The Elite Tour of Britain cycling race could yet come to the Isle of Wight in 2024 … to make up for the lost leg of the race last year.
The final stage of 2022’s Tour of Britain was due to take place in September, but was cancelled following the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
And last week it was announced the Isle of Wight was not being included in the 2023 event.
£350,000 out of pocket
The sudden cancellation meant the Isle of Wight council was left £350,000 out of pocket — having paid a £250,000 hosting fee and other expenses toting up to a further £100,000.
The council was entitled to a refund of the host venue fees after the real costs had been deducted from Tour of Britain organisers, SweetSpot.
The council said SweetSpot was insured to cover the fees. However, the authority said it was made clear by SweetSpot that it would not be in a position to refund any of the money.
Contingency cover ‘prohibitively expensive’
In response to the council’s comments, SweetSpot said contingency cover in the event of a senior Royal Family member’s death had been ‘prohibitively expensive and commercially unviable for some time’.
The crippling impact of the Covid pandemic on the events industry, which prevented it from running a race for nearly 700 days, had impacted its ability to afford the insurance.
Instead, negotiations have been ongoing since September to provide money towards a future cycling event on the Island.
IW preferred location for 2024
SweetSpot said its first and preferred option is to host a future leg of the 2024 Tour of Britain on the Island to replace the one that could not take place in 2022.
The spokesperson said,
“Given the excitement around the stage and huge amount of work over the previous two years, it would be a real shame if a stage of the Tour of Britain could not now take place.
“Our hope is we are able to agree this with stakeholders following a long-scheduled meeting with them this week.”
If it is not agreeable, alternative options would be discussed with the council.
The council’s corporate scrutiny committee will be discussing the matter further at its meeting tonight (Tuesday).
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: © Simon Wilkinson SWPIX
