Velodrome cycling fans will have to wait at least a year for the next International Cycling Union event in Burnaby.
The Burnaby Velodrome Club announced Monday that the Burnaby 4 Days track event, which was orginally slated to run from Dec. 27 to 30 at the Harry Jerome Sports Centre velodrome, has been postponed until next year.
The announcement was made in the Canadian Cyclist online publication on Sept. 19.
Organizers cited a delay in funding and difficulty in securing a title sponsor as two reasons for the postponement.
"We could have pushed onwards and put on a lower-level international event, but we did not want to put the host club at financial risk, and our mandate has always been to improve upon the product with each edition of the event," said Burnaby velodrome race director Jeremy Storie in the online press release.
"We took a break for two years and came back last year with a huge event, featuring world champions Sarah Hammer and Tara Whitten, as well as Zach Bell and a host of foreign Olympians, including road stars Svein Tuft and Tyler Farrar. Our aim is to be back in 2012 with an even bigger event."
Storie went on to say that preparations for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England have also made it difficult to draw the big-name Canadian and international riders.
"That's part of the issue - rider availability," said Storie, who also admitted that the late-December date for the four-day event comes in the middle of the racing season.
Storie went on to say that the organizers could have mustered the resources and enough riders to stage a minor event but decided that was not in the best interests of the race going forward.
"We just don't want to take a step back," he said. "The event will happen again."
Storie said with expectations high heading into the London Olympics, Canada could come out of them with as many as five or six medals, increasing the expectations for a return of the four-day event in 2012.
Last year's Burnaby 4 Days drew a large field of Olympic, world and World Cup champions and was one of the best assembled fields in decades, Storie added.
Being a rider himself, Storie said he respects the decision of those riders who could not commit to this year's late December competition.
"I respect that," he said. "It just didn't fit into their (Olympic) preparation plans. It's the way it worked out."
The host Burnaby Velodrome Club will put on a local event running over the same Dec. 27 to 30 dates in place of the Burnaby 4 Days this year, featuring the annual Christmas youth track camp, as well as local racing for all levels.
For more information on the Burnaby velodrome and its programs, please visit www.burnabyvelodrome.ca.
