This week’s HSBC UK | National Road Championships are set to be one of the best events on the cycling calendar, according to two of Britain’s brightest young stars.
Manon Lloyd and Emily Nelson, both 22, will be among the star-studded field which will compete for prestigious national champion’s jerseys on the on the Isle of Man this week, with the time trial titles decided on Thursday and the road races taking place on Sunday.
Nelson - who enjoyed an excellent track season throughout the winter, winning her debut UCI Track World Cup title and a world championship silver medal alongside Elinor Barker in the Madison in Hong Kong – said:
“There’s a great field at nationals this year. On the women’s side, there are the likes of Lizzie Deignan, Hannah and Alice Barnes, Dani King – this list goes on, really. There are so many good riders and having such a high quality field will make the event really enjoyable for riders and spectators.
“It just shows the quality of riders that we have in this country – it’s really exciting to be part of.”
Lloyd, who has also enjoyed team pursuit and Madison success on the international stage recently, added:
“This is probably going to be one of the toughest events of the year, due to the quality of riders in the field. The level of competition is really, really tough, but it’s exciting to be racing on the Isle of Man and it’s definitely something we’ve been looking forward to.”
The Team Breeze duo will both line up for Sunday’s women’s road race alongside the likes of Alice and Hannah Barnes, former road world champion Deignan and Olympic gold medallists King, Barker and Katie Archibald.
On Thursday, Lloyd will be among those contesting the time trial, which for the first time in the championships’ history will see a title presented to the leading under-23 woman, meaning parity between the titles awarded to male and female riders.
Of this, Lloyd added:
“It’s really good and really important to have that parity. As the women have never had this before, it makes it really special this year – there are so many good under-23 girls as well, so it’ll be a great contest.”
