Flanders Classics, which organises the largest races of the cobbled Classics season, has partnered with the Tour de Suisse organisers Biking Limitless.
The transfer will see the organisers of the Tour of Flanders, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Gent-Wevelgem, amongst others, turn into a minority shareholder of the Swiss firm in addition to share their race organisation expertise and data.
Talking to CyclingPro on the Tour de Suisse, Flanders Classics CEO Tomas Van De Spiegel stated that the deal will give the group extra energy in discussions about biking’s future with the likes of the UCI and fellow race organisers, RCS Sport and ASO.
“I feel the Tour de Suisse has all the time been very tempting to us as a result of it is a very historic stage race,” Van De Spiegel stated on Tuesday after stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse.
“We did not have a stage race in our portfolio. I feel it is vital lately as nicely once we talk about with different folks within the biking panorama that you simply symbolize a much bigger variety of race days.
“We symbolize huge races however they’re all one-day races. Now we will add a 10-day race to our portfolio and the identical goes for Biking Limitless. I feel we strengthen one another.”
Flanders Classics runs 60 to 70 occasions, Van De Spiegel stated, with races together with Dwars door Vlaanderen, Scheldeprijs, De Brabantse Pijl additionally in its portfolio alongside the Flanders Gravel collection and the UCI World Cup and Telenet Superprestige cyclo-cross collection.
Info and data sharing, in addition to industrial cooperation, may even be advantages of the brand new partnership.
“We’ll alternate operational data in fact, and we are going to search for synergies on a industrial and strategic degree,” Van De Spiegel stated. “As a result of everyone knows that there have been discussions occurring eternally concerning the reform of biking. We’re vital stakeholders in that discussions as nicely and now we will communicate as one voice.”
Hans-Peter Zurbruegg, chairman of Biking Limitless, stated that the partnership would assist the 2 organisers proceed to develop, calling the transfer “greater than only a partnership”.
“This new partnership embodies a imaginative and prescient of steady progress,” he stated. “Biking Limitless’s goal is to propel the biking neighborhood ahead in our key markets, embarking on a journey that celebrates the unity of our shared targets.
“That is greater than only a partnership, it is a testomony to the ability of collaboration in driving transformative change.”
The Tour de Suisse continues on Wednesday with the second of three excessive mountain phases that may show pivotal within the GC race. Stage 3 winner Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) leads the race. You’ll be able to comply with all of the motion on stage 4 reside on Cyclingnews.
