Mike McCormack, founder of the Breck Epic mountain bike race, told Breckenridge Town Council on Tuesday he has broken off talks with Ironman regarding selling the annual race.

Liam Doran / Special to the Daily
Scenes from Stage 1 at the 2016 Breck Epic on the Pennsylvania Gulch loop.

Ironman had been seeking to buy the race in Breckenridge and turn it into “the premier mountain bike event in North America” and a qualifying event for the annual South African Absa Cape Epic mountain race, referred to as “the Tour de France of mountain biking.”

On Tuesday, McCormack thanked council for its time before telling its members that environmental conservation is important, he didn't think the course can handle as many riders as Ironman might bring and that he needed to follow his own "moral North Star."

This report will be updated.