The Vale of Belvoir plays host to the East Midlands Road Race Championships on Sunday, where riders will be looking to add their names to a prestigious list of winners.
First held in 1952, the race has a prestigious list of winners including Bernard Sulzberger and Ollie Peckover, with Ray Booty holding the record for the number of victories with four, winning from 1953 to 1956. Booty was also the first person to ride 100 miles in sub-4 hours and won the 1958 commonwealth games road race.
This year’s event is orgsnised by the University of Nottingham CC and the prolific Yomp Bonk Crew, with the women’s race also incorporating the West Midlands Championship, with a separate title on offer for both divisions.
With last year’s winners Matt King and Frankie Hall absent, all will be to play for with the title of divisional champion up for grabs; Will Perrett the only former winner set to start either race this year.
Matt King beats Ollie Peckover to the 2023 title. Image: Emma Wilcock
Route
Set in the peaceful Leicestershire countryside around the village of Hose, the roads around this part of the Vale are flat and wide, with Belvoir ridge and its famous castle to the south, towering over the village.
The open race covers 10 laps of the 14.4km course for a race distance of 145km, with the women covering six laps for a total of 87km.
The focal point of the race is the climb of Waltham Lane. With the finish at the summit, this 1.5km climb at an average gradient at a little over 4% is almost certain to play a major role in deciding the outcome, the vast majority of the 1143m of elevation gain in the open race can be attributed to this slope. The draggy climb slowly builds from a false flat up to a gruelling 10%, featuring several false summits, meaning it will be a challenge for riders to judge when to time their effort.
Aside from the spectacle of Waltham Lane, the course features a fast corkscrew descent out of Eastwell, leading to an exposed road into the village of Harby, where the wind could play a role in splitting the race. There is also a long drag leading up to the Waltham Lane climb and a false flat after its summit, allowing little recovery time and the potential for attacks to go and splits to occur.
Riders to watch
Women’s race
With relatively big fìeld, the women’s race promises to be a competitive affair with a number of UCI teams represented. With the added complex of two races happening together, it could be a fascinating tactical battle.
Eligible for the East Midlands crown, Georgia Lancaster (Loughborough Lightning), Lucy Ellmore (Pro-Noctis-200 Degrees Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting) and Sian Botteley (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK) head the field, although the race is an open affair with no teammates to assist in controlling the action. There are a number of outsiders with a chance of victory, among them National Grass Track Champion Tilly Gurney (University of Nottingham CC). Grace Reynolds (Brother UK – OnForm) proved her class finishing fourth in a select group at the recent Banbury Star CC Road Race.
Hunting the West Midlands title is junior Mari Porton (Tofauti Everyone Active), who will be hoping the race comes down to a sprint, demonstrating her fast finishing kick with third in the bunch sprint at the Witham Hall GP and the Jose Gilbert Memorial Trophy on Monday. Another rider to watch from that division is her teammate Ella Tandy.
Open race
Will Perrett (Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling) enters the race as the only former winner and is one of the favourites for the trophy after an impressive Ràs Tailteann last week, which saw him come agonisingly close to the overall win.
Another rider who enters the race on good form is Joseph Smith (Wheelbase-CabTech-Castelli), who was 5th last season. The Loughborough University student claimed a silver medal in the BUCS Road Race last time out on the back of three top ten results in prior National B races this season.
Richardsons Trek DAS bring the trio of Cai Davies, Matt Lord and Pete Cocker, while Ali Slater (Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy) is one to watch, the veteran still capable of mixing it with the best on a big occasion.
HUUB BCC RT, who are based in nearby Nottingham enter no less than eight riders and will look to Josh Housley for a result after his impressive ride in the East Cleveland Grand Prix and a top ten in the Totnes Vire 2 Day last weekend. Joining him will be last year’s bronze medallist, Seb Garry, who is lightly raced this season but demonstrated his form with an 8th place at the GA Bennett p/b Pedal Pushers Grantham road race last weekend.
Former HUUB BCC junior, now first year under-23 Ben Marsh (Project1) has been racing in both Italy and the UK this season, the 2023 Junior National Road Series winner picking up a second place in the Jock Wadley Memorial back in March.
A flurry of recent entries sees the in-form Spectra Racing pairing of Toby Barnes and Ed Morgan take the start; Morgan recently crowned BUCS road race champion, with Barnes dominating at the Loughborough Cycling Festival on Monday.
Adam Lewis (Skyline) rode to an agressive second place at the Rapha Lincoln GP earlier this month and will look to start where he left off on these shores, after racing the Ràs Tailteann and a UCI race in New York with his UCI Continental outfit since.
Even more late additions to the startlist on Saturday have bolstered the field even further. With Clay Davies (Ride Revolution), Alex Richardson (Saint Piran) and David Hird (Cycling Sheffield) add even more firepower to what should be an aggressive and exciting race.
