in 2012
Origins The origins of RideLondon can be traced back to when London was awarded the rights to stage the 2012
Olympic &
Paralympic Games. Subsequently, London has staged a number of cycling events. In 2007, London hosted the
Tour de France Grand Départ and, also closed roads to create a day-long safe cycling environment in the city centre, known at the time as
The London Freewheel. This annual one-day event continued between 2007-2011 and, from 2009 became known as the Mayor of London's Skyride. in 2012 Ambition to create a new world-class event for cycling, that could one day rival London's most iconic sporting events such as the
London Marathon and, the
Wimbledon Championships, was born. The aim of the annual event is to include the world's top men, women and, hand cyclists racing as part of the international cycling calendar in order to challenge and inspire people from all backgrounds to get on two wheels. In late 2011 and early 2012, Mayor
Boris Johnson assessed and formally approved the recommendation to create the event. In 2011, a test event for the Olympic Games road race was held on a similar route to be used for the road races of the Olympic Games – the
London–Surrey Cycle Classic. In 2012, the search for a suitably qualified and experienced delivery partner was launched. After detailed work, a joint venture including the organisers of the London Marathon and the
Tour of Britain under the name of the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership was selected to make the event a reality. The event would be delivered in partnership with
Surrey County Council and include a route through the Surrey Hills, which also mirrored the London Olympic Games road race. The event is part of the London 2012 Olympic legacy. In August 2012, as the Olympic Games drew to a close, the Mayor of London and the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership, alongside British Cycling and double Olympic champion
Laura Trott, formally launched RideLondon and called for fans to sign up to the 100-mile challenge. The event's first title sponsor, Prudential, was announced in early 2013 by which time more than 55,000 people had signed up to be one of the first riders to participate in the inaugural RideLondon-Surrey 100. This race is part of the Prudential RideLondon festival weekend with coverage to be broadcast live on
BBC and international TV. The RideLondon vision was to showcase the capital to nationwide and international audiences, generate economic benefit from participant and spectator expenditure and inspire more people to take up regular cycling.
Initial years In 2013, more than 16,000 people started the RideLondon-Surrey 100, more than 50,000 took part in RideLondon FreeCycle and over 1,000 volunteers helped run the event. 99% of participants rated the event as good or excellent and riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 raised more than £7 million for charity. In 2014, over 16,000 completed the RideLondon-Surrey 100 (shortened to 86 miles due to adverse weather conditions) with 60,000 taking part in the FreeCycle and more than £10 million being raised for charity by riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100. This set a new record for a UK one-day cycling event for a second successive year. In response to the huge demand for the event, places were increased by 25 per cent in 2015, with more than 25,000 riders crossing the Start Line in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 2 August. This year a new event was also added to the RideLondon cycling festival: the 10th
Brompton World Championship Final. This event featured in the RideLondon Grand Prix races in St James's Park and was the first time that the Brompton World Championship Final had been held in London. The event opened with a Le Mans-style start as 500 smartly dressed competitors from around the world made a mad dash to unfold their bikes before setting off on the circuit. Six Festival Zones (up from five in 2014) in RideLondon FreeCycle offered riders a chance to stop and enjoy a huge range of free bike-based entertainment and to try out many different bike-based activities. The women's
RideLondon Grand Prix race was also one of the biggest one-day races on the international calendar and was again televised live by the BBC.
2016 to 2021 In 2016, a new 46-mile event was launched by Bradley Wiggins specifically for newer and younger cyclists. The RideLondon-Surrey 46 on traffic-free roads starts at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and follows the same route as RideLondon-Surrey 100 for the first 27 miles before taking a new two-mile route, which then links up with the last 17 miles to the finish in The Mall. The RideLondon Grand Prix was renamed the RideLondon Classique, the race was added to the
UCI Women's World Tour, and it gained an identical €100,000 prize fund to the London–Surrey Classic – making it the richest one-day race in the women's calendar. In 2017, the RideLondon-Surrey Classic gained
UCI World Tour status, the only event in Britain. Riders in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 and RideLondon-Surrey 46 together raised £12.75 million for charity. The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020,
Surrey County Council withdrew their support of the event at the end of their contract.
2022 to present racing for the finish line at the
2023 RideLondon Classique Following the withdrawal of sponsors
Prudential and
Surrey County Council, as the main event, as well as a public freeride. In November 2021, an agreement with
Essex County Council was announced, with Essex hosting both the 100 mile challenge ride, as well as two stages of an elite women's race. – with the UCI warning that the 2023 event would be demoted to the
UCI ProSeries if stages were not broadcast on live television. The race retained its World Tour status for 2023 after the organisers provided the UCI with evidence that stages would have the required live TV coverage. Following announcement of the
2025 UCI Women's World Tour calendar, it was announced that the 2025 edition of RideLondon Classique could not take place on the date proposed by the UCI, given constraints in central London. In September 2024, the organisers announced that the event would go on hiatus in 2025. In 2026, organisers stated that the race would not return, and the event was on "indefinite pause". ==Results==