When Jon Dutton OBE appointed an Elite Road Racing Task Force as one of his first initiatives as the new CEO of British Cycling, it raised the hopes of many domestic road racing fans. Finally, it seemed that the national governing body would give the fragile elite road racing scene the attention it so desperately needed.

The Task Force was tasked with developing a series of recommendations for British Cycling to implement in 2024 and beyond, with the goal of ‘innovating and energising’ the domestic scene. Dutton assured us that this would not be “a talking shop,” stating, “there are a number of areas where we can and will make immediate progress.”

Dutton assured us that this would not be “a talking shop,” stating, “there are a number of areas where we can and will make immediate progress”

‘Innovating and energising the domestic scene’. ‘Not a talking shop’. ‘Immediate progress’. ‘Implementing recommendations in 2024’. For anyone who cares about domestic road racing, these words were music to the ears.

The Task Force’s recommendations arrived in January this year. The full report laid out 43 actions, condensed into 16 publicly available recommendations. British Cycling responded, stating that work was underway to “build a long-term action plan for delivery,” leading many to believe that immediate progress was indeed forthcoming.

However, things went quiet until Dutton sat down for an interview with us ahead of the Tour of Britain Women. In that interview, Dutton spoke about the organisation’s efforts to implement one of the 43 recommendations – the not significant one about saving the Tours of Britain. But when asked about progress on the remaining 42 – in other words, those directly concerning the elite tier – his response was evasive, promising only a ‘summer update’.

Now that this update has arrived, nearly eight months after the publication of the Task Force recommendations, what does it reveal? Has progress been ‘immediate’? Has it been comprehensive? Will it lead to meaningful changes that can truly ‘revitalise’ the domestic road racing scene?

Progress summary

First, let’s clarify what we’re assessing. Although British Cycling published 16 Task Force recommendations, these do not represent the full picture. The Task Force delivered 43 recommendations in total, all of which British Cycling accepted. Any proper progress assessment should therefore consider all 43.

Our full assessment is set out below in ‘Our Assessment’.

Where has progress been made?

Let’s start with the good news. 

First off, Dutton tells us that all 43 recommendations have been accepted by British Cycling, an important starting point. 

Secondly, one important recommendation has been delivered: “The task force strongly recommends that all efforts are made to ensure The Tour of Britain and The Women’s Tour are run during 2024.” [Recommendation RES/R2] Dutton told us that this required a ‘monumental effort’ on the part of British Cycling and admitted in our most recent interview that implementing it was undoubtedly a ‘distraction’, albeit one that he described as a very positive one.

Of the other 42 recommendations, the progress update suggests that implementation has begun on three. These are:

• CES1/R2*: “A complete review of the circuit race series should be undertaken to make the race even more engaging for both riders and audiences including sprint laps, differing jerseys, team awards, etc., as well as a variety of course designs and community engagement activities. This should include consultation with team owners and riders”
• GR4b: “Formally encourage each BC region to deliver best-practice race organiser and volunteer workshops annually to ensure sustained development of the sport” 
• GR4d: “Workshops for best practice should be established and information freely shared” [aimed at race organisers]

The update also commits British Cycling to working on two other recommendations ‘over the next six months’:

• GR2: A full ‘branding, communications and marketing’ strategy should be considered to complement the needs of series, sponsors, authority partners and events to build consistency to how national events are projected and marketed both nationally and regionally
• CES2/R1: “A “Winning Pattern” playbook should be developed based upon existing successful crit race models for replication in other towns/cities. This should include commercial as well as technical requirements plus PR/Marketing best practice (VIP areas/unique experiences/meet and greets/networking/ticketing/pit walks/awareness etc.)”

A commitment to further develop and strengthen support and training resources could also address other recommendations (specifically recommendations GR4a, GR4c and GR4e) but it is not clear from British Cycling’s statement if this will be the case.

*Key to the recommendation codes GR: Generalised recommendations which cover both race disciplines within the sport  CES: Recommendations for the National Circuit Series RES: Recommendations for the National Road Series

The progress update also makes other claims of progress against the recommendations, such as British Cycling’s Lloyds sponsorship deal and an update of the tender process for existing and prospective local authority partners, although as we highlight below, these were not recommendations made by the Task Force, so they are difficult to claim as direct progress against the Task Force recommendations. 

In summary, British Cycling has so far implemented one recommendation, a big one at that, albeit the only recommendation not aimed at the elite scene. Implementation of a further three recommendations is underway, and work will begin on delivering two other recommendations ‘over the next six months’.

Where progress has yet to be made?

Now, if you’ve been following along, you may have realised that eight months after the Task Force’s recommendations were made, only one has been fully implemented. A significant one perhaps, but just one nonetheless.

