Candi Murray

commitment to producing a world-class event convinced us that Bend would be
a very worthy host city for the 2009 and 2010 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross
National
Championships," said Tom Vinson, National Events Manager for USA Cycling.
Nationally-renown race director Brad Ross, owner of Vivo Promotions and
producer of the Cross Crusade cyclo-cross race series in Portland - the
largest
cyclo-cross series in the country - will serve as race director for the
National
Championships. Ross previously managed the Cyclo-cross National
Championships when they were held in Portland in 2003 and 2004.
"The awarding of the Cyclo-cross National Championships is a shining example
of Bend's ability to host big-time sports events," said Drew Mahalic CEO of
the
Oregon Sports Authority. "We feel privileged to have worked closely with
Visit
Bend and all involved in bringing this outstanding national championship and
its
substantial economic impact to Bend."
Hosting major national sporting events is not new to Bend, which is home to
the Cascade Cycling Classic - the longest continually-running elite stage
race in
the country, recently hosted the XTERRA Trail Running National
Championships,
and will host the USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championships for
a
second year on January 11, 2009. Bend is also home to many of the nation's
top
current and former elite cyclists including current National Cyclo-cross
Champion Ryan Trebon, Chris Horner, Carl Decker, Adam Craig, Chris Sheppard,
Chrissy Ruiter, April Lawyer, Kirt Voreis, Bart Bowen and Steve Larsen.
In recent years, Bend has been named America's Top Adventure Town (Men's
Journal), America's Top Trail Running Town (Outside), one of the country's
Top
Five Ski Towns (Travel + Leisure), one of the Top 10 U.S. Triathlon Towns
(#3,
Triathlete), and "The Next Moab" (Mountain Bike).
About Visit Bend:
Visit Bend is a non-membership, non-profit economic development organization
dedicated to promoting tourism on behalf of the City of Bend. For more