Jingle Cross cancelled for 2022
The popular event has been running for 18 years
Jingle Cross, a weekend of cyclocross races held annually in Iowa, will not be returning this year. The three days of racing started as a one-day race on a much smaller scale back in 2004. Two years later, the race expanded to a weekend of racing, and by 2006 it was three full days.
By 2007 the race was upgraded with UCI events, and by 2009, there was even an evening race. The race continued to expand. By 2010, Jingle Cross was a UCI C1 and became the biggest cyclo-cross festival in North America. In 2016 became part of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup circuit.
John Meehan, the founder of the event announced Tuesday that he has cancelled this year’s event which was originally to be held October 14-16.
In 2021, there was a large Canadian contingent at Jingle Cross. Pan American champion Maghalie Rochette, Sidney McGill, Nicole Bradbury, Siobhan Kelly, Isabella and Ava Holmgren raced all three 2021-2022 World Cup rounds in Iowa City. Rising star Isabella Holmgren won the junior women’s C1 race during the Friday night race. In the same race, Kiara Lylyk and Ava Holmgren added two more solid Canadian junior women’s results, finishing 11th and 12th. Ian Ackert took third in the junior men’s race.
Canadian cyclocross national champion Michael van den Ham also had a good ride during the Friday night race, taking fifth in the elite men’s UCI C1 race.
The cancellation of the race leaves a large hole in the American ‘cross calendar and it’s unclear if this is a permanent removal of the race, or temporary.
The web site for the event is still advertising the Jingle GX Gravel, a two day event of mixed surface events in Amana, Iowa. The August 6 race is also one of twelve stops on the Trek UCI Gravel World Series calendar.
