SINGAPORE — With just a month to go before this year’s Cycle Asia Singapore, the event is still without a title sponsor.

While event organisers Spectrum Worldwide (SWW) claimed they are still “confident” they will secure a sponsor in time for the mass cycling event traditionally earmarked for April, they admit there is a possibility it will be scrapped this year if they fail to do so.

“We are still in discussions with potential title sponsors, and will make an announcement in due course. Depends on how these discussions go. We are confident of making good progress,” Chris Robb, managing director of SWW, told TODAY.

“If, for some reasons, the event doesn’t take place this year, we will refund the entry fees for those who have chosen the option to have their payment for last year’s race credited to this year’s event.”

Last year’s Cycle Asia Singapore – originally scheduled for April 10-12 – was postponed after SWW said they had “exhausted all feasible solutions” in their search for a title sponsor.

“Unfortunately, the current sponsorship environment has made it very difficult for us to secure a new title sponsor that would enable us to meet these objectives for Cycle Asia Singapore this year,” SWW said at the time.

People who registered for last year’s event were given an option of a full refund of the entry fees, or have their payment credited to this year’s race, or to the Cycle Asia Kuala Lumpur event last June.

William Tan, who signed up for last year’s race and chose the option of a full refund, said that he is disappointed that there is no news on the confirmation of this year’s race yet.

“I feel disappointed as there are not many mass cycling events in Singapore. It would be quite a pity if the Cycle Asia Singapore event could not take place again this year. This will definitely take a hit on the event’s reputation as people would be worried about signing up for it again in the future. Participants who trained for the race, and especially those aiming for good timings, would be training for nothing in the end, and a full refund would not suffice.”

More than 10,500 cycling enthusiasts reportedly signed up for last year’s event across the six offered categories.

According to Robb, the “bulk of the group” chose the full refund option last year.

Cycle Asia Singapore was previously known as the OCBC Cycle Singapore, before SWW and title sponsors OCBC ended their partnership in July 2014.

First staged in 2009, the race had grown in popularity from 5,300 participants in the first year to nearly 12,000 for the 2014 race, when it was last held.