Jingle Cross, a popular cyclocross race in Iowa that began 18 years ago, will not be held in 2022.After hosting a UCI-sanctioned cyclocross race since 2007 and five World Cup events since 2016, event founder and race director John Meehan announced that this year's event, scheduled for October 14-16, will be canceled.

The event's website, which was also an integral part of the USCX series, is still operational and is now dedicated to the Jingle GX Gravel, a weekend-long off-road cycling event in Amana, Iowa, with the August 6 headliner race being the Trek UCI set as one of 12 events on the Gravel World Series calendar. The inaugural Jingle GX is one of two U.S. gravel races in the global series, following the Highlands Gravel Classic in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on June 25.

The demise of the three-day Jingle Cross CycloCross Festival will allow the UCI to overlap the dates of the second World Cup race in the U.S., the World Cup Fayetteville and Iowa City, on October 16, 2022-2023. The calendar created a conflict, which Meehan said began in February, with a C1 race on Friday, October 14, and two sets of C2 races on the next two days.

"As is our usual routine, all the promoters in the US got together with USA Cycling and worked together to create a US calendar. Jingle Cross was given a three-day C1-C2-C2 weekend, October 14-16. At the time, there were no other UCI events held on that weekend in North America," Meehan posted on the Bike Iowa website.

"A few weeks later, more than two months past the normal World Cup deadline, the UCI decided to hold a nearby UCI World Cup on the same weekend. No advance notice was given. Initially, both events were listed on the UCI calendar. Jingle Cross disappeared from the UCI calendar a few days later without notice. Attempts to reschedule the event were unsuccessful. In summary, Jingle Cross was unfortunately cancelled.

Meehan said in a statement that Jingle Cross will not pursue the World Cup for the upcoming cyclocross season and has notified both the UCI and Flanders Classics, which hosts the World Cup series in the fall.

Last season, Fayetteville, Arkansas jumped into international cyclocross racing by hosting a midweek World Cup event in October, just days before Jingle Cross, and the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in January. Fayetteville earned high marks for its well-maintained cyclocross-specific race course and large crowds.

When asked if Fayetteville would add other races to the October World Cup event, Hazel Hernandez of Experience Fayetteville said, "At this time, we are planning to create additional race opportunities, but we are not sure what that will look like or if we will be part of an additional series is not confirmed at this time."

After contacting both Meehan and Scott Page, co-founders and co-owners of the USCX series, Cycling News learned that plans are underway to fill the missing series left by Jingle Cross' cancellation.

"We have a replacement for Jingle Cross," said Page, who runs the Rochester Cyclocross in New York. The USCX series and its schedule of events will be finalized next week."

Jingle Cross, Inc, a non-profit organization that runs cyclocross races and festivals in Iowa, had pursued only C1 and C2 inscription races because it wanted to continue as part of the national scene and the USCX series.

"We were excited to pursue the US-based, globally televised USCX series, which GCN, a good friend of Jingle Cross and Rochester CX, had arranged to stream worldwide for four years," Meehan said. ''And Meehan said. 'We invite two other U.S. events to join us each year for an exciting four-venue, eight- to nine-race series.'

The October event was scheduled to return to the USCX series, which last year hosted eight professional races at four venues in New York, Maryland, Iowa, and Ohio. Caroline Mani won the professional women's individual title and Kelly Warner won the professional men's title.

"As the founder and race director of Jingle Cross, I am very proud of all that Jingle Cross has accomplished over the past 18 years. During this time we have hosted nearly 30 C2s, nearly a dozen C1s, five World Cups, and hundreds of amateur races for riders of all ages and abilities. We have set the bar high for the promotion, quality and organization of our events. We provided a unique and fun experience for people of all ages and abilities. The Jingle Cross brand will be recognized worldwide and will forever be remembered as an exciting and challenging event with world-class hospitality and great entertainment," Meehan said. Christmas-themed events became a feature of the festival, including naming the climb to Mount Clampitt in the Dr. Seuss story; the holiday theme continued when the festival moved to September in 2016 to coincide with the first World Cup event.

The Jingle Cross organization continues as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit charity, generating publicity and funds with the University of Iowa's Stead Family Children's Hospital as the primary beneficiary. According to Jingle Cross organizers, the Jingle GX Gravel and August weekend events are themed on the German "Biktoberfest."