Iowa City is a city of cycling. During all seasons, one may see cyclists biking all around the city — in the street, through the snow. They’re everywhere. And there will be even more this fall.

On Jan. 29, officials announced that the Union Cycliste Internationale Iowa City will host the Cyclo-Cross World Cup on Sept. 24 at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, the site of the Jingle Cross races.

Cyclo-cross is a bicycle race in which cyclists race several laps around a dirt — sometimes mud — track. Iowa City’s Cyclo-cross event, Jingle Cross, is the largest race of its kind in the United States.

The first event of the World Cup will be held on Sept. 21 in Las Vegas, and then cyclists will travel to Iowa City before heading to Europe to finish the last seven events.

Geoff Perrill, the owner of Geoff’s Bike and Ski, 816 S. Gilbert St., and an avid biker, said the impact the event will have on the city and his shop will be great.

“The spectator turnout will be great,” he said. “There are going to be people from all over the country and a lot from Europe as well. All the hotels will fill up, and it will be like a home football game. Except that it’s spread out over three days.”

The push for the World Cup to be held in Iowa City started in November 2015, when Josh Schamberger, the president of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jingle Cross founder John Meehan, and City Manager Tom Markus, traveled to Belgium to put in their bid to host the Cyclo-Cross World Cup.

Schamberger spoke about how Iowa City was able to receive the bid.

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“We beat out the other cities bidding for the competition because of Jingle Cross,” he said. “The organizers of that had great exposure of the event, which led it to become the biggest amateur event in the United States.”

He also talked about the exposure this event would bring to Iowa City.

“We estimate there will be about 15,000 people coming into the city,” he said. “The event will also be on about 8 million televisions all across Europe as well, and we hope that can really make Iowa City stand out.”

Meehan said this event will show Iowa City to the world.