With the continued Covid 19 environment, and with recent announcements and with recent announcements that New Zealand is now in a Red Traffic Light as part of the Covid-19 Protection Framework, making it clear that large scale events will not be able to proceed in red, combined with no clear direction as to when we will come out of red, the team at BDO Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge have made the tough decision to cancel its planned 19 February 2022 event.

Attracting around 5,000 riders and 7,500 supporters, the BDO Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge had already postponed the event from its originally planned November 2021 date to February 2022, in addition to not being able to run in November 2020 due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.

With a 43 year history and having not been able to deliver the BDO Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge over the past two years, the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Trust and event management team are hugely disappointed to be making this announcement, however with less than 4 weeks to go until event weekend, the decision was the only one that could be made with the current situation that we all face right now.

Events the scale of the BDO Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge bring with them significant social and economic benefit, so we know this will be disappointing for not only the thousands of riders who have already entered and are looking forward to event weekend, but also to everyone who support and help bring the event to fruition including our incredible volunteer groups, suppliers, sponsors and event partners, accommodation and hospitality providers, along with other stakeholders and the Taupo community as a whole.

There has been a significant uptake in cycling and people getting out on their bikes over the past two years and as organisers of New Zealand’s largest cycling event, we look forward to welcoming people back to the beautiful location that is Taupo for our next planned BDO Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge event later this year on Saturday 26 November 2022.

All those who were already entered for the February 2022 event have also been contacted via email.

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