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Attracting more than 1.5million spectators per year, bringing world-class teams and athletes to towns, cities and communities across the country, and showcasing Britain to the world, the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour are gearing up to celebrate significant anniversaries in 2024.
Britain’s biggest professional cycling events provide a unique platform to engage not just sports fans across the UK but also the wider public, with 14 days of racing covering more than 2,000km of British roads and enabling the ‘moving stadium’ of the event to be brought into your town or city. Recent years have seen the races cover the length and breadth of the UK from Cornwall to Aberdeenshire, and Carmarthenshire to Suffolk, with partners of The Tours enabling the events to bring free-to-attend, world-class sport to thousands of communities annually.
In 2024 the events will celebrate significant landmarks, with the Women’s Tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of its first edition in 2014, while its men’s counterpart will mark the 20th edition of the modern Tour of Britain in September.
Taking place in June and September, the two races will sit either side of an Olympic summer where Team GB is once again predicted to enjoy unparalleled success on two wheels, and Olympic medallists will be present at both events.
The Women’s Tour will begin in Wales before an overall finish in Greater Manchester (4-9 June 2024), while the men’s Tour of Britain will have an exciting route across the heart and north of England before finishing in Scotland (1-8 September 2024).
By partnering with the events now, brands can play a part in shaping the 2024 events, with overall title sponsorship of both races available alongside that of principal partner, providing ownership of one of the four prestigious jerseys in the race – Leader; King/Queen of the Mountains; Points; and Best Young Rider.
With a broadcast package of more than 65 hours of coverage (live and highlights) in the UK, plus global distribution, the two races deliver more than £50m of net sponsorship value for partners, with engagement and experiential packages tailored to fit the aims of brands.
But the Women’s Tour and men’s Tour of Britain are about much more than that, with event organisers working hand-in-hand with host venues to engage the whole community, from schools to care homes, and to provide a lasting benefit from the races.
Since 2004 The Tours have contributed a net economic impact of more than £400m to the UK economy, while showcasing the best of British scenery, heritage and culture, at home and abroad, and providing an inspirational platform – 60% of Tour spectators said it inspired them to cycle more often.
By showcasing cycling to the next generations, whether to ride to school, work or to become the next Bradley Wiggins or Lizzie Deignan, The Tours are helping to make Britain a better place to live, work and cycle.
Over the past 20 years the two races have become synonymous with crowds of schoolchildren lining the route and cheering on the riders, but going forward The Tours want to work with partners to increase the engagement with these champions of the future and build on this reputation.
From sporting champions to community champions, our vision is to work with partners who enable The Tours to establish stronger relationships with the many thousands of schools and local communities along each route and to enable every young person in those areas to have access to the event – in particular the Women’s Tour – whether digitally or in person.
This vision creates opportunities for the events to work with third-party providers in the data and technology sectors to transform the experience of those following the races and the community around them, but also for brands and partners of the event to support and benefit from this growth.
Find out more about the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour.
Join us for the ride!
James Robinson | SweetSpot Group (event organisers) | JamesR@thetour.co.uk | +44 (0) 7860 367 798
Tom Morgan | ORSEN (Principal Commercial Agency) | tmorgan@orsen.ch | +44 (0) 7776 183 571
