Denver, Colo. (January 14, 2021) — The Colorado Classic presented by VF Corporation, America’s premier women’s only racing event, today announced its plans to return to racing in 2022 and not hold an event in 2021.
Following an overwhelming success in its debut as a women’s standalone event in 2019, racing worldwide came to a halt at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite their fierce commitment to creating an innovative and safe live racing model, organizers behind the event had to cancel the 2020 edition due to ongoing health concerns.
Now, with the 2021 race season looming, the pandemic situation remains uncertain at best. As such, organizers decided to not push forward with a 2021 event.
“In 2020, we spent months working tirelessly in conjunction with State, County and City organizations, health authorities, and the sports governing bodies to come up with a COVID mitigation plan that would ensure the health and safety for everyone. In the end, the most prudent decision was still to cancel the event. With the current situation being just as uncertain as it was last year, we don’t think it makes sense — financial or otherwise — to organize a 2021 event and risk another cancellation,” said Ken Gart, Chairman of RPM Events Group, the organizers of the Colorado Classic.
“This is not an easy decision to make. We know that this race holds an important place on both the domestic and international race calendars, and we remain committed to our goal of being the best women’s race in the world. But we hope that by delaying the event to 2022, the pandemic will have stabilized and we’ll be able to secure the necessary financial partners to do our event justice and host another game-changing, world-class event as we did in 2019.”
RPM Events Group shook the cycling world in 2019 when they announced that the Colorado Classic® presented by VF Corporation cycling race would continue as a women’s-only event — foregoing a men’s race in favor of raising the bar for women’s cycling with unprecedented financial support, an innovative live streaming and international exposure package, and longer, more challenging routes.
In doing so, the Colorado Classic® presented by VF Corporation became the only standalone UCI women’s stage race in North America with the coveted 2.1 UCI category designation, and garnered interest from some of the biggest professional cycling teams in the world.
The 2019 debut as a women’s only race was an overwhelming success with world-class competition, incredible fan turnout and worldwide recognition.
When the COVID pandemic brought competition to a halt in 2020, the organizers didn’t let the momentum from the previous year go flat. From athlete webinars to an inspirational speaker series and a fundraising ride on Zwift, the Colorado Classic presented creative ways to keep the cycling world engaged during this unusual and trying year; while furthering their mission be more than a race, and act as a movement to change the world through the power of women’s sport.
“Let me assure you that our commitment to women’s cycling is as strong as ever. We continue to believe that the Colorado Classic can evolve into one of the most powerful platforms in women’s sport and we will work on achieving that goal as we set our sights on 2022,” said Gart.
