In case you had missed the news on Wednesday, the UK's biggest cycling sportive, RideLondon, will not happen in 2025. It will mark the first time that the mass-participation bike ride will skip a year - apart from during the pandemic - since its inception in 2013.
One might think, given that it has seemed highly successful in the years it has run, with thousands of participants this year, that there was something else behind the official reason given - that this was a "pause" in order to reform. After all, why would you stop something from running if everything was going well, even if the RideLondon Classique is not occurring next year, either.
The cancellation of the 2025 event has occurred amid other pressures on cycling in the UK, whether that is the general anti-cyclist noise in the UK media, the removal of other cycling events from the calendar, and cycling rates dropping to pre-pandemic levels to give just three examples. Given RideLondon is one of most public displays of cycling in the UK, perhaps it is no surprise that it has become the target for criticism; Tony Blackburn, veteran DJ and author of Poptastic!: My Life in Radio, even suggested a closed-road car event should happen instead. This year, a cyclist taking part in RideLondon suffered serious spinal injuries after being hit by a car driver in Essex, according to police. Councils are under huge financial pressure, before the anti-cycling brigade begin to criticise them for closing roads for cycling. It would not be a surprise were this the issue.
However, having spoken to the three stakeholders involved in the event, London Marathon Events, Essex County Council, and Transport for London, officially, there is no ulterior motive behind the hiatus. It is still a puzzle why it is not taking place - if the London Marathon were to be cancelled for a year, there would be much more debate - but on the record, there appears to be no issue here.
Asked if RideLondon had been paused because of a failure to find a local government partner, a spokesperson denied this.
"We feel the time is right to take a pause and bring all stakeholders together to work on a new concept for RideLondon," they said. "We have now held ten hugely successful editions of the event and inspired more than 300,000 people to get back on a bike or cycle more often. The event has also raised an incredible total of more than £85 million for charity. The event did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and that pause enabled us to put in place many changes and improvements to the event, including the partnership with Essex County Council. A hiatus in 2025 enables us to reimagine the event for future years.
"We have an agreement with Essex County Council for the event to take place in Essex until 2026. They are keen for the event to return to the county in 2026 and we will be working closely with them to develop our future plans for the event."
A spokesperson for Essex CC reiterated this: "RideLondon and Essex County Council have a three year agreement for the event to take place in Essex until 2026. We are keen for the event to return to Essex in 2026."
Meanwhile, TfL merely directed us towards the statement from London's cycling and walking commissioner, Will Norman, from Wednesday: "It’s a fantastic event to celebrate cycling that brings together cyclists of all levels, from beginners to professional athletes," he said. "I am committed to working with all partners to bring back this hugely popular event in the future.‘’
Officially, then, no mystery. It really is just a hiatus. We will be watching closely to see if it does return in 2026, as we all hope for. RideLondon isn't happening in order to "reimagine" it for the future.
