Our favourite race in the women’s pro cycling calendar will need a new sponsor as of next year. 

The Women’s Tour has been a huge success over the last two years, drawing in huge crowds and attracting media attention that the sport desperately needs.

Gallery: The Women’s Tour in Pictures

However the title sponsor – Aviva Insurance  – will not support the Women’s Tour following the 2016 edition which takes place between Wednesday 15 and Sunday 19 June. They’ll also withdraw their support of the men’s Tour of Britain.

Aviva will now look to focus on their community projects – Marketing Director Lindsay Forster explained: “We are proud of the contribution that we have made to cycling in the UK with our sponsorship of the Women’s Tour and the Tour of Britain and it has been an honour to play a part in developing these fantastic events. We will be looking to focus our activity on projects such as the Aviva Community Fund that provides funding to hundreds of community based projects across the UK. We wish SweetSpot, the organisers of both races, the best of luck for the future.”

The race, initially sponsored by Friend’s Life Pension and Retirement Planning, is the only multi-day UCI Women’s World Tour event to visit the UK and represents a fantastic opportunity for a new sponsor.

Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of SweetSpot Group said: “We have enjoyed an excellent partnership with Aviva, and before them Friends Life, that has seen both events go from strength-to-strength and reach more people at the roadside and around the world on television than ever before.

“An exciting opportunity now exists for a new title sponsor to partner with us and take Britain’s premier men’s road cycling event to a new level.  The future of cycling is bright and this year promises to be tremendous with the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics and the launch of the UCI’s Women’s World Tour.

“The Tour of Britain and The Women’s Tour are iconic British sporting events with global reach offering and an unparalleled platform for our sponsors.  We are confident that the proposition is extremely attractive for potential partners committed to growing these world-class events going forwards.”

Check out our previous coverage of the Women’s Tour here.