Durango's Big Bid To Host The 2030 Mountain Bike World Championships

Editor’s Note: In the print version of this article, we incorrectly captioned the photo below. We regret this error, and we have corrected the caption in this article.

FLC Graduate and current World Cup racer Savilia Blunk. Photo courtesy of IHBC.

Durango has been at the center of the nation’s cycling culture for years, most notably since hosting the first Mountain Bike World Championships in 1990. Ian Burnett, race director for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic (IHBC) — an annual Durango event over Memorial Day weekend — says Iron Horse has been working with a local organizing committee to be the supporting group in a bid for the 2030 Mountain Bike World Championship, just like what was accomplished in 1990 for the event’s inaugural year.

“We have submitted our bid to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) — the world governing body of cycling,” shares Burnett, “and will find out more later this summer about getting awarded the bid.”

Iron Horse was the organization that supported the first World Championships in 1990 with Ed and Patti Zink putting their knowledge of bike racing in Durango to create a successful event in 1990, says Burnett.

“It was only natural for us to help support this effort that will help everything Durango cycling,” he adds. “We will also plan to be a key helper in making the event happen.”

The real work begins if they get the bid. At that point, fundraising starts, along with several years of national and world cup-level races leading up to the championships.

“So we would have some very high-level racing going on by 2027,” explains Burnett.

If Durango wins the bid to bring back the World Championships for the 30th anniversary, it will undoubtedly energize the region and Colorado’s cycling culture as a whole.

“The impact of the 1990 World Championships held in Durango and Purgatory were far reaching and long lasting,” shares Giage Sippy, former IHBC director and the local organizer for the bid of the 2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.

Sippy shares how the weekend itself greatly benefitted the local economy, and how a number of bike manufacturers moved their facilities, research and development to Durango, establishing it as a home of innovation and testing for the sport of mountain biking.

“Some of that still exists today as both Trek and Specialized have ambassadors and research and development leaders who use our trail system and riders to test and develop future technology,” says Sippy. “That was born out of the 1990 event.

“If we capture the bid for 2030,” he adds, “we hope to once again show why Durango is a leader in the sport and outdoor recreation.”

Originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.