FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Day two of the Cyclo-Cross World Championships wrapped up Saturday afternoon. The three-day racing event at Centennial Park in Fayetteville has attracted the world's attention.
Fans and riders from around the globe have made the trek to Fayetteville to see some of the world's top cyclists compete. For only the second time in 72 years the event has been hosted in the United States, and local businesses couldn't be more excited to be a part of a historic occasion.
On Dickson Street, JJ's has welcomed more customers than usual says assistant manager, Alyssa Hanna, "we've actually been really, really busy this week, much more busy than we've been in the past couple of weeks."
Not only has JJ's on Dickson brought in more customers, but they captured the attention of the Belgian National team.
"The bar that they hang out in Belgium is really similar to this, so that's kind of why they wanted to come here and spend a lot of their time here," says Hanna.
When the Belgian team isn't busy on the track or enjoying downtime at JJ's on Dickson, one local shop caught their attention.
"We actually had the Belgian National Team show up and they were like, 'hey we saw your guys' flag and we wanted to come in and check it out," said John Sandy, service manager at The Bike Route.
Sandy said other teams from the Cyclo-Cross World Championship have also made their way into the shop picking up various parts and looking for some assistance to get them back up and running for Sunday's final races.
Gates open at 9 a.m. Sunday morning for the final day of racing. However, Gabby Henry, an employee at The Bike Route believes having the championship in our own backyard could have a lasting impact on the area.
"Having this event here might pick up some interest for some locals. We've had some people buy some bikes today (Saturday) and hopefully, that trend will continue," said Henry.