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This article was published on Thursday, 4 October, 2018. The information contained within may be out of date or inaccurate. News articles and media releases older than 60 days are archived for future reference.

UCI BMX Supercross World Cup a landmark event for Greater Shepparton

The UCI BMX Supercross World Cup rounds will be held on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February 2020. This will be one of the last major BMX events before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with qualifying points still occurring.

Over 200 of the world’s best male and female BMX riders from over 30 countries will be participating in the event in Greater Shepparton. Over 3,000 people are expected to attend the event with 2000 of these expected to be coming from intrastate, interstate and internationally.

“The UCI BMX Supercross World Cup has been held in some of the world’s most iconic cities - and hosting it in Shepparton is a major coup. This event further cements Shepparton’s brand on the world stage following the successful hosting of the 2017 and 2018 World Tour Beach Volleyball events at the temporary built beach at Victoria Park Lake,” said Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor, Kim O’Keeffe.

“Over the last decade Council has worked hard at establishing a major event program to boost the local economy and help create jobs and growth for our tourism and business sectors and this has seen a growing number of state, national and international events grace our events calendar.”

Greater Shepparton City Council’s Manager Economic Development, Anthony Nicolaci, said today’s announcement was “a culmination of a 10 year vision to host a BMX Supercross World Cup event in Shepparton. The upgrade of our Greater Shepparton Regional BMX Complex facilities at Shepparton Sports City has enabled us to benefit from a number of significant economic and visitor driven events.”

“Cycling and sports tourism is big business and in 2019 we will also host the BMX Australia National Championships. This week long event will see over 4,000 visitors embark on Greater Shepparton which will help generate an estimated $3.8 million in economic stimulation for our community, and provide a great platform for local business to leverage from,” said Mr Nicolaci.

“The 2017 Major Events Program for Greater Shepparton has generated around $44.3 million. It is anticipated that in the next two years the Greater Shepparton program will grow and take the next step in hosting even more large scale events that will even further stimulate the region’s visitor economy.”

“Hosting these iconic cycle tourism events will leave a great legacy for our club to grow the sport in Victoria and for Shepparton to be seen as a mecca for BMX racing in Australia,” said Shepparton BMX Club President Cam May.

Other secured significant national week long sporting events in the next 18 months include the recently held School Sport Australia National Junior Soccer Championships, Basketball Australia Under 14 Girls National Club Championships which is currently occurring, next week’s Aleague preseason friendly between Melbourne City FC and Western Sydney Wanderers in addition to the 2019 Tennis Seniors Australia Australian Teams Carnival and Individual Championships, Tennis Victoria Country Week, Victorian Softball Masters, Basketball Victoria Country Under 14 Championships, Cricket Australia Country Championships and Hockey Australia Country Championships.

“We are also working on developing a number of new significant music, arts and cultural events to further highlight the region’s capabilities and the many great things the region has to offer,” Mr Nicolaci said.

“2020 is now shaping as a real transformational year for the city with the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup at the start of the year and the new Shepparton Art Museum opening at the end of the year. Hosting international blockbusters will continue to help showcase our city as an attractive place to live, work, invest and play,” said Cr O’Keeffe.

“Greater Shepparton continues to lead the way in events tourism with its innovative approach helping the city punch above its weight and yield significant economic and social benefits for local business and the community,” said Cr O’Keeffe.

Other cities hosting the UCI 2020 World Supercross World Cup include Bathurst in NSW, Rock Hill USA, Manchester Great Britain and Papendal in the Netherlands.