“I don’t expect to get a penny back” - Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour organisers SweetSpot facing debts of more than £2.6million

After it was revealed in February that the prize money from the 2023 edition of the Tour of Britain is still yet to be paid, it has now been reported by Cycling Weekly that the former organisers of the race SweetSpot owe in excess of £2.6million to twenty businesses, with HSBC and government fund Sport England among the companies that are owed money.

These companies granted secured loans to the race organisers, but are now unlikely to see any of their money back, with one of the owners telling Cycling Weekly that “I don’t expect to get a penny back. We should survive it, but only just. We’re going to have to work our overdraft”.

Sweetspot lost their licence to organise the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour races last November due to a dispute with British Cycling, after the national governing body alleged that the company had an unpaid licence fee of £700,000.

In response to all of this, British Cycling have guaranteed the futures of both the Tour of Britain and the newly named Tour of Britain Women, as they look to find a new race organiser for both events.