Tour Of Britain Seeks New Sponsor

20 Jan 2016 | tshego

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Tour of Britain’s organiser, SweetSpot, has confirmed that Aviva’s title sponsorship of the event will not continue beyond the Aviva Women’s Tour in June 2016.

The event in June will mark the end of Aviva’s two year association with the events, meaning September’s Tour of Britain is currently without a lead sponsor.

The insurance company also sponsors the Tour Ride and the London Cycle, which takes place in London prior to the race’s final stage.

Hugh Roberts, chief executive of SweetSpot Group said: “We have enjoyed an excellent partnership with Aviva, and before them Friends Life, that has seen both events go from strength-to-strength and reach more people at the roadside and around the world on television than ever before.

“An exciting opportunity now exists for a new title sponsor to partner with us and take Britain’s premier men’s road cycling event to a new level. The future of cycling is bright and this year promises to be tremendous with the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics and the launch of the UCI’s Women’s World Tour.

“The Tour of Britain and The Women’s Tour are iconic British sporting events with global reach offering and an unparalleled platform for our sponsors. We are confident that the proposition is extremely attractive for potential partners committed to growing these world-class events going forwards.”

Lindsay Forster, marketing director, Aviva, said: “We are proud of the contribution that we have made to cycling in the UK with our sponsorship of the Women’s Tour and the Tour of Britain and it has been an honour to play a part in developing these fantastic events. We will be looking to focus our activity on projects such as the Aviva Community Fund that provides funding to hundreds of community based projects across the UK. We wish SweetSpot, the organisers of both races, the best of luck for the future.”

In 2015 the Tour of Britain attracted more than 1.2 million spectators to the roadside across eight stages, with millions more watching on live television around the world in over 130 countries.

The Aviva Women’s Tour takes place from 15th to 19th June, and will be the only multi-day race in the UK on the new UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar, and one of just three such events in Europe. Details of the locations for the 2016 race will be announced in early February.