RideLondon will not continue in Surrey after 2021
The decision was finalised this afternoon (27 October).
Last updated 27th Oct 2020
A decision has been made today (27 October) on the future of the Ride London-Surrey.
The race is returning next year, but a report following a public consultation has recommended the county no longer host it beyond 2021.
The 100-mile event started after the 2012 Olympics, but has faced opposition over disruption to business and from road closures.
Surrey County Council's cabinet confirmed that they will be withdrawing support and will instead focus on smaller, less disruptive community cycling events.
The consultation undertaken earlier this year demonstrated that resident views for and against the event were finely balanced.
There was a large proportion of people strongly opposed.
The concerns expressed by residents demonstrates the level of disruption the event caused for some of Surrey’s communities.
Denise Turner-Stewart, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities said:
“We are committed to encouraging cleaner, greener travel and recognise the health and well-being benefits from all kinds of sport including walking and cycling.
"We are actively seeking new opportunities within Surrey to encourage all sorts of people to get out and about on their bikes.
"The recommendations in the paper were not easy to make, and we held off making this decision until we had exhausted all available options to try to make the event work for our residents.
"However, the ethos of the smaller event; focusing on inspiring the take-up of cycling by women, families, and Wheels for All, more closely aligns to the Council’s objectives to encourage cycling for everyday journeys.
"Although we can no longer support the larger closed road event, we remain open minded to hosting less disruptive, smaller family focused events in future years”.
This year’s RideLondon-Surrey event was cancelled due to Coronavirus, and organisers have scaled down the May 2021 event with no 100-mile sportive event or men’s UCI World Tour race.
Next year’s event will only pass through Surrey for around four miles