Britain’s first men’s WorldTour race and Velon come together to deliver teams, top riders and innovative video and data for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic from 2017-2019
Prudential RideLondon and Velon today announced a groundbreaking three-year partnership for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, the world’s richest one-day men’s race, which becomes part of the UCI WorldTour from 2017.
The partnership between the world’s greatest festival of cycling and Velon, the consortium of 11 top WorldTour teams, guarantees the participation of some of the biggest teams in pro cycling and their best riders for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic. The agreement, which is for the next three years, further establishes the race – based on the iconic London 2012 Olympics road race route – as one of the top attractions for teams, fans and media.
Starting in 2017, the new agreement sees the Velon teams committing to support and race the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic for three years (2017-2019). Velon will also provide the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic with both live and delayed on-bike video footage and Velon’s pioneering live rider telemetry technology will bring further exciting innovations for the fans to enjoy.
Velon and the race organisers aim to bring the fans inside the race as extensively as possible to showcase the very best of pro cycling. The adoption of Velon’s technology system, including on-bike footage and live rider data, will add new clarity, depths and insights to the race coverage for the fans – following both live and delayed coverage via TV, online at Velon.cc, on the Velon app, or watching from along the roadside.
The organisers will also extend invitations to welcome all of the 2017 WorldTour teams in addition to those from Velon to the race, which is televised live in the UK by the BBC and broadcast to 152 countries worldwide.
This new deal builds on the successes of the 2016 race’s partnership, which saw Velon enable live rider data telemetry for the BBC’s TV broadcast coverage. The 2016 race was won by Etixx - Quick-Step’s Tom Boonen and featured some of the world's top riders including Tour de France champion Chris Froome.
Chris Froome (Team Sky) said: “I really enjoyed the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic. I don't get the chance to race in the UK too often so it was great to be able to ride in front of home fans. The support on the roads was fantastic, so it's great news that Velon will be partners with the event for the next three years.”
Hugh Brasher, Event Director for Prudential RideLondon, said: “This exciting new partnership with Velon takes the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic to a new level as it joins the WorldTour. After just four years, Prudential RideLondon is firmly established as the world’s greatest festival of cycling with more than 100,000 riders participating in events for all ages and abilities, with WorldTour status, equal record prize money and live television coverage for both the men’s and women’s pro races. We know that the greatest names in bike racing will bring out the crowds in London and Surrey and inspire more people to take up cycling.”
Tom Boonen (Etixx – Quick-Step), winner of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic in 2016, said: “It was a fantastic win for me this year in London. The race is growing year by year and the support of the fans is incredible. I loved the way the partnership between our Velon technology and the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic organisers showed off how hard I had to work to win. The future of our sport is taking the fans inside the race. Velon’s technology has brought this new insight with on board cameras and telemetry. It’s a new and modern way to show cycling especially when the data is also broadcast live during the races.”
Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic Roll of Honour
● 2013 Arnaud Demare, FDJ.fr
● 2014 Adam Blythe, NFTO Procycling team
● 2015 Jean-Pierre Drucker, BMC Racing Team
● 2016 Tom Boonen, Etixx – Quick-Step