UK life insurance and financial services company Prudential has opted to extend its title sponsorship of annual mass-participation cycling event RideLondon.
The agreement will run for three years, from 2016 through to 2018.
Under the deal, the event will continue to be known as Prudential RideLondon, the name it has been run under since its inaugural edition in 2013.
Open to all ages and abilities, the event has raised over £20m (€28.3m/$30.4m) for good causes since its launch, with this year’s edition attracting more than 95,000 riders. Those who take part compete in five events on traffic-free roads in London and nearby Surrey.
Prudential said that it would focus its sponsorship on maximising the funds raised for charity through the development of new and existing charitable partnerships, which will form part of a wider effort to invest in local communities.
The International Cycling Union has granted WorldTour status to the women’s road race for the 2016 event, with organisers planning further developments to improve the event’s size, diversity and accessibility.
Mike Wells, group chief executive at Prudential, said: “At Prudential we have a long history of supporting the communities in which we work and by extending this sponsorship we can help raise even greater sums of money for good causes across the UK and further afield, making a real difference to people’s lives.”