[UPDATED] 'Too much risk,' Phillips opens up on Cycling on the Avenue cancellation

EVENT promoter and former national cyclist Michael Phillips cited the cancellation of the 2025 Tobago International Cycling Classic (TICC) event, financial challenges and the changing sports landscape for his decision to pull the plug on this year's Cycling on the Avenue event.

The popular Cycling on the Avenue showcase attracts hundreds of cyclists, inclusive of aspiring athletes at the primary school level, as well as local and international elite cyclists who turn the busy Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook liming strip to their own cycling velodrome for a few hours of riveting action each year.

Phillips made the announcement via a Facebook post on October 6 and later told Newsday that hosting the event this year became untenable because of varying factors.

"Attention: cycling and duathlon enthusiasts, I am saddened to inform you that there will be no Cycling on the Avenue in 2025," Phillips said via his social media post. "We hope to make announcements about future events soon. Thank you for your understanding in this matter."

In August, TICC chairman Jeffrey Charles said the Tobago tour event would be postponed and he had hoped to still host it before the end of the year. However, he confirmed he would be unable to host the TICC event this year, but promised its return for 2026. Cycling on the Avenue sees a number of international cyclists putting their wheels to the test in Woodbrook after touring Tobago, as evidenced by Mexican rider Eder Frayre who won the 2023 and 2024 TICC titles, to go along with a winning ride in the main event at Cycling on the Avenue in 2023.

"Coming on the back of the Tobago International Cycling Classic not happening, our events were paired together. I would not have been able to sell or produce the same standard of event. And I was even thinking about the things I could have done," Phillips told Newsday. "It just became too much risk involved to try and pull off something of the same standard.

"We will try again for next year. But I know speaking to the athletes and the schools in particular, they are very disappointed. It seems like a trend that's taking place. Look, for instance, Jason Gooding with the Rainbow Cup, hinting that it may be the last one as well."

In May, Gooding said Rainbow Cup Tobago was becoming increasingly difficult to manage from a financial standpoint and said the 2025 edition could be the last staging of the event on the island despite its 19-year history.

For Phillips, he has so far hosted ten editions of Cycling on the Avenue and even endured the covid-19 lockdown, which saw the event on pause from 2020-2022. He pointed to a mindset shift among the corporate entities that help make these types of events possible and pondered on what could be a sustainable model to ensure that Cycling on the Avenue and other such events don't fade away from the attention of fans and potential investors.

"We need a determination in terms of where we fit into the ecosystem of sport...there are a lot of things which need to be addressed with regard to what fraternities may have been depending on as their hallmark events. And the people who have put them on and what was required to put those activities on. The number of changes that would have taken place in the economy and the focus of companies and what they are attached to and willing to attach.

"(There's) been a very big change in terms of philosophy among the individuals we send proposals out to...I don't know what the solution is in going forward because for all of the individuals who have done this event. We're not less skilled than we were before. We're probably more skilled and more experienced. The environment isn't there."

Phillips, who hosted his first major event in 1996, said this cancellation has left a bitter taste in his mouth as he sees the event as a stepping-stone for budding cyclists to hone their craft and test themselves against international riders. Young duathletes, who compete in categories from eight-and-under and higher, are among those left disappointed.

"The reality is, I think for myself, it's a disappointment on my part too because I would have played a part in putting on so many positive activities over the years."

The former TT Cycling Federation president said the recent years of the Cycling on the Avenue event was a scaled-down one, as its initial years cost him roughly $375,000 to put on when factors such as advertising, prize money, infrastructure and accommodation of the athletes are weighed in. In the more recent editions, Phillips said the budget had a "major dip" to approximately $200,000.

Despite that dip, he said it was still a challenge to manage the costs.

"Up to last year, finding ways of subsidising those costs of it falls on the organisers' shoulders at the end of the day when there's any shortfall. It falls on my shoulders, or whoever is putting on the event, to be able to then continue."

He said hosting grand sporting events is akin to a big exercise in crisis-management and said the appetite for sport promoters or for fostering a greater sporting culture is absent.

"Clearly, there's no rush as I could see that people have been looking into and putting on sporting events. There's a big contrast between fete promoters, Carnival band owners, and sport promoters."

Last year, Colombia's Mateo Garcia won the 30-lap main event at Cycling on the Avenue when he edged out former champion Frayre. US cyclist Lucas Bourgoyne placed third in last year's main event, with the TT pair of Tarik Woods and Adam Alexander rounding off the top five.

This story was originally published with the title "Promoter pulls plug on 2025 Cycling on the Avenue" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

EVENT promoter and former national cyclist Michael Phillips has pulled the plug on the 2025 Cycling on the Avenue event, which would have seen hundreds of eager participants testing their mettle in varying events along the popular liming strip on Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook.

Phillips made the announcement via a Facebook post on October 6 and later told Newsday that his decision was partly influenced by the postponement of the Tobago International Cycling Classic (TICC), which was initially scheduled for September 30-October 5 this year. In August, TICC chairman Jeffrey Charles said the Tobago tour event would be postponed and he had hoped to still host it before the end of the year.

For Phillips and his Cycling on the Avenue event, which normally sees a number of foreign athletes participating after their sojourn in TICC, it was a much more straightforward decision.

"Attention: cycling and duathlon enthusiasts, I am saddened to inform you that there will be no Cycling on the Avenue in 2025," Phillips said via his social media post. "We hope to make announcements about future events soon. Thank you for your understanding in this matter."

Last year, Colombia's Mateo Garcia won the 30-lap main event at Cycling on the Avenue when he edged out former TICC winner and 2023 Cycling on the Avenue champion Eder Frayre, of Mexico. US cyclist Lucas Bourgoyne placed third in last year's main event, with the Trinidad and Tobago pair of Tarik Woods and Adam Alexander rounding off the top five.

The 2024 staging was the tenth edition of Cycling on the Avenue.