RideLondon is an annual festival of cycling held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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

and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Between 2013 and 2019, the event culminated in the

London–Surrey Classic The London–Surrey Classic (also known as the RideLondon–Surrey Classic) was an annual men's professional one-day road bicycle racing, road cycling race, starting and finishing in London and routed via the picturesque Surrey Hills AONB, Surr ...

, a one-day international men's

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 com ...

. In 2022, the

RideLondon Classique RideLondon Classique is a women's cycle stage race held in Essex and London as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. Part of the RideLondon cycling festival, the race was originally held as a one-day race in central London, and became a stage race ...

– a three-day international women's road race as part of the

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. , the tour includes 27 events in Europe, Asia and Oceania – with one-day races such as Strade Bianche Donne and Paris–Roubaix Femmes, stage races such as Wo ...

– served as the flagship event.

Current events

RideLondon is composed of several events held on the same weekend, currently in late May. Between 2013 and 2019, the event was held in late July, to follow the conclusion of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

RideLondon Classique

A three-day, international women's road race forms part of the

. In 2022, the first two stages are held in Essex, with the final stage taking place in London. First held as a one-day race in central London in 2013, at one time the Classique awarded the highest prize money for a women's one-day race.

RideLondon Essex

Starting and finishing in London and passing through

, the RideLondon Essex is a sportive ride for amateur cyclists, with over 25,000 participants. In previous years, RideLondon Surrey served as the sportive ride, with riders raising money for charities – £12.5 million in 2017. As with previous editions, routes vary in distance from 100 to 30 miles.

RideLondon FreeCycle

The RideLondon FreeCycle is an opportunity for amateurs to cycle on closed roads in Central London, passing landmarks such as

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

and

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

Previous events

RideLondon-Surrey Classic

The RideLondon-Surrey Classic was a one-day international elite men's

, held on the Sunday of the RideLondon weekend between 2013 and 2019. The route generally followed a similar route to the London 2012 Road Race with multiple circuits in and around

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west 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 ro ...

and the Surrey Hills, before heading into London for a finish on The Mall.

Brompton World Championship

The Brompton World Championship became part of the RideLondon cycling festival in 2015. The event involved 550 riders racing around a central London circuit on

folding bicycle A folding bicycle is designed to be compacted into a smaller, more manageable size or shape, making it easier to store or carry . When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mo ...

s, with a sprint finish on The Mall. Riders were mostly dressed in

suit A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt su ...

s, to reflect the use of folding bikes by

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

RideLondon HandCycle races and junior races

The RideLondon HandCycle and Junior races were also included in the RideLondon weekend. Both elite and amateur HandCycle events were staged. The Junior categories feature boys' and girls' races for 13–16 years old.

History

Origins

The origins of RideLondon can be traced back to when London was awarded the rights to stage the 2012

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. Subsequently, London has staged a number of cycling events. In 2007, London hosted the

Grand Départ and, also closed roads to create a day-long safe cycling environment in the city centre, known at the time as

The London Freewheel The London Freewheel, originally known for sponsorship reasons as the 'Hovis London Freewheel', was developed by the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) to encourage and increase cycling participation, and promote cycling as a form of ...

. This annual one-day event continued between 2007-2011 and, from 2009 became known as the Mayor of London's Skyride. Womens_Olympic_Road_Race_Peleton_-_July_2012

Womens_Olympic_Road_Race_Peleton_-_July_2012

Ambition to create a new world-class event for cycling, that could one day rival London's most iconic sporting events such as the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

and, the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

, was born. The aim of the annual event is to include the world's top men, women and, hand cyclists racing as part of the international cycling calendar in order to challenge and inspire people from all backgrounds to get on two wheels. In late 2011 and early 2012, Mayor

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

assessed and formally approved the recommendation to create the event. In 2011, a test event for the Olympic Games road race was held on a similar route to be used for the road races of the Olympic Games – the London–Surrey Cycle Classic. In 2012, the search for a suitably qualified and experienced delivery partner was launched. After detailed work, a joint venture including the organisers of the London Marathon 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 th ...

under the name of the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership was selected to make the event a reality. The event would be delivered in partnership with

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...

and include a route through the Surrey Hills, which also mirrored the London Olympic Games road race. The event is part of the London 2012 Olympic legacy. In August 2012, as the Olympic Games drew to a close, the Mayor of London and the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership, alongside British Cycling and double Olympic champion Laura Trott, formally launched RideLondon and called for fans to sign up to the 100-mile challenge. The event's first title sponsor, Prudential, was announced in early 2013 by which time more than 55,000 people had signed up to be one of the first riders to participate in the inaugural RideLondon-Surrey 100. This race is part of the Prudential RideLondon festival weekend with coverage to be broadcast live on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and international TV. The RideLondon vision was to showcase the capital to nationwide and international audiences, generate economic benefit from participant and spectator expenditure and inspire more people to take up regular cycling.

