HUNTSVILLE, AL – After a successful two-year run hosting a Paralympic Games qualifier in 2020 and 2021, para-cycling is returning to the Rocket City next year.

This time, though, the stakes are higher.

More than 300 athletes from 30-40 countries will be here Memorial Day Weekend May 26-29 for the Para-cycling Road World Cup. The event will mark the first time the Road World Cup is being held in the U.S.

Ian Lawless, Director of U.S. Paralympic Cycling, said the two events held at Cummings Research Park in the past “have been hugely successful, really popular with our athletes. We’re pleased for the first time ever to host the World Cup in the United States, and there’s no better place to do it than here in Huntsville and Cummings Research Park, which has some amazing courses.”

The Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated an economic impact of $1.8 million during the four-day event.

“Sports is a good business in Huntsville,” Mayor Tommy Battle said. “The economic impact far exceeds a community our size. It’s always been said Huntsville punches above its weight, and I think that’s the case right now.”

There is no charge to attend any of the events, which will take place rain or shine.

The 2024 Paralympic Games will feature an estimated 7,000 special athletes from 170 will be held in Paris.

The past two years the para-cycling races covered three days. This year the World Road Cup will be four days at CRP, the second-largest research park in the nation and fourth-largest in the world.

The cycling schedule will carry into Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, but organizers said they’d work to avoid any conflict with the Cotton Row Run.

Lawless said when his association decided to bring the qualifier here the past two years that, “[W]e hadn’t met a partner as awesome as Huntsville.’’

With the World Road Cup scheduled to unfold in the United States, he said Huntsville was a natural choice with challenging courses and the city placing a spotlight on the athletes.

“We were seeking partners who understand what it is to host a para-cycling event and really feature the athletes disabilities at some level like their able-bodied counterparts.’’