Rumors relating to monetary struggles had been flying for some weeks, however right this moment, race director Bruce Dunn confirmed that the Joe Martin Stage Race (JMSR), the longest-held stage race in America, is not going to be held in 2024.
“After 46 years of newbie stage racing, 21 years on the USA Biking skilled calendar and 9 years on the UCI worldwide calendar, we’ve needed to make the very tough determination to cancel the 2024 occasion as a result of rising prices of manufacturing a multi-day stage race coupled with restricted company and stakeholder sponsorship and funding,” stated Dunn.
Along with being the longest newbie stage race within the nation, the Arkansas-based occasion has an esteemed professional historical past. This 12 months would have marked the occasion’s twenty second anniversary on the USA Biking Professional Highway Tour (PRT) calendar and tenth 12 months on the UCI’s Americas Tour.
Earlier winners embody Neilson Powless (EF Schooling–EasyPost), Tyler Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles), Robin Carpenter (Human Powered Well being), Lauren Stephens (then EF Schooling – Tibco-SVB), Coryn Labecki (EF Professional Biking), Ruth Winder (previously of Trek-Segafredo), Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM).
With its UCI 2.2 rating, JMSR was one among simply 4 UCI races remaining on U.S. soil and, subsequently, a uncommon and priceless alternative for riders to earn some coveted UCI factors.
Based on the race group, the UCI race has attracted riders from 27 international locations and groups representing as many as ten international locations every year.
“The world found Arkansas via bike racing,” an announcement learn, lengthy earlier than its present, self-proclaimed, standing as ‘Mountain bike capital of the world.’
Regardless of this 12 months’s postponement, Dunn is dedicated to bringing the race again in 2025, stating:
“With 14 months to plan for 2025, we can be working tirelessly to safe a top-tier line-up of sponsors. This race wouldn’t have been doable over time with out the sponsors, volunteers and others throughout the Fayetteville neighborhood who’ve executed a lot and I sit up for persevering with in partnership with them sooner or later.” Dunn stated.
“The Joe Martin Stage Race was [All Sports Production’s] first occasion and began our profession in occasion manufacturing. We now have actually been bringing the world {of professional} biking to Arkansas for over twenty years and the pathway to the Olympics, World Championships and the World Tour Groups and occasions such because the Tour de France have included the Joe Martin Stage Race.”
Skilled biking within the U.S. has been dealt huge blows in recent times. The Tour of California, a WorldTour occasion on each the lads’s and ladies’s calendar, was the primary to announce its indefinite hiatus in 2020, adopted by the Tour of Utah worldwide males’s race and the Colorado Traditional (the remnants of the historic Coors Traditional).
The remaining UCI races within the U.S. are: Tour of the Gila, Gran Premio New York Metropolis and the Maryland Biking Traditional.
