After being forced to cancel both the 2020 and 2021 events, RideLondon will return in a new form in 2022, according to a press release from Transport for London (TfL).
The event has traditionally been a multi-day festival held over a weekend in the summer to coincide with the end of the Tour de France. However, after Surrey County Council withdrew its support from RideLondon and Prudential ended its sponsorship deal, change is afoot. The route will be different, as will the organisers, with London Marathon Events stepping in to plan the event for the next ten years.
RideLondon will now take place on a single day in the spring with the aim of encouraging more people to cycle through the warmer months. A more family-friendly format is promised as well.
There will be no professional men’s race in 2022 but that may be a bonus for the women’s RideLondon Classique, allowing it to take more of the limelight.
It’s certainly good news for charities, which will have desperately missed two years of fundraising, especially seeing as the organisers appear to have no desire to scale back the event.
“Globally, [RideLondon] is one of the biggest charity one-day cycling events and we aim to engage more than 100,000 people on an extraordinary day when London celebrates cycling,” said Hugh Brasher, event director of London Marathon Events
There’s no word on how and when places in the mass-participation events will be allocated, and unfortunately the RideLondon website has not been updated – all it has is information on 2020’s virtual event. Watch this space.
Training Advice For RideLondon
