Seventeen years after it last hosted a world championships, Norway has indicated that it is once again interested in being the battleground for cycling’s battle for the rainbow jersey. The country of current Elite world road race champ Thor Hushovd is interested in hosting the world’s top riders, according to cycling president Harald Tiedemann Hansen.
“Norway would like to arrange to run the cycling world championship on home soil again,” he said at a press conference on Monday, according to Dagbladet. “[We] will seek to host the World Cup in coaching in 2014 or 2016. We have ambitions for a new world championship on home soil.”
Hushovd is clearly part of the attraction in chasing the races, with his win in Geelong bringing plenty of attention to the sport back home. He won a small bunch sprint to take the win on October third, and since then he has been adjusting to the realisation that he will wear the rainbow jersey for the next twelve months.
“It would be the fulfilment of a big dream for me to ride the world championship on home soil,” he said. “This came as a surprise to me, because I think I read somewhere that they had no plans to do so. But it would be huge.”
The country previously hosted the race in 1993. Lance Armstrong (USA) soloed to victory in the Elite men’s road race, beating Miguel Indurain into second place. Jan Ullrich won the amateur event, starting a pro career that would also see him take the 1997 Tour de France, the 1999 Tour of Spain and the 2000 Olympic road race title.
Norwegian rider Hushovd’s victory in Australia led to the planned bid. “We would not apply if Hushovd had not taken World Cup gold now,” admitted Hansen. “You have to strike while the iron his hot. We will have a strong application. Italy applies about every third or fourth year, and I know that the UCI will have several nations applying. We're going to look at Denmark next year, and will learn a lot from them.”
He said that the main challenge is an economic one but, that said, there are already backers who have indicated they will support many of the costs of the project.
He also revealed plans to run a new Tour of Norway, which would clearly be a boost to cycling in the region. “We have applied to host the Tour of Norway, a stage race for pros. We have received strong signals from the UCI that it is possible to get this into the calendar from 2012. It would mean a lot for Norwegian cycling, " he said, adding that the race would be five days long, and finish in Oslo.