Paralympic cycling event coming to North Alabama

New tonight -- huntsville will host the u-s para-olympic cycling open in april 20-21 at cummings research park... that's where waay 31's max cohan joins us live to tell us more about the event...max?

Guys, this will be the first event on the paralyimpic cycling teams domestica calendar and is expected to bring more than 100 athletes to the rocket city as they compete for a spot on the national team for the paralympic games in toyko.

The open will be held on april 17th and 18th -- featuring time trials on the 17th with road races on the 18th...since many of the athletes have not competed on the road since sepetember of 2019...some are viewing the event as a miniature world championship during the run up to tokyo... "these athletes will be trying to make team usa, trying to make the roster that will head to europe a few weeks after the event in huntsville, and then, when they're in europe, they're gonna be trying to earn spots on the tokyo roster for the paralympic games in 2021, so there's a lot on the line."

During the announcement -- huntsville mayor tommy battle said event organizaers selected cummings research park due to its previous use for 5ks and cycling events and the light traffic usually seen in the area on weekends...live in huntsville, max cohan, waay 31 news..... thanks max, the community will be able to watch the events at no cost... but will be asked to follow safety protocals if doing