Molly Rawn said ticket sales are strong for the 2022 Walmart UCI Cyclocross World Championships, which will be held Jan. 29-30 at Centennial Park in Fayetteville.
Rawn, the CEO of Experience Fayetteville, the city’s tourism department, said more than 3,000 tickets have been sold for each of the race days. When Fayetteville hosted the Cyclocross World Cup in October, Rawn said there were more than 1,600 spectators.
Two of the top men’s racers in the world said they would miss the event. Defending champion and four-time champion Mathieu van der Poel of Belgium has an injured back, and three-time champion Wout van Aert, who has won eight of nine races this year, is focusing on his spring schedule.
The two have won the past seven world championships. Brannon Pack, the cycling coordinator for Experience Fayetteville, said diehard fans will be “bummed” to miss seeing van der Poel and Aert, but for many fans the race itself should be a captivating spectacle.
“There’s definitely a positive spin on it: We are going to have a new world champion,” Pack said. “The races are designed with fans in mind.”
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