The Colorado Classic, a four-day women’s professional cycling event that last year raised both the discussion around pay equity in professional sports as well as the purse, announced Friday its 2020 version has been canceled.

The cancellation, as for many sporting events, is due to concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This was an incredibly hard decision, but it was the right one to make. We are so grateful for all of our partners who have supported us this year and continued to believe in our mission. It has been an extraordinary year, with extraordinary challenges, and it has taken a complete effort from everyone to find a way forward,” said Ken Gart, Chairman of RPM Events Group, in a statement Friday.

Gart served as the state’s “bike czar” under then-Gov. John Hickenlooper and served on Gov. Jared Polis’ transition team in 2018. He also led an effort last year to try to convince Alden Global Capital, in the wake of newsroom layoffs at The Denver Post, to either invest in the newspaper or sell it to someone who would. 

But the race organizers aren’t sitting on their hands in 2020. They announced Friday a #WeRide for Women fundraiser and virtual ride. The campaign will help financially support the teams who would have attended the Colorado Classic, many of whom rely on competition and prize money to support their livelihoods.

Through August 1, the statement said, fans, businesses and sponsors can donate to the #WeRide Team Development fund – which will be directly distributed to women’s race teams – and join the teams on a Zwift virtual ride on July 29th.

Race officials had attempted to develop a COVID mitigation plan and a livestreaming race format that would have avoided crowds. “But as new COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Colorado, and throughout the nation, the decision was taken in consultation with teams, riders and all race partners that canceling the race and eliminating all risk of contributing to the COVID spread was the correct path forward,” according to the statement.

“We had great confidence in the COVID-19 mitigation plan we had developed for the race, and we were well on our way to becoming the first professional women’s bike race to be held in the U.S. since the onset of the COVID pandemic,” said Lucy Diaz, CEO of RPM Events Group. “However, as the pandemic appears to be spiking again across the U.S., and after discussion with our various stakeholders, we feel it is the most prudent decision to cancel the race for 2020. We would only hold the race if we thought it was a safe, healthy environment for the athletes and that all stakeholders felt fully comfortable to move forward. At this time we do not have full confidence from all stakeholders, so we will pivot our energy and efforts to continue to support the women’s peloton through our other initiatives,” Diaz said.

The four-day race in 2019 set up a purse of $75,000, larger than the men’s purse the previous year. First-place went to Chloe Dygert-Owen of Sho-Air Twenty20, who took first in all four stages of the race. 

In order to advance the issue of pay equity for women in cycling, race organizers launched a series of initiatives, including an ongoing Business in Sport Webinar Series to educate and inform female athletes of all disciplines about matters like branding, marketing, sponsorship and media training and a collection of conversations with leaders in both sports and business through the Breakaway Dialogue Series. VF Corporation, together with the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, hosted the first one on Wednesday. The series will continue with partners FirstBank and Gates Corporation throughout the summer.

The July 29 Zwift ride will be led by former World Time Trial Champion Mari Holden, a University of Colorado-Colorado Springs alumnus and current USA Cycling women’s road coach.