A race put Durango on the mountain biking map 40 years ago. Can the city bring it back?

DURANGO – In September 1990, mountain bikers from around the world descended on Durango for the first UCI-sanctioned Mountain Bike World Championships. Racers could be seen dotting the hillside at Purgatory Resort north of the southwestern Colorado town, battling altitude, rough trails and each others’ legs and lungs. 

The event put Durango on the mountain bike map, spurred the creation of Durango Trails advocacy group and inspired racers and brands like Yeti Cycles to move to town. The town has produced Olympians, Tour de France contenders and cycling champions of all levels in the decades since. 

Now, a group of Durangoans hopes to build on that legacy by bringing back the race for its 40th anniversary in 2030. 

The effort is being led by Gaige Sippy, the former director of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, a road cycling race and ride from Durango to Silverton that turns 53 years old this spring. He has been joined in the campaign by three-time mountain bike Olympian Todd Wells and Hogan Koasis, former director of mountain biking at Purgatory, as well as other individuals and organizations. 

“I was here at the 1990 World Championships,” Sippy said Nov. 19 in a presentation to Durango City Council. “I watched this event kinda transpire in front of me as a kid from out of town and was awestruck by what took place.” 

Sippy argued that hosting the 2030 World Championships would boost Durango’s reputation, highlight Purgatory as a mountain bike destination, secure international media coverage, benefit the economy for three years, bring the community together, and inspire the next generation of riders. 

The event would be five days and attract 800 athletes from 55 nations across numerous racing categories and disciplines. Athletes would have to qualify and be selected by their home nation in order to compete. The sporting spectacle would attract 45 million viewers through 30 television broadcasters, Sippy said. 

The championship would include cross-country races (Olympic distance as well as short track) for junior, under-23, and elite categories; downhill races for juniors and elites; as well as e-MTB races. 

If selected, Durango would have events leading up to the World Championships, hosting a USA Cycling National Championship (or other high-level UCI race) in 2028 and a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in 2029. 

The group asked for a commitment of support from city staff and departments for the five-year lead-up to the event, letters of support, event verification for the U.S. Department of State’s visa program, and funding and grant opportunities. They also asked for in-kind support from the city including policing and emergency management, equipment, permitting, transportation, waste management, meeting and venue space, and communication. 

“We are looking for a bit of a milestone, a time stamp, to say that at this point in time when we’re submitting this bid package that we have the support of the city of Durango and the city council,” Sippy said. 

The organizers pointed to the economic impact of similar scale events. They point to this year’s UCI BMX World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which drew more than 57,000 spectators who delivered $30.1 million in direct economic impact and generated $2.5 million in tax revenue.  As a local comparison, the 2021 High School Mountain Bike State Championships hosted in Durango brought in $949,000 of economic impact. 

Most recently, Purgatory hosted the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in 2021 and 2022, but it has been years since the region hosted an international-level event. 

Sippy’s committee plans to submit a letter of intent to the UCI (Union Cycliste International, the global governing body for cycling) next month. In January, the bid application is due along with a $20,000 application fee. If selected, the organizers would sign a contract in June and Durango would be announced as the host city in September. 

Sippy said the UCI initially approached USA Cycling about the prospect of Durango hosting in 2030 and then USA Cycling reached out to the Durango locals. He added that Brendan Quirk, CEO of USA Cycling, supports of the effort to host a World Championship just after the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

No action was taken by the city council last week, but multiple councilors expressed positive sentiments, including Olivier Bosmans, Dave Woodruff and Melissa Youssef. 

“What a testament to the value we place on cycling as a community and what a testament to the hard work that you guys are willing to commit to for the next three, four, five years already on top of everything else you guys already do in the community from a cycling standpoint,” Woodruff said. “We live in such a great community that we’re fortunate to have people like you that really support these things that we hold so much value in in our community.” 

Youssef asked Sippy if the committee had reached out to La Plata County. Sippy said he had spoken to deputy county manager Kevin Hall and hopes to continue the conversation.

City Council will consider a resolution to support the effort at its next regular meeting Dec. 3.