CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The USA Pro Road National Championships will return to the Capitol City this week, bringing hundreds of cyclists together to compete for national titles in three age divisions.
This will be the third time Charleston has hosted the event. Organizers have committed to holding the championships in the city through 2028, the next Olympic year.
The event, scheduled for June 16-21, will feature Under-23, junior, and elite cyclists competing in three disciplines: time trials, criteriums, and road races.
Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tim Brady said the event is driven entirely by volunteers.
He said organizers are seeking volunteers for the event, including course marshals.
“It means standing at critical spots, intersections, cross walks, throughout the racecourse and making sure that the race is safe for both spectators and riders,” Brady said recently on 580 Live with Dave Allen.
He said course marshals will blow whistles to warn spectators that cyclists are approaching and ensure that no one enters the course as a race nears.
Brady said organizers take care of volunteers by providing a T-shirt, a swag bag, and meals from Black Sheep Burrito and Brews.
He said volunteers enjoy their experience during the event.
“They really enjoy it, they meet other people who are out volunteering on the course as well, they meet people that are who are either local or out-of-town to watch the race, and there’s a real sense of community,” Brady said. “So, the volunteers do have a good time, so we have a lot of repeat volunteers, but we certainly still could use some more.”
He said organizers currently have about 300 volunteers but would like to increase that number to between 400 and 500.
In 2025, the seven-day event, held from Monday, May 19, to Sunday, May 25, generated $6.9 million in economic impact.
Brady said he expects this year’s economic impact to be slightly higher because the event is being held later in the season.
“Now, we are in a time of the year, when we’ll get more junior riders, because school is out, AP exams are over, all the graduations are over, last year being Memorial Day weekend that kind of hampered our junior participation, so I think the economic impact this year, certainly we hope to see it grow because we’ll have more riders,” he said.
While the event is taking place in Charleston, it will cause traffic disruptions, including the closure of Kanawha Boulevard for the six-day event and additional daily road closures.
Brady acknowledged that the event would disrupt daily routines but encouraged residents to allow extra time to reach their destinations.
“Give yourself 15 to 20 extra minutes, you can get literally anywhere you need to go within the city, so yes I acknowledge that it is disruptive but we’ve got a whole lot of people from CPD, Sherrif’s Department, state troopers, capital police, this is a joint effort with traffic control, with rolling road closures,” he said.
Racing schedule:
-Tuesday: Time trials
– Wednesday and Thursday: Criterium races
– Friday: Junior Road races
– Saturday and Sunday: U-23 and Elite Road races
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said the city is excited to welcome the event back.
“It transforms the downtown area, businesses look forward to it, we certainly look forward to it, I know the racers look forward to it,” Goodwin said.
A full list of traffic information can be found at Charleston’s website here.