CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Excitement is building in the City of Charleston as they get ready to once again be host to the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships.

Preparations are already underway for the event that starts this Monday and lasts through Memorial Day, Monday May 26.

Matthew Sutton

Hundreds of professional and up-and-coming cyclists are set to make their way into the Capital City to compete in the event.

Chief of Staff for the city, Matthew Sutton said last year for the event’s inaugural year in the city was a tremendous learning experience for them, but it actually went really smoothly, and they can only expect this year to be the same.

“We learned a lot but we were able to pull it off, and this year, we’re hoping just to be able to add to it, so using what we learned last year, we feel very confident in the logistics side of it, and this year we were able to add a lot of different activities around cycling,” Sutton said.

Those added activities surrounding the event this year include a night of Live on the Levee as well as extra additional live music and activities at City Center Slack Plaza and at the Shops on Bridge Road.

The event kicks off at 9 a.m. Monday with the newly-added category of Para-cycling races.

This will be followed by the Time Trial races on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Criterium races Thursday and Friday, and the major Road Race category closing out the championships on Saturday, Sunday, and Memorial Day Monday.

Sutton said all of the courses for the event have stayed relatively the same with only a few minor tweaks here and there.

He said the Kanawha Boulevard functions as the main hub of the event containing the start and finish line. The Criterium races will utilize some of the other streets downtown, and there will be closures along Bridge Road, Wertz Avenue, and Greenbrier Street the weekend of the Road Races.

Sutton said while they were overly cautious with the road closures during the event last year, they have been able to afford a little more flexibility with them this year as they’re doing away with the hard, longstanding closures.

“That was just coming with learning the different races and how much time in between,” he said. “So, that was probably the biggest change this year was just being a little bit more flexible with the traffic and we will be doing soft closures in a lot of places,” he said.

The Kanawha Boulevard will have an extended closure in place through May 26.

USA Cycling Pro Road National Championship in Charleston

Eastbound traffic along the boulevard towards the Capitol will be routed to Clendenin Street. All westbound traffic towards Patrick Street will be routed to Capitol Street.

Sutton said more and more excitement for the event has been building this year over last year, and he believes it’s because residents know more of what to expect from it this year.

“People were sort of looking at it like, oh, what’s this going to be, we remember some of the bike races from when we were kids that were in Charleston, but I think when you saw the level of competition and just the insane athletic ability of these riders, you just can’t help but be drawn to it,” said Sutton.

He said he believes this year has garnered more excitement too, because residents got to see the significant economic impact it brought in to the city last year of $4.6 million and the build up of a unique sort of pride, being deemed “Bike City USA,” where they get to show off their city in this way.

Sutton said everyone also just got to experience what a really great time the event was last year.

On Friday, he said crews were conducting a general set up of the race along the boulevard, but the oncoming storms provided an element of caution, delaying some of the major tent set up Friday.

However, Sutton said some preliminary preparations were starting to get underway.

“So, some of the things that are just a general set up for USA Cycling getting in their start/finish line, getting in their TV production cameras, getting everything set up that’s sort of the machine around operating the event, that will be the set up today,” Sutton said.

The city has a five-year commitment with USA Cycling, with the event set to be held in Charleston until 2028.