Giant's Causeway Coast Sportive

To drive cycling tourism in Northern Ireland, CAAN has identified that participation in road cycling sportives (i.e. mass participation event, similar to a runners’ marathon) is the key mechanism to achieve this.

Consequently, CAAN has decided to organise a sportive specifically created to attract cyclists from Great Britain and Ireland to stay overnight in Northern Ireland, hence, driving bed nights and spend in the area. The event has just been awarded funding from The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) and will be an annual event that will grow year-on-year providing an excellent and reliable source of revenue for local tourism related businesses.

The hub of the event will be Ballycastle, Co Antrim. The Sportive will offer cyclists a choice of 3 routes on minor roads catering for all amateur road cyclists. It seeks to showcase some of Northern Ireland’s most stunning landscapes including the Giant’s Causeway, the Glens of Antrim and Torr Head.

Another highlight of the event will be the appearance of the high profile Irish professional cyclist Philip Deignan, who was the first Irishman to win a stage in a Grand Tour since Stephen Roche's laststage success at the Tour de France in 1992. Philip has recently signed to the American Radioshack team alongside Lance Armstrong and will give a talk on the night prior to the event and he also hopes to take part in the sportive.

A dedicated website for the event has been created (www.giantscausewaycoastsportive.com) allowing participants to book online, find out more information about the routes as well as view accommodation and other things to do in the area.