Regrettably, this year’s edition of the World Tour race, Tour of Scandinavia, has been cancelled due to insufficient funding. However, efforts are underway to restructure the race concept with the aim of returning strengthened in 2025 with a new race concept at the World Tour level.
With heavy hearts, the board, together with shareholders and management, have concluded that it is unfortunately not feasible to organize Tour of Scandinavia this year. Intensive efforts have been made in recent weeks to try to find solutions to ensure a financial basis for conducting the race, but we must acknowledge that we have not succeeded. There is a shortfall of approximately 3 MNOK needed to achieve financial balance, and it would be irresponsible to plan for execution this year.
Technically, the World Tour race was on track to be held from August 29th. to September 1st. As part of the World Tour week, it was also planned to organize last year’s successful innovation, the Nordic Youth Challenge, a youth race for women. Unfortunately, these events will not take place now, but we plan to continue with some local events such as Summer Cycling School in collaboration with Green Cycling and Tour of Norway for Kids as usual where possible, and if the host municipalities are still willing.
By halting this year’s World Tour race now, we reduce the loss associated with this year’s event and provide predictability for all our partners related to the race. It also frees up time and energy to work on restructuring both the company and the race concept in order to develop a sustainable event at the World Tour level for 2025. The application for World Tour status in 2025 is already in place, which means that we maintain our status as a World Tour race and retain the highest ranking among races in Norway.
Currently, we are actively engaged in the design of exciting and scenic route options for next year, although some pieces of the puzzle still need to fall into place.
Significant efforts are being made to establish a robust, long-term financing model through strategic partnerships, in addition to the public grants that form the foundation of our funding. This endeavor encompasses both national and international alliances, as Tour of Scandinavia enjoys prestigious status abroad
For any further questions:
Marius Jørgensen
Managing Director, Ladies Tour of Norway AS
E-mail: marius@lton.no
Phone: +47 959 94 909
