Can Napier's cycling carnival survive without road champs?

Spectators watch the 2018 national women's road cycling championship in Napier last January. Photo / File

Napier isn't chasing the rights to stage the national road cycling championships after a four-year deal which has established the Summer Cycling Carnival in the city comes to an end next month.

The absence from the Cycling New Zealand's bidding process was confirmed on Wednesday by city council communications and marketing manager Craig Ogborn, after a media release reiterating that the three-day nationals, part of the January 4-11 carnival, will be the last before the championships move to an as-yet undecided venue elsewhere.

There has been no announcement on the future of the BDO Summer Cycling Carnival which has been built around the Elite and Under 23 championships, held in Napier each January since 2016 following Napier outbidding Christchurch, host of the championships for the previous six years.

Ogborn said a review will be conducted after next month's event.

"While It's been a huge success, we feel that four years is the right number of years to hold the event," Ogborn said. "Another region in New Zealand now has the opportunity to host it."

The event required a huge amount of goodwill and commitment from the local community, he said.

"We would especially like to thank the 120 volunteers who give up their time during the busy holiday season," he said. "We would also like to thank the public with their patience with the traffic management plans that are put in place.

"We wish the event continued success in the future while looking at new opportunities for the city," he said.

At the time of the move to Napier, Sport Canterbury's chief executive was reported as describing the loss of such an event from Christchurch as "a catastrophe", to which Cycling NZ's chief executive responded: "While it was a very tough decision, the Napier proposal edged out the others."

Napier took up a three-year contract, extended to include the 2019 championships which open with time trials on a mainly rural course in and out of Taradale on January 4 and are completed with the women's and men's national championship races, starting and finishing on Marine Parade over the ensuing weekend.

Public features have been the beachfront atmosphere of the beginning and end, and the "Party on the Hill" as the races pass the Napier Botanical Gardens.

Outside of the championships, the cycling carnival in Napier focuses on community events, including the Big Bike Film Night featuring Cycle Chic Film Tour on January 4 at the MTG Century Theatre, and fun rides on the following Tuesday and Friday.