West Bend Says Goodbye To ToAD

Good luck, Manitowoc!

The Tour of America’s Dairyland will not return to West Bend in 2020, a city official confirmed on Monday. ToAD came to West Bend in 2016, but during its 4-year run it failed to generate the excitement that we see at other locations like Grafton, Downer Avenue, and Wauwatosa. And the city wasn’t happy about the extra street maintenance and law enforcement costs. Racers loved the West Bend course—it was so much more interesting than a standard 4-corner criterium course—but the event never put “heads in beds.” If local hotels and restaurants got any bump from ToAD, then it wasn’t much. Falling on the Monday after the first weekend of ToAD, the West Bend race occupied the least desirable spot of the 11-day series: potential spectators went back to work, and promoters struggled to find enough volunteers to staff the event. Manitowoc will take West Bend’s spot in 2020. ToAD will announce the rest of the schedule soon.