The Women's Tour organizers aims to have live TV coverage "in the next two to three years."GETTY IMAGES
The Women's Tour cycling event organizer SweetSpot CEO Heath Harvey described live TV coverage as "the final frontier" for the race, adding that he wants to see it introduced "in the next two to three years," according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. The fifth edition of the race ended on Sunday with Sunweb's Coryn Rivera crowned champion in Colwyn Bay. With "big crowds turning up each day," a total prize pot of €90,000 ($104,300) -- equal with the men's Tour of Britain -- plus a nightly highlights program on ITV4, "the race once again won plenty of plaudits." The continued lack of any live coverage, however, "was a source of frustration to many." Crowds lining the route were "largely in the dark about the race situation unfolding around them, with only intermittent Twitter updates" from teams and organizers to keep them up to date. When asked whether live coverage was the final piece of the jigsaw, Harvey said, "Absolutely. I agree with that comment completely. Our focus is definitely on trying to achieve that in the next two to three years." SweetSpot investigated the possibility of streaming the race this year, using 3G or 4G, Harvey said. However, "many of the areas visited by the race had limited signal." Drones have also been considered. The end goal, though, is to broadcast the race live using "established techniques" (TELEGRAPH, 6/18).
