World Cycling Championships Return to Canadian Soil
Item Entered: Tuesday, March 23, 2004
The history of the Road World Cycling Championships (WCC) dates back to 1927 when the first games were hosted in Nurburgring, Germany. The 2003 WCC marks only the sixth occasion the event has been held outside of Europe - the last time a Canadian city hosted the event was back in 1974 in Montreal, Quebec.
Hamilton welcomed over 1,200 athletes from 57 countries around the globe, during the week of October 6 –12th, as they competed for the 2003 title of World Champion. The internationally acclaimed event attracted over 230,000 spectators, more than 900 members of the media and a worldwide television audience of 500 million. That should come as no surprise, considering the WCC is the third most watched sporting event, after the Olympics and the World Cup.
The International Cycling Union (ICU) appointed Hamilton as the host city in October 1999. Apart from the WCC, Hamilton also staged the Road National Championships this year, from June 27 – 30th. Canada’s top cyclists had the unique opportunity to compete on the same course as the World’s in October, through the heart of the breathtaking Niagara Escarpment.
This year also marks the first time the race will be held entirely within City limits. According to the ICU, the course in Hamilton is as challenging as one of the most difficult mountain stages at the Tour de France. The Elite Men’s Road Race consists of 21 laps, which is the equivalent of 42 climbs of the Niagara Escarpment, approximately 15,000 feet (4,572 m) of total elevation (comparable to halfway up Mount Everest).
A Tradition of Success
Schenker of Canada initially partnered with the Hamilton 2003 Organizing Committee back in August 2002, and was elected as the Official Supplier of Customs, Freight Forwarding and Material Handling services in June 2003.
"The deal with Schenker is one that will definitely contribute to the overall success of our event," said Neil Lumsden, Hamilton 2003 Chief Operating Officer. "Schenker is an ideal partner for the Road World Championships. They bring needed expertise and leadership to Hamilton 2003.”
Schenker of Canada maintains a leading position in sports logistics, having previously worked as a service provider for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games and the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games. Schenker will also work with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, Turin 2006 and Beijing 2008.
"Schenker is proud to support the Hamilton 2003 Road World Championships,” said Ryan Book, National Account Executive, Schenker Canada. “We are very excited about our partnership with the Hamilton 2003 committee and to further our relationship with the ICU. Providing complete logistics services to Hamilton 2003, follows our tradition of supporting and partnering with major world sporting events.”
Courtesy of Greg Descantes
As part of the agreement, Schenker provided consulting and managerial services, as well as logistical support for the visiting national teams and companies participating in the Trade Expo, and the ICU.
Since several of the athletes transported their cycling equipment with their baggage, Schenker’s services extended to airport pick-up and delivery. All shipping requirements were coordinated in advance since handling equipment must be pre-approved by airport authorities. The goods were delivered directly to the event site or to the team’s hotels in the Toronto and Niagara Region.
Schenker also handled multiple inner city pick up’s and deliveries, including the installation of crowd control barriers from Quebec, removal of booths and sponsor banners along the track, and set-up of the Expo Village, where vendors sold their products/services throughout the event.
Going the Extra Mile
Of course, an event of this magnitude often calls for last-minute heroics and the WCC was no exception. When the time came to allocate sandbags to support the crowd control barricades, the Hamilton Organizing Committee turned to Schenker.
Six staff members took on the momentous task of distributing 2,500, 80-pound sandbags along the 22-km course, with essentially one day to set up. Due to the nature of the terrain, the only equipment being utilized was a single-drop, 53 foot, flatbed trailer, which was driven alongside the staff as they lifted the sandbags by hand. Not an easy feat considering the total weight of all 2,500 sandbags equaled 200,000 pounds!
“The City of Hamilton was required to re-open access to the streets by the next morning so the move-out began within 30 minutes of the end of the final race and took approximately eight hours,” explains Mr. Book. “Our team always anticipates last-minute requests so we were fully prepared to deal with any circumstances that may arise.”
It’s that team attitude that won the hearts of the organizing committee. “Accommodating, insightful and knowledgeable describes Schenker Canada’s work at the World Cycling Championships 2003 in Hamilton,” said Jacqueline Shaw, Operations Coordinator, Hamilton 2003 WCC. “They really did go the extra distance.”
Courtesy of Greg Descantes
The WCC culminated in a resounding success for Hamilton, as the city proved to the world that they are highly capable of staging a global sporting event. “The response from the community in support of the Road World Championships has been tremendous,” said Mr. Lumsden. “We'd like to thank everyone for making the event such an enormous success.”
According to Mr. Lumsden, more than 80 per cent of grandstand seats were sold Saturday and 90 per cent Sunday – both “over the target”, as were merchandise sales. The committee has worked hard to assure a profit as a legacy to be split 50-50 between the Canadian Cycling Association and a cycling centre at McMaster University.
An economic assessment has indicated that the impact will be significant to the province of Ontario, as well as the city of Hamilton, with total expenditure estimated at almost $57 million.