Unfortunately for the elite racing scene, none of the 42 recommendations focused specifically on supporting it have yet been implemented. And whilst work has begun on three, 39 remain unaddressed. 

As highlighted above, a small amount of progress is being made in relation to the National Circuit Series recommendations. And there is also the intention to provide some support for race organisers. But the 22 recommendations specifically aimed at revitalising the National Road Series have seen no progress whatsoever.

Of course, as Dutton emphasised in our recent interview, not all actions are equal. But failing to act on over 90% of the Task Force’s recommendations – eight months on – can only be considered a significant shortfall.

The update makes claims of progress that don’t relate to – and even potentially undermine – the Task Force recommendations. The Lloyds sponsorship deal, for example, might be a boon to British Cycling, a ‘gamechanger’ according Dutton. But he also concedes that the Task Force’s recommendation to “consider a separate sponsorship agreement for the national road series and national circuit series enabling new title sponsors to be introduced outside of the main BCF sponsorship agreement” is not now something that British Cycling can or will pursue. This cuts off a key opportunity to generate Series-specific income. At the same time, Dutton was ambiguous when speaking with us about whether the deal will result in any direct economic benefit for the Series or Series race organisers, despite the deal handing 50% of Series branding to Lloyds.

There are some seemingly erroneous claims too. For example, the progress update says that British Cycling has “successfully supported the delivery of a seven-round National Circuit Series, including the first Beverley Grand Prix since 2017”. This is true, of course. But simply delivering the National Circuit Series is surely just business as usual for British Cycling and does not directly address any of the Task Force recommendations. 

Transparency, delivery and reporting

First of all, kudos to Jon Dutton for appearing on our podcast for a second time and for his willingness to engage in dialogue. His openness is appreciated.

It is also positive that British Cycling’s progress update sets out that a governance process is now in place to oversee the delivery of the recommendations. However, as Dutton acknowledged in the recent podcast interview, the people responsible for overseeing this process are volunteers, without the authority to allocate resources or mandate delivery.

Furthermore, Dutton told us that no dedicated resource has been created to support implementation. Instead, staff will need to deliver recommendations as part of, or worse still, on top of their existing responsibilities.

There is also a lack of clarity regarding British Cycling’s long-term action plan. British Cycling said in January that the development of this action plan was underway. Has one now been developed? The update doesn’t say. There are certainly no timescales or milestones for delivering any of the recommendations, no sense of priorities, no systematic understanding of how recommendations will be delivered.

The public has not yet seen all 43 recommendations. Why? Some critical material from the Task Force’s report was omitted from the published version. Having read the full Task Force report we know that it paints a compelling vision for the future of the scene. Important recommendations – on reviewing race safety or where spending is directed – were omitted entirely from the published report; why? Publication of the full report would improve transparency and accountability. 

Whilst Dutton says British Cycling accepts all 43 recommendations, he also suggested in our interview that some are not within the gift of British Cycling. If the implication here is that British Cycling does not intend to implement all of the recommendations, even though its expert Task Force believes that all 43 are within British Cycling’s gift, then it should explain which ones it will ignore and why.

Hopefully the next progress update – promised by Dutton by the end of the year – should provide a fuller picture of progress, including the areas where British Cycling feels it can’t, or won’t, take action.

Conclusion

British Cycling’s progress update includes eight bullet points claiming various achievements. However, after stripping away the one-off feat of securing the Tours of Britain – an important and commendable success – it’s clear that much work remains to be done. 

Jon Dutton himself acknowledged in our recent interview that, while progress has begun, “There is undoubtedly a lot more work to do in the coming weeks and months.” He is absolutely right.

With the Tours of Britain secured, British Cycling can turn its attention to the heart of the Task Force’s mission: reviving the domestic elite racing scene. The completion of this significant task now provides British Cycling with the perfect opportunity to refocus and accelerate progress on the Elite Road Task Force’s 42 recommendations aimed at supporting the elite level of racing.

The National Road Series, in particular, demands urgent attention, as there is currently no commitment to action on the 22 recommendations that specifically support this vital pillar of the sport. 

None of the recommendations aimed specifically at supporting the National Road Series and National Circuit Series have yet been implemented, even some work is now underway that should eventually support the National Circuit Series. No attention has been paid at all as yet to the 22 recommendations focused specifically on the National Road Series; this needs to change.

This is a pivotal moment for British Cycling. The momentum gained from saving the Tours of Britain can now be directed towards a comprehensive plan that revitalises the domestic scene. The Task Force’s recommendations offer clear and practical solutions – quick wins that can be implemented ahead of the 2025 season and longer-term actions that need to begin now before they are kicked into the long grass. 

