Darlington to bid for National Circuit Series round in 2027
Graham Stobbs has until Sunday evening to lodge an expression of interest to host a Darlington Grand Prix in 2027, on the town centre circuit used for the 2024 national championships. He expects to hear in November.
Darlington is to bid for a round of the Lloyds National Circuit Series in 2027, with the organiser of the region’s criterium league given until Sunday evening to lodge a formal expression of interest with British Cycling.
Graham Stobbs, who runs the North East Crit League (NECL), announced the bid in a post on the league’s Facebook page on Saturday morning, following conversations with British Cycling, Darlington Borough Council and a Darlington business about the process, costs and benefits of hosting an elite national circuit round in the region.
The proposal grew out of the economics of running his own league. Closing a town centre is expensive, and Stobbs told The British Continental that the entry numbers NECL attracts do not justify it. “When you go at the expense of shutting everything down, the kind of entries I’m getting in the North East Crit League don’t really warrant it,” he said. “So then I thought, well, might as well go for it both feet, put my name forward for a National Circuit Series, and just see what happens.”
The approach came from the council rather than the other way round. Stobbs said the connection was made through contacts in youth cycling, and that he had since spoken to one of the council’s events managers who worked on the 2024 National Circuit Race Championships in the town. “They are very, very keen,” he said.
The proposed event would use the same course as those championships: a 1.28-kilometre technical circuit starting and finishing on West Row in the centre of Darlington, taking in Blackwellgate, Houndgate, Tubwell Row and Northgate. That evening delivered national titles for Lewis Askey and Emma Jeffers in front of a large town centre crowd. Stobbs intends to reuse the 2024 risk assessment and traffic management plan alongside the circuit itself.
Lewis Askey wins the Open National Circuit title in 2024. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
A commercial partner is also involved, which Stobbs said he was not yet able to name.
After the expression of interest, Stobbs has a week to complete the full application, which he described as around 30 elements to cover off plus a budget, set against British Cycling’s three guiding principles of growing and supporting the sport, leading on the world stage, and driving social impact. Bids then go into what he called the melting pot of all the other events, with a decision expected in November. Rounds would be held on June and July evenings in 2027.
NECL is a series of adult criterium races staged across the North East, built on the format of the North East Youth League and aimed at riders who have come out of youth racing. Stobbs is also co-deputy team manager of Otley’s junior squad.
The National Circuit Series is the top tier of domestic criterium racing in Britain, running alongside the National Road Series with separate open and women’s classifications. The 2026 edition comprised six rounds in each category across five weeks, opening with the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix on 16 June and closing with the Sheffield Grand Prix on 22 July, via Otley, Ilkley, Guildford and Dawlish. Every host venue returned from the 2025 series. No round was held in the North East, the closest being Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire.
Darlington is to bid for a round of the Lloyds National Circuit Series in 2027, with the organiser of the region’s criterium league given until Sunday evening to lodge a formal expression of interest with British Cycling.
Graham Stobbs, who runs the North East Crit League (NECL), announced the bid in a post on the league’s Facebook page on Saturday morning, following conversations with British Cycling, Darlington Borough Council and a Darlington business about the process, costs and benefits of hosting an elite national circuit round in the region.
The proposal grew out of the economics of running his own league. Closing a town centre is expensive, and Stobbs told The British Continental that the entry numbers NECL attracts do not justify it. “When you go at the expense of shutting everything down, the kind of entries I’m getting in the North East Crit League don’t really warrant it,” he said. “So then I thought, well, might as well go for it both feet, put my name forward for a National Circuit Series, and just see what happens.”
The approach came from the council rather than the other way round. Stobbs said the connection was made through contacts in youth cycling, and that he had since spoken to one of the council’s events managers who worked on the 2024 National Circuit Race Championships in the town. “They are very, very keen,” he said.
The proposed event would use the same course as those championships: a 1.28-kilometre technical circuit starting and finishing on West Row in the centre of Darlington, taking in Blackwellgate, Houndgate, Tubwell Row and Northgate. That evening delivered national titles for Lewis Askey and Emma Jeffers in front of a large town centre crowd. Stobbs intends to reuse the 2024 risk assessment and traffic management plan alongside the circuit itself.
A commercial partner is also involved, which Stobbs said he was not yet able to name.
After the expression of interest, Stobbs has a week to complete the full application, which he described as around 30 elements to cover off plus a budget, set against British Cycling’s three guiding principles of growing and supporting the sport, leading on the world stage, and driving social impact. Bids then go into what he called the melting pot of all the other events, with a decision expected in November. Rounds would be held on June and July evenings in 2027.
NECL is a series of adult criterium races staged across the North East, built on the format of the North East Youth League and aimed at riders who have come out of youth racing. Stobbs is also co-deputy team manager of Otley’s junior squad.
The National Circuit Series is the top tier of domestic criterium racing in Britain, running alongside the National Road Series with separate open and women’s classifications. The 2026 edition comprised six rounds in each category across five weeks, opening with the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix on 16 June and closing with the Sheffield Grand Prix on 22 July, via Otley, Ilkley, Guildford and Dawlish. Every host venue returned from the 2025 series. No round was held in the North East, the closest being Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire.
Featured image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
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