Tour Of Britain-style Pro Race Set For SA in 2018

Organisers of Tour of Britain set to help launch elite international cycling stage race in SA in 2018


Bicycling Staff |

Organisers of Tour of Britain set to help launch elite international cycling stage race in SA in 2018

@Theo Southee photography
@Theo Southee photography

Organisers of the Tour of Britain and Ride London events announced today that they will partner with Cycling South Africa (CSA) to realise the dream of a long-term and sustainable six-day professional road race early in 2018.

CSA have signed an accord with UK event organising company SweetSpot to create an elite international road cycling stage race to be held in South Africa in the first quarter of next year.

The event will attract the world’s top professional teams to what is initially planned to be a 6-day stage race.

One of the intentions of the event is to create investment into cycling through an overriding Non-Profit Organisation that will govern the event, and oversee the distribution of benefits generated by it.

“We want to be able to bring in a sustainable investment plan through provincial and government funding before we even think of looking at sponsors. We don’t want the event to be dependent on sponsorship because that’s when events are left high and dry when sponsors change their focusses,” Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of SweetSpot Group told Bicycling in an exclusive interview on Friday.

“We have had a great working relationship with the Cape Town Cycle Tour team who really helped us establish our mass Ride London event. By us being involved in establishing this new race we hope it’s some way of returning the favour.”

“We have already taken soundings with several of the world’s top professional teams who are very keen to be involved, as many of them already come down to train in the off season. As everyone knows, a guy like Chris Froome sees himself as half South African so maybe we can entice him to ride.”

Roberts said that the international governing body for cycling, the UCI, would decide on the best date for the event based on what other events were on the calendar for 2018.

“This is a significant milestone for Cycling South Africa as it fills a huge void on our racing calendar,” said William Newman, President of Cycling South Africa. “Having this event will allow our very own team Dimension Data for Qhubeka and our other International riders to participate on home soil, allowing the South African public to really see how good they are. The event will also allow our local riders the opportunity to participate against the best riders in the world.”

With Cycling South Africa’s commitment to the development of women’s cycling, work will happen simultaneously on the presentation of a women’s event in the future, potentially in 2019.

A blue riband event in South Africa has been conspicuously absent for some time now and with their strong cycling heritage allied to an almost fanatical appetite for all things cycling they surely deserve a first-class race.

“An official cycle tour in South Africa is long overdue,” Douglas Ryder, Team Principal: Dimension Data for Qhubeka, says. “SweetSpot is known as an organisation who always goes out of its way to look after the teams and deliver in terms of quality and professionalism.  We are proud to support them and Cycling South Africa to ensure that the race is sustainable for years to come. This cycle tour will undoubtedly showcase to the world what SA has to offer with our beautiful landscapes, talented local riders and cycling fans who love and support the sport of Cycling.”

  • The SweetSpot Group are a sports events and marketing company behind the successful revival of The Tour of Britain, the UK’s largest professional cycle race, in 2004 after a five-year absence, which now forms a cornerstone of the British sporting calendar and is the country’s largest free-to-watch sporting event attracting more than one and a half million spectators annually.
  • SweetSpot Group were also part of the team behind the successful 2007 London Grand Départ of the Tour de France, and are responsible for the creation of the unique, team based Tour Series programme of televised, city centre cycle races, in 2009, which enter their ninth season of competition in 2017.
  • In 2012 SweetSpot, along with partners The London Marathon Ltd, as the London and Surrey Cycle Partnership (LSCP), were awarded the contract to deliver the Olympic legacy cycling event, RideLondon, which has taken place annually since August 2013.
  • In 2014 SweetSpot launched The Women’s Tour, a five-day elite, international stage race taking place in the East of England which in 2016 was been selected to be a founding part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour

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