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Indian-owned Hero Cycles will act as headline sponsor of this year’s StreetVelodrome tour.
StreetVelodrome is a national initiative designed to encourage families to take up cycling. The concept takes the form of a ‘pop up’ velodrome touring cities in the UK and Ireland The events are free and open to the public to spectate or take part in races, with bikes, equipment and professional instruction all supplied by the StreetVelodrome team.
This year the tour visits venues around the UK, wrapping up in August. In a new development for 2018 Avocet UK, which is Hero Cycles’ UK company based in Manchester, will take headline sponsorship of the tour under its new Insync range of bikes launched at Old Trafford football ground in May.
The Insync bikes have been designed at Hero’s new £2 million Global Design Centre in Manchester’s Central Park. All bikes at the StreetVelodrome events will be from the new Insync range.
Avocet CEO Sreeram Venkateswaran said: “We’ve sponsored StreetVelodrome before with our Viking range of bikes but this year, we wanted to do more. StreetVelodrome is a great fit for our values particularly encouraging more families into cycling. Health and wellbeing are increasingly important for families and cycling is seen as a great way to spend quality time together escaping stress, polluted cities and improving fitness.
“The new Insync range is the first designed by our new Global Design Centre in Manchester and a lot of time and passion has been invested in designing bikes for all members of the family. From the stylish Ryedale range for women to the DeNovo children’s range, where we have consulted paediatric physiotherapists to improve the weight and reach dynamics of the bike. In addition, we have our Viking and Riddick bikes which are terrific for mums, dads and teenage boys and girls wanting to try road and off-road biking for the first time,” he concluded.
Mr Venkateswaran said an important element of the StreetVelodrome series is the Cycling Futures schools programme:
“We’re delighted to see our DeNovo range as the official partner of Cycling Futures,” he said. “The Cycling Futures programme will visit primary schools as part of the StreetVelodrome tour. This will see schools given cycling resource packs and we will deliver inspirational cycling experiences including visits by Insync ambassador and three-time BMX world champion Shanaze Reade.
“We are fully behind Cycling Futures’ campaign to make cycling part of the national curriculum like other sports. If we can encourage more young people into cycling there are many benefits from fitness to mental health to reducing pollution and congestion on our roads.”
Carl Thompson, event director at Cube Management, organisers of StreetVelodrome, added: “It is wonderful to be partnering once again with Hero Cycles as we head into another summer of exciting StreetVelodrome tours.
"Hero Cycles has the ability to support the full extent of our programme, from DeNevo Cycling Futures for children to Viking Pro Series racing and have-a-go events. We are the world’s most accessible cycle sport, offering equal opportunities for adults, children, male, female, professional and beginners alike. We believe that cycling is for everyone and we are sure we have the very best bicycle partner for sharing those values.”
