London plans 'classic' cycle road race to rival European events

[Swabian Lass]

i'm all in favour of new races, so although it doesn't sound like something I'd tr avel to see, it's got to be agood thing if they bring it off.

I can see The Hitch's points about London, and I guess it would be unrealistic to expect a new British race anywhere else at the moment. But maybe if it was successful they'd be inspired to have a race somewhere with a decent parcours in years to come.

 

[SpannerBender]

Ditch the London area and get out and about. Get some of this in the parcour

 

[Mellow Velo]

While Richeypen has it right in suggesting that South Wales has the best suited
parcour for such and event, we all know it ain't gonna happen.

London is the focal point and London is where it will be raced.

As for the Lance Armstrong mantra of raising cycling awareness.(presumably within the capital)
This will definitely happen, as it will provide Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear "lads" with some excellent lampooning material.

With the culling of the Spanish calendar, I'm generally in favour of new events, providing they deliver the goods.
The phrase: a "classics" style race around London, is something of an oxymoron.
Therefore, in this case, I would prefer to do without.

 

[Alpechraxler]

I'd like to have the Zueri Metzgete back.. a real classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzi4KFTXnRM

Sry what is it worth to install an artficial classic in a molloch of city where you can't even cycle 1 k without getting killed by traffic. I don't see the point.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Its a good post but the whole point of this race is that its in London - where 16 odd mllion people live if you include subburbs.

Not brighton or york or cornwall or the south downs or sherwood forrest.

LONDON.

Its not about having a classic in GB, its about closing the streets letting people ride bikes through the course.

Families see it as a family day out, fans as a way to see the riders, check the course, general bike riders as something to do, anyone with a bike as something to try because its the only time of the year the roads will be closed.

People watch the race, because its a spectacle right on their doorstep and cos Cavs there and because they are out shopping on Oxford street on a sunday anyway so might as well walk an extra 100m to see what the fuss is about.

Vendors see it as a way to sell something to fans coming to watch the race.

Bike business booms maybe, Cav gets a few extra sponsorship bucks, the local government likes the economy it brings so spends more money funding it so the big riders come because the race has good prize money and they come because the organisers are welcoming them to one of the most important world cities.

If it doesnt finish in London its not going to happen

Good post.

Nothing wrong with a race in and around London, if it delivers all that.

It's the use of the word 'classic' that I object to. That label carries a certain meaning and needs to be earnt with a history, over many editions.

 

[will10]

Great post Hitch but I think that is the rose tinted view of how cycling races in this country are percieved. For every one person pleased to see the race or even drawn to cycling having never been interested in the sport before, there will be another twenty who will only be concerned with how it affects them getting around in the car that day. That's the truth of it.

 

[theyoungest]

i hate this.

To me it just feels ignorant and lacking respect to the most prestigious races in the sport.

Obviously it isn't true, regardless of parcours (yes it can be a great race) it will never have the appeal of a P-R. No time soon anyway.

I'm all for globalizing cycling and such, but does every bozo have to think they are god's gift to cycling.

--

anyway I like the idea of a one day race in britain, the quote just annoyed me

Yeah, it's interesting how new events in this sport expect to be among the biggest in the world within a few years. Why not just be content to put on an exciting event?

Then again, if done well, at least in the eyes of the fans its profile can be raised pretty quickly (see Montepaschi). I can't imagine a course through London to be entertaining enough for that to happen though. Maybe 20 times across Box Hill?

 

[bobbins]

Much like a chainring mark on the calves, valve caps on inner tubes, spoke protectors on wheels and streamers on handlebars, the insistence of UK cyclists that Box Hill is a hill is a sign of cycling ignorance.

Calling this race a 'classic' is just marketing BS.

 

[Andy99]

For me the only thing going for London is the name. Though I can understand why that linked to the Olympic legacy is likely to be a necessary evil to attract funds.

In reality though, places like Leeds, where the round of the old World Cup was held would be much better options..

Between 1989 and 1997, the UK hosted a round of the UCI World Cup, the Wincanton Classic, whose list of winners is dominated by Italians including riders of the stature of Gianni Bugno and Andrea Tafi, as well as Max Sciandri, winner in 1995, the year he obtained British nationality ahead of the Atlanta Olympics, where he won bronze in the men’s road race.

First raced in Newcastle-upon-Tyne before moving to Brighton then Leeds and, finally, Rochester, the Wincanton Classic was replaced in the calendar in 1998 by Germany’s HEW Cyclassics, now the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

 

[Andy99]

Would also love to see the Lincoln GP revert back to a UCI event.

 

[Morbius]

I think the organisers are trying to do too many things at once - especially when they try to bring in mass participation
160km is too short, but most casual riders won't want to go further than the magic 100 miles
Place to place would be great (though Manchester - London looks a bit too far), but a circular route is easier for mass participants
London will pack in the punters (participants and spectators) and ties in the Olympics, but is dull terrain#

My preference would be something like London to Cardiff or London to Stoke (rewarding a ToB town) - but the other direction could work

 

[Alpechraxler]

cobblestone alone doesn't turn any around the block race into a classic.

 

[Froome19]

I think the organisers are trying to do too many things at once - especially when they try to bring in mass participation
160km is too short, but most casual riders won't want to go further than the magic 100 miles
Place to place would be great (though Manchester - London looks a bit too far), but a circular route is easier for mass participants
London will pack in the punters (participants and spectators) and ties in the Olympics, but is dull terrain#

My preference would be something like London to Cardiff or London to Stoke (rewarding a ToB town) - but the other direction could work

I am sure that the mass participation will be on the same lines as that in the TOB whereas you dont actually do the whole route and not exact yet you start from the proper start etc.
It will surely help if circular route though for mass participation but I dont think that mass participation will be that much considered when planning the route

 

[VO2 Max]

London-Oxford-London might work. Both cities are marquee names, and you'd have the Chiltern hills to at least give some drama on the run home. Ok they're not big climbs and would probably be 50km from the finish but it at least evens things up a bit if they can squeeze in 50 or 60km with narrow roads and a bit of up-and-down.

 

[del1962]

OK, found this thread while reading, interestingly the second year did not end in a mass sprint.

What I would like to see is more races in the UK upgraded to 1.2 status, I noticed that this happened with the Beaumont Cup this year. That was the day after I did the virgin money cyclone around northumberland.

Looks like the ASO will also be putting on a race in Yorkshire, personally I would like to see a race starting on the west coast of Cumbria and ending up on Tyneside you could get some excellent parcours, Hardknott Pass, Kirkstone Pass across the Pennines, Crawleyside bank etc, you could even have a decent hill top finish in say Gateshead

 

[Cult Classics]

OK, found this thread while reading, interestingly the second year did not end in a mass sprint.

What I would like to see is more races in the UK upgraded to 1.2 status, I noticed that this happened with the Beaumont Cup this year. That was the day after I did the virgin money cyclone around northumberland.

Looks like the ASO will also be putting on a race in Yorkshire, personally I would like to see a race starting on the west coast of Cumbria and ending up on Tyneside you could get some excellent parcours, Hardknott Pass, Kirkstone Pass across the Pennines, Crawleyside bank etc, you could even have a decent hill top finish in say Gateshead

A one day race in Yorkshire would have been much better, and better than a one day race in London too.