The new year sees a number of new events taking place in the region with the addition of new courses and resurrected venues.
This autumn the regions race organisers have been busy submitting outline plans for their events to take place in 2023, this information was collated in December and dates confirmed for the organisers who have now registered the events onto the British Cycling events System. These will all appear online over the coming weeks but to give you a flavour of the year ahead for Road racing there will be 28 races comprised of
Of these, 5 will be opening soon for entry and exclusively just to women, these include
Chitterne RR - 23rd April
Isle of Wight RR - 21st May
A Bridge too Far - 9th July
Cheltenham & County CC - 23rd July
Bath RR - 13th August
To find out more about these events as and when they appear on the system simply click the link.
2023 will also see a very welcome return to the Isle of Wight as the island plays host to two Regional A races for men and Women on a rolling course to the south of the island on the 21st May.
The race will see a new course used and help provide the opportunity for local riders on the island to get involved in road racing following the cancellation of the final stage of last years Tour of Britain which was due to finish on the island.
Celebrating it’s centenary this year Swindon Wheelers have been awarded the Men’s Regional Road race championship on the Malmesbury course to the West of the Town alongside a support race for lower category riders, The Women’s championship will take place at an alternative date to be confirmed soon.
“We are beginning to see the early stages of recovery in the region from the pandemic and whilst the cost of living crisis is playing a part in peoples participation the regions belief is that by offering the full calendar into the public eye at this early stage will enable riders to be able to better plan their own racing budgets for the year and of course secure early entries. We’ve got some great new opportunities for people in areas where racing hasn’t taken place for a number of years, and we really do hope these new venues and audiences will continue to keep racing fresh in the region and enable the number of events registered to grow in the following years as participation returns to pre pandemic levels.” -South region’s Cycle Sport Developer, Dan Coast
Riders are reminded that Road races in the region are by pre entry only, very few races were cancelled in 2022 due to low numbers but some were only able to take place due to a late surge in entries shortly before closing date. To avoid any cancellations in 2023 we would encourage all riders to enter as early as possible.
