Lizzie Armitstead

September 13-28, 2015

Tears streamed down Lizzie Armitstead’s cheeks as she crossed the finish line and won gold in the UCI Road World Championships on September 26, 2015. At only 26 years old, hers was a meteoric rise, and it culminated in Richmond. Though Armitstead took time to enjoy the city — dining at the Daily Kitchen and Bar and socializing at the Richmond Marriott, where she stayed — most of her time was spent on the course, which spanned 10 miles from the Fan to Libby Hill’s cobblestone path.

Richmond had advertised itself to the world as a historical but trendy city, simultaneously charming and metropolitan. But as it boasted that it was “one of the most vibrant, eclectic, and livable cities in the world,” it also concealed its 26.3 percent poverty rate. Approximately 645,000 spectators were drawn to Richmond, generating $161 million. But what does the bike race really mean for the city? Lizzie Armistead’s time in Richmond has passed, but the question will set the course on which the city now embarks.

Lizzy Armitstead and the UCI women’s elite road circuit in Richmond, Va. on Saturday, September 26, 2015, Courtesy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch