Tweet29-09-2009 om 13:02 by Maastricht Region Branding Foundation

The UCI Road World Championship will be held in the Dutch Province of Limburg in 2012. The announcement was made this afternoon by UCI president Pat McQuaid. The president of the International Cycling Union made the news public at the end of the UCI conference in the Swiss city of Lugano in the presence of the Limburg delegation led by governor Léon Frissen and Provincial Executive Councillor for Sport, Odile Wolfs. Limburg came out on top against the other bidders, Italy (Genoa) and Belgium (Hooglede). Russia (Sochi) dropped out at an earlier stage.

Governor Frissen and councillor Wolfs are very happy with the award. “By capturing a major international event like the Road World Championships 2012, we have achieved an important objective. This is a very good thing for Limburg, good for the Netherlands and good for cycling,” said Limburg’s governor.

“It’s fantastic that we have succeeded in our plan. We’ve been working hard for this for a whole year. I’ve been very confident about our bid since my visit to last year’s world championships in Varese. Cycling is one of the main sports spearheading the province’s sport policy. Limburg has all the qualities needed to make the world championships in 2012 a spectacular and unforgettable event. It will undoubtedly be a fantastic celebration of cycling,” was Odile Wolfs’ enthusiastic response.

The Road World Championships 2012 will be held from 15 to 23 September inclusive. That year, the world championships will for the first time be organised within a completely new structure. Limburg will be the first to host it. The main new features will be an increase in the number of race days spread over two weekends instead of one, the introduction of a world championship team time trial for sponsored teams (both men and women), the organisation of a tour version and various recreational sporting activities. The Road World Championships 2012 will be ushered in on Saturday 15 September with a cultural opening event on the Vrijthof in Maastricht and concluded with a closing ceremony in Valkenburg on Sunday 23 September.

No less than eight Limburg “cycle towns” will be involved in the Road World Championships Limburg 2012 as start, finish and recreation points. This is all part of Limburg’s cycle plan. It involves Maastricht, Valkenburg, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen, Landgraaf, Margraten, Eijsden and Beek. In addition, a further six Limburg cycle towns will be on the routes of the various races. Maastricht, Valkenburg, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen, Landgraaf, Margraten, Eijsden and Beek will alternate as starting points. The finishing line for each race will be in the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul at the Vilt – Berg en Terblijt boundary. On the main 16.5 km route, the inclines at Cauberg (Valkenburg) and Bemelerberg (Margraten) will sort out the sheep from the goats. 

The Road World Championships have been held in Limburg on five previous occasions. In 1998, Valkenburg aan de Geul (world champion Oscar Camenzind), in association with Maastricht and Margraten, was the last town to organise the world championships. That year, Valkenburg had already gone down in history as a world championship town as it was the fourth time that a world championship had been run on the Cauberg route. A world record. It was previously Valkenburg’s turn in 1938 (Marcel Kint), 1948 (Briek Schotte) and 1979 (Jan Raas). In between times, the municipality of Heerlen organised the world championships in 1967. That year, Eddy Merckx won the world title in Heerlen.

Of the twelve Dutch provinces, Limburg is the most European. Limburg has a longer border with Belgium and Germany than it has with the rest of the Netherlands and is the country’s most southerly province.

Source: Meuse-Rhine Journal

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