All that changes today with Halesowen A&CC women’s road race. The race might be limited to a 42-mile course (or two hours max) and the field might be capped at 60 riders, but it marks an important milestone toward what we hope is a return to some normality for UK road racing.
It’s a stacked field too. As one team manager told us, the race will have “more women’s UCI & elite domestic riders than most National Road Series races”. Riders on the provisional start list (see below) include no less than ten riders from the UCI Continental CAMS-Basso team, riders from the other British UCI teams, Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur and AWOL O’Shea, junior sensation Zoe Backstedt, GB Senior Academy riders Ella Barnwell and Sophie Lewis, and virtual Women’s Tour winner Leah Dixon (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank). Our journal contributors Abi Smith (GB Senior Academy) and Charliiy Berry (Pro-Noctis – Redchilli Bikes – Heidi Kjeldsen) are also slated to ride.
The event will also be poignant for very different reasons. Halesowen A&CC is mourning the loss of former member and academy rider Nick Clayton, who died on Monday at just 23 years of age. Nick had been taken ill with t-cell lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, in January. The men’s race (for Cat 2/3/4), held in the morning, will include a special prize in honour of Nick, awarded to the best junior in the race.
Course
42 miles of relatively flat terrain, starting and finishing near Astley Village Hall, Stourport-on-Severn.
It has been 428 days since Peter Kibble won the Betty Pharoah Memorial road race. That was the last time a National B road race was held in the UK, the last opportunity for the top domestic road racers to compete on the road.
All that changes today with Halesowen A&CC women’s road race. The race might be limited to a 42-mile course (or two hours max) and the field might be capped at 60 riders, but it marks an important milestone toward what we hope is a return to some normality for UK road racing.
It’s a stacked field too. As one team manager told us, the race will have “more women’s UCI & elite domestic riders than most National Road Series races”. Riders on the provisional start list (see below) include no less than ten riders from the UCI Continental CAMS-Basso team, riders from the other British UCI teams, Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur and AWOL O’Shea, junior sensation Zoe Backstedt, GB Senior Academy riders Ella Barnwell and Sophie Lewis, and virtual Women’s Tour winner Leah Dixon (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank). Our journal contributors Abi Smith (GB Senior Academy) and Charliiy Berry (Pro-Noctis – Redchilli Bikes – Heidi Kjeldsen) are also slated to ride.
The event will also be poignant for very different reasons. Halesowen A&CC is mourning the loss of former member and academy rider Nick Clayton, who died on Monday at just 23 years of age. Nick had been taken ill with t-cell lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, in January. The men’s race (for Cat 2/3/4), held in the morning, will include a special prize in honour of Nick, awarded to the best junior in the race.
Course
42 miles of relatively flat terrain, starting and finishing near Astley Village Hall, Stourport-on-Severn.
The women’s race kicks off at 14.30 BST.
Provisional startlist
Featured photo: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com. 2019 HSBC UK Women’s National Road Series – East Cleveland Klondike GP.
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