The Italian city of Florence (Firenze) has withdrawn its bid to host the road World Championships in 2013, according to tuttobiciweb.it. The bid had been spearheaded by Director General of the 2008 Varese World Championships Gabriele Sola, former classics legend Michele Bartoli, and former Italian national coach Alfredo Martini.
Reasons for the withdrawal have not been released.
"We leave with regret," said Sola. "Knowing that we had opened the way for a project in which we firmly believe, and for which we worked with commitment and enthusiasm. The proposed application followed several contacts with both the UCI and with local authorities," he continued.
“We leave the field to others."
Had the Tuscan city been successful in its application it would have been the fifth time the World Championships were staged in Italy in less than 20 years. In recent years Agrigento (1994), Verona (1999 and 2004) and Varese (2008) have hosted the World Championships. Switzerland (Lugano 1996 and Mendrisio 2009), Spain (San Sebastian 1997 and Madrid 2005) and the Netherlands (1998 and 2012) will have been the only other countries to host them more than once in that time.
Hosts for the next road World Championships are: Melbourne (Geelong), Australia 2010, Copenhagen 2011 and Limburg (Valkenburg), Netherlands 2012.