Scots ready to take on the HSBC UK National Road Championships in Northumberland.

The excitment is mounting for Thursday's National Championships with 22 Scots listed in the start sheets for the weekend.

Five Women and 17 Men will make the journey to Ponteland, Northumberland for the race start. The Time Trial rolls out from Kirkley Hall on Thursday morning with the Women's event starting the show from 11am.

Scottish Women to Watch

Current Scottish National 10 Mile Champion, Neah Evans is one of four Scottish Women set to take the field in the Time Trial. Following some stong performances recently in the Women's Tour, Neah will be looking to improve on her double-6th last year and get in amongst the action in both the TT and the Road Race. She will be joined by Jennifer George of team Torelli-Brother, Chloe Fraser from The Racing Chance Foundation and Jenny Holl and Rhona Callander both from Team Breeze. Both Jenny and Rhona are enjoying their first year in the U23s and will be looking to gain more valuable experience at this level of competition.

Scottish Men to Watch

John Archibald will be one of 17 Scottish riders lining up this weekend to take to the roads. Although he is competing in both the Road Race and the Time Trial, it will doubtless be the latter that will be the main focuss of his efforts. A good race from him could see him mixing with the contenders. Also there will be Team Sky's Tao Geoghegan Hart, Tao will no doubt be looking to be competitive in both the Road Race and the Time Trial. He will be feeling good following an excellent performance in this year's installment of the Critérium du Dauphiné, which included an 8th place on Stage 6 and victory in the Team Time Trial in Stage 3. Former National Champion David Griffiths has also earned a spot at the TT.

There will also be an excellent Scottish showing in the Men's U23 TT event with a potential of 9 Scottish Riders taking the start. Four of those are also entered for the combined U23s & Elite Road Race on Sunday which will provide excellent experience for the young riders.

The Time Trial

The women and under-23 men will complete two laps of the course, while the elite men will race three.

This year’s event will both start and finish at the 17th-century historic country mansion and Grade II-listed Kirkley Hall, near Ponteland.

The men and women will ride the same P-shaped, course, with the senior men completing three laps and the women and under-23 men completing two. The course starts in the grounds of Kirkley Hall before heading north past Kirkley Cycles, Shilvington and up to the Gubeon where it turns right towards Tranwell. It then heads south over Saltwick Hill and down to Twizzell to complete the lap.

Schedule

Start times

Time trial

11.00am – Women’s time trial

1.45pm – U23 time trial

5.00pm – Men’s time trial

The Road Race

On Sunday it’s the turn of the elite riders to round off the weekend, with the road races taking place in the village of Stamfordham.

The women's race will be in the morning over 65 miles, with the hotly contested men's race due to place over a total distance of 121 miles in the afternoon.

The men’s race will take place over a total distance of 185km, while the women will compete over 106km. Highlights of the route include challenging, narrow sections of road through Counden Hill and Hallingdon, which is immediately followed by the Ryals climb – the most significant hill on the course.

How to follow

• Follow the action live on Facebook and from the British Cycling website from 11:00am on Thursday 28 June and Sunday 1 July.
• The road race action will be broadcast on ITV, with highlights of the women’s road race and live culmination of the men’s race being shown from 3:00pm on Sunday July 1. The programme will then be available on the ITV Hub for 27 days after the event.
• Follow @BritishCycling on Twitter for race updates and on Instagram for the behind the scenes story.
• A full report, results, images and reaction each day on the British Cycling website.