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Are you riding a cyclo sportive or Gran Fondo this summer? We know that you’ll have spent the last few months preparing for your race. But we want to help you with a few last minute tips from our expert guides! 1) CHECK YOUR BIKE It’s now probably too late to get your bike serviced by a professional. However, you can still cover some basics yourself, which will certainly improve your chances of avoiding a mechanical. Wheels – Check for trueness. If it’s looking quite wobbly, get a mechanic to have a look at the expo. This should hopefully help prevent you breaking any spokes during the ride. Tyres – check for cuts etc and replace if anything looks bad (you’ll always be able to get a tire at the expo). If the tyres look ok, pick out any debris that might be lodged in the small nicks/cuts on the tyre. Get those tiny glass fragments out before it works its way through to the inner tube. If you do end up changing a tyre, make sure you ride your bike for at least 5 minutes before you...

Sports Tours International has a team of expert mechanics on hand to help our clients out when they need it most. From a simple puncture to a major breakdown, their job is get you back on the road as quickly as possible. We caught up with Roy Pearson, a skilled mechanic and veteran of dozens of Sports Tours International trips to find out more about the work he does and some of the more unusual jobs he’s encountered! BUT FIRST, A BIT MORE ABOUT ROY… Roy built his experience servicing hundreds of bikes at Ribble Cycles and Dolan Bikes, building countless wheels at Hewitt Cycles and surviving Pro Cycling without much sleep at the Tour of Britain when working for the United Healthcare Pro Cycling Team. As well as working as a mechanic, Roy is also one of our expert guides and he has raced at an elite level. Not so long ago, he was in the same race as the Yates Brothers. So when Simon Yates rode away from the entire GC to the surprise of the world’s media at this year’s Giro, it was no ...

Sports Tours International is delighted to announce JD Gyms Preston as the official title sponsor of this years City of Preston 10k. Taking place on Sunday September 30 th , the race returns to the city after uncertainty surrounding its future. Sports Tours International, a leading mass participation event organiser based in the North West who deliver the Tour of Tameside, UKFast We Love Manchester 10k, UKFast City of Salford 10k and Alder Hey Children’s Charity 10k are thrilled to take over and drive forward the well supported race, formerly known as the Run Preston 10k. Kevin Harmer, UK Events & Sponsorship Manager for Sports Tours International said; “With our experience in delivering a number of mass participation running events across the North West, we learnt of the need for a new delivery partner to come in and take control of the event. After meeting with Preston City Council, it was obvious to see the potential in taking over the race and the request from them to have...

ABOUT CLEAN AIR DAY Air pollution is real and harms the health of millions. But there are lots of simple things we can do to improve air quality and look after our own and other people’s health. Clean Air Day is a chance to find out more about air pollution, share information with friends and colleagues, and help make the air cleaner and healthier for everyone.   Living on the outskirts of Manchester and working in Salford, which is two of the worst places for air quality in the UK , I’m all for Clean Air Day. I’m also an advocate, as I cycle to work most days and often experience lungs full of black smoke from badly maintained diesel engines ( although research suggests that pollution inside the car is even worse than outside  ). So anything that promotes behaviour changes to reduce pollution, get people active and improve our lives, we’ll do our best here at Sports Tours International to raise awareness. After a terrible wet and cold winter for commuting by bicyc...

Sports Tours International, founded in 1973 by Irish international marathon runner Vince Regan, has acquired the Republic of Ireland’s largest running tour operator Sports Travel International. Sports Tours International is Europe’s leading tour operator, offering multi-sports experiences, challenges and events. The Manchester-based company, which celebrates its 45 th year in business this year, is known worldwide for its partnerships with all of the World Marathon Majors, iconic cycling events such as the Tour De France, and its association with the world’s number one active lifestyle resort, Club La Santa in Lanzarote.   Commenting on the acquisition Sports Tours International CEO Chris Bird said, “We are delighted to have agreed a deal with Sports Travel International. The owner Martin Joyce has been a long-time friend of our business and is one of the most respected operators in our sector. I am delighted that Martin will continue working with us as his knowledge and g...

A record number of entrants were seen at this years Tour of Tameside, the four day back to back running challenge. Over 1,200 race entries ranging from elite club runners to first time participants took on four testing routes in some of the best locations Tameside has to offer. Kevin Harmer, UK Events & Sponsorship Manager for Sports Tours International said; “After bringing the Tour back in 2015, the event has grown on average 25% each year and this year has been no exception. With an increased number of runners, sponsors and partners on all four days, the event has again been a fantastic showcase and will help further in getting ‘the whole borough on the move.” Competitors took part in ‘The Ultimate Running Challenge’ which consisted of the X-Trail 10k, Hell on the Fell, Hero Half Marathon and Dr Ron Hyde 7 mile races back to back, so true to its history the endurance levels required to run four days back to back was evident once more. A ‘Walking Tour of Tameside’ and ‘Scho...

