How Charleston secured bid to host Pro Road National Championships

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — USA Cycling has brought its Olympic-qualifying event to Knoxville for the past seven years. Charleston will now get their chance to host the Pro Road National Championships, a deal that runs for the next five years.

But how did the Mountain State’s capital city secure the bid?

“We have developed good relations with some of the other USA sports governing bodies,” said Tim Brady, president and CEO of Charleston Visitor and Convention Bureau. “We’ve worked with table tennis, we’ve worked with boxing, we’ve worked with USA volleyball. The folks from USA cycling came in for an initial site visit and really just fell in love with the city.”

Charleston is hoping to boost their economy through sports tourism. The city has hosted or will host major championship events like the WVSSAC Super Six Football Championships and the Thundering in the Mountains Tennis Tournament and hopes to build the future Capital Sports Complex at the old Macy’s building .

“We have to have a little bit of everything but sports tourism is where it’s at,” Mayor Amy Goodwin said. “Let me be clear, you’re taking a $40 billion industry. I just want a little piece of that pie in the city of Charleston.”

Officials can’t anticipate how much money will be pumped into the local economy but with Olympic athletes competing, all eyes will be on Charleston.

“It creates that sense that Charleston is a destination for competitive sports,” Brady said. “When you get these events like these national and international championships, it also helps you grow the youth competitive sports underneath. It just brands the city as a place where people play for championships.”

The Pro Road National Championships will take place May 14-19.

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