Goodbye Tour Series, goodbye sponsors?

May void leaves funding issues for teams of all rankings, reports James Shrubsall

- James Shrubsall

The loss of the Tour Series from this year’s domestic calendar has left a major hole for teams and signals the end of the last major engagement that many can sell sponsorship on, say domestic teams.

The announcement that the popular town-centre race series would take a year out came from organiser SweetSpot last week, which explained that in the challenging economic climate it had “proved impossible to compile a commercially viable calendar of events”.

The series planned to return in 2024, the statement said, with a refreshed format.

For elite teams without a guaranteed Tour of Britain ride, the Tour Series represents the only TV shop window that they can promise potential sponsors. Even for domestic Continental-level teams, who can currently expect to ride the ToB, the Tour Series and its TV coverage remains a major draw for sponsors.

“Not having it is a big loss,” said Tim Elverson, manager of Continental team AT85. “When we stopped having a televised national series, we relied heavily on the TV we were getting from the Tour Series to go with the Tour of Britain.