In rescuing the Tours of Britain, British Cycling proved what it can achieve when it sets its mind to something. Now is the time to broaden its focus and show the same determination in supporting the elite scene.

Next steps

To ensure British Cycling can deliver on its promise to ‘innovate and energise’ the domestic scene, we recommend the following five key actions:

1. Broaden and fast-track implementation: While some progress has been made, the vast majority of the Task Force’s recommendations are still awaiting action. The next six months are critical for laying the groundwork that will revitalise the domestic scene. British Cycling needs to identify and prioritise the ‘quick wins’ within the Task Force’s recommendations that can be implemented in the next 3-6 months while laying the groundwork for longer-term reforms.
2. Allocate dedicated resources: The successful implementation of the Task Force’s recommendations requires dedicated personnel. We urge British Cycling to allocate a portion of the Lloyds Bank sponsorship income to create short-term roles specifically focused on delivering the ERTF recommendations. Or, even better, establish a dedicated Task Force Delivery Unit focused exclusively on the Task Force’s work to ensure that progress isn’t diluted by competing priorities. Without dedicating resources to implementation, many of the reforms risk being sidelined or delayed indefinitely.
3. Publish the full ERTF report: For the sake of transparency and accountability, we strongly recommend that British Cycling publishes the complete Elite Road Task Force report. This would allow the public, stakeholders, and the wider cycling community to track progress on all 43 recommendations and hold British Cycling accountable for any that are not actioned.
4. Publish the ‘long-term action plan’: When the Task Force recommendations were first published, British Cycling indicated that a long-term action plan was being developed. We urge British Cycling to publish this plan, including specific, measurable benchmarks and timelines for the implementation of each Task Force recommendation. This would help ensure accountability and transparency, making it easier for stakeholders and the public to track progress and evaluate success. It also creates a clear sense of urgency and keeps the organisation focused on delivery.
5. Commit to regular updates: We appreciate your promise of a further update at the end of the year, but the cycling community needs more clarity on timelines and priorities. While implementation is the key objective, a more detailed progress report will provide much-needed insight into British Cycling’s strategic direction and its commitment to elite racing.

Our assessment

Assessment of British Cycling’s stated progress to date

We have reviewed British Cycling’s progress update against the Task Force’s 43 recommendations, assessing the extent to which British Cycling’s stated progress supports or achieves implementation of the recommendations. 

Progress as stated by British Cycling	Verdict
Secured the support of Lloyds Bank as the title sponsor of the National Road Championships, National Road Series and National Circuit Series, bringing vital investment into the sport (Recommendation 2 and 6).	The sponsorship agreement does not directly respond to any of the Task Force recommendations. In fact, it potentially further limits commercial input to the `Series and its events. The ERTF’s recommendation was to “consider a separate sponsorship agreement for the National Road Series and National Circuit Series enabling new title sponsors to be introduced outside of the main BCF sponsorship agreement” [Recommendation GR9]. But Dutton admitted in our recent interview that this is not now something that British Cycling can or will pursue.  This cuts off a key opportunity to generate Series-specfic income. At the same time, in our recent interview with him, Dutton was ambiguous about whether the deal will result in any direct economic benefit for the Series or Series race organisers, despite the deal handing 50% of Series branding to Lloyds.
Successfully delivered the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Women and the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men (Recommendation 13).	A success. Recommendation RES2/R2 fully implemented.
Commenced the development of new training opportunities and resources to support new and existing event organisers. All regions will also deliver ‘best practice’ workshops ahead of the start of the new season (Recommendation 4 and 5).	This appears to mark progress in implementing two of the recommendations:“Formally encourage each BC region to deliver best-practice race organiser and volunteer workshops annually to ensure sustained development of the sport” [Recommendation GR4b] and “Workshops for best practice should be established and information freely shared” [GR4d, aimed at race organisers]. Recommendations GR4b and GR4d ‘in progress’.
Updated our tender process for existing and prospective local authority partners, to widen the number of potential host locations for National Road Series and National Circuit Series events (Recommendation 9 and 10).	Not clear how this responds to any of the recommendations in the full task force report. The recommendations the progress report references (9 and 10) are about reviewing the National Circuit Series and changing other aspects of the NCS but do not mention anything about the tender process.  Perhaps the intention is that this new process will support the recommendation [CES1/R1] that “locations for circuit races should be prioritised to attracting audience sizes and a wider demographic of viewers (live and digital) and spread across all regions of the UK” but again, this is not clear from the update.  A clearer update of progress against all 43 recommendations would have made it easier to assess progress here.
Brought together our Sport, Commercial, Marketing and Communications teams into a single ‘customer centric’ unit within British Cycling, to ensure a coordinated and effective approach to support event organisers (Recommendation 2).	Not clear what difference the new ‘customer centric’ unit will make in practice or how it responds to the recommendations – Recommendation 2 was to ‘Produce a branding, communications and marketing framework plus toolkit’.  If this does truly support delivery of the recommendations, then how it does needs to be explained better by British Cycling.
Brought parity to the race lengths for all open and women’s events in the Lloyds Bank National Circuit Series. (Recommendation 9).	This does not address the recommendation made by the task force in its full report which was that ‘Distances for women’s and men’s racing should be equalised’ for the National Road Series, not the National Circuit Series. [Recommendation RES3/R2] We are led to believe that parity of the circuit series was agreed in September 2023, separate to the Task Force.
Started a review of the National Circuit Series to deliver on the ambition of improving audience and community engagement, and become more appealing to commercial partners, in 2025 and beyond. (Recommendation 9).	This marks progress against the recommendation that “A complete review of the circuit race series should be undertaken to make the race even more engaging for both riders and audiences including sprint laps, differing jerseys, team awards, etc., as well as a variety of course designs and community engagement activities. This should include consultation with team owners and riders”  [Recommendation CES1/R2] Recommendation CES1/R2 ‘in progress’.
Successfully supported the delivery of a seven-round National Circuit Series, including the first Beverley Grand Prix since 2017. (Recommendation 10).	This claims to support the recommendation that British Cycling should “Prioritise locations for circuit series races that attract large audience sizes and a more diverse demographic of viewers (live and digital) and change regulations to allow weekend criterium racing to access larger in-person audiences. Create more flexibility in the calendar, enabling crit races close to road races wherever possible to drive efficiencies for organisers and teams.” Delivering the National Circuit Series in itself was not a specific recommendation and should be considered business as usual. The addition of Beverley Grand Prix perhaps contributes to the aim of prioritising locations for circuit series races but to claim this was done by design to respond to this recommendation would be disingenuous; there is no evidence that BC is considering how to prioritise certain locations in any strategic way.

