The Prudential Ride London festival of cycling has grown to add an extra day to the already busy programme of events taking place at the end of July.
The weekend – which includes pro races, a mass participation sportive, and free family entertainment – is moving in to its fourth year and the extra attractions include additional handcycle races, a Youth Road Grand Prix and Youth BMX Grand Prix with races for boys and girls.
The festival will now kick off on Friday July 29, running until Sunday July 31 – and as well as the races and sportive, spectator options include a performance from legendary stunt rider Danny MacAskill.
The full programme for Prudential RideLondon 2016 comprises seven events and more than 100,000 riders will participate over the three days. The full outline of what’s to come will be released at a later date – but these are the headlines for each day.
The sportives of course are full – but you can get information about signing up to other events here.
Friday 29 July
- The Prudential RideLondon Handcycle Grand Prix – for injured veteran servicemen and women
- The Prudential RideLondon Elite Handcycle Grand Prix – for top international handcyclists
- The Prudential RideLondon Youths Grand Prix – four races with a boys and girls race for the Youth B category (open to riders aged U14) and a boys and girls race for the Youth A category (open to riders aged U16)
- The Prudential RideLondon YouthsBMX Grand Prix – for boys and girls in four age categories (for riders aged U8, 9-10 years, 11-12 years and 13-14 years)
Saturday 30 July
- Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle – a family friendly ride that anyone can join
- Prudential RideLondon Classique – the women’s criterium race that forms part of the Women’s World Tour
- Brompton World Championship Final – racing, on folding bikes
Sunday 31 July
- Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 – the mass participation sportive – if you’ve got a place you no doubt got lucky in the ballot!
- Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 – like the above, but a little shorter
- Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic – the pro men’s race
Originally the event championed by ex-Mayor Boris Johnson (who has now moved on to more controversial roles), this time we’ll see the celebration take place under the watchful eye of new Mayor, Sadiq Khan. He said: “Sport is a fantastic way of bringing communities together and my team at City Hall will do all we can to enable and encourage more people to participate and compete at every level. This extra day of the Prudential RideLondon festival illustrates that aim by bringing a fabulous mix of young riders, BMX and handcyclists together. We hope it will inspire many more people from many different communities to take to two wheels.”
John Foley, Chief Executive of Prudential UK & Europe, said: “Now in its fourth year, Prudential RideLondon has grown to become the world’s greatest cycling festival and one of Britain’s largest charity fundraising opportunities. The addition of a third day of activities will further increase the diversity of exciting displays and events for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy.”
Hugh Brasher, Event Director for Prudential RideLondon, said: “In Olympic year, it is very fitting that this hugely successful legacy event should feature competition in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The addition of BMX to the programme brings a different genre of cycling to the festival. The Youths races will feature a new generation of riders, many of whom will have been inspired by watching London 2012, and the added day means that the handcycle races will now be showcased as a highlight of the programme.”
The events will create some disruption to normal transport – information will be available by TFL and RideLondon here.
If you’re riding the sportive, check out these pieces for more advice:
Everything you need for your first sportive
