MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council will today (Thursday) debate the return of the Velothon, proposed for Sunday, June 8, 2018, amid a claim that the debriefing document on the 2017 race plays down a potentially serious incident and questions the financial cost benefit of staging the event.

In the Internal Corporate Debrief document the Council concedes, ‘It is impossible to gauge the legacy to see if the council has benefitted from any return investment from the Velothon’ adding, ‘It is difficult to measure the cost benefit of MCC staff time without data provided by Velothon on the benefits brought into the authority area’.

The document, seen by the Chronicle, claims that although opinion in 2016 was divided with people either ‘loving or loathing’ the event, ‘positive social media sentiment’ increased from 21 per cent to 68 per cent by the next year and that in 2017 negative press mentions were down from 44 per cent to 25 per cent .

The report also claims that cyclists were overheard saying, ‘In other places you get tacks on the road but here you get flag waving, bunting, it was like a stage of the Tour de France’.

Notably, the document brushes aside a claim that the event caused considerable distress to the family of a seriously ill Abergavenny man in need of vital assistance after his carers were blocked from reaching his home by Velothon stewards - despite having special passes.

The document states the incident was ‘unsubstantiated and with no evidence’.

The incident was covered in the Chronicle (June 13) and reported frantic calls by a manager at Allied Healthcare who said it had eventually taken three hours to reach the 84-year-old suffering late stage Parkinson’s Disease and kidney disease.

It was also confirmed by the man’s daughter, Angela Brown, who called the whole affair, ‘Unbelievable’. Velothon Wales have since apologised for any ‘confusion’.

The council report does concede that in the 2017 event, ‘Stewards seemed to be lacking in local knowledge and there were some issues with language problems’ before adding, ‘Sometimes it felt that it was not always clear who was dealing with matters arising internally, for example, engagement with residents and traffic orders.’

Chronicle editor, Liz Davies reacted to the ‘unsubstantiated’ suggestion in a letter to MCC Chief Executive Paul?Matthews, saying, ‘During our investigation into this story a Chronicle reporter spoke to representatives of Allied Healthcare and the Velothon, who both confirmed there had indeed been an incident.

‘While Allied Healthcare declined to comment due to patient confidentiality there was no suggestion the incident had not occurred or had been exaggerated.

‘I was disappointed to read MCC’s defamatory assertion that the report in the Chronicle had been ‘unsubstantiated with no evidence’ - a statement which not only damages the Chronicle’s reputation but potentially adds to the distress felt by Mrs Brown and her father.

‘As I hope you would know by now, the Chronicle is not in the habit of publishing speculative stories with no evidence to back them.’

The Velothon Wales website, however, makes no mention of any issues, stating, ‘The cycling events of the UCI Velothon Series are renowned for perfect and professional organisation. All events are carried out with the same standards as a pro race.’

Velothon Wales is managed by Run 4 Wales, a licensee of Ironman (World Triathlon Corporation) and is one of a number of similar events put on throughout the UK and beyond.

The World Triathlon Corporation is a for-profit organisation owned by the Chinese conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group - the world’s biggest private property developer - based in Beijing.

The company organises, promotes and licenses the Ironman Triathlon and several cycling, running and multi-sports events. Thousands of riders took part in the 2017 Velothon Wales, paying around £65 to enter. In 2018 the Velothon will become a mass participation event only with no professional participation.

Monmouthshire County Council, along with other local authorities on the Velothon route uses the 1984 Road Traffic Regulation Act to undertake road closures.

They state they receive no payment from the organisers in return for an expenditure in the region of £20,000. No compensation is paid to businesses or residents affected by the event.