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| Denver Post |
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Colorado — and America — is a cemetery for pro-cycling races, many withering away after failed attempts at financial stability.
But a group of Coloradans is attempting something never done before that may keep their race’s heart beating for decades to come: charging for entry.
“Our goal is sustainability and to achieve that, we need to change the sport of cycling by charging an admission fee,” said David Koff, CEO of RPM Events Group, which is organizing the Colorado Classic stage race in August. “It’s time for professional cycling to move in the direction of financial success in the United States.”
The free nature of cycling has been the bane of bike racing across the globe. Pick a spot on the road and cheer as the world’s top athletes speed past a few feet away. While that accessibility has been one of the big draws, the lack of spectator spending puts a lot of financial weight on the shoulders of sponsors, private investors, VIPs and towns that host races.
The Colorado Classic, which will be held Aug. 10-13, will stick to the traditional racing model for its first two stages in Colorado Springs and Breckenridge. But in Denver, the accompanying Velorama Colorado festival will act as a ticketed hub for the race’s start and finish in the River North Art District.
The festival will be a large-scale community event that incorporates three days of music, a beer garden, a local flea market and a bike expo with the race acting as the centerpiece. Some European races also have also embraced festivals.
The race will still be free along portions of its Denver route, but organizers are betting that people will pay to watch some of the sport’s top athletes zip across the finish line on Walnut Street and for the chance to mosey a few blocks over to the festival grounds tentatively set in Rockies Parking Lot B, which extends from 27th to 33rd streets between Blake Street and the railroad tracks.
Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie are set to headline Friday and Saturday, with scheduled performances by the New Pornographers, Saint Motel and La Santa Cecilia — bands that routinely nab headline spots at stand-alone music festivals.
The Women’s Denver Criterium will lap a track within the festival grounds Friday. An expanded version of Denver Flea will boast almost 200 independent vendors in addition to the nearly 150 expected at the related Bike Expo.
Drink RiNo — a collection of brewers, cideries and a winery based in RiNo — is the festival’s adult-beverage sponsor for all three locations, which differs from many large-scale sporting events that are typically sponsored by a solo major beer brand.
Koff predicts that the event will be the biggest Denver has ever hosted, comparing it to the fan festival that surrounds the NBA’s All-Star game. “We think all eyes of the cycling world will be on us,” he said.
At a press conference Wednesday, Gov. John Hickenlooper said the event’s broad appeal has the potential to drum up a greater appreciation for biking across the state and lead to more money for bike infrastructure. Colorado aims to be the No.1 state for cycling, he said.
“What do we have going?” Hickenlooper asked. “Beer, bikes and bands. This event is combining that trio of events to really make sure we flex our muscles where we’re strong.”
Outside of Europe, where cycling enjoys considerable government subsidies, the nature of the sport makes it hard to sustain financially, particularly because domestic bike race organizers typically have to pay for cycling to be televised, and not the other way around.
Billionaire-owned Tour of California and smaller races like New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila and the Tour of Utah aside, few high-profile bike races in the U.S. have proved sustainable.
The Pro Challenge came close, with the fans, the television coverage, the deep-pocketed investors and a stable of big-name sponsors. Race organizers had whittled the $10 million Pro Challenge’s losses to about $2 million a year, but the absence of a title sponsor eventually doomed the race after five celebrated traverses of Colorado.
Last week, Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad published a survey of 22 European bike race organizers — including those behind major races like the one-day Tour of Flanders, which draws a million people as Belgium’s largest sporting event — who suggested that the once unthinkable idea of charging spectators is inevitable if the sport hopes to remain vibrant.
Steve Maxwell, a Boulder cycling advocate whose outerline.com website explores the financial challenges of professional cycling, applauded the creativity of the festival.
“Everyone across the world is trying to figure out ways to not only collect revenue but broaden the appeal of their events,” he said. “Too many times, it’s been this cut-and-dry model and people have been disinclined to try something new.”
The Colorado Classic is borrowing a page from the Euro playbook by offering yet-to-be-detailed public racing that allows amateur cyclists to race the route in timed events.
The Pro Challenge had something like that in 2012, with outfits like Carmichael Training Systems, Lizard Head Cycling Guides and Trek Travel providing coaches, mechanics and even massages to amateurs who paid upwards of $10,000 to chase the pros. The classic’s participatory races along the race route will be much more accessible.
Tickets to Velorama Colorado go on sale March 3 at 10 a.m. via axs.com. A limited amount of $25 day tickets will be made available. Regular advance day tickets are $35 and day-of tickets will cost $45. VIP packages are also available.
