This article is from page 6 of the 2012-03-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
THE loss of the Sky Ride Etape Hibernia cycling race has been described as a “devastating blow” for the Clare tourism and cycling sectors.
The event, which has generated more then € 2 million for the local economy over the past two years, will not take place this year after race organisers, IMG Challenger World, decided to end their involved with the race.
The event attracted more then 3,000 cycling enthusiasts to Clare over the past two years with stars such as Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly and British Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis taking part.
According to Patrick O’Donoghue of the Burren Cycling Club, a new event should be organised to fill the gap left by the Etape.
“|t is a devastating loss for the Clare cycling community but it is more of a loss for everyone involved in tourism in the county,” he told The Clare People .
“What we need now is for Shannon Development and Clare County Council to come together with the Clare cycling clubs and between us we can come up with an event to take its place and build on the momentum which has been built up over the past two years.”
These sentiments were echoed by Shannon Development’s Tourism Marketing Manager, Paul Ryan.
“We are disappointed with the news that IMG Challenger World will no longer be involved with the event. However, Shannon Develop- ment and Clare County Council will work with the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau to secure a similar cycle event for the county,” he said.
“We understand that IMG Challenger World, although acknowledging that the event attracted significant numbers of cyclists and their families to Clare, felt the number of participants didn’t reach their projected levels and therefore was not commercially viable for IMG.
“The 2010 Lonely Planet Travel Guide named County Clare in the top 10 super cycling routes in the world. This is testament to the amount of work that has gone into the development of the tourism cycling product in the region in recent times. We will continue to build on the county’s growing reputation as a cycling destination.”
In August of 2010 the inaugural Sky Ride Etape Hibernia became Ireland’s first ever closed road mass participation cycling event. A similar event organised by IMG in Scotland attracts more than 5,000 participants each year.