The Women’s WorldTour is set to lose an event in 2025, with RideLondon Classique organisers stating on Friday that due to a UCI-imposed shift of dates for next year's race, they will have to cancel it.
After the UCI revealed the 2025 WWT calendar this morning, there were only minor changes to dates, most of which just saw races return to their original slots after moving in 2024 due to the Paris Olympics. However, RideLondon was pushed back a week later from the weekend of May 23-25 to May 30 to June 1.
Organisers claimed today that this change came without “consultation or prior warning” and that due to how early major events need to be planned in central London, they had no choice but to cancel the three-day stage race.
“We were extremely surprised to be informed by the UCI that the 2025 Ford RideLondon Classique had been moved on the WWT calendar from the last complete weekend in May to a new date a week later,” read a statement from Hugh Brasher, Event Director of Ford RideLondon and CEO of organisers London Marathon Events (LME).
“There was no consultation or prior warning and the news came despite LME previously being advised by the UCI that there would be no changes to the calendar until 2026.
“Major events in London are planned many years ahead and it is impossible for the Ford RideLondon Classique to take place in central London on the new dates proposed unilaterally by the UCI. Alternative dates at this late stage are impossible.”
Brasher described it as a sad day for women’s cycling, saying the UCI would not budge from the new date they provided.
“The UCI will not reverse this decision or allow two Women’s WorldTour events to take place on the same weekend,” Brasher insisted.
“Therefore, sadly, it will not be possible to stage the Ford RideLondon Classique in 2025. It is a very sad day for professional women’s cycling.”
RideLondon began as a legacy event from the 2012 Olympic Games in the UK and has had seven editions since its first in 2016. It started out as a one-day event on the streets of London finishing on The Mall, then after cancellations in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, re-emerged a three-day stage race in Essex and London for 2022.
The most recent edition was dominated by Lorena Wiebes and SD Worx-Protime and while the race won’t take place in 2025, the Ford RideLondon-Essex 100, 60 & 30 & Ford RideLondon FreeCycle will be held as planned on Sunday 25 May 2025.
