The London–Surrey Classic (also known as the RideLondon–Surrey Classic) was an annual 193 km (119.9 mi) men's professional one-day road cycling race, starting and finishing in London and routed via the picturesque Surrey Hills. The first race of its kind was the London–Surrey Cycle Classic, on 14 August 2011, a 1.2 classification[1] 140 km preparatory event for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was won by sprinter Mark Cavendish. The men's and women's Olympic road races were held on a longer variation of the same course the following year. On 4 August 2013, the race found a permanent home as part of the Prudential RideLondon weekend, a two-day cycling festival held in London, a legacy event of the Olympics.
 | |
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | August |
| Region | Great Britain |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour (Cat 1.HC) |
| Type | One-day |
| Organiser | London & Surrey Cycling Partnership (LSCP) |
| Web site | www |
| History | |
| First edition | 2011 |
| Editions | 8 |
| Final edition | 2019 |
| First winner |  Mark Cavendish (GBR) |
| Final winner |  Elia Viviani (ITA) |
The Prudential RideLondon–Surrey Classic was part of the UCI World Tour between 2017 and 2019.[2][3][4][5] Following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 events due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the withdrawal of support from Surrey County Council, the men's race did not return in 2022, with the RideLondon festival including a 3 day elite women's race (RideLondon Classique) instead.[6][7]
History
editOrigins
editAs part of the London Prepares test events for London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics a one-off one-day 140 km (87.0 mi) cycle race was organised for 14 August 2011 acting as a test event for the 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.[8]
The race started and finished on The Mall in London and featured two laps of a 15.5 km (9.6 mi) circuit centred on Box Hill in Surrey.[9] 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.[10]
2012 Summer Olympics
edit
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.
RideLondon–Surrey Classic
editThe RideLondon weekend, including the RideLondon–Surrey Classic, was announced by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson on 10 August 2012, less than two weeks after the Olympic Road Cycling races.[11] 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 was run as a 1.HC category event on the 2014 UCI Europe Tour; the same classification as Paris–Tours and Milano–Torino.[12]
UCI World Tour status
editThe RideLondon event director, Hugh Brasher, stated his ambitions to attain UCI World Tour status for the RideLondon–Surrey Classic by 2016.[13] This was backed up by positive rider reaction following the inaugural race, including from Arnaud Démare's teammate Dominique Rollin.[14] In March 2016 the race organisation applied for WorldTour status from the 2017 event[15] and in August 2016 the UCI confirmed that the race would be promoted to the WorldTour from 2017.[16] Surrey County Council agreed to support the RideLondon events until 2018, with an option of a further two-year extension.[17]
Cancellation
editThe 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the withdrawal of title sponsor Prudential and Surrey County Council, the event has concentrated in Central London from 2022 with an 3-day elite women's race, the RideLondon Classique.[7][6] In June 2021, organisers of the event confirmed that the men's race would not return.[6]
Route
edit
The RideLondon–Surrey Classic route was a variation of the course used for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[18] The route featured both categorised climbs and intermediate sprint points.
Riders started 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 passed through Weybridge and Ripley on the way to the first of the categorised climbs and the leafy villages of the Surrey Hills.
Multiple laps of hilly terrain in the vicinity of Dorking incorporated further categorised climbs, including Leith Hill – the highest point in South-East England. On the return to London the route took in the final categorised climb of Box Hill before the largely flat run-in via Oxshott, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon and Putney. The final kilometres followed the Embankment, past the Palace of Westminster, along Whitehall and turning left through Admiralty Arch before the finish on The Mall.
Sprints classification
editIntermediate Sprints counted towards the sprints classification; the points distribution for this classification is as follows:
| Sprint | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate Sprint | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Note that points were not awarded at the finish line.
