The London–Surrey Classic (also known as the RideLondon–Surrey Classic) was an annual men's professional one-day

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, starting and finishing in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and routed via the picturesque Surrey Hills. The first race of its kind was the

London–Surrey Cycle Classic The London–Surrey Cycle Classic was a one-off, one-day bicycle race that served as one of three U.K. events in the year-long 2010–11 UCI Europe Tour and acted as the test event for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The race was part of the London Pr ...

, on 14 August 2011, a 1.2 classification 140 km preparatory event for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, which was won by sprinter

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a ...

. The men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

Olympic road races were held on a longer variation of the same course the following year. On 4 August 2013, the race found a permanent home as part of the

Prudential RideLondon RideLondon is an annual festival of cycling held in London. Intended as an annual legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was first held in 2013. The format consists of a series of cycling events on closed roads around Lond ...

weekend, a two-day cycling festival held in London, a legacy event of the Olympics. The Prudential RideLondon–Surrey Classic was part of the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an ann ...

between 2017 and 2019. Following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 events due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and the withdrawal of support from

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

, the men's race will not return in 2022, with the RideLondon festival including a 3 day elite women's race ( RideLondon Classique) instead.

History

Origins

As part of the London Prepares test events for London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics a one-off one-day cycle race was organised for 14 August 2011 acting as a test event for the Road Cycling events to be held the following year. The race was named the London-Surrey Cycle Classic and was part of the

2010–11 UCI Europe Tour The 2010–11 UCI Europe Tour was the seventh season of the UCI Europe Tour. The season began on 28 October 2010 with the Tour of Marmara and ended on 16 October 2011 with the Chrono des Nations Chrono des Nations – Les Herbiers Vendée is a s ...

as a 1.2 category event. The race started and finished on The Mall in London and featured two laps of a circuit centred on Box Hill in Surrey. 138 riders from 19 national teams and 10 trade teams took part in the race, and was won by

in a sprint finish.

2012 Summer Olympics

Men's Olympic Road Race Peleton, London - July 2012

Womens Olympic Road Race Peleton - July 2012

The 2012 Summer Olympics held road cycling races for both men and

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

on a largely similar course to that of the London-Surrey Cycle Classic held the previous year.

RideLondon–Surrey Classic

The RideLondon weekend, including the RideLondon–Surrey Classic, was announced by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

on 10 August 2012, less than two weeks after the Olympic Road Cycling races. RideLondon is managed by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership, a joint venture between the organisers of the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

and

The Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the ...

. The inaugural RideLondon–Surrey Classic was run as a 1.1 category event on the

2013 UCI Europe Tour The 2013 UCI Europe Tour was the ninth season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2013 season began on 27 January 2013 with the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise and ended on 20 October 2013 with the Chrono des Nations. The points leader, based on the ...

. The UCI upgraded the classification for the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

race which was run as a 1.HC category event on the

2014 UCI Europe Tour The 2014 UCI Europe Tour was the tenth season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2014 season began on 2 February 2014 with the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise and ended on 19 October 2014 with the Chrono des Na ...

; the same classification as

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 ...

and

Milano–Torino Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876 making it the oldest classic race in the world. The ev ...

UCI World Tour status

The RideLondon event director, Hugh Brasher, stated his ambitions to attain

status for the RideLondon–Surrey Classic by 2016. This was backed up by positive rider reaction following the inaugural race, including from Arnaud Démare's teammate Dominique Rollin. In March 2016 the race organisation applied for WorldTour status from the 2017 event and in August 2016 the UCI confirmed that the race would be promoted to the WorldTour from 2017.

agreed to support the RideLondon events until 2018, with an option of a further two-year extension.

Cancellation

The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the

. Following the withdrawal of title sponsor Prudential and

, the event will concentrate in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

from 2022 - with an 3-day elite women's race - RideLondon Classique. In June 2021, organisers of the event confirmed that the men's race will not return.

Route

The RideLondon–Surrey Classic route is a variation of the course used for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The route features both categorised climbs and intermediate sprint points. Riders start from the

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City developm ...

close to the Olympic Velodrome before passing close to

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

and the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

on the way through central London. Leaving London by the A4 the route passes through

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

and

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

. In Surrey the route passes through

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

and

Ripley Ripley may refer to: People and characters * Ripley (name) * ''Ripley'', the test mannequin aboard the first International Space Station space station Dragon 2 space test flight Crew Dragon Demo-1 * Ellen Ripley, a fictional character from the Al ...

on the way to the first of the categorised climbs and the leafy villages of the Surrey Hills. Multiple laps of hilly terrain in the vicinity of

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughl ...

incorporate further categorised climbs, including

Leith Hill Leith Hill in southern England is the highest summit of the Greensand Ridge, approximately southwest of Dorking, Surrey and southwest of central London. It reaches above sea level, and is the second highest point in southeast England, after ...

- the highest point in South-East England. On the return to London the route takes in the final categorised climb of Box Hill before the largely flat run-in via Oxshott, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon and

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

. The final kilometres follow the

Embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railway ...

, past the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

, along

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

and turning left through

Admiralty Arch Admiralty Arch is a landmark building in London providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Admiralty Arch, commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mo ...

before the finish on The Mall.

Sprints classification

Intermediate Sprints count towards the sprints classification; the points distribution for this classification is as follows: Note that points are not awarded at the finish line.

King of the Mountains classification

Categorised climbs count towards the King of the Mountains classification; the points distribution for this classification is as follows: The categorised climbs that have featured in the RideLondon–Surrey Classic include:

Winners

Overall winners

(see 2012 Olympic road race) due to

due to

Overall winners by nationality

Sprints classification winners

King of the Mountains classification winners

Records

* The fastest RideLondon–Surrey Classic was in 2017, by Alexander Kristoff at a speed of . * The highest number of finishers was in 2013 - 131 out of 147 starters completed the course within the time limit.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:London-Surrey Classic Cycle races in England UCI World Tour races UCI Europe Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 2013 2013 establishments in England Box Hill, Surrey