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Home » Top Stories » Road » The International Tour de Toona

NRC loses another event as the Tour de 'Toona won't be held this year

Published: May. 22, 2009

Pennsylvania's Tour de 'Toona won't be held this year, because of a lack of sponsorship, organizers announced Friday.

The race was to have been held July 13-19, returning to a stage race format after holding a one-day race last year. But lack of sponsorship forced organizers to postpone the event to 2010, spokesman Bob Leverknight said in an email to VeloNews.

"We weighed a lot of factors. The lack of sponsors, sponsors that cut their commitments, and the general economic climate caused the race to be put off for a year," he said.

The 'Toona is at least the third event to be removed from the 2009 National Racing Calendar because of sponsorship woes. Earlier this year, organizers of the Tour de Leelanua in Michigan canceled their race because of budget cuts at the race's primary sponsor. The San Francisco Twilight Criterium, also an NRC event, has been postponed until 2010, organizers announced last week.

The Tour de 'Toona had struggled with internal problems in prior years, but this year everything was in order for a four-day event as organizers hoped to return to an even longer event in coming years.

"The International Tour de 'Toona will return in 2010. The break that postponement of the 2009 race gives will allow for more sponsors to step up, and a more thorough planning cycle for the race," Leverknight said in the email.