Updated: 13.00, 1 June
The Vale of Belvoir plays host to the East Midlands Road Race Championships on Sunday, where riders will be looking to add their names to a prestigious list of winners.
Here is our preview.
Featured image: Emma Wilcock
What is it?
First held in 1952, the race has a prestigious list of winners including Bernard Sulzberger and Ollie Peckover, with Ray Booty holding the record for the number of victories with four, winning from 1953 to 1956. Booty was also the first person to ride 100 miles in sub-4 hours and won the 1958 commonwealth games road race.
This year’s event is orgsnised by the University of Nottingham CC and the prolific Yomp Bonk Crew, with the women’s race also incorporating the West Midlands Championship, with a separate title on offer for both divisions.
With last year’s winners Matt King and Frankie Hall absent, all will be to play for with the title of divisional champion up for grabs; Will Perrett the only former winner set to start either race this year.
Route
Set in the peaceful Leicestershire countryside around the village of Hose, the roads around this part of the Vale are flat and wide, with Belvoir ridge and its famous castle to the south, towering over the village.
The open race covers 10 laps of the 14.4km course for a race distance of 145km, with the women covering six laps for a total of 87km.
The focal point of the race is the climb of Waltham Lane. With the finish at the summit, this 1.5km climb at an average gradient at a little over 4% is almost certain to play a major role in deciding the outcome, the vast majority of the 1143m of elevation gain in the open race can be attributed to this slope. The draggy climb slowly builds from a false flat up to a gruelling 10%, featuring several false summits, meaning it will be a challenge for riders to judge when to time their effort.
Aside from the spectacle of Waltham Lane, the course features a fast corkscrew descent out of Eastwell, leading to an exposed road into the village of Harby, where the wind could play a role in splitting the race. There is also a long drag leading up to the Waltham Lane climb and a false flat after its summit, allowing little recovery time and the potential for attacks to go and splits to occur.
Riders to watch
Women’s race
With relatively big fìeld, the women’s race promises to be a competitive affair with a number of UCI teams represented. With the added complex of two races happening together, it could be a fascinating tactical battle.
Eligible for the East Midlands crown, Georgia Lancaster (Loughborough Lightning), Lucy Ellmore (Pro-Noctis-200 Degrees Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting) and Sian Botteley (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK) head the field, although the race is an open affair with no teammates to assist in controlling the action. There are a number of outsiders with a chance of victory, among them National Grass Track Champion Tilly Gurney (University of Nottingham CC). Grace Reynolds (Brother UK – OnForm) proved her class finishing fourth in a select group at the recent Banbury Star CC Road Race.
Hunting the West Midlands title is junior Mari Porton (Tofauti Everyone Active), who will be hoping the race comes down to a sprint, demonstrating her fast finishing kick with third in the bunch sprint at the Witham Hall GP and the Jose Gilbert Memorial Trophy on Monday. Another rider to watch from that division is her teammate Ella Tandy.
Open race
Will Perrett (Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling) enters the race as the only former winner and is one of the favourites for the trophy after an impressive Ràs Tailteann last week, which saw him come agonisingly close to the overall win.
Another rider who enters the race on good form is Joseph Smith (Wheelbase-CabTech-Castelli), who was 5th last season. The Loughborough University student claimed a silver medal in the BUCS Road Race last time out on the back of three top ten results in prior National B races this season.
Richardsons Trek DAS bring the trio of Cai Davies, Matt Lord and Pete Cocker, while Ali Slater (Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy) is one to watch, the veteran still capable of mixing it with the best on a big occasion.
HUUB BCC RT, who are based in nearby Nottingham enter no less than eight riders and will look to Josh Housley for a result after his impressive ride in the East Cleveland Grand Prix and a top ten in the Totnes Vire 2 Day last weekend. Joining him will be last year’s bronze medallist, Seb Garry, who is lightly raced this season but demonstrated his form with an 8th place at the GA Bennett p/b Pedal Pushers Grantham road race last weekend.
Former HUUB BCC junior, now first year under-23 Ben Marsh (Project1) has been racing in both Italy and the UK this season, the 2023 Junior National Road Series winner picking up a second place in the Jock Wadley Memorial back in March.
A flurry of recent entries sees the in-form Spectra Racing pairing of Toby Barnes and Ed Morgan take the start; Morgan recently crowned BUCS road race champion, with Barnes dominating at the Loughborough Cycling Festival on Monday.
Adam Lewis (Skyline) rode to an agressive second place at the Rapha Lincoln GP earlier this month and will look to start where he left off on these shores, after racing the Ràs Tailteann and a UCI race in New York with his UCI Continental outfit since.
Even more late additions to the startlist on Saturday have bolstered the field even further. With Clay Davies (Ride Revolution), Alex Richardson (Saint Piran) and David Hird (Cycling Sheffield) add even more firepower to what should be an aggressive and exciting race.
Timings
Provisional startlists
Women’s race
Open race
Updated: 13.00, 1 June
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