Scandinavia’s Excursion Bows Out at Its Peak, Ending Push to Revive Girls’ WorldTour Race

Revitalisation efforts to respire new lifestyles into the Excursion of Scandinavia got here to a halt for a 2d consecutive yr as organisers introduced Thursday “the end of the road” for the Girls’s WorldTour degree race. 

Since its formation in 2014 because the Women Excursion of Norway, the race has been contested 9 instances. In 2020, the race used to be cancelled because of the COVID international pandemic and in 2024 the race used to be no longer held as a result of a monetary shortfall to supply a top-tier contest, Norway’s handiest Girls’s WorldTour degree race.

In search of to re-energise the degree race for a tenth version, a press unencumber printed that makes an attempt fell brief to protected suitable investment and broadcast partnerships and that the nationwide federation lacked “enthusiasm” to beef up the house race deliberate for August 19-24. The development has been terminated and rights holders Women Excursion of Norway AS will dissolve because the mum or dad corporate.

“After last year’s cancellation, hard work has been done since last summer to revive the World Tour race. We were well into the preparations with both the race concept, host municipalities, and not least international TV distribution, which looks very impressive and is in place,” a commentary learn from the Liquidation Board of Women Excursion of Norway.

“However, we must acknowledge that we have not succeeded in building a brand that is attractive enough to media, sponsors, and other important stakeholders in Norway. There are no national TV channels in Norway, like NRK and Tv2, who wish to distribute the race on TV despite us covering all production costs.

“With out nationwide TV protection, sponsors, and a federation missing enthusiasm to beef up the Global Excursion race at house, it turns into tricky to ascertain a sustainable monetary platform and create the keenness wanted, each internally and externally, to ship a certified biking race on the height degree.”

The six-day stage race was slotted after the mid-August Tour de Romandie Féminin and led to the conclusion for the bulk of summer WorldTour racing before the World Championships in September in Rwanda.

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Marianne Vos had the most wins during the tenure of the stage race, taking the GC title for three consecutive years when the race moved to the top level, 2017 to 2019. Annemiek van Vleuten was the last rider to hoist the trophy, earning her second overall victory in 2023.

“We’ve got dared to be cutting edge and feature been a very powerful motive force for the advance of global girls’s biking. We’re happy with what we’ve got created and satisfied to be remembered as probably the most easiest and maximum known races at the girls’s Global Excursion race calendar.

“We also want to extend a big thank you to the international cycling federation UCI for dedicated and professional support during the start-up and growth of the race and for showing great patience and understanding in our attempt to revive the race.

“We’re bowing out on the height.”