HUMAN RACE SOLD
Major UK race brand bought by organisers of the Tour de France
Human Race, the organiser of the classic UK multisport races of the Windsor Triathlon, the Ballbuster Duathlon and many more, have been bought by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the France-based owner of the Tour de France, the Paris Marathon, L’Etape du Tour to name but a few.
The purchase means Human Race Events will be able to offer its participants access to many of the sold-out events organised by ASO across the world.
The two organisations have been working together since 2015, when they organised the Tour de Yorkshire Ride, the public sportive that formed part of the Tour de France Grand Depart legacy.
From a cycling perspective, the partnership seems a natural progression but what does the union mean for UK tri? We asked HR’s CEO Nick Rusling.
“Although ASO don’t organise triathlons currently, with Human Race in the ASO family they’ve just acquired 26 years of triathlon experience. We still have people working on those events who started in 1990. ASO love triathlon and our calendar of events was a key part of why they wanted to buy Human Race. We’ve begun long-term planning conversations already about what the future can hold for us together.”
Given ASO’s history of organising multi-day events, is a multi-stage tri event something that may be explored?
“Why not? It’s this type of creativity that participants are demanding and all events need,” adds Rusling. “We also know people want tougher challenges all the time. So watch this space.”