The Day Velothon Wales Cycle Race came to Wales

In June 2015, the inaugural Velothon Wales brought together amateur and elite cyclists for a cycling weekend in Cardiff. Up to 15,000 cyclists descended on the Welsh capital to ride either the 50km or 140km sportive routes through the local countryside. The longer route took in the famous Tumble climb, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Blaenavon, and then back up and over Caerphilly Mountain — both climbs get a mention in Geraint Thomas's book The Mountains According to G — before returning to Cardiff.

The day before the UCI-sanctioned one-day race, there were youth races on a short circuit around Cardiff's Civic Centre.

This was my first attempt at photographing a cycling event. The Tour of Flanders in 2018 followed — my first cycling classic, and one of the most memorable since I had ridden the sportive the day before.

The weekend was a huge success, bringing over 20,000 visitors including riders and their families. Velothon Wales ran for three years, from 2015 to 2017, before being discontinued due to complaints about road closures and disruption across the road network. It's a shame it couldn't be received more positively — the event not only promoted the health benefits of cycling but brought real commercial benefit to the city. Twenty thousand visitors all need somewhere to stay, eat, and drink. Cardiff, well used to hosting the Six Nations Rugby, is more than capable of providing all of that.

Velothon Wales was part of a wider series of Velothon events including Berlin, Stockholm, and Vienna.