City of Durango supportive of 2030 MTB World Championship bid effort

Durango will bid to host MTB World Championships in 2030

Update: Dec. 5, 2024

Durango’s city manager will provide a letter of support for a local effort to secure the 2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Durango City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 3 to authorize the support of the city government and staff.

During the meeting, Gaige Sippy was asked how the local organizing committee will pay the $20,000 application fee required by the UCI. He said the fee is being split by Visit Durango and the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. He was also asked about emergency services and noted that logistics and emergency resources needed for the World Championships would be simpler than that needed for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, which has attracted thousands of cyclists to Durango annually for more than 50 years.

Sippy previously presented to city council on Nov. 19 seeking support from the city. For more on the presentation, read my story for The Colorado Sun.

The application and fee is due in January, and the committee will find out if they will be hosting the race by June 2025.

Original story published Nov. 18, 2024

Durango, Colorado hopes to secure hosting rights for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2030. If successful, the mountainous community would welcome top mountain bikers from around the globe 40 years after the first-ever UCI Worlds took place in Durango in 1990. 

The effort is headed up by Gaige Sippy, former director of the 53-year-old Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, the second-longest running road race in the United States. Organizations such as USA Cycling, Purgatory Resort, Durango Trails, Durango Devo, Visit Durango, and Fort Lewis College have come together to form a local organizing committee focused on the bid. 

"It would be incredible to bring the championship back for the 40th anniversary in 2030," Sippy said in a news release. 

Purgatory Resort north of Durango most recently hosted the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in 2021 and 2022. The first year (pictured here) was a snow and mud-filled affair. Photo by Ryan Simonovich.

The committee will present the idea to Durango’s city council on Tuesday, Nov. 19, seeking resources such as funding, equipment, and staff. Next, the committee will have to submit a letter of intent and pay an application fee of $20,000 to the UCI. 

If successful, Durango will be announced as the 2030 host in September 2025. A round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Durango would serve as a test event in 2029. "If we are chosen we would have two years of world cup and world championship level cycling events here in Durango," Sippy said. 

The 1990 World Championships (held at Purgatory Resort) were won by Ned Overend and Juliana Furtado (XC) and Greg Herbold and Cindy Devine (DH). The event put the Colorado town on the map for mountain biking. Among many legends of the sport, Durango has produced current mountain bikers such as Christopher Blevins, Riley Amos, Savilia Blunk, and World Tour road stars Quinn Simmons and Sepp Kuss.