Women’s WorldTour shrinks as West Sweden Vårgårda competitions are cancelled
The Women’s WorldTour became two days shorter when organizers of two WorldTour events in Sweden announced that they are ceasing to organize Vårgårda Västsverige’s road race and team time trial. The two events have been a fixture in the women’s calendar since 2006 and 2008 respectively.
The competitions would have been the weekend after the first UCI Unified World Championships in Glasgow and were scheduled for August 19-20, just two days before the start of Tour in Scandinaviawhich last year took riders through Norway, Sweden and Denmark over six stages.
Vårgårda Västsverige’s organizers announced this on the race website citing the slow economy combined with increasing financial demands both from the UCI and local transport regulations that have put the budget out of reach.
“After 25 years of organizing elite races at the highest level, the club is now forced to decline the opportunity to continue as Sweden’s only World Tour organizer,” the message said. “The reason is financial and increasing demands for a different type of organization.”
The organizers say the total budget is over SEK 4 million (about €370,000). “Despite significant financial support from our long-standing partners, and in particular Vårgårda Municipality, Sparbanksstiftelsen and Sparbanken Alingsås, the club cannot finance the event in a responsible manner without risking the association’s future.
“The club also sees increased demands from the UCI, both organizationally and financially in the coming years and beyond. In 2023, the Swedish Transport Administration will apply regulations for road races which will have a significant cost impact.”
Club president Helen Henriksson said the decision to cancel was very difficult. The race had been canceled due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but was revived last season, with Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek-Segafredo) named the winner of the road race after Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) was disqualified for illegal driving position. Trek-Segafredo also won the TTT.
The organization didn’t have a dime to show for all the hours their volunteers put in, she said.
“The economy is a big part of the decision, but also an increasing demand for our organization. We have in many ways helped to develop women’s cycling in the world,” she added, referring to television broadcasts and better conditions for riders since the beginning.
“Women’s cycling is certainly on the right track, but we see no opportunity to shoulder the increased demands, and ideally, to run races at the absolute highest level. The cycling festival has been a standing event for a quarter of a century and put Vårgårda and Western Sweden on the world map.
“We are incredibly grateful and impressed by all these efforts and forces that have acted over the years.”