The Blackpool Tower, men in suits on folding bicycles, and 50mph races on city streets are the novel weapons being wielded to get the cycle-shy British public to The Nocture Series of cycle races. In this, its third year, the series will bring one Saturday night of performance and entertainment-focused cycle racing each to London, Blackpool and Edinburgh, expecting crowds of up to 10,000 in the capital.
It is tough to get commercial support for what is still a niche sport in the UK – the series does not yet have a title sponsor for any of its events, and is only breaking even. But it does have a growing band of commercial partners – including high-end London cycling brands Rapha and Condor, Highland Spring, and local authorities at each of this year’s venues. It expects to have a title sponsor in place for the London race by 2010.
James Pope, of Nocture Series organisers Face Group, told BritSport Weekly that he is having conversations with potential title sponsors, from the mobile phone and insurance sectors, that would not have been possible two years ago.
Since then, of course, the UK has hosted the opening stages of the Tour de France, won fourteen medals in cycling at the Beijing Olympics, and the London Olympics have loomed larger in the minds of the public and business.
Pope says Sky Sports’ investment in a new professional British road racing team has made other brands consider cycling sponsorships more seriously. Brands that do not have a direct sponsor relationship with the Olympics are looking to cycling as a way to cash in on the inevitable public excitement that will follow the British cyclists into 2012.
But the fact remains that the majority of the British public are not switched on to cycle sports, no matter how many bicycles are sitting in sheds and garages around the country.
There is evidence this is changing, although slowly, and that events like The Nocture Series are helping. The Smithfield Nocturne in London had 5,000 in attendance two years ago, 8,000 last year, and is expecting up to 10,000 this year.
"The French love to sit by the side of a road for hours and watch cyclists go past at 90-second intervals," says Pope. “But the British are more into watching a 90-minute football match.
"In our events we try to combine performance racing and entertainment. And our races are shorter, sharper and easy to understand."
The more entertainment-focused side of the event includes races for teams from companies, and a very-popular folding-bike ‘commuter’ race contested by riders suited up for work.
At the business end of the evening, as the sun goes down on the city street circuits, some of the world’s top cyclists have appeared. Contracted in to take part, they provide the elite races with a classy and competitive edge. The contracted star rider is a concept familiar on the continent. Pope says cyclists who have just finished a Tour de France can earn “hideous” sums in appearance fees at festivals that attract tens of thousands to see riders race on small towns and village street circuits.
The Nocturne Series’ own locations are designed to impart a stylish, edgy, and distinctly British aesthetic to the events. Canary Wharf and Brighton will be future targets, says Pope.
The 2009 series begins in Edinburgh on May 30, and continues through Smithfields Market, London on June 6, to Blackpool on August 1.
