RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) –Preparations continue for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Road World Championships to be held in Richmond in 2015. Today Mayor Dwight Jones announced the leadership team for the event.
The Mayor, along with Thomas Farrell, CEO of Dominion Resources, will co-chair the Board of Directors for Richmond 2015. The organization team will have an interim CEO, Jack Berry, who is the Executive Director of Venture Richmond.
Mayor Jones said that Berry will assemble the team, engage corporate and civic leaders, and get everything organized as the board looks for a full-time CEO to lead the effort.
He said that Berry’s experience prepares him for this role.
“He performed the same role in organizing the community’s resources to produce the first National Folk Festival.”
That event drew a almost a quarter-million people to downtown Richmond.
The board continues to recruit directors, and anticipates a mix of 50 corporate and community leaders, in addition to local and national cycling experts.
The board has secured an Atlanta-based firm, Medalist Sports, to manage the event. Medalist Sports has managed international events like the Tour DuPont, Tour of China, USA Cycling Professional Championships, Amgen Tour of California, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LIVESTRONG Challenge Series.
The enthusiasm to host an event that will place Richmond in a global spotlight is noticeable.
“First it was the Folk Festival that made the community feel proud,” said Berry in a media release. “Then it was the VCU Final Four run that gave us a taste of greatness.”
“The next logical step is to showcase RVA to an international audience,” he said.
The event is expected to generate 450,000 on-site spectators and a worldwide television audience of 300 million viewers.
CBS 6 and WTVR.com will keep you posted on all the developments as they happen.
