“The longest National B in the country” takes place this Sunday, 18 June, the Upton 200 serving as a valuable tune-up event for next week’s National Road Championships.
Featured image: Emma Wilcock
What is it?
Quite simply, the Upton 200 is a 200km road race around one of Yorkshire’s most cherished road circuits; the Upton course is well known for its fast, flat roads and was used for one of the stages in Nick’s Big Race last year.
The race is the longest on the national road racing calendar. Only the respected Victor Berlemont Trophy – at 180km – comes close. It is another Yomp Bonk Crew production, the young dynamic team behind the Peaks 2 Day among other races, fast becoming one of the most important race organising groups in the UK.
“We all decided we wanted the opportunity to do a proper long road race,” says Tobias Bartlett, one of the brains behind the race.
“Obviously it had to be on a circuit that wasn’t going to just blow the race apart, so the Upton circuit seemed perfect. It’s easy to marshal and not too slow, so the race should be around four to four and a half hours.
“It’s something for riders to talk about and look forward too; it’s not often we get something like this and it will create some interesting tactics and racing.”
Route
Flat and fast are the two most commonly-used descriptors for the course. The only slight elevation change is a pin straight descent into a short rise towards the most eastern turn on the course. The horizontal roads are wide too.
If they are not already familiar with the course before the race, the riders will be intimate with it by the end. With 21 laps of circuit to cover, some have the dubbed the race ‘the Upton crit’. But the Upton 200 will be no flat-out high-paced crit race. No. At 201.6km, this race will be about energy conservation and endurance. Astute strategic decision-making will be paramount too. Breakaways are likely to be contested vigorously too. Success will depend on making the right move at the right time.
Contenders
The race has attracted a strong field of riders, many of whom will be wanting to prove their mettle ahead of the National Road Championships next week.
New National Road Race Rankings leader James McKay (Cycling Sheffield) will undoubtedly be a marked man. Known for his thundering sprint, McKay will be out to prove his new title as the road race king of Yorkshire. A brief look at the Strava of the Yorkshire-based rider will indicate the sheer volume that McKay covers in training, giving him a possible advantage over his competitors in a race like this.
McKay will need to overcome Ollie Wood (Unattached) if he wants to succeed, something he was unable to do in last week’s North West and Yorkshire Regional Road Race Championships, where Wood – a team pursuit world champion on the track – pipped McKay in a two-up sprint.
Former Ribble Weldtite teammates, and now rivals, Matt King (X-Speed United) and Ollie Peckover (trainSharp Elite) go head-to-head again just one week after their dramatic battle at the East Midland Regional Road Race Championships. On a similar course to Upton, King rolled Peckover with less than ten metres to go. Peckover will be vying for a role reversal, a chance to put the image of him hunched over the bars in dejection behind him. King, now competing for the UCI Continental team X-Speed United in following the closure of Ribble Weldtite, will be hopeful to deposit further ranking points into his account after his first ever national road race win last week.
Welshman Marinus Petersen (Kalas Motip RT), a former Welsh road race champion, is an another rider to watch having recently won the Olveston Grand Prix. Peterson told us after Olveston that his “numbers are through the roof” but that he still needed to develop his race craft. This race should be a good test of both his power output and his tactical acumen.
Archie Cross (Velo Schils-Interbike RT) lines up off the back of a tremendous UCI stage race win at the Škoda Tour de Maurice. He was 9th at Olveston just before his Mauritian escapade, and will be keen to prove his worth closer to home.
Other riders to keep an eye on are William Truelove, a new entrant to the top ten of the national road race rankings, owing to a second place at the Welsh Road Race Championship last weekend. Daniel McDermott has had a strong 2023 with a number of top ten results on his palmarès. Ever consistent, McDermott will be chomping at the bit to secure his first win of the season after coming close at the Totnes Vire stage race.
There are a number of UCI riders to keep an eye on. Track specialist Rhys Britton (Saint Piran) made a return to road racing last weekend at the Welsh road race championships, finishing 9th, Last year’s national junior road race champion Zak Walker (Tudor Pro Cycling Team U23) has a chance to see how his legs compare against domestic opposition. While Josh Whitehead (Cross Team Legendre) is a former National Road Series winner.
Finally, Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix winner Alex Richardson (Saint Piran) is now on the reserve list, the organisers tell us. So a top-of-the-rankings clash may well be on the cards…
Timings
It’s not often that you hear of a National B road race taking five hours, but that may well be the case on Sunday. Starting at 10:00 the race will extend well into the afternoon with the expected finish around 15:00.
Start list
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