Will Greenville Ante Up?

WRITTEN BY GARY HYNDMAN

Greenville City Manager Jim Bourey chuckles when asked if the USA Pro Cycling Championships is still welcome here. It’s one of those polite expressions, implying the answer is so plainly apparent, no response should be necessary.

“It’s a very, very important event to the city, and we would like to see it become a staple of the city,” Bourey says dutifully of hosting the prestigious event.

Yet whether it will become that “staple” here remains unknown—and unknowable—due to inadequate local financial support.

What is clear is that for the fourth consecutive year local residents will have the opportunity at the end of this month to witness many of the U.S.’s premier professional cyclists up close competing for national titles in both time trial and road race formats.

Beyond that, however, its fate remains to be determined. Chris Aronhalt, managing partner of Medalist Sports – the Atlanta-based company that promotes the event, says his organization will decide by the time the last cyclist crosses the finish line whether to continue here or move on.

“There’s a chance for Greenville to step up and make the decision an easy one,” he says.
Sean Petty, chief operating officer of USA Cycling, which owns the rights to the event, refuses to blame the recession, saying its financial struggles pre-date the economic downturn.

Since The Cliffs Communities withdrew as a “significant sponsor” following 2007, reinforcements have been scarce. According to Aronhalt, his company has lost money during its entire three-year run in Greenville.

Greenville Hospital System continues to support the cycling championships financially. This year it will be joined by Duke Energy, which has agreed to serve as a presenting sponsor this year. Greenville County will kick in $50,000 from its hospitality tax revenues.
Those contributions, coupled with cost cutting measures Medalist is imposing on its operating budget, spared immediate relocation. But neither Aronhalt nor Petty is making promises about the future.

“As everyone can appreciate,” says Petty, “you have to pay your bills at the end of the day.”
The current crisis stands in stark relief to the excitement that followed the announcement by USA Cycling that Greenville had been chosen to host the cycling championships beginning in 2006. That decision represented a coup, with the local community wresting the event from Philadelphia where it had been held annually for the first 21 years of its existence.

The new pairing appeared to be a mutually desirable one: Greenville offered organizers an enthusiastic and growing cycling base, challenging terrain and the chance to be the biggest happening in a small city, while the community stood to benefit from the exposure nationwide and beyond.

“There is no other event that gives us the kind of worldwide exposure this event does,” says Bourey, citing the international hits to Medalist’s Web site. (A highlights show is also broadcast internationally at a later date on the Universal Sports Network.)

Hincapie Sportswear’s Steve Baker, a board member of the Greenville Spinners Cycling Club and a regular contributor for Go Magazine, contends that hosting the event furthers Greenville’s national reputation as a budding cycling mecca.

Greenville resident George Hincapie has competed each year it’s been held here – including an emotional win in front of family and friends in 2006 – and is expected back this year as well. In previous years, he’s been joined by other world-class American cyclists such as Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde.

And it surely isn’t the modest $10,000 purse that inspires these racers to pay their own way to Greenville. “They want to wear the Stars and Stripes jersey all next year as the American champion,” says Baker, explaining the national pride that draws cyclists here near the end of a long summer racing season.

Petty calls Greenville a “great market” for hosting the national championships, offering good weather, enthusiastic crowds, Hincapie’s popularity and demanding courses. He says he’s had no complaints from cyclists and that Paris Mountain is developing a reputation for its high degree of difficulty. “Paris Mountain is becoming a bit legendary because it definitely makes a selection (of the top racers) on the race,” he says.

This event is also important for growing local cycling clubs such as the Spinners, which supply many of the 400 volunteers who help. Over the years the event has also helped the Palmetto Peloton Project raise more than $400,000 for cancer research.

Aronhalt acknowledges he would like to keep the cycling championships here. In fact, Medalist was instrumental in the decision to relocate here three years ago after entering into a licensing agreement with USA Cycling to promote it.

Petty says his organization was agreeable to a multi-year deal for Greenville to serve as host as a way “to build (local) equity.” He huddled with Aronhalt and public officials after last year’s championships, agreeing to extend the agreement for a year despite lagging financial support.

Since cycling races take place on open public roads, charging admission as other sports do is not an option. That makes them heavily dependent on sponsorships to pay the bills.
In addition to the commitment of county funds, the city of Greenville is putting up $25,000 in accommodations tax revenue as well as making in-kind contributions in the form of planning and logistics. (The city also provides police and sanitation services paid for by Medalist.)

Meanwhile, Aronhalt is streamlining his budget, hopeful of breaking even. There will be no live television coverage of the races as in previous years, for a savings of $60,000.

Petty says his organization has a request for proposal ready for distribution, awaiting word from Medalist. “We’ve had interest from other cities,” he says, “but we’ve been holding off to see what happens with Greenville.”