“We don’t even have half a field”: Another British bike race cancelled due
to “big downturn” in entries – as local cyclists blame early payment system
and rising fees
The road racing season may only be underway, but it seems like every new
week ushers in another piece of bad news for the domestic British domestic scene.
Because, while hope remains for the swift return of the Tours of Britain
this year (especially after a four-day women’s stage race popped up on the UCI calendar last week) below that elite level races are continuing to struggle in the face of some pretty desperate financial and logistical headwinds.
Yesterday, Cardiff Ajax CC announced that its well-respected early season National B race, the Betty Pharoah Memorial – which for 2024 was hoping to feature its inaugural women’s race – has been cancelled, after entries closed on Sunday with fewer than half of the spaces for both events filled.
“It’s with deep disappointment that I’ve had to make the decision to cancel
this year’s race,” Rob Warren, organiser of the Cowbridge-based race (won by a certain Geraint Thomas as a junior way back in 2004), wrote on social media yesterday.
“It’s a difficult decision and not one that any event organiser wants to make. I’ve had conversation with BC race officials, NEG, and Reg Pharoah, whose late wife the race is in memory of. Sadly we’re all in agreement that this is the right call.
“A lot of time and energy has already gone in to organising this year’s race from me personally and other stakeholders, but that’s not been enough.”
He continued: “The reasons that lead to this decision are numerous but the main two are entries and costs. We don’t even have half a field in either of the races. The anticipated costs of staging the event are around £5k. With current entries we’re not even covering half of that.
“If we ignore the finances we simply don’t have enough entries to make the
race viable as a sporting challenge or to ensure the safety of riders.
“We’ll strive to find an answer to this big downturn in entry. A few years
ago at this time I was sending the dreaded declined entry email to over 150 riders. If we can make changes to make the race viable, e.g. date, format,
or another element, we will, and we’ll try again.”
In the wake of the Betty Pharoah Memorial’s cancellation, local racing site the British Continental tweeted that another race organiser had told them that changes to British Cycling’s entry system – namely the need for riders
to pay up front for a spot, and only receiving a refund if their entry is declined due to the race being oversubscribed – have led to entries dropping across the country.
“Payment leaving the riders bank the day they enter and getting a refund if they don’t get in rather than the money leaving if they get selected,” the
organiser reportedly told the site, who noted that the change “means that riders are forced to enter races late as they cannot afford to enter
multiple races in advance, which in turn creates huge uncertainty and worry for organisers”.
However, Cardiff Ajax CC replied to British Cycling, writing: “That is one factor for sure but I’m told that’s due to financial regulations and not BC’s choice.”
So, how do we solve a problem like early payments putting riders off
entering races? While some have speculated that racers could simply
register an interest in an event, or put down a deposit, before paying in full closer to the time, others noted that any lack of financial commitment will do little to give organisers – already buckling under an increasing monetary strain – the necessary reassurance that their race can go ahead safely.
Meanwhile, two weeks ago Team Spectra Racing general manager Gina Ball
noted on Twitter that the rising entry fees of National A races – with some hitting £50 plus admin fees – were hindering cycling’s accessibility in the
UK.
Last week, road.cc spoke with British Cycling, who told us that rising fees were a necessary, and unfortunate, consequence of the increasing
difficulties of holding a bike race in the UK, and that the governing body was working on making racing affordable for both organisers and
competitors.
We’re hoping to have a more in-depth discussion with British Cycling over the coming days on the future of the domestic scene, along with Britain’s national tours, so stay tuned for that…
<https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-27-february-2024-306971#live-blog-item-55385>
On 28/02/2024 09:32 am, Spike wrote:
“We don’t even have half a field”: Another British bike race cancelled due
to “big downturn” in entries – as local cyclists blame early payment system
and rising fees
The road racing season may only be underway, but it seems like every new
week ushers in another piece of bad news for the domestic British domestic >> scene.
Because, while hope remains for the swift return of the Tours of Britain
this year (especially after a four-day women’s stage race popped up on the >> UCI calendar last week) below that elite level races are continuing to
struggle in the face of some pretty desperate financial and logistical
headwinds.
Yesterday, Cardiff Ajax CC announced that its well-respected early season
National B race, the Betty Pharoah Memorial – which for 2024 was hoping to >> feature its inaugural women’s race – has been cancelled, after entries >> closed on Sunday with fewer than half of the spaces for both events filled. >>
“It’s with deep disappointment that I’ve had to make the decision to cancel
this year’s race,” Rob Warren, organiser of the Cowbridge-based race (won
by a certain Geraint Thomas as a junior way back in 2004), wrote on social >> media yesterday.
“It’s a difficult decision and not one that any event organiser wants to >> make. I’ve had conversation with BC race officials, NEG, and Reg Pharoah, >> whose late wife the race is in memory of. Sadly we’re all in agreement that
this is the right call.
“A lot of time and energy has already gone in to organising this year’s >> race from me personally and other stakeholders, but that’s not been
enough.”
He continued: “The reasons that lead to this decision are numerous but the >> main two are entries and costs. We don’t even have half a field in either >> of the races. The anticipated costs of staging the event are around £5k.
With current entries we’re not even covering half of that.
“If we ignore the finances we simply don’t have enough entries to make the
race viable as a sporting challenge or to ensure the safety of riders.
“We’ll strive to find an answer to this big downturn in entry. A few years
ago at this time I was sending the dreaded declined entry email to over 150 >> riders. If we can make changes to make the race viable, e.g. date, format, >> or another element, we will, and we’ll try again.”
In the wake of the Betty Pharoah Memorial’s cancellation, local racing site
the British Continental tweeted that another race organiser had told them
that changes to British Cycling’s entry system – namely the need for riders
to pay up front for a spot, and only receiving a refund if their entry is
declined due to the race being oversubscribed – have led to entries
dropping across the country.
“Payment leaving the riders bank the day they enter and getting a refund if
they don’t get in rather than the money leaving if they get selected,” the
organiser reportedly told the site, who noted that the change “means that >> riders are forced to enter races late as they cannot afford to enter
multiple races in advance, which in turn creates huge uncertainty and worry >> for organisers”.
However, Cardiff Ajax CC replied to British Cycling, writing: “That is one >> factor for sure but I’m told that’s due to financial regulations and not >> BC’s choice.”
So, how do we solve a problem like early payments putting riders off
entering races? While some have speculated that racers could simply
register an interest in an event, or put down a deposit, before paying in
full closer to the time, others noted that any lack of financial commitment >> will do little to give organisers – already buckling under an increasing >> monetary strain – the necessary reassurance that their race can go ahead >> safely.
Meanwhile, two weeks ago Team Spectra Racing general manager Gina Ball
noted on Twitter that the rising entry fees of National A races – with some
hitting £50 plus admin fees – were hindering cycling’s accessibility in the
UK.
Last week, road.cc spoke with British Cycling, who told us that rising fees >> were a necessary, and unfortunate, consequence of the increasing
difficulties of holding a bike race in the UK, and that the governing body >> was working on making racing affordable for both organisers and
competitors.
We’re hoping to have a more in-depth discussion with British Cycling over >> the coming days on the future of the domestic scene, along with Britain’s >> national tours, so stay tuned for that…
<https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-27-february-2024-306971#live-blog-item-55385>
Not surprising.
Most chav-cyclists won't even pay €10 pa for usenet access.
And that's 'cos everything should be free for chav-cyclists (meaning
paid for by others).
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