From Newsgroup: uk.rec.cycling


rCLA sad day for womenrCOs cyclingrCY: RideLondon Classique cancelled for 2025 as
UCI rCLunilaterallyrCY moves dates rCLwithout consultation or prior warningrCY

The organisers announced that the UCIrCOs decision to push the stage race to the following week has made it rCLimpossiblerCY for it to be held in London, though the RideLondon-Essex sportive will go ahead as planned
by RYAN MALLON FRI, JUN 14, 2024 13:50

The RideLondon Classique will not take place in 2025, as the eventrCOs organisers revealed that there was rCLno optionrCY but to cancel the WomenrCOs World Tour stage race after the UCI shifted its position in the calendar by
a week, making it rCLimpossiblerCY for the race to be held in central London.

While the loss of the three-day race, won once again in dominant fashion by Lorena Wiebes last month, has been branded a rCLsad day for professional womenrCOs cyclingrCY, organisers London Marathan Events did confirm, however, that the news will have no bearing on the RideLondon-Essex sportive events
and wider festival of cycling in London, which will take place in their
usual late-May slot next year.

A legacy event of the 2012 London Olympics, the RideLondon Classique was
first held in 2013 as a one-day race before being granted WomenrCOs World
Tour status in 2016, the same year that it became the richest womenrCOs race
in the world with a total prize fund of re4100,000, equalling the now-defunct menrCOs RideLondon-Surrey Classic.

After a three-year break due to the Covid pandemic and following the demise
of the menrCOs race, in 2022 the womenrCOs event was expanded to a three-day tour, as part of a wider rCyfestival of cyclingrCO that includes the popular sportive events.

Since its expansion, Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes has proved the dominant
force on the largely flat roads around Essex and the capital, securing a hat-trick and clean sweep of stages and the overall victory in 2022 and
2024, with only Charlotte Kool breaking WiebesrCO streak last year.

This morning, however, the UCI unveiled its 2025 calendar for both the
menrCOs and womenrCOs World Tours and with it the news that the RideLondon Classique has been shunted from its traditional slot in the last full
weekend of May to the following weekend, in order to provide space for the
trio of Spanish stage races rCo the Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia, and the Vuelta
a Burgos rCo that take up most of the month.

That date change rCo which London Marathon Events claims was made rCLunilaterallyrCY and without consultation by the UCI rCo has forced the race into an unexpected hiatus next year due to the protracted and complicated nature of planning events in London, the organisers confirmed on Friday,
just a week after the UKrCOs other major womenrCOs stage race, the Tour of Britain Women, made its return following a yearrCOs break.

rCLWe were extremely surprised to be informed by the UCI on 26 March 2024
that the 2025 Ford RideLondon Classique had been moved on the UCI WomenrCOs World Tour calendar from the last complete weekend in May [23-25 May] to a
new date a week later [30 May-1 June],rCY RideLondonrCOs event director Hugh Brasher said in a statement today.

rCLThere was no consultation or prior warning and the news came despite LME previously being advised by the UCI that there would be no changes to the calendar until 2026.

rCLMajor events in London, one of the worldrCOs biggest capital cities, are planned many years ahead and it is impossible for the Ford RideLondon
Classique to take place in central London on the new dates proposed unilaterally by the UCI. Alternative dates at this late stage are
impossible.

rCLThe UCI will not reverse this decision or allow two WomenrCOs WorldTour events to take place on the same weekend. Therefore, sadly, it will not be possible to stage the Ford RideLondon Classique in 2025. It is a very sad
day for professional womenrCOs cycling.rCY

He continued: rCLThe Classique was one of the higher profile events on the
UCI WomenrCOs WorldTour, taking place in one of the worldrCOs most influentialrC>cities with extensive sponsorship support and live coverage on BBC TV and internationally. Many teams and riders cite the event as one of their top races of the year.

rCLRideLondon is the most successful legacy event from the 2012 Olympic Games and we are delighted that none of the other events that make the day the worldrCOs largest one-day cycling event are affected.rCY

Despite the racerCOs popularity among riders and teams, this isnrCOt the first time that the RideLondon ClassiquerCOs organisers have come into conflict
with the UCI in recent years.

In 2022, cyclingrCOs governing body threatened to downgrade the race from a WomenrCOs WorldTour race to a ProSeries event after the organisers breached
UCI regulations by failing to provide live TV coverage of every stage.

That year, only the final stage was broadcast live on BBC Two, while
highlights of the first two stages were made available on the BBC iPlayer
and GCN rCo a breach of the UCIrCOs rules stipulating that WorldTour events must provide live TV coverage of at least the final 45 minutes of each
stage.

However, the race retained its WorldTour status after the organisers, with backing from new sponsor Ford, ensured that all three stages would have the required live footage through streaming on Eurosport and the BBC iPlayer.

<https://road.cc/content/news/ridelondon-classique-cancelled-2025-due-date-change-308873>
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