A women's cycling race with "the most prestigious line-up" of female riders ever to compete in Britain has "failed to secure a single sponsor after searching for more than four months," according to Emily Dugan of the London INDEPENDENT. The Women's Tour, which is scheduled to go around England for five days in May, already has the Int'l Cycling Union (UCI), local authorities and a terrestrial broadcaster on board. But, when it comes to pinning down any corporate sponsors, organizers said they are "hitting a glass ceiling." The case is "a dramatic illustration of the gulf in funding between men's and women's sport." Only 0.5% of sponsorship money in Britain goes to women's sport, "despite the success of female athletes in this country." Some of the rebuffs from major brands -- all of whom have stringent equal opportunities policies -- "have been startlingly blunt." The responses reported by organizers have included: "We don't believe anyone is interested in women's sport" and "we focus our sports investment on men." Others have simply said, "We don't believe there's a market." The most common was simply that the event was "not quite right" for the company. The sponsorship knock-backs "are particularly galling for organisers" as they come at a time when public interest in cycling -- and particularly women's cycling -- "continues to soar in the wake of Britain's Olympic medal haul." U.K. Women's Sport & Fitness Foundation CEO Ruth Holdaway said, "It's a shame that commercial sponsors haven't woken up to the opportunity to support women's cycling, which would allow them to reach the many sports fans that will tune in to watch the world's best female riders compete." Tour organizer SweetSpot Dir Guy Elliott said, "We've been overwhelmed by the support and immediate buy-in from councils and broadcasters, but when it comes to finding sponsors we have found we are hitting a glass ceiling'' (INDEPENDENT, 12/8).
