Past the Cathedral: Lincoln GP reveals course change for 70th edition
The 12.9-kilometre circuit has been unchanged since 1987, but for the 70th edition on 10 May organisers have rerouted the section after the finish line;taking riders past Lincoln Cathedral for the first time.
The Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix will pass through the Exchequer Gate Arch and past the front of Lincoln Cathedral on every lap after organisers confirmed a course change for the race’s 70th edition on 10 May.
The revision alters the section immediately after the finish line—a part of the circuit that has been unchanged since Paul Curran’s hat-trick season in 1987. The reroute adds cobbles and a couple of additional turns within a few hundred metres of the line, made possible through the race’s working relationship with Lincoln Cathedral.
Race director Gary Coltman says the timing feels right. “It feels especially fitting that, for the 70th edition of the country’s oldest, most prestigious day of elite road racing, the route will pass directly by one of Britain’s most treasured and architecturally significant cathedrals,” he says. “Dominating the skyline for miles, the riders will get an incredible close-quarters view—although with the extra cobbled stretch and those quick successive turns after Michaelgate, they may not be in a position to take it all in.”
The existing course takes riders up Michaelgate—200 metres of cobbled, claustrophobic climbing that averages 12.9% and peaks at 27.6%—before a short, twisting finishing straight past the castle walls. The 70th edition now extends that drama past one of England’s most recognisable medieval landmarks.
The Lincoln Grand Prix is forms Round 2 of Rapha Super-League round for both the open and women’s races, and is also a key fixture in the National Road Series.
The Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix will pass through the Exchequer Gate Arch and past the front of Lincoln Cathedral on every lap after organisers confirmed a course change for the race’s 70th edition on 10 May.
The revision alters the section immediately after the finish line—a part of the circuit that has been unchanged since Paul Curran’s hat-trick season in 1987. The reroute adds cobbles and a couple of additional turns within a few hundred metres of the line, made possible through the race’s working relationship with Lincoln Cathedral.
Race director Gary Coltman says the timing feels right. “It feels especially fitting that, for the 70th edition of the country’s oldest, most prestigious day of elite road racing, the route will pass directly by one of Britain’s most treasured and architecturally significant cathedrals,” he says. “Dominating the skyline for miles, the riders will get an incredible close-quarters view—although with the extra cobbled stretch and those quick successive turns after Michaelgate, they may not be in a position to take it all in.”
The existing course takes riders up Michaelgate—200 metres of cobbled, claustrophobic climbing that averages 12.9% and peaks at 27.6%—before a short, twisting finishing straight past the castle walls. The 70th edition now extends that drama past one of England’s most recognisable medieval landmarks.
The Lincoln Grand Prix is forms Round 2 of Rapha Super-League round for both the open and women’s races, and is also a key fixture in the National Road Series.
Featured image: Mathew Wells/SWpix.com
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