"I can't think of any British bike race that would run at a profit": Another organiser cancels cycle race amid spiralling costs

The organiser of the National A-level Bourne CiCLE Festival race has cancelled the event, which was supposed to be reappearing on the calendar for the first time since its inaugural edition in 2019, citing spiralling police costs and bureaucracy for its cancellation.

Brian Moran's event, part of the wider Bourne Festival of Wheels first held in the Lincolnshire market town in September 2019, will not be returning this year, the organiser being forced to pull the plug when informed that police costs for motorbike outriders to marshal the race would cost £35,000, ten times the £3,500 cost five years earlier, that despite the 2024 route being "simpler". 

This was due to Lincolnshire Police, who provided support for the race in 2019, no longer being able to provide escort cover for the race, meaning the Central Escort Group was called on instead. However, for the CiCLE Festival race to go ahead, the police wanted 30 police motorbikes and command cars involved, a similar level of policing as to what is used for the Tour of Britain or past RideLondon events.

Start of the men’s race in Bourne.@BourneCiCLEfest pic.twitter.com/y1MiwpZfGA

— Martin Hill (@CllrmHill) September 1, 2019

"There were a few complications with bureaucracy which delayed things, but 
I had my first meeting with the police in November," Mr Moran explained. "There was a degree of dismissal about what we could do. 

"Duncan Street [liaison to British Cycling and Central Escort Group] was brought into it and said he would do a recon of the route. I offered to accompany him as I live on the course, and the next thing I heard was a letter from him on the 1st of December saying he did the course inspection, and that he thinks that for the route that we've chosen, we need 30 police bikes... that's going to cost £35,000.

"He completely ignored the fact that in 2019, we ran six bikes that cost £3,500 for two days, that was irrelevant."

Negotiations eventually saw the number of motorbikes required reduced to ten, cutting costs to around £13,000, but this expenditure was still more than three times greater than it had been in 2019 and impossible for Moran to fund.

"Why it worked okay in 2019, and a simpler route in 2024 was going to be such a problem? That I always struggled to get my head around," Moran told road.cc, explaining that even with the police motorbikes reduced to ten, four more than were used in 2019, it "was still going to be too much money for what we budgeted".

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"I spent the next two weeks thinking, I'm now three months behind in the planning for this, and I can't fulfil all the promises I made to the funding people to deliver what I promised. The only thing I can do is cancel it."

The race, part of a town-wide Bourne Festival of Wheels, was to be funded with help from South Kesteven's allocation of the Shared Prosperity Fund, and would have seen a men's and women's race use a circuit out of the town, alongside skateboard, BMX, rollerblade, and other events over the weekend.

Much of Moran's frustration comes from the success of the 2019 event, which earned praise from competitors, the council, police, fire service and other local stakeholders.

"I can't understand why one year was so simple and we were congratulated, and a few years later on a simple course, we're having these problems," he said. 

"I wouldn't organise a race nowadays that didn't have a police escort and wasn't of a certain stature, but the cost of running a bike race, you've got to pay for accredited marshals nowadays, you've got to pay for police bikes. There are lots of costs involved in all that sort of stuff.

"I can't think of any bike race that would run at a profit."

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Looking at the existential issues many races in Britain at all levels face currently, Moran questions where races can bring money in, suggesting that "very few events would actually appeal to a sponsor or TV company".

"Go to the average bike race, and it is two men and a dog at the finish. They don't finish in the middle of a town, because that costs money."

In January, British Cycling's elite road racing task force, led by Ed Clancy, shared recommendations for "reinvigorating" the flagging domestic scene.

The task force engaged with more than 250 people across the sport to consider the composition of the elite national calendar, the challenges facing the rapidly dwindling number of domestic teams, and opportunities to grow the reach and profile of local races.

Its 16 recommendations to the governing body – which aim to help create a varied, competitive, and sustainable National Road Series, a National Circuit Series tailored for mass audiences, and ensure that Britain retains its WorldTour stage races following the recent demise of Tour of Britain and Women's Tour organisers SweetSpot – can be read in full here.

British Cycling has since committed to trying to put on the Tour of Britain and a women's equivalent in 2024, races plunged into uncertainty by organiser and promoter SweetSpot entering liquidation.