Initial years

In 2013, more than 16,000 people started the RideLondon-Surrey 100, more than 50,000 took part in RideLondon FreeCycle and over 1,000 volunteers helped run the event. 99% of participants rated the event as good or excellent and riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 raised more than £7 million for charity. In 2014, over 16,000 completed the RideLondon-Surrey 100 (shortened to 86 miles due to adverse weather conditions) with 60,000 taking part in the FreeCycle and more than £10 million being raised for charity by riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100. This set a new record for a UK one-day cycling event for a second successive year. In response to the huge demand for the event, places were increased by 25 per cent in 2015, with more than 25,000 riders crossing the Start Line in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 2 August. This year a new event was also added to the RideLondon cycling festival: the 10th Brompton World Championship Final. This event featured in the RideLondon Grand Prix races in St James's Park and was the first time that the Brompton World Championship Final had been held in London. The event opened with a Le Mans-style start as 500 smartly dressed competitors from around the world made a mad dash to unfold their bikes before setting off on the circuit. Six Festival Zones (up from five in 2014) in RideLondon FreeCycle offered riders a chance to stop and enjoy a huge range of free bike-based entertainment and to try out many different bike-based activities. The women's RideLondon Grand Prix race was also one of the biggest one-day races on the international calendar and was again televised live by the BBC.

2016 to 2021

In 2016, a new 46-mile event was launched by Bradley Wiggins specifically for newer and younger cyclists. The RideLondon-Surrey 46 on traffic-free roads starts at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and follows the same route as RideLondon-Surrey 100 for the first 27 miles before taking a new two-mile route, which then links up with the last 17 miles to the finish in The Mall. The RideLondon Grand Prix was renamed the RideLondon Classique, the race was added to the

, and it gained an identical €100,000 prize fund to the London–Surrey Classic – making it the richest one-day race in the women's calendar. In 2017, the RideLondon-Surrey Classic gained

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour 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 annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

status, the only event in Britain. Riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 and RideLondon-Surrey 46 together raised £12.75 million for charity. The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2020,

withdrew their support of the event at the end of their contract.

2022 to present

Following the withdrawal of sponsors Prudential and

, from 2022 RideLondon became a one-day event in

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

, with a 3-day elite women's race (

) as the main event, as well as a public freeride. In March 2021, a 10-year partnership with London Marathon Events to stage the event was agreed. In June 2021, organizers confirmed that the men's race would not return in 2022. In November 2021, an agreement with

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

was announced, with Essex hosting both the 100 mile challenge ride, as well as two stages of an elite women's race. The 2022 event was criticised for not providing live TV coverage for all three stages as required for inclusion in the

– with the UCI warning that the 2023 event would be demoted to the

UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road bicycle racer, road cycling tour. It was inaugurated in 2020 UCI ProSeries, 2020. The series is placed below the UCI World Tour, but above the various regional UCI Continental Circuits. Devel ...

if stages were not broadcast on live television. The race retained its World Tour status for 2023 after the organisers provided the UCI with evidence that stages would have the required live TV coverage. Following announcement of the

2025 UCI Women's World Tour The 2025 UCI Women's World Tour is a competition with twenty-seven road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2025 in women's road cycling, 2025 women's cycling season. The competition began with the 2025 Women's Tour Down Under, Wom ...

calendar, it was announced that the 2025 edition of RideLondon Classique could not take place on the date proposed by the UCI, given constraints in central London. In September 2024, the organisers announced that the event would go on hiatus in 2025.

Results

References

External links

ridelondon.co.uk
RideLondon official website {{UCI Women's World Tour Cycling in London Recurring events established in 2007 September in sports Cycling events in the United Kingdom Annual events in London 2007 in London 2007 establishments in England Autumn in England