Cycle Sportives UK

In the past 10 years there has been a remarkable surge of interest in cycle sportives. In an era of declining race numbers, it has been good to see at least one area of cycling seeing growth.

Cycle Sportives are organised touring rides of a fixed distance and can be anything between 60K and 250Km. Usually cycle Sportives are organised in areas of natural beauty and offer a mixture of a challenging cycle challenge and a chance to enjoy an area of the country.

Usually, cycle sportives have a cut off time limit, but, these usually enable a range of different time periods. Cyclists do not necessarily start all at once, but the starting time can be spread over an hour to avoid bunching on the roads. Despite, the fact it is officially a touring ride, some riders like to treat it as an unofficial ‘race’ with some competition inevitably developing.

Training for Cyclo sportives 

Entering Cycle Sportives

It is good to prepare in advance for entering cycle sportives. Some of the most popular events can sell out very quickly. Entries often open in winter, between December and February

Cycle Sportives 2008

You can get a full list of cycle Sportives at Cyclosport.org

Events for 2008 include:

Etape du Dales
18/05/2008, Grassington, North Yorkshire

Archer GP Chiltern Classic
18/05/2008, Chilterns

The UCI Tour of Wessex Sportive The Cyclo sportive will start just 10 minutes after the premier calender race
24th-26th May,

More information on Cyclosportives in UK