The organisers of the 2013 World cyclocross championships in Louisville, Kentucky, have confirmed that they have been forced to reschedule this weekend’s races, due to fears over the possible flooding of the Ohio river. Instead of the Junior and Under-23 men’s races on Saturday and the Elite Men and Women’s races on Sunday, all races will now be held tomorrow, Saturday, February 2nd.
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that high water levels in the Ohio River will cause Beargrass Creek to flood the low lying areas of Eva Bandman Park in Louisville, Kentucky, in the early hours on Sunday morning,” reads an official statement released buy the International Cycling Union (UCI). “The water level is expected to continue rising for the next 48 hours.
“Extraordinary measures, including the construction of a temporary barrier, are ongoing to ensure that the 2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships races will still be held in their entirety. The Organizing Committee and the UCI together took the decision to revise the schedule.”
To accommodate all four races in the one day, the Junior Men’s race is moved forward by an hour and a quarter from 11am to a new time of 9:45. The Under-23 Men’s race will be 90 minutes earlier, moving forward from 2:00pm to 12:30.
Rather than talking its place alongside the Elite Men’s race, the Women have been sandwiched between the two lesser Men’s races, so the expected duel between reigning champion Marianne Vos and US favourite Katie Compton will be at 11am; this is the same time of day as originally scheduled, but 24 hours earlier.
The Elite Men will also keep their original start time of 2:30pm, but it too moves ahead by 24 hours to complete the Saturday programme; all times are Eastern Standard (EST), which is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and six behind Central European Time (CET).
Gates will open at 8:00am on Saturday morning, and Louisville 2013 has confirmed that all Sunday tickets will be honoured.
World cyclocross championships 2013 revised schedule
Saturday, February 2nd
9:45am Junior Men (14:45 GMT, 15:45 CET)
11am Elite Women (16:00 GMT, 17:00 CET)
12:30pm Under-23 Men (17:30 GMT, 18:30 CET)
14:30pm Elite Men (19:30 GMT, 20:30 CET)