Cycling vice president of national events. "Combining the three pre-existing events into one occasion will make Winston-Salem the epicenter of American cycling next spring, and we are proud to partner with a city so deserving of that role."

When asked about future sponsorship with cycling, USA Cycling and Nationals, Ryan Forkenbrock, sports marketing coordinator at Volkswagen of America said: "Cycling definitely makes sense for us. It is a sport that you are using vehicles during the road race you have the support vehicles there. We do have video content coming out prior to the Worlds in Richmond. It’s going to be our 'Life as a Team Car' video that really highlights how the Golf SportWagen is used in the races with USA Cycling. That is coming in September."