Assessment of British Cycling’s stated ‘next steps’

We have reviewed British Cycling’s stated ‘next steps against the Task Force’s 43 recommendations, assessing the extent to which these next steps will support the implementation of the recommendations. 

‘Next steps’ as stated by British Cycling’	Verdict
Working with our partner Lloyds Bank to develop a full branding, communications and marketing strategy for the 2025 National Road Series and National Circuit Series, ensuring greater brand consistency and profile for the events both regionally and nationally.	If implemented effectively then this will address Recommendation GR2: “A full ‘branding, communications and marketing’ strategy should be considered to complement the needs of series, sponsors, authority partners and events to build consistency to how national events are projected and marketed both nationally and regionally” It will be important that this strategy reinforces and supports individual race organisers in their own branding, communication and marketing efforts.  Recommendation GR2 scheduled for future action.
Continuing to further develop and strengthen support and training resources for new and existing event organisers, including the development of a ‘Winning Pattern’ playbook based on existing successful features for replication in other towns and cities.	The development of a Winning Pattern playbook would address Recommendation CES2/R1: A “Winning Pattern” playbook should be developed based upon existing successful crit race models for replication in other towns/cities. This should include commercial as well as technical requirements plus PR/Marketing best practice (VIP areas/unique experiences/meet and greets/networking/ticketing/pit walks/awareness etc). A commitment to further develop and strengthen support and training resources could also address other recommendations (specifically GR4a, GR4c and GR4e) but it is not clear from British Cycling’s statement if this will be the case. Recommendation CES/R1 scheduled for future action.
Continuing to work closely with our local authority partners to facilitate National A race delivery and the hosting of major events in 2025 and beyond.	This appears to ‘business as usual’. It is unclear how this addresses any of the specific recommendations.

Summary of progress against the Task Force recommendations

British Cycling’s statement of progress does not make a clear link between the progress made and the Task Force’s recommendations. However, based on the information British Cycling has made available, our assessment is that:

Progress to date:

• 1 of the 43 recommendations has been implemented: RES2/R2
• Implementation of 3 recommendations is in progress: GR4b, GR4d and CES1/R2
• Implementation of 39 of the recommendations has yet to begin
• None of the 22 recommendations focused specifically on the National Road Series have been implemented.

Future progress:

• Implementation of 2 of the recommendations will begin ‘over the next six months’: GR2 and CES2/R1
• Implementation of 3 of the recommendations could begin ‘over the next six months’ but greater clarity is needed from British Cycling to ascertain this
• There is no clarity on when, or if,  implementation of the remaining 34 recommendations will begin
• There is no commitment to beginning work on any of the 22 recommendations focused specifically on the National Road Series.

Featured image: Ian Wrightson/The British Continental