We caught up with our inspirational Community Ambassador, Rhianna Parkinson, to discuss her experience of taking on the Ironman 70.3 England. So over to Rhianna! “What a day! 2 years ago I was looking anxiously out across Chase water Lake, about to tackle my first Ironman 70.3. I had the worst butterflies in my stomach as I queued up for the swim start and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it! June 10 th 2018, and I’m looking across the same water  (albeit a lot mistier this year) feeling confident, fit and healthy, and looking forward to what I knew was going to be a great day, and training experience ahead of the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in just 12 weeks’ time.” The swim start was delayed by 1 hour due to safety concerns over very poor visibility as the fog descended over Chase water Lake, but everybody was in great spirits and the atmosphere was positive. Thankfully however, the swim eventually went ahead as planned. I loved the natural lake and ...

Father’s Day is nearly and we caught up with Running Dads blogger, Anthony to discuss the benefits of being a dad who lives an active lifestyle and regularly gets his trainers on and goes for a run. Over to Anthony … I am a runner. I am a dad.   I am a running dad. I am not alone in that; there is a community of us out there who enjoy not only the body and mind fitness benefits, but also key to our motivation is to extend this to our children. We run to inspire them; to show them what they can achieve when the challenge is a great one and to never, ever give up. We want to instil in them the characteristics of resilience, determination, courage and aspiration and through seeing us run can enhance this. My inspiration is my son, Ethan. He is three and my absolute world. To be fair, not just mine, but most people that he meets. He is a little charmer and has a way of making the toughest of days become the best. He has supported me in quite a number of events now, with fellow r...

As Father’s Day is only round the corner, Daddies Escape blogger, Peter Gough tell us more about what Daddies Escape do and how it was founded. I thought it best to describe Daddies Escape from my own perspective as someone who joined a few months after the group was started. The original three who started the group are Liam, Shaun and Frankie although they kindly consider me as a founder member also. Like many runners, I have more than a passing interest in coffee and where I live in Denton there is a Costa. I would regularly go in and just got chatting to a barista called Frankie Yan. As I was regularly entering races, I kept on seeing Frankie at different events and we always found time to exchange a handshake at the end. Up to this point, I had ran on my own for over 6 years and when Frankie said that he was in a running group with some friends and asked me to join, I can admit to feeling a little daunted at first as I thought I might be out of my depth and slow compared to the ...

Sports Tours International, owners of the Tour of Tameside, UKFast We Love Manchester 10k, UKFast City of Salford 10k races and more are delighted to announce ABL Health as our official ‘Community Health and Wellbeing Partner’ for 2018. ABL Health deliver community healthcare programmes across ten different sites in the north of England and are passionate about tackling health inequalities and transforming the way that community healthcare works. Through their healthcare and health promotion services, ABL support people to be ‘active participants’ in the healthcare system and work to create a culture where people think and talk proactively about their health. Kevin Harmer, UK Events & Sponsorship Manager said; “Sports Tours International are delighted to be to announce ABL Health as our official Community Health and Wellbeing Partner in 2018. Working with ABL Health alongside our MyFirst brand, will expertly guide and assist those runners who are new to running with expert conten...

My name is Alex, I am 45 years old and a dad to 2 boys aged 6 and 8 and I’m head of the product and operations department at Sports Tours International. My team and I create and deliver all the travel packages to the world’s best running and cycling events that you can currently see on the sports tours international website . www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk We work with the 6 Marathon Majors, the 3 Grand Tours of Cycling and the 5 Monuments of Cycling. We offer the biggest selection of cycling hospitality days and we also offer fully supported packages or just things like entry or airport transfers to the major Cyclo-Sportives in Europe. As it is father’s day, I do a lot of cycling and running and I am a father to 2 young boys, I was asked to write some words about being an active dad. To explain what I do and what works for me I will first of all explain how I got to work for sports tours in the first place. Moving to the UK from France and starting with Sports Tours Interna...

As we get into June and into the summer proper we have seen warm weather in the UK at the Sports Tours International Manchester HQ so we are getting out and about running and cycling in preparation for the summer of cycling and running. We have already delivered quite a few events successfully this year and you can find a few reviews below. Event reviews The Great Wall Marathon Our groups just keep getting bigger and bigger every year to this brilliant adventure marathon. Take a trip through living history by running a marathon along the Great Wall of China! The Great Wall Marathon started in 1998 and has been run every year along the Great wall of China since. Sport Tours International offers guaranteed entry to this event and a choice of 3 events to compete in, the marathon, half marathon or 8.5k fun run. We also offer a choice of hotels, and optional (very worthwhile) sightseeing tours. JOIN THE 2019 WAITLIST HERE Giro d’Italia We had an excellent 2018 Giro d’Italia. We st...