By Suzanne McFadden
New Zealand cycling's premier event, the women's World Cup race, has been scratched from the 2000 calendar.
Race director Stephen Cox has cancelled the five-day women's tour and one-day World Cup race, pencilled in for next March, because he could not secure a sponsor.
It is another blow for New
Zealand cycling, which has not raced its famed North Island men's tour since 1995 - for the same reason.
This year's World Cup race in Hamilton attracted the strongest field of any of the cup events around the globe so far - with half a dozen world champions among the 100 riders.
But it was dependent on the final funding commitment from the Health Sponsorship Council.
They took care of the women's tour for four years after the Rothmans funding had to end.
Cox started looking for another naming sponsor late last year, to help cover the $240,000 costs for next year's event. But there were no takers.
"It was difficult to make the decision to call it off, but that's the harsh reality of it," Cox said.
"I could have cancelled it later, and risked being fined $10,000 by the UCI [world cycling body]. But I felt an obligation to tell the international teams who wanted to come here."
Cox began the major women's tour eight years ago, and had earned recognition from the international cycling world by being granted the World Cup this year.
"I never started the event to make money.
"But by the same token, I don't expect it to cost me personally either," he said.
"People I approached gave a range of reasons why they couldn't sponsor the event - from the America's Cup to the Millennium celebrations to the Olympics.
"But I haven't given up hope of resurrecting the tour in the future."
