Fourth championships fixture falls as Ermington Classic cancelled
Plymouth Corinthian CC has called off both its open and women's National B races, scheduled for Sunday. It is the fourth regional or national championships race lost from the British calendar in the past two weeks, all due to low entry numbers.
The Ermington Classic, scheduled for Sunday 31 May at a new village-centre course in Devon, has been cancelled — the fourth regional or national championships race to fall from the British calendar in a fortnight.
Confirming the cancellation on Monday, race organiser Travis Bramley said Plymouth Corinthian CC had been seeking 40 riders for the open race and 15 for the women’s, and that neither figure had been close to met. “We weren’t even close to meeting either of those targets,” he wrote in an email to The British Continental.
Bramley said the club had been “excited to deliver a new National B road race course for the riders, with a village centre uphill finish (and even got the council to fill in some of the potholes!)”. Riders entered into either race have been signposted to the South East Regional Championships in West Sussex on the same day, whose entries remain open until Thursday. Bramley says he has also approached the East Midlands championships organiser to ask whether entries might briefly be re-opened for those for whom that race is closer to home.
The cancellation extends a pattern. On 16 May, the women’s Northern Regional Road Race Championships — also scheduled for 31 May, at the Scorton circuit near Catterick — were called off after 18 entries against a viability threshold of 25; the second consecutive year the women’s championships of the North East, North West and Yorkshire regions have fallen this way. The open men’s race on the same circuit, the same day, goes ahead.
Days later, the Open Welsh Road Race Championships, scheduled for Saturday 30 May at Builth Wells, were postponed by Beico Cymru, again citing low entries. The British Continental understands that the open Central Region Road Race Championships have also have been cancelled, although we have not seen any official confirmation as yet.
The Ermington Classic, scheduled for Sunday 31 May at a new village-centre course in Devon, has been cancelled — the fourth regional or national championships race to fall from the British calendar in a fortnight.
Confirming the cancellation on Monday, race organiser Travis Bramley said Plymouth Corinthian CC had been seeking 40 riders for the open race and 15 for the women’s, and that neither figure had been close to met. “We weren’t even close to meeting either of those targets,” he wrote in an email to The British Continental.
Bramley said the club had been “excited to deliver a new National B road race course for the riders, with a village centre uphill finish (and even got the council to fill in some of the potholes!)”. Riders entered into either race have been signposted to the South East Regional Championships in West Sussex on the same day, whose entries remain open until Thursday. Bramley says he has also approached the East Midlands championships organiser to ask whether entries might briefly be re-opened for those for whom that race is closer to home.
The cancellation extends a pattern. On 16 May, the women’s Northern Regional Road Race Championships — also scheduled for 31 May, at the Scorton circuit near Catterick — were called off after 18 entries against a viability threshold of 25; the second consecutive year the women’s championships of the North East, North West and Yorkshire regions have fallen this way. The open men’s race on the same circuit, the same day, goes ahead.
Days later, the Open Welsh Road Race Championships, scheduled for Saturday 30 May at Builth Wells, were postponed by Beico Cymru, again citing low entries. The British Continental understands that the open Central Region Road Race Championships have also have been cancelled, although we have not seen any official confirmation as yet.
Featured image: Joe Hudson
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