London to Paris Organized Cycling Events, which has had a formal partnership with the Tour de France in recent years, has decided that due to the "ever-increasing Brexit complications" associated with organizing international cycling events, the current closed road format will be implemented for the last time in 2024.

Organized by the British company Hotchillee, the three-day closed road event will finish under the Eiffel Tower one day before the annual Grand Tour finale, with a Tour de France escort.

Over the past 20 years, more than 10,000 riders have participated in this event, which is accompanied by a large support car and crew and frequently includes Tour de France winners and former professional cyclists such as Magnus Beckstedt, Sarah Streit, Sean Kelly, and Stephen Roche riding on the route.

While aiming to continue beyond 2024 in a new format, organizers have cited several difficulties in recent years in hosting a closed road event, including carbon emissions, road closures, and Brexit. But the main one among the event's challenges is that organizers are no longer able to move competitors' bikes across the border between the UK and France without friction.

Instead, the extensive customs arrangements necessitated by the UK's exit from the European Union Customs Union have led to a spiral of cost and logistical complexity.

The value of the event's entire fleet of participant bikes amounted to about £1.7 million last year, organizers explained to Cycling News. Without proper customs exemption documentation, these bikes are subject to full import fees when crossing the border.

As a result, organizers were forced to account for each participant's bike and submit an ATA Carnet form for the complete shipment of bikes. This change not only increased costs, but also significantly increased the risk of major disruptions at the event if the bicycles were stored at the border.

Similar effects of Brexit have been felt throughout the cycling industry, with a KTM bicycle distributor in the UK citing Brexit as a major factor in the company's decision to cease trading.

The final event in 2024 will be the 20th anniversary of the current format and will finish in Paris on June 16, ahead of the Olympics.17]

In a statement, organizers said, "We want to provide a more sustainable experience for riders, but the road closures and difficulties in securing permits for race sections have increased and we are now facing a number of challenges. increasing, and the added complexity of Brexit, Hotchillee's 20th anniversary will be the last in its current format."

The organizers also stated in a statement, "We want to provide a more sustainable experience for our riders, but due to the increasing number of road closures and difficulties in securing permits for race sections, the Hotchillee 20th anniversary will be the last in its current format.

Sven Thiele, founder of Hotchillee, added, "With the new format coming in 2025, we have to mix things up a bit. So we wanted to give our community one last chance to ride what has become the London-Paris Road format. We are making positive changes to provide a more sustainable experience for our riders, but with road closures and race section permits becoming increasingly difficult to secure, and Brexit becoming more complicated, our 20th anniversary celebration will be the last in the current format. This will be the last time we will celebrate our 20th anniversary in its current format."

Hotchillee will also introduce a gravel version of the London to Paris Ride, with participants riding primarily off-road from the Thames to the Seine, finishing at the foot of the iconic Eiffel Tower. The gravel event will take place from September 19-22, 2024, with entries opening on September 14, 2023.

Tickets for the last road event of 2024 are also available on the Hotchillee website.