Elite road racing task force publishes recommendations for ‘reinvigorating’ domestic road racing

Five months after being announced by British Cycling, the elite road racing task force has published its recommendations on the future of domestic road racing.

The task force was created in August 2023 to support British Cycling’s “work to innovate and energise the domestic scene”. Jon Dutton, CEO of British Cycling, said at the time that the task force would not “be a talking shop”. He wanted it to provide “clear recommendations to implement,” highlighting that he thought there were “a number of areas where we can and will make immediate progress”.

The group was given a targeted remit to consider the composition of the elite national calendar (including road and circuit), the challenges facing domestic teams, and opportunities to grow the reach and profile of domestic races.  

Members of the task force included Ed Clancy (chair), Steve Fry, Monica Greenwood, John Herety, Phil Jones, Chris Lawrence, Jess Morgan and Jo Tindley. 

After six months of fact-finding, consultation and deliberation the task force has made 40 recommendations for British Cycling to implement, covering both road and circuit racing. The recommendations have been summarised into 16 overarching actions, set out in brief below. 

1. Explore the creation of a centralised procurement function. 
2. Produce a new branding, marketing and communications framework. 
3. Undertake a full review of the digital strategy. 
4. Develop event organiser succession plans for all national series events. 
5. Develop a ‘Winning Pattern’ playbook based on existing successful races. 
6. Consider a targeted sponsorship agreement for the National Series. 
7. Review rider entry processes to stimulate early entries. 
8. Develop best practice guidance for teams. 
9. Undertake a full review of the National Circuit Series. 
10. Prioritise National Circuit Series locations by audience size. 
11. Review the entry criteria for WorldTour riders to enter the National Circuit Series. 
12. Review the national road calendar and ensure more races are outside of the north of England. 
13. All efforts should be made to ensure delivery of the Tour of Britain and a UCI Women’s World Tour stage race in 2024. 
14. Explore opportunities to increase the number of UCI 1.2 and 2.2 races. 
15. Undertake a full review of race distances and rider qualification criteria. 
16. Consider a new range of jerseys for the National Road Series and a capped maximum entry cost. 

The task force’s full report can be viewed here.

The British Continental podcast returns tomorrow with a feature-length interview with task force chair Ed Clancy.