Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic and Velon announce three-year partnership
Velon and Britain’s first men’s WorldTour race come together to deliver teams, top riders, and innovative video and data for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic from 2017-2019
Today, Prudential RideLondon and Velon announced a groundbreaking three-year partnership for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, which becomes part of the UCI WorldTour from 2017.
This partnership guarantees the participation of some of the biggest teams in pro cycling for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic. The agreement 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 with pioneering live rider telemetry technology bringing further exciting innovations for fans to enjoy.
Velon and the race organizers 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 or on the Velon app.
This new deal builds on the successes of the 2016 race’s partnership, which saw Velon provide live rider data telemetry for the BBC’s TV broadcast coverage.
Trek-Segafredo General Manager, Luca Guercilena: “It’s a pleasure to see how organizers and teams are finding a common solution to give to our sport a long-term perspective of giving more emotions to the fans. With this on-bike video footage, our fans get to see the peloton from the inside, and I am pretty sure they are as excited about this as we are.”
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.”
This year’s winner of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic Tom Boonen (Etixx – Quick-Step) 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
2016 Tom Boonen, Etixx – Quick-Step
2015 Jean-Pierre Drucker, BMC Racing Team?
2014 Adam Blythe, NFTO Procycling team
2013 Arnaud Demare, FDJ.fr?
VIDEO: Tom Boonen's RideLondon-Surrey Classic race-winning data
About Velon
Velon is a collective of pro cycling teams working towards engaging more fans into the sport of cycling by developing partnerships to make the riders and races both accessible and more exciting.
Velon have created a number of platforms to bring fans to the heart of the action and, with the help of the teams, have opened a door into their world – be it behind the scenes or in the middle of a sprint finish – so that fans have never been closer. Velon actively works with race organizers to create an open and fair system to give the sport room to grow.
Find out more at velon.cc/en
About Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic
Prudential RideLondon is the world’s greatest festival of cycling with more than 100,000 riders participating in 2016. The 2017 event takes place over the weekend of 28-30 July.
Find out more at prudentialriderondon.co.uk