Jonathan Day, the former National Cycle Sport Manager at British Cycling, claims there is still an appetite from Isle of Wight council (IWC) to host the elite Tour of Britain cycling race.
IWC had agreed to host the final leg of the Tour of Britain in 2020, with the intention to hold it in 2021. However, due to the Covid pandemic, the race was pushed back 12 months.
Due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the final three stages of the event did not take place, leaving the IWC a whopping £350,000 out of pocket.
Hosting the final stage of the race was expected to attract over £4 million to the Island.
Hopes for 2025?
The news of IWC potentially being interested still was revealed in an interview with Cycling Weekly magazine, where Jonathan Day shed light on the organisation’s ongoing negotiations with local authorities for potential stage locations of the cycling race in 2025.
Jonathan explained that he’d had a good discussion with the Isle of Wight, and that there was “still absolutely an appetite”.
Hosting 2024 event fell through
There had been talk of the Island hosting the 2024 race to make up for missed stage in 2022.
However, as reported last August, the organisers, SweetSpot, said the Island was best suited to hosting either the opening or final stage of the race, and both those slots had already been filled.
Rebuilding Bridges
Despite acknowledging the setbacks and the understandable frustrations that followed the race’s cancellation, Jonathan Day’s dialogue with Isle of Wight officials suggests a mutual eagerness to bring a full stage of the race to the Island soon.
News OnTheWight approached IWC to find out whether this is seriously being considered. A spokesperson for the council advised,
“Councillors continue to interested in considering the options and we would always entertain a proposal from British Cycling, but at this stage no further formal negotiations or dates have yet to be agreed.”
Article edit
1.42pm 28th Mar 2024 – Response from IWC added
