7th December 2012, London: British Cycling has today announced that the running of its key road cycling event, the Tour of Britain, is to be put out to an open tender to decide who will take it forward from 2014 onwards. To ensure fairness and transparency, the tender process will be managed on behalf of British Cycling by The Sports Consultancy, a leading specialist in rights management and consultancy with a strong track record in managing tenders for major rights holders and public sector organisations. The Sports Consultancy works for wide range of clients including London and Partners and UK Sport in the UK, international cities Madrid and Dubai and sports events ranging from the Olympic Games to Formula One.
Since its reinstatement on the calendar in 2004, the Tour of Britain has been delivered by sports marketing and events company Sweetspot.
British Cycling’s President, Brian Cookson OBE, said:
“Against the backdrop of our continued success over recent years and the amazing success this summer with our first Tour de France winner and 16 gold medals at London 2012, it’s important that we take a fresh look at how the Tour of Britain can deliver continued growth and profile for the sport.
“Sweetspot has nurtured and developed the event over recent years and we thank them for that, but the time is now right to assess all options. Most crucially, we want to assure our current and future members and all cycling fans that we will have their interests at heart throughout this process and we look forward to further developing an event that reflects the current status of our sport in this country.”
British Cycling’s existing contract with Sweetspot will continue throughout next year, including the delivery of the event in September.
The invitation to tender will officially be launched in January, although expressions of interest are now welcome.
About British Cycling
British Cycling is the national governing body for cycling as recognised by the UCI – the international federation for the sport. Based in Manchester at the National Cycling Centre, British Cycling works across all levels and six disciplines of the sport (BMX, Mountain Bike, Cyclo-Cross, Road, Track and Cycle Speedway), from providing the support and encouragement people need to get riding their bikes for the first time, to being home to the hugely successful Great Britain Cycling Team. Continued success at the highest level is inspiring a boom in participation across the nation. There have never been more opportunities to ride a bike, be it for fun or sport, and British Cycling is at the heart of this growth. British Cycling also works hard to represent cyclists’ interests at all levels, including campaigning on important issues including road safety. As a membership organisation, British Cycling provides a suite of benefits and support to its members who currently number over 63,000. All membership revenue is invested back into cycling.
About The Sports Consultancy The Sports Consultancy was founded in 2006 by Robert Datnow and Angus Buchanan, whose respective expertise in sports law and commercial rights management, has created a strategic sports marketing consultancy poised to provide commercial advice and delivery to venues, brands, rights holders and others involved in top-level sport.
