Tour of Britain boss says time running out to save this year’s race; Women’s Tour postponed till 2021

Mick Bennett, race director of the Tour of Britain, says he hopes the race can take place in September as planned, but warned that time is beginning to run out for the necessary preparatory work to be done. His comments come as race organisers SweetSpot announced that the Women’s Tour, due to take place next month, has been postponed until June 2021.

The Tour of Britain is due to start in Penzance on 6 September and finish in Aberdeen a week later, dates which bring it into conflict with the Tour de France, with the Grand Depart of the three-week race now scheduled for 29 August – although Bennet said he would be “staggered” if that race were held, given its scale.

Quoted in the Guardian, he said: “I would be totally staggered if the Tour de France goes ahead.

“Staggered, but in a positive way if it happens. It’s three weeks long and a global event, so much more so than the Tour of Britain, in terms of the logistics, number of people on the race and the travel involved with people coming from across the world and areas with different levels of restrictions.”

Turning to the Tour of Britain, he said: “We have to hope that for us in the UK if conditions allow, perhaps a shorter or smaller race with fewer spectators, less complex logistics, is more possible, but we don’t have a crystal ball, and really to a large extent it is probably in the hands of the French and British governments.

“The Tour de France, Giro, World Championships are all hugely important for cycling as a sport, and if they go ahead then there is hope for all cycling events.

“But it is so hard to make any predictions right now without looking foolish, especially as things will vary so much from country to country.”

Bennett warned that the decision on whether or not this year’s Tour of Britain would be able to go ahead would need to be taken withing the next month or so.

He said: “Probably by the middle of June we need to get boots on the ground. It would be a massive blow to us as a company but also the country [if the race were cancelled].”

Yesterday SweetSpot announced that it had decided to put back the Women’s Tour, due to have taken place from 8-13 June, by 12 months rather than postponing the race to a later date this year.

The company’s Hugh Roberts said: “Following discussions with stakeholders and sponsors, as well as British Cycling and the UCI, we have decided to work towards June 2021 for the next edition of the Women’s Tour, and will not seek to rearrange the race later in 2020.

“We recognise the unprecedented nature of the current global situation and the challenges for the UCI calendar and so wanted to take an early decision not to look for an alternative 2020 date.

“With the extra time now available we look forward to making next year’s Women’s Tour even bigger and better than before and a fantastic celebration of cycling and Britain. 

“We are now working with partners on our plans for the Women’s Tour to be live streamed for the first time in 2021 and are also exploring opportunities to bring the race closer to our fans than ever before in these challenging times, such as the opportunity to race and ride past stages on their home trainer.”

Next year’s race will follow the same route as had been planned for this year, starting in Bicester, Oxfordshire and finishing in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

SweetSpot added that it has applied to the UCI for the Women’s WorldTour race to be held from 7-12 June 2021.