Council agrees contract change to help secure rescheduled Tour of Britain events for Aberdeen
28 October 2020
Aberdeen City Council’s City Growth and Resources Committee today agreed to proceed with a new contract which will see next year’s much-anticipated Final Stage of the Tour of Britain cycling event take place in the city.
Prior to the impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic, Aberdeen was originally to play host to the final stage of the prestigious event this year as well as the Grand Depart for the subsequent 2021 race.
Following detailed consultations with sponsors, partners, British Cycling and the UK local authorities holding stages of the race, the organisers took the decision 14 May 2020 to postpone the 2020 Tour of Britain until September 2021. However, that meant that the 2022 Grand Depart from Aberdeen fell outside the period of the existing contract.
Committee members today instructed the Council’s Head of Procurement vary the contract, subject to similar agreement being made by Aberdeenshire Council, and funding being secured by SweetSpot from EventScotland, to allow the 2021 and 2022 events to go ahead.
Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council have joined forces last June to secure the option to host the final stage of the Tour of Britain in 2020 and the event’s Grand Depart in 2021.
Committee Convener and Council Co Leader, Councillor Douglas Lumsden, said: “This is great news and a huge step forward to bringing the Tour of Britain to Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire next year after the disappointment of having to postpone this year’s event.
“In securing the 2020 event for the region, we were informed by data indicating the economic benefits of the Tour series which we staged in the city so successfully in recent years and the figures on the potential positive impacts on the Tour of Britain at a regional level for the economy, tourism and for health and wellbeing.
“It’s clear that, as well as being a massive attraction in its own right, the Tour of Britain will have a huge part to play in our post-Covid economic recovery plans”
The Tour of Britain features 120 of the world’s top cyclists each year and is Britain’s biggest and most prestigious road cycling event, with crowds lining the stage routes and exposure to international audiences through broadcast coverage in over 170 countries worldwide.