The one-day postponement of the U.S. Cyclocross National Championships on January 11 in Austin drew plenty of ire from racers. Many complained that holding the finals a day later than planned would result in the added cost of rescheduled flights and extended hotel stays. Well, now Matthew Montesano, an amateur racer in Minnesota, has put a price tag on the delay: $250,756.
Montesano doesn鈥檛 claim to be a statistician, but , he of racers who competed in the finals that Monday and found that the estimated added average cost per rider was $902. That includes airfare penalties, hotel and car rental extensions, and miscellaneous costs. Forty-four percent of the Monday competitors responded to Montesano鈥檚 survey invitation on Twitter.
Racers, not sponsors, shouldered 90 percent of the estimated $250,756 cost, according the survey. Montesano points out that the results would likely have shown a larger average cost per rider had more than a few large professional team cyclists鈥攚ith bigger support staffs and more expenses, some of which aren鈥檛 covered by sponsors鈥攔esponded.
鈥淭he decision to postpone the race from Sunday to Monday cost a lot of racers a lot of money,鈥 Montesano . 鈥淚t also meant that over one-fifth of the people planning to race on Sunday did not race in their national championships. This is a damn shame. 鈥 I鈥檓 sure I鈥檓 not alone in urging USA Cycling to seriously vet host organizations and ensure that planning processes are sufficient to avoid the fiasco of the 2015 Cyclocross National Championships.鈥