Shimano 24 falls at the first hurdle

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By Mark Appleton | Monday, Jun 9, 2008 4.24pm

A UK event that was billed as the world's first 24-hour Road Race has been cancelled due to lack of interest. The Shimano 24 was scheduled to take place on July 12 and 13 using a closed 8.7 mile road route in Wales’ Brecon Beacons. But with poor take-up and just over a month to go, organisers Provelo Support have pulled the plug.

A press release from Provelo states: “Despite research indicating a huge level of interest in such an event, the actual level of sign-up has made it uncommercial to continue.”

The release also says that Shimano’s UK distributors Madison is “very disappointed” at the news of the cancellation. Billed as a team event the organisers had been hoping 170 teams of five riders would compete for prizes on a circuit in the Army’s Sennybridge training area, with each team paying a £210 entry fee. 

Speaking before the announcement of the cancellation was made, organiser  Pat Adams of Provelo, best known as the man behind the successful Mountain Mayhem mountain biking event, explained his road racing background:

"I've always been passionate about road racing but I guess that I've become more associated with Mountain Biking in recent years. I've actually worked extensively in road racing, including the Tour of Britain and the Kelloggs Tour and as a soigneur for the Zero Team and Martin Earley."

It appears, however, that this experience was not enough to foresee the low level of demand for an event that would always have been a step into the unknown for what many see as a traditionally conservative road racing fraternity.

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  • I'd heard of the race. As an "ancien" of Paris-Brest-Paris and other long distance road events you might think I'd be interested. I was not because the organisers seemed a bit vague as to what the event involved and what other bodies they were running it with.

    If it was a 24 hour "time trial" against the clock- well the CTT wasn't on board and the description didn't fit this either. This is quite a safe format for tired people to use as the ban on drafting means there is less scope for crashes. There is a regular 24 hour time trial called the "Mersey Roads" that runs every year.

    If it was a road race then surely British Cycling would be involved. But it seems they weren't. Also it is interesting to imagine how a road race would be run over 24 hours with MTB marathon style relay teams. On a short circuit if there was an escape it would be impossible in the dark to work out who was in the lead for instance.

    It clearly wasn't a randonnee (aka audax) as it was billed as a "race"

    So the thing seemed to be run by people who didn't have any background in road cycling. So would you plan it as a major event for your season? Nope, I wouldn't either

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