USA Cycling cancels 2020 cyclocross national championships due to COVID-19

On Monday USA Cycling canceled the 2020 U.S. cyclocross national championships and collegiate cyclocross national championships.

The event, scheduled for December 8, 2020, in Iowa City, Iowa, was the final national championship event on the domestic cycling calendar to be canceled, after the U.S. road, MTB, and track events were also called off.

The 2020 Jingle Cross, also slated to be hosted in Iowa City, was previously postponed until 2021.

A communication from USA Cycling said, “Although there has been a return to some local racing, the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States have made running large scale national-level events too risky for participants, volunteers, staff, and our host communities.”

The 2020 USA Cycling collegiate national MTB championships to be hosted in Durango, Colorado, October 15-18, were canceled, as were the 2020 marathon mountain bike nationals in Palo Duro, Texas on November 14.

“Iowa City who worked expediently to provide alternatives and solutions to give racers a chance to compete at Cyclocross Nationals during these challenging times,” read a statement from the governing body. “Most of all, we recognize all who will miss the opportunity to showcase their efforts and the best cyclocross racing in the country. With a collective hope, we look forward to bringing great events back to our community in 2021.”

The U.S. nationals follows in the footsteps of other major cyclocross events on the international calendar that have also canceled due to COVID-19. Organizers recently called off the Koksijde cyclocross World Cup, as well as the World Cup in Deigem, both of which are in Belgium. Earlier this year, the organizers of the 2020 Pan-American cyclocross championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas also called off the event.

Fayetteville, Arkansas is slated to hold the 2022 UCI cyclocross world championships.