Ford has been announced as title sponsor of RideLondon 100, the UK's biggest closed road sportive.
The car manufacturer has signed a three year deal, building on its current role as presenting partner of RideLondon 2022.
Ford will step in to replace the insurance company Prudential, who supported RideLondon until the 2020 edition which was cancelled amid the pandemic.
The sponsorship includes naming rights to all events within the Ford RideLondon festival of cycling, including Ford RideLondon-Essex 100, two shorter sportive routes, Ford RideLondon FreeCycle and the Ford RideLondon Classique, a UCI Women's WorldTour three-day stage race.
Ford RideLondon will take place on Sunday 28 May 2023, with the Ford RideLondon Classique UCI WorldTour three-day stage race taking place from 26 to 28 May inclusive.
Entries to the 100 mile sportive are already sold out, with places for the 60 and 30-mile routes set to go on sale in coming weeks.
Announcing the deal, Hugh Brasher of RideLondon organisers London Marathon Events, said: "This is a landmark day in the history of RideLondon as Ford becomes the title partner of the world's greatest festival of cycling.
"We worked closely with Ford last year to amplify their work in promoting active travel and Ford's innovative Park the Car initiative, which encourages car users to cycle or walk rather than drive short journeys. We look forward to building on our very successful partnership to build active travel into everyday life."
Correctly anticipating that the announcement of a car manufacturer as title sponsor would not be met with universal joy by the event's cycling demographic, the statement is quick to underscore Ford's commitment to developing electric vehicles.
"Ford is serious about reducing carbon emissions and preserving the planet for future generations, and it is taking dramatic steps in order to do so," says the statement.
"Ford is targeting carbon neutrality in Europe by 2035, including all of its vehicles, production facilities and supporting logistics. It also plans an ambitious roll-out of new all-electric vehicles for which sales in Europe are expected to hit 600,000 by 2026.
It also highlights Ford's Park the Car initiative, which encourages people to avoid using a car at all where alternative or active means of transport are available.
"Preserving the planet and building a safer, healthier world requires more than electrified vehicles - in fact sometimes it requires no vehicle at all. This is why Ford launched the Park the Car initiative, to encourage people to make healthy and informed choices about their travel habits, especially over short distances.
"The initiative aims to help promote active travel, ease congestion and improve air quality in cities. Walking and cycling are proven to improve both physical and mental health, as well as ease traffic congestion in built-up areas."
London's Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said: "We need to reduce the number of car journeys taking place by supporting people to switch to active travel options like walking and cycling, and the car journeys that do happen need to be cleaner. This way we can not only tackle the challenges of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion, but also help to build a safer, greener and healthier London for everyone.
"RideLondon is a brilliant event which will inspire people to take advantage of an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and fun way of getting around. With Ford's support we can now continue to deliver this world-class event and encourage even more people to cycle around our city."
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