Fayetteville bicycle race canceled for year

FAYETTEVILLE — The Joe Martin Stage Race is canceled this year.

The annual, multiday road bicycle racing event attracts hundreds of professional athletes and spectators to downtown Fayetteville every spring. This year’s race was canceled because of rising production costs and limited sponsorship, according to a news release from All Sports Productions, which produces and promotes the race.

Bruce Dunn, race director, said the plan is to resume the event in 2025.

“With 14 months to plan for 2025, we will be working tirelessly to secure a top-tier lineup of sponsors,” he said in the release.

The annual event began 46 years ago as an amateur stage race known as the Fayetteville Spring Classic, according to the city’s tourism bureau, Experience Fayetteville. The name was changed to honor longtime race director Joe Martin, who died in 1989.

The race has been part of the USA Cycling professional calendar for the past 21 years and the Union Cycliste Internationale calendar for the past nine years, according to the release. Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body of cycling.

Last year’s race had largest overall professional field and the largest women’s field in its history, according to the Joe Martin website. Individual riders from 27 countries and teams representing 10 countries participated.

The release says the race has served as a springboard for many American cyclists to compete on the world stage, including the Olympics, world championships and international races.

Neilson Powless, who won the race in 2016, wore the prestigious polka dot jersey in the 2023 Tour de France as the best climber for 12 stages.