Start, London 2012 Olympic men's road race
Mayor of London Boris Johnson today launched London's Olympic Cycling legacy event, which will end Great Britain's long overdue wait for a top-level one-day race.
The new weekend of cycling, called Ride London, will be run by Tour of Britain organiser SweetSpot and the London Marathon. It is scheduled to take place for the first time next August (2013), with the weekend of August 3-4 earmarked as the provisional dates for the inaugural edition.
Stratford's Olympic Park will host a family fun ride on day one of the festival (Saturday, August 3), and will be the start of a closed-roads sportive, elite criterium and professional road race on Sunday, August 4.
Riders in the sportive and road race will head into central London, before heading towards Surrey in a route that largely replicates that of the Olympic road races. Both events are currently scheduled to finish on The Mall.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) ranking for the pro race has yet to be announced.
The Grand Prix criterium uses a closed roads circuit around St James's Park and takes place before the end of the sportive.
It is hoped the 100,000 people will take part in the fun ride or sportive, and it is expected that there will be live television coverage of the pro race - to be confirmed.
Plans for the two-day festival of cycling were first unveiled in January, and a shortlist of six potential delivery partners - including Tour de France organiser ASO - were announced in March.
More later...
Ride London 2013 schedule
Saturday, August 3 2013
Freecycle, family ride
Sunday, August 4 2013
Grand Prix criterium
Ride London 100 sportive
Ride London Classic
External link
Ride London website
Twitter
www.twitter.com/Ride_London
Reader comments
Add your comments
Julia
August 10 14:42
So Sky have dropped their sponsorship and the mayor is rebadging an already long exsiting event (put on by Ken Livingstone) as a new legacy whilst tying it onto Tour of Britain to save on logistics costs? What about sorting out our cycle lanes and dangerous junctions?
Keith Bingham
August 10 23:58
You're right, Julia. It's all very well backing a top class road race, sportive and family ride on closed roads, and boasting he is promoting cycling, but the Major is doing little to improve the many dangerous junctions across London which make cycling hazardous. bingers
Denzil
August 11 09:19
Have you seen the cost of the 100 Sportive... it's nearly fifty quid! Hardly for the working man, or woman.
jeremy brockman
August 11 09:26
Get idea. However..... Why not make it a national event, happening in centres across the country, not just London. Let's see if we could get riders across the country to cover the same distance of the moon (approx 238857 miles each way) and back.
Frank Green
August 14 10:07
Why a Ride london event? A Classics type world event in Lancashire/ Yorkshire showcasing rural and industrial landscapes would be a great idea. The box hill loop although pretty lacks the character that a classic held in the industrial valleys of northern England would. Just 13 miles east of Manchester are the vicious ramps of Saddleworth, whose beautiful rural and industrial heritage would be a great backdrop.