America's Queen of the Classics on the rolling dirt roads of the Battenkill Valley has become a fixture of early season cycling and a globally renowned event since the first running in 2005.
Sadly, that may not be enough to extend the Battenkill tradition beyond next year.
Race Director Dieter Drake of Anthem Sports has suggested that 2016 could be the last running and there is an appeal for potential investors on the race website.
"Are you interested in investing in 'America's Queen of the Classics'?"
"It's not a great scenario for sustainability and we have to take steps to at least maintain stability. Unfortunately, however, we fear that 2016 will be the last edition of the event... the risks are very high at several levels not limited to financial, liability, etc."
Those "steps to at least maintain stability" will see major changes from previous years for the 12th edition in 2016.
- Race date is May 21 not the traditional April
- There is just one day of racing, not two, and
- It is not a USA Cycling-sanctioned event
These changes follow those in previous years to eliminate the pro race due to waning sponsor interest and the introduction of a Gran Fondo (read 2015 report here).
"The date change was brought about by the risk of bad weather/snow that unnecessarily risked the financial disaster that would come with a cancellation/postponement. We also lose a very large part of the cycling public in the Northeast & eastern Canada that haven't had time to train for a challenging course like Battenkill is every year," stated Drake."Also, our new venue at the Washington County Fairgrounds is/was under extreme pressure to get the water on for bathrooms, showers, campers, and their winter storage situated in time for the event each year going forward. Given all this, late May makes the most sense. It's not perfect, but it's far better than early April at several levels..."
Drake, whose Anthem Sports runs the Great American Cycling Series of events, is clear that he thinks that sanctioning by USA Cycling does not provide value for money.
"The realignment away from the NGB USAC, the national governing body comes after years of contemplation and in the presence of a boom in so-called 'unsanctioned' events," he said. The FAQ section of the Battenkill website provides more detail and Drake referred commenters on Facebook to the section.
"FAQ: Why is this now an unsanctioned event?"
" Mass-participation events like the Tour of the Battenkill and others have evolved beyond the dated infrastructure that have traditionally operated to restrict the growth of events and the inclusion of a larger audience in the sport. With the changing culture within competitive cycling, we are committed to bringing better value to participants in 2016 outside the confines of 'sanctioning'."
The FAQ section lists benefits to racers from being unsanctioned: "no annual license ($70+), no one-day licenses required ($15+), no insurance surcharges ($4+), no junior gearing, online waivers, helmet required when racing only."Some of those benefits may be illusory in reality as almost all riders in the Pro/Am races are going to have paid the $70 for an annual license anyway and a license has never been required for the Gran Fondo.
In the Facebook exchange Drake stressed that in reality the events would run as though they were sanctioned with a few tweaks such as more latitude for the organizer on field sizes.
"In any case, we realize that both changes are not popular with everyone, but we feel very strongly that they are both good decisions for the event and for cycling in the US," Drake concluded.
Registration will open for the racing categories and the Open Gran Fondo on November 15.
Battenkill started in 2005 with about 250 cyclists taking part in Battenkill Roubaix."FAQ: So, it's pretty much the same as it always was? Yeah, pretty much. It's a bike race. Enjoy."
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