Latest News

IMG Withdraws from Etape Hibernia

by Holly Blades

IMG UK Ltd has taken the decision to withdraw as event organisers of the Etape Hibernia cycle event in County Clare. The company invested signficant resources and funds in launching the event, however after recording losses in the first two years and the projection of a greater deficit in the future they see the event as unsustainable. This was mainly due to not achieving the level of entries hoped for at the outset of the project.

Shannon Development and Clare County Council have stated their desire to continue to run the mass participation cycle event, held annually in County Clare, having attracted cyclists from all over the world including cycling legend Sean Kelly and British Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis.

James Robinson, Managing Director of IMG Challenger World, said: “We are truly sad that we are unable to continue running the Etape Hibernia. Our team has really enjoyed working on the event over the past two years and have put a lot of hard work into trying to make the project a success.”

“Although the event attracted a significant number of cyclists and their families to County Clare on the stunning west coast of Ireland, the number of participants was disappointing and didn’t reach projected levels. This, unfortunately, makes the event not commercially viable for IMG.”

IMG UK Ltd will now focus its efforts on the highly successful Etape Caledonia and newly launched Etape Pennines. These events are the foundations of a soon to be enlarged Etape Series headlined by Marie Curie Cancer Care. Etape Caledonia sold out in record time and Etape Pennines is already ahead of expectations on entries and will soon reach its limit for riders. A further two new events In the UK will be announced in due course.

All participants have been offered the option to take a full refund or transfer their place to the new organisers once they are in place.