City of Huntsville preparing for UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The City of Huntsville is set to host the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup at the end of May.

The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce announced in November that the Para-cycling road World Cup will be coming to Huntsville in 2023.

Huntsville hosted two Para-cycling road events with United States Paralympics Cycling over the last two years and will now host a cycling event for a third straight year.

The World Cup event will be a much larger event than the previous events, however, as it will feature teams of athletes from approximately 40 countries.

The governing body for sports cycling which oversees international competitive cycling events, Union Cycliste Internationale, picked Huntsville to host the first Para-cycling Road World Cup ever held in the United States.

The races will be held over an extended weekend in May 2023. The first races will start on May 26 with the last races ending May 29.

All of the races will be held in Cummings Research Park with time trials and road races featuring different types of cycles.

May 29 will also be the annual Cotton Row Run held in downtown Huntsville, the cycling races that day will begin later in the morning. The races will be free to attend and local residents and companies are encouraged to plan gatherings along the course route.

According to the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, there will be approximately 300 athletes competing in the event along with their friends, family, and teams.

The countries that typically compete in the events include the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Canada, Mexico, Portugal and more.

The Westin Hotel at Bridge Street will serve as the headquarters hotel.

Copyright 2022 WAFF. All rights reserved.