Cyclists have expressed their sadness and surprise at the news that one of the UK's foremost events organisers, SportiveHQ, has ceased trading.
The news broke yesterday in an email from Matt Porter of SportiveHQ to riders who had entered one of their upcoming sportives.
Under the subject line 'CANCELLED', the email read:
"SportiveHQ has gone into administration and ceased trading as of the 6th June.
"There are currently no assets or funds within the business to continue so all events and holidays are cancelled as of this date.
"I am so sorry that this has happened, I have been fighting for the past 3 years since the pandemic to keep everything afloat but have failed and have run out of personal funds to keep things going."
SportiveHQ was founded in 2016 and established a reputation for running highly-regarded events. A post on the company's Facebook page announcing the closure has so far attracted over 300 comments, the overwhelming majority from loyal customers expressing sympathy and solidarity with Matt.
The company's next sportive was due to be this weekend's Flat 100 in Thorne, South Yorkshire, billed as one of the UK's flattest century rides.
This hugely popular sportive actually sold out shortly after Christmas, with SportiveHQ securing car parking for an extra 100 places to meet demand.
While the event will not officially take place, a significant number of entrants are believed to be planning to ride the course anyway.
Another of SportiveHQ's flagship events was the iconic Coast to Coast in a Day ride. This year's edition was scheduled for Saturday 22 June.
On a personal note, we'd like to join SportiveHQ's fans and customers in offering our sympathy to Matt at this difficult time. We exchanged many emails over the years, with riders often mistakenly contacting Sportive.com instead of SportiveHQ owing to the similarity in names.
In fact, our first inkling that something might be amiss came yesterday when a road.cc reporter contacted us asking for comment on Sportive.com going into administration (for avoidance of doubt, we are not).
We wish Matt all the best - and the same to sportive organisers everywhere, who are struggling at a difficult time for the cycling industry in general.
As another organiser, who is planning to retire from the business after this season, advised: "If you want to see your favourite events continue into next year and beyond, make sure to enter!"
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