After two years of complaints for handing out lightweight cheap wooden finisher medals made from sawdust, organizers of the largest closed-road gran fondo event in the world, RideLondon, have axed the “Woodie” for 2024.

Originally introduced in 2022 as an eco-friendly finisher medal, many of the 25,000 annual participants considered the wooden tokens woefully inadequate recognition after completing the challenging 100 mile ride outside London.

Evo_Ukcar, “it’s a shame they’ve cheaped out on the crappy wooden medals for the last few years.”

Richard C., “Medal is cheapest you can get, awful.”

James S., “…awful wood medal. It got huge complaints last year and this years was arguably worse. Considering the entry price, and the excellent metal medals the company give out for the [running] marathon, there really is no excuse.”

RideLondon organizers listened and relented.

2024 finishers will now receive a metal medallion made of recycled zinc alloy, a sustainable metal according to Kevin Nash, RideLondon Director.

“We listened to the feedback from riders and the strong preference for a metal finisher’s medal. We are delighted we have now identified a way to produce a sustainable metal medal, which meets our commitment to establishing sustainable initiatives across our events.”

RideLondon 2024 takes place Sunday 26 May, starting at Victoria Embankment and finishing on London’s landmark Tower Bridge.

Photo Credit: RideLondon

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