RideLondon–Surrey Classic
 | |
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | August |
| Region | Great Britain |
| Local name(s) | RideLondon Classic |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Europe Tour (Cat 1.HC) |
| Type | One-day |
| Organiser | London & Surrey Cycling Partnership (LSCP) |
| History | |
| First edition | 2013 |
| Editions | 1 (as of 2013) |
| First winner |
 Arnaud Démare (FRA) |
| Most recent |
Arnaud Démare (FRA) |
The RideLondon–Surrey Classic (also known as the Prudential RideLondon–Surrey Classic for sponsorship reasons) is an annual 221 km (137.3 mi) professional one-day road bicycle racing starting and finishing in London and routed via the picturesque Surrey Hills. The inaugural race was held on 4 August 2013. The RideLondon–Surrey Classic is part of the UCI Europe Tour and is classified as a 1.HC category event.[1]
The RideLondon–Surrey Classic forms part of the RideLondon weekend, a two-day cycling festival held in London which is a legacy event of the 2012 Summer Olympics. The RideLondon–Surrey 100 is an mass-participation amateur sportive held on the same closed roads, albeit with a slight route variation in Surrey. This sportive starts on the morning of the elite race.
History
Origins
The RideLondon event, including the RideLondon–Surrey Classic, is a legacy event of the 2012 Summer Olympics and the idea for the elite race can be traced back to the successful organisation and public reaction to the Olympic Road Cycling races in 2012 and the Olympic test event, the London-Surrey Cycle Classic, held a year earlier.
The route chosen for the RideLondon–Surrey Classic is a variation on that used by both the London-Surrey Cycle Classic and the Olympic Road Cycling races.
London-Surrey Cycle Classic
A part of the London Prepares series a one-off one-day 140 km (87.0 mi) cycle race was organised for the 14 August 2011 acting as a test event for the Olympic Road Cycling events to be held the following year. The race was named the London-Surrey Cycle Classic and was part of the 2010–11 UCI Europe Tour as a 1.2 category event.[2]
The race started and finished on The Mall in London and featured two laps of a 15.5 km (9.6 mi) circuit centred around Box Hill in Surrey.[3] 138 riders from 19 national teams and 10 trade teams took part in the race, and was won by Mark Cavendish in a sprint finish.[4]
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics held road cycling races for both men and women on a largely similar course to that of the London-Surrey Cycle Classic held the previous year.
Men's race
The men's 250 km (155.3 mi) course included nine laps of the 15.5 km (9.6 mi) Box Hill circuit and was held on the 28 July 2012. 144 riders from 63 nations took part in the race. The race was won by Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov. He sprinted clear of Colombia's Rigoberto Urán, who claimed the silver medal. Alexander Kristoff of Norway won the sprint from the following group to take bronze.[5]
Women's race
The women's 140 km (87.0 mi) course included two laps of the 15.5 km (9.6 mi) Box Hill circuit and was held on the 29 July 2012. 66 riders from 36 nations took part in the race. The race and gold medal was won by Marianne Vos of the Netherlands. Great Britain's Lizzie Armitstead was second, collecting silver, and Russia's rider Olga Zabelinskaya won the bronze in third place.[6]
RideLondon–Surrey Classic
The RideLondon weekend, including the RideLondon–Surrey Classic, was announced by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson on the 10 August 2012, less than two weeks after the Olympic Road Cycling races.[7] RideLondon is managed by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership, a joint venture between the organisers of the London Marathon and The Tour of Britain.
The inaugural RideLondon–Surrey Classic was run as a 1.1 category event on the 2013 UCI Europe Tour. The UCI upgraded the classification for the 2014 race which will be run as a 1.HC category event on the 2014 UCI Europe Tour; the same classification as Paris–Tours and Milano–Torino.[8]
Route
The RideLondon–Surrey Classic 221 km (137.3 mi) route is a variation of the course used for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[9] The route features five categorised climbs and three intermediate sprint points.
Riders start from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park close to the Olympic Velodrome before passing close to Canary Wharf and the Tower of London on the way through central London. Leaving London by the A4 the route passes through Richmond Park, Kingston upon Thames and Hampton Court Palace.
In Surrey the route passes through Weybridge and Ripley on the way to the first categorised climb of Newlands Corner near Guildford before heading along the A25 to Abinger Hammer. The route then features three 27.3 km (17.0 mi) laps of a hilly section routed through Holmbury St Mary, Forest Green and Ockley which includes the climb of Leith Hill - the highest point in South-East England.
