A Fine First Sponsorship of the Tour of Cambridgeshire

Over 8, 000 cyclists took part in this, the 5^th edition of the festival.  The ToC is the exclusive UK qualifying event for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships meaning it’s for those seeking to ride their bikes competitively to compete for Great Britain in the world championships in the Chrono (time trail against the clock) and the Road Race (mass start where first over the line wins.) 

We are delighted, with how our long-term sponsorship of the Tour of Cambridgeshire (ToC) began, over the weekend of 1^st and 2^nd June.  

The top 25% in each category are invited to compete for Great Britain in the world championships in Poznan in Poland this year and in Whistler, Canada next year. 

The JMCL brand promoting Enlightened Procurement was present across the festival including the start and finish gantries as well as the podium back drop, where champions were crowned and journeys to world titles confirmed.

For JMCL the attraction is that ToC combines elite sporting excellence with inclusivity. It caters for female & male, age group competition ranging from 19—34 to 75-79yrs. It also caters for families and day-to-day riders and includes a closed road, 100 mile sportive format event. This is no token inclusivity; Guinness World Records recognise ToC as delivering the world’s largest time trial each year with over 800 competitors rolling down the start ramp in 2019.  

JMCL’s sponsorship encompassed the VIP offering known as Club Kermesse, – named after a type of racing around villages in Belgium, the spiritual home of one day bike racing – and  the registration area which was responsible, amongst many things, for distributing medals to those riders qualifying for the Worlds.  

It was great to meet Jason Leonard, ex-England rugby player, in Club Kermesse.  Jason’s Atlas Foundation charity views ToC as one of their key events each year. Apart from the quality of the event it’s relatively flat and therefore good for many of Jason’s former teammates and opposition who bring their battle-scarred bodies to ride using Club Kermesse as their base !

The promoters of the festival, Golazzo Cycling, anticipate that over the next three years of  JMCL sponsorship, the festival will grow to over 12,000 participants leading up to 2023 when the inaugural UCI World Cycling Championships happens in the UK in Glasgow. “What we might not have by way of high mountains in Cambridgeshire we make up for in terms of the welcome riders get and the wind across the fens which can make riding a challenging sometimes brutal experience”Golazzoexplains. We look forward to an even closer collaboration over the next few years as the festival grows towards 2023.

JMCL was promoting our Enlighted Procurement approach a concept which drew huge interest and over 500 entries into a competition we are running for free Corporate Packages at the 2020 events.

Why Sponsorship and why the Tour of Cambridgeshire?

At JMCL we believe in the power of sport to transcend barriers and to combine excellence with inclusivity & participation.  There is nothing better than the shared experience of achievement whether that’s winning races or overcoming personal challenges.  

We also wholly endorse cycling as promoting an alternative to fossil fuels and due to the low impact it has on the environment 

At JMCL we strive for and recognise excellence, including the need to constantly improve and change. In working with ToC, we are putting our resources into helping a wonderful festival reach its potential and to talk to a high concentration of people about our market and services.  We like to do business with people with whom we share a passion and perspective, whether t’scycling or procurement, it always leads to the most outstanding results.

….oh yes! …and well done to Malcolm Smith one of JMCL’s close colleagues who raced to second place in the Men’s 55-59yrs road race and will be heading off to Poznan in search of a rainbow jersey (having finished very close to a world title on several occasions in the past.)

JMCL will be running a number of competitions over the next 12 months for Corporate Packages and ToC kit for anyone wishing to join us there in 2020 (June 6^th and 7^th 2020 to be precise.)  Watch this space.