Popular closed road sportive, Velothon Wales, will not run in 2019 as the organiser announced its disbanding despite a popular 2018 edition. Confirmed on the organiser's twitter page, a statement read that there were 'no plans' for a 2019 Velothon Wales or beyond.
'Following detailed discussions between the Velothon Series owners Ironman, the Welsh Government Major Events Unit and local event delivery partners Run4Wales, we can now confirm there are no plans for Velothon Wales to continue in 2019 and beyond,' said the statement.
'Despite a successful event in 2018 in which more than 8,000 riders took part across three distances, it is unfortunate that we are unable to find a sustainable model for future events.'
With almost 10,000 riders taking to the event that held three different distance in 2018, Velothon Wales was the most popular closed road sportive in the UK this year after the Prudential RideLondon. Although a lack of sustainable finances has caused its demise just three years after its first event.
The first three editions of the sportive also hosted a UCI one-day road race although this did not feature in 2018.
Velothon Wales also acted as part of the global UCI Velothon Series, which includes events in Australia, Germany, Canada and Sweden. However, the latter two destinations seem to have suffered the same fate as Wales.
Australia and Germany are still set to go ahead with the latter also hosting the one-day WorldTour race, the EuroEyes Cyclassics.