The route back to London travels through Dorking and includes a single ascent of Box Hill before the largely flat run-in via Cobham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon and Putney. The final kilometres follow the Embankment, past the Palace of Westminster, along Whitehall and turning right through Admiralty Arch 400m from the finish on The Mall.
Sprints classification
There are three Intermediate Sprints that count towards the sprints classification:
| Sprint | Race distance |
|---|---|
| Hampton Court Palace | 35.2 km (21.9 mi) |
| Dorking High Street | 160.3 km (99.6 mi) |
| Cobham High Street | 185.7 km (115.4 mi) |
The points distribution for the sprints classification is as follows:
| Sprint | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate Sprint | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Note that points are not awarded at the finish line.
King of the Mountains classification
There are five categorised climbs that count towards the King of the Mountains classification:
| Climb | Race distance | Category | Length | Ascent | Average grade | Max. grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newlands Corner[10] | 69.2 km (43.0 mi) | Cat 3 | 1.8 km (1.1 mi) | 84 m (276 ft) | 4.7% | 9.6% |
| Leith Hill (1st Passage)[11] | 95.3 km (59.2 mi) | Cat 2 | 2.1 km (1.3 mi) | 139 m (456 ft) | 6.6% | 11.8% |
| Leith Hill (2nd Passage)[11] | 122.6 km (76.2 mi) | Cat 2 | 2.1 km (1.3 mi) | 139 m (456 ft) | 6.6% | 11.8% |
| Leith Hill (3rd Passage)[11] | 149.9 km (93.1 mi) | Cat 2 | 2.1 km (1.3 mi) | 139 m (456 ft) | 6.6% | 11.8% |
| Box Hill[12] | 165.9 km (103.1 mi) | Cat 2 | 2.5 km (1.6 mi) | 123 m (404 ft) | 4.9% | 10.9% |
The points distribution for the King of the Mountains classification is as follows:
| Category | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat 1 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Cat 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Cat 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Winners
General classification winners
| Rider | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | |
Démare, ArnaudArnaud Démare (FRA) | FDJ.fr |
General classification winners by nationality
| # of victories | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | France |
Sprints classification winners
| Rider | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  |
Sinkeldam, RamonRamon Sinkeldam (NED) | Argos-Shimano |
King of the Mountains classification winners
| Rider | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | |
Sinkeldam, RamonRamon Sinkeldam (NED) | Argos-Shimano |
Records
- The fastest RideLondon–Surrey Classic was in 2013, by Arnaud Démare at a speed of 43.09 km/h (26.77 mph).
- The highest number of finishers was in 2013 - 131 out of 147 starters completed the course within the time limit.
Future
Surrey County Council has agreed to support the RideLondon events until 2018, with an option of a further two-year extension.[13]
The RideLondon event director, Hugh Brasher, has stated his ambitions to attain UCI World Tour status for the RideLondon–Surrey Classic by 2016.[14] This was backed up by positive rider reaction following the inaugural race, including from Arnaud Démare's teammate Dominique Rollin.[15]
References
- ↑ "UCI Road Calendar — 2014 Europe Tour". Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ↑ "UCI Road Calendar — 2010-2011 Europe Tour". Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ Will Irwin and Andy McGrath (12 August 2011). "London – Surrey Cycle Classic the big preview". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ Andy McGrath & Nigel Wynn (14 August 2011). "Cavendish wins London–Surrey Cycle Classic". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Vinokurov claims Road Race gold". London 2012. 28 July 2012.
- ↑ "Vos wins thrilling Road Race". London 2012. 29 July 2012.
- ↑ "Mayor announces world class RideLondon event to take forward capital’s Olympic legacy". Mayor of London. 10 August 2012.
- ↑ "2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic awarded hors catégorie status". Cycling Weekly. 27 September 2013.
- ↑ "Britain gets set to host its biggest ever one-day race". Prudential RideLondon. 6 February 2013.
- ↑ "Newlands Corner GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Leith Hill GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ "Box Hill GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ "Prudential RideLondon FAQs". Prudential RideLondon. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "A thrilling showpiece for British cycling". The Telegraph. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Rollin tips RideLondon–Surrey Classic for WorldTour". Cycling News. Retrieved 11 August 2013.