December 17, 2010 – According to a press release jointly issued by USA Cycling and the City of Richmond, Virginia, an announcement will be made at a press conference next Tuesday (Dec. 21) on the “city’s intent to bid on a 9-day event that will attract national and international audiences.” Unofficially this appears to mean the 2015 Road World Championships and if this is the case will pit Richmond against Quebec City for the crown jewel of road cycling.

Among those expected at the press conference are Richmond Mayor, Dwight C. Jones, USA Cycling CEO, Steve Johnson, and current U.S. National Champion, Ben King (Trek-Livestrong).

“This cycling announcement will officially launch the city of Richmond’s bid to host an international cycling event that has not been held in the United States in almost 25 years,” reads a statement on the Richmond website, which seems to refer to the 1986 UCI Road Worlds held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Serge Arsenault, the organizer of the Quebec City bid, previously told Pedal that a U.S. bid could be strong. He added that the helicopters and motorcade used to televise the 2010 Canadian ProTour events, took considerable expertise to “…get such things right.” The Road Worlds leaves Europe once every five years and was held in Australia in 2010.

Richmond, apart from being the Virginia state capital, is an historic city of 204,000 and served as the capital of the Confederate States of America during the 1860s.