Iowa City selected for second time as a Cyclo-cross World Cup race site

IOWA CITY - Iowa City's first stab at hosting a major international cycling event went off smoothly enough and was a big enough hit last year, the city has been selected for a second time as a Cyclo-cross World Cup race site for the 2017-2018 season.

The World Cup will again be paired with Jingle Cross, an annual cycling event that has presented lower tier professional races in Iowa City since 2004.

'It is very exciting that we have again been chosen for the World Cup circuit,” said Josh Schamberger, an event organizer and president of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. 'This back-to-back selection is a complete testament to the strong support of the Iowa City and Johnson County community.”

Aigle, Switzerland-based Union Cycliste Internationale or UCI, which is the governing body of professional cycling and presents the Tour de France, will kick off its 2017-18 World Cup season this September at the Johnson County Fairgrounds on the southern outskirts of Iowa City.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16. The Jingle Cross events will take place on Sept. 14, 15 and 17, also at the fairgrounds.

The course features a mix of terrains, including gravel, dirt, grass and sand, as well as obstacles, fly over ramps and a massive hill dubbed Mount Krumpit. Challenging, varied terrain and obstacles is a hallmark of cyclo-cross.

The World Cup circuit will continue its season in Waterloo, Wis., which is near Madison and the only other stop in North America, on Sept. 24.

Last year, Schamberger, John Meehan, who co-founded Jingle Cross, and others, made a splash by wooing the UCI board to award Iowa City a spot on its tour, which historically had been confined to Europe.

The World Cup event in Iowa City last September drew 10,000 spectators, and 16,000 total for the whole Jingle Cross weekend, Schamberger said. World Champion Wout Van Wert, of Belgium, won the men's race, while Katie Compton, of the United States, pedaled to victory on the women's side.

Schamberger predicts a similar crowd in 2017, and an economic impact of $1.2 million.

The race will fall on an Iowa Hawkeye home football game day versus North Texas, and Schamberger said he sees fans taking advantage of another activity to do while visiting Iowa City.

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