Sportives and non-competitive events to resume in September under new guidance

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Published: 20 August 2020
Images: SWPix

British Cycling is pleased to today announce that sportives and other non-competitive events can resume in England from Saturday 5 September 2020, under new guidance approved by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Events will initially be capped at 600 riders, while a number of new measures in place to ensure a fun, safe and Covid-secure environment. The full guidance can be found here, with key points including:

Participants will not ride in groups of more than six at any point during the event, in line with current Government guidance for group riding.

Riders will be released from the start line in waves of no more than six riders, with waves departing at 45-second intervals. Start times will be allocated to ensure that no more than 24 riders are in the vicinity of the start line at any time.

Organisers must ensure that event village, feed station and start/finish infrastructure is large enough to accommodate social distancing, and that riders can access their goody bags, medals or refreshments via a ‘self-serve’ system.

Events must also ensure that they are aware of and adhere to any relevant local restrictions.

British Cycling has been working closely with DCMS and Sport England alongside colleagues representing athletics, triathlon and the major events sector to develop a framework for resuming larger-scale events. Today’s update builds on our general guidance for organising events, which can be found in The Way Forward: Planning a safe return to cycle sport events, and we continue to work hard with relevant stakeholders to plan for a safe return to road racing once the Government guidance permits.

Sportives and non-competitive event are an incredibly popular recreation activity, often raising significant sums for good causes, bringing communities together and providing participants with new challenges and goals.

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British Cycling’s Cycling Delivery Director, Dani Every, said:

“After an incredibly successful re-introduction of some competitive events earlier this month, I’m delighted that we are now able to resume sportives and other non-competitive events from September 5th.

“Due to the greater number of participants involved we have been cautious in our approach and worked closely with event organisers, colleagues in Government and representatives from other sports. Our first priority is always to ensure that events are delivered safely and in a Covid-secure manner, and through this guidance we believe we have achieved that while also retaining the features which make these events so popular for participants and volunteers alike.

“We have a number of great events set to take place on the first weekend of September and I’m sure that thousands of our members and cyclists generally are already gearing up to show their support for local organisers, and tackle what for many will be their first big cycling challenge of the year.

“There’s so much more to these events than just a bike ride – they promote community cohesion, support local causes and support many to achieve goals that they never thought possible – and after the wave of enthusiasm we have seen for cycling this year we hope to see them go from strength to strength in the months and years ahead.”

Ahead of the publication of today’s guidance British Cycling has engaged non-competitive event organisers through an interactive webinar, giving them the opportunity to hear from other organisers and ask any questions they may have.

One of the first events to take place will be the 2020 Great Exmoor Ride, on Sunday 6 September, challenging riders to 1,600m of climbing over the 66-mile route and raising money for charity partner Prostate Cancer UK in the process.

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Event organiser, Darren McKimm, said:

“We’ve continued to plan and constantly adjust throughout all the uncertainty and it now looks like our Great Exmoor Ride on Sunday 6 September will be one of the very first events to take place following the lifting of the current suspension, so of course we’re really pleased to see it going ahead.

“Our riders are definitely looking forward to getting back out there for a challenge and a great day’s cycling as part of a really enjoyable event, and it’s great to be able to provide that again”.

Sportives and non-competitive events taking place from 5 – 6 September 2020:

For more information on all British Cycling events, head to www.britishcycling.org.uk/events.