The World Triathlon Corporation, best known for its organisation of the Ironman races, has bought out the company responsible for running the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and various other sporting contests, including the Sydney ITU World Championship Series triathlon event and multisport festivals in Noosa and elsewhere.
The acquisition of USM Events by the WTC means that the latter’s CEO Andrew Messick once again has links to cycling.
Messick previously worked with AEG, the California-based sports and entertainment presenter which created the Amgen Tour of California. He stepped down from his role of president there and took up the position of CEO with the WTC.
The WTC’s acquisition of USM will see the former utilise the management of the latter to help run additional events.
“Besides bringing world-class events like Noosa, Mooloolaba, Geelong and the Cairns Adventure Festival into the WTC family of events, USM provides WTC with a robust operational platform in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Messick. “We hope to be able to use USM’s staff and know-how to help create compelling multisport festivals in Asia and around the world.”
It is not immediately clear if this will cause changes to the running of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. However USM Events owner and managing director Daryl Herbert suggested that there should be an enhancement to the events it currently organises.
“USM Events will continue to deliver to our loyal customers and supporters the same successful format and culture that each of our events has developed over the years,” he said. “We will also continue to deliver the events to the premier standard they are known for but with the additional support and prestige that WTC brings.”
The Jayco Herald Sun Tour was founded in 1952 and has grown since then into a significant international race. Last year UCI ProTeams Garmin-Cervélo, Katusha, Saxo Bank and Omega Pharma Lotto took part, with the overall honours going to Nathan Haas (Genesys Wealth Advisors). He’s since signed a contract with Garmin-Barracuda, making his pro debut in the Santos Tour Down Under.