PENNINE EVENTS DELIVER TWO OF THE THIRTEEN 2023 UCI CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, THE WORLD’S BIGGEST EVER CYCLING EVENT, AS ALL THIRTEEN DISCIPLINES WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME INTO ONE MEGA EVENT.
Pennine Events are no strangers to top level cycling spectaculars, having previously delivered major and mega events such as the Tour de France as well as servicing the annual legacy event Tour de Yorkshire, The Tour of Britain, The Women’s Tour of Britain, and Pedal for Scotland, on behalf of major national and international clients. Topping off 20 years in the industry, Pennine Events have fully produced and delivered two of the thirteen 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, making history, as all thirteen disciplines were brought together for the first time into one mega event under host nation Scotland.
Joining forces with preeminent partners GEM Events to create a team with extensive breadth and depth of experience like no other, the two delivered a world class experience for everyone competing and spectating at the 2023 UCI Para-Cycling Road Races and Time Trials in Dumfries and the blue-ribbon Individual Time Trials in Stirling at this year’s World Championships, where combined, 57 new World Champions were crowned.
With over 30 years combined experience in the events industry, the Northwest based SME and GEM Events pushed boundaries and made momentous steps towards creating a sustainable event that contributed towards Scotland’s net-zero emissions goals.
Encompassed by 4 days of live globally broadcast TV and 125,000+ spectators in Stirling alone, the partnership excelled and successfully delivered three mega events that saw athletes from over 120 countries compete for a place on the podium and levelled up the Para-Cycling Championships, as the discipline aims to rise within the industry.
Alissa Koopal, CEO of Pennine Events said: “As an SME based in the North-west of England, operating for 20 years amidst a constantly challenging and dynamic events industry, it is a true example of entrepreneurship and leadership. It is exemplar how our small business rose to a challenge of this magnitude and delivered to the highest possible standard. As event & project director over these events, the learnings are immense, but the key will always be the people and the culture implemented from the start. With just one year of planning, and an incredible amount of hard work, we delivered both the Individual Time Trials in Stirling and the Para-Cycling Road Races and Para-Cycling Time Trials in Dumfries. Receiving the feedback from key stakeholders and agencies that we ‘delivered all three with the upmost level of professionalism and calibre’, praise over how we have facilitated excellence in our event control room operations, hearing from elite teams and athletes that the Para-Cycling Championships were the best they have ever experienced, is something I am incredibly proud of. But hearing from all our workforce, volunteers, suppliers and supporting agencies across the board that they have never experienced such a supportive environment where everyone is looking out for one another is the thing that I am most proud of.”
Mark Sandamas, Owner of Pennine Events said: “When we were awarded the tenders to produce and deliver these mega events, we knew we would be in for a challenge, given the Cycling World Championships have never been held in this way before and there was no official playbook. That did not phase or concern us – one of the strengths of our team is creative solutions and problem solving, regardless of the challenges we may face. Through teamwork, creativity, doggedness and professionalism, the Pennine team continuously strived to achieve something exceptional- and that we did. Despite the ever changing and increasingly challenging climate we face in the event industry, along with navigating the unknowns of a new structure of this magnitude, we reached the pinnacle of what Pennine Events has achieved. There was a moment before the Elite Men’s Individual Time Trials started, when I walked down the final kilometre of the course, absorbing the incredible atmosphere of the crowds – estimated at 70,000+ people – from many nations, there to cheer on and celebrate the achievements of the riders and seeing what we had achieved, I had tears of pride. Underpinning all this – was the team-spirit, and moral of the team. That did not just happen by chance, but through the inherent culture of Pennine Events. And it is this that I take even more satisfaction and pride in than simply delivering superb events, hitting all objectives, and celebrating the fantastic gold medals won by the likes of Dame Sarah Storey and Remco Evenepoel. I am indebted to and in awe of the team at Pennine Events for what they have achieved.”
The Pennine Events’ team is one full of aspiration, resilience and ambition and look forward to continuing to guide, create and deliver once-in-a-lifetime events.
We Guide. We Create. We Deliver. #WeArePennineEvents.