King of the Mountains classification
editCategorised climbs counted towards the King of the Mountains classification; the points distribution for this 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 |
The categorised climbs that featured in the RideLondon–Surrey Classic included:
| Climb | Editions | Category | Length | Ascent | Average grade | Max. grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box Hill[19] | 2013-2014 | Cat 2 | 2.5 km (1.6 mi) | 123 m (404 ft) | 4.9% | 10.9% |
| Coldharbour[20] | 2014 | Cat 2 | 1.8 km (1.1 mi) | 130 m (427 ft) | 7.2% | 14.2% |
| Denbies Wine Estate[21] | 2014 | Cat 2 | 2.5 km (1.6 mi) | 137 m (449 ft) | 5.5% | 13.1% |
| Newlands Corner[22] | 2013 | Cat 3 | 1.8 km (1.1 mi) | 84 m (276 ft) | 4.7% | 9.6% |
| Staple Lane[23] | 2014 | Cat 2 | 1.4 km (0.9 mi) | 82 m (269 ft) | 5.9% | 9.9% |
| Leith Hill[24] | 2013 | Cat 2 | 2.1 km (1.3 mi) | 139 m (456 ft) | 6.6% | 11.8% |
Winners
editOverall winners
edit| Year | Country | Rider | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Great Britain
|
Mark Cavendish | Great Britain national team | |
| 2012 | No race (see 2012 Olympic road race) | |||
| 2013 |  France
|
Arnaud Démare | FDJ.fr | |
| 2014 | Great Britain
|
Adam Blythe | NFTO | |
| 2015 |  Luxembourg
|
Jempy Drucker | BMC Racing Team | |
| 2016 |  Belgium
|
Tom Boonen | Etixx–Quick-Step | |
| 2017 |  Norway
|
Alexander Kristoff | Team Katusha–Alpecin | |
| 2018 |  Germany
|
Pascal Ackermann | Bora–Hansgrohe | |
| 2019 | Italy
|
Elia Viviani | Deceuninck–Quick-Step | |
| 2020 | No race due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2021 | No race due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||
Overall winners by nationality
edit| # of victories | Country |
|---|---|
| 2 | United Kingdom
|
| 1 | France
|
| 1 | Luxembourg
|
| 1 | Belgium
|
| 1 | Norway
|
| 1 | Germany
|
| 1 | Italy
|
Sprints classification winners
edit
King of the Mountains classification winners
edit
Records
edit- The fastest RideLondon–Surrey Classic was in 2017, by Alexander Kristoff at a speed of 45.39 km/h (28.20 mph).
- The highest number of finishers was in 2013 – 131 out of 147 starters completed the course within the time limit.
References
edit- ^ "London-Surrey Cycle Classic 2011: Results | Cyclingnews".
- ^ "RideLondon-Surrey Classic 2017 to be Great Britain's first ever men's UCI WorldTour race - Surrey Live".
- ^ "RideLondon-Surrey Classic set for stellar field as £88,000 race gets World Tour status | London Evening Standard | Evening Standard".
- ^ "RideLondon-Surrey Classic joins UCI WorldTour calend..."
- ^ "Road - Calendar". Archived from the original on 5 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Rogers, Owen (8 June 2021). "RideLondon Classique confirmed as a three-day Women's WorldTour event in 2022". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ a b "RideLondon set to continue from 2022-31 but in new format, Transport for London papers reveal". road.cc. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "UCI Road Calendar — 2010-2011 Europe Tour". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Clarke, Stuart. "RideLondon-Surrey Classic one of 21 races to apply for WorldTour status". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- ^ Wynn, Nigel. "RideLondon moves up to WorldTour status as UCI reveals 2017 race calendar". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ "Prudential RideLondon FAQs". Prudential RideLondon. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ "Britain gets set to host its biggest ever one-day race". Prudential RideLondon. 6 February 2013. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014.
- ^ "Box Hill GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ^ "Coldharbour GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ "Denbies GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ "Newlands Corner GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ^ "Staple Lane GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ "Leith Hill GPX Track". Ride With GPS. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
External links
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