Round 3 of the women’s National Road Series takes place this Sunday in Leicestershire at the women’s CiCLE Classic. Here’s a preview of the race, including race insight and predictions from Colin Sturgess.
Make no mistake, whoever takes home the £1000 first prize (and pork pie) will be a worthy winner
Colin Sturgess
What is it?
This is the fourth edition of the women’s CiCLE Classic. Like the men’s version, the race takes place on roads and farm tracks across the undulating landscape of Rutland and East Leicestershire.
Previous winners include Neah Evans, Katie Archibald, and Rebecca Durrell. Durrell (Brother UK – Tifosi p/b OnForm) returns this year and will be donning the National Road Series leaders’ jersey after a stellar start to the road season.

The route
The race starts and finishes in Melton Mowbray. 105km long, the three-part route takes in many of the off-road sectors that will be familiar to those who have followed the men’s race over the years, including Somerberg, Sawgate and Newbold Manor.

Colin Sturgess’ view
Colin Sturgess is a former track world champion and professional road cyclist who has also managed domestic teams Metaltek-Kuota and Madison Genesis
It’s a busy weekend as the HSBC UK | National Road Series returns after a few weeks’ hiatus for round three of the series. The men’s peloton take to the roads of Lancaster for the inaugural Lancaster GP, whilst the women’s peloton head to the rural lanes and fields (quite literally) of Leicestershire for the fourth edition of this gruelling race.
A truncated parcours sees the women covering 105km of a very circuituious course that will take in the off-road sectors of Sawgate Lane, Somerberg, Manor Farm, and Newbold Manor, and the three categorised climbs of the day: Burrough Berg, Cold Overton Berg, and Cuckooberg. For spectators, as with the men’s edition, the loops and laps around the village of Owston (where the race passes no less than five times!) is the place to catch the action, and as always the atmosphere promises to be fun-filled. It is a race of lefts and rights, of ups and downs, and staying alert is paramount.
There will be hard fought racing into the sectors, and the smart riders will race harder still off the sectors to consolidate any advantage and cause more splits. Luck does play a part, but I’d argue skill and positioning (as well as a decent bit of good old “grunt”) is more crucial.
The weather can and does play a big factor over these lanes and roads, as does a well organised team and helpers. Knowing where to have staff and helpers with wheels is paramount to success if the worst happens. Too often teams rely on the car (or neutral service) when a bit of forethought and planning could have a rider serviced at the road side and back on in seconds without the car having to make its way up and waste valuable seconds. Riders too are at times their own worst enemy when they simply stop. Don’t! Ride it flat until you get to the helper, or the car comes up! All this said and done, don’t for a second forget that there is an awful lot of hard racing to be done between sectors, and those three QoMs will cause splits and whittle the field down in numbers.

So who to watch? I can’t see far beyond the strongest team and a few individuals to be frank. Brother UK–Tifosi p/
Make no mistake, whoever takes home the £1000 first prize (and pork pie) will be a worthy winner.
Timings
14.00 – 17.15 approx
Weather
The forecast says should be dry with temperatures up to 17 degrees. There will be a gentle breeze, so wind shouldn’t interfere with the race.
TV
Highlights of the race will be shown on Eurosport.
Featured photo: James York, East Cleveland Klondike Grand Prix 2019
0 comments on “Women’s CiCLE Classic: race preview”