Published: 20 June 2019
Images: SWpix.co
The HSBC UK | National Road Championships will take place in Norfolk this week with a host of elite world title and Olympic medal winners set to compete. Among them are a strong group of Scottish riders.
The new national time trial champions will be crowned on the Royal Sandringham Estate on Thursday June 27, while the road races will be contested on Sunday June 30.
Scottish Contenders
Hannah Barnes (Canyon /Sram Racing) and her sister Alice (Canyon /Sram Racing)
took the top two positions on the podium for the womens elite time trial last year. Bronze medal winner and Scottish favourite Neah Evans (Team HUUB) will be looking to knock them off the top spots, as will 2017 bronze medallist Katie Archibald. Both riders will also be looking to dominate in the road race. Having swept the podiums in the endurance events at the 2018 Scottish National Track Championships, Sophie Lankford (Team Jadan Welditie-Vive le Velo) will also be keen to put in a good time trial in Norfolk. Rhona Callandar (Team Breeze) returns to racing on UK soil following a brilliant race representing GBCT at the European Games in Minsk last week.
2018 Scottish National Road Race Champion Jennifer George (Torelli-Assure-madison) joins an already strong Scottish contingent to line up for the road race on Sunday.
In the men’s event, Harry Tanfield and five-time winner Alex Dowsett (both Katusha – Alpecin) finished second and third respectively behind Geraint Thomas last year, and the duo will be looking to claim the top spot on the podium this time around. Several talented Scottish men will be competing for their place on the podium. Team Scotland Commonwealth Games silver medalist John Archibald (Ribble Pro Cycling) and Mark Robertson (Army Union Cyclists) winner of 2018 Scottish National Road Race Championship are on the start list.Stuart Balfour (Cotes D'Armor Cyclisme) returns to race on home soil following a brilliant season racing in Europe. Having riden in the Tour de Yorkshire in May, young rider Joe Nally (Team Inspired) will also be riding.
Good Luck to all riders competing this weekend #NationofCyclists
British National Road Championships Routes
The men will race over 25.9 miles in the time trial, while the women will cover 17 miles both starting and finishing at the Royal Sandringham Estate.
The road races start and finish in Norwich city centre, with the men covering 125.2 miles and the women 83.5.
The routes head north out of the city centre, via Wroxham, Cromer and Wells next to the Sea. The men’s parcours then loops through Holkham Hall, making up the extra distance, before passing the Norfolk coastline and travelling back via Foulsham.
The men’s route covers around 2,680 feet of elevation, with some lumps along the way and an uphill finish – you can see the GPX file here.
The women’s race comprises of just under 1,800 feet of climbing, sharing the same finish – the GPX route is here.
A Celebration of Cycling
The championships form part of the four-day Great British Cycling Festival, which will also include a number of mass participation events. One of these is a 100-mile sportive, following in the tracks of the professional riders on Sunday June 30. Thousands of locals are expected to pedal their way through traffic-free streets of Norwich on the Sunday morning, as free-to-attend cycling festival HSBC UK Let’s Ride also rolls into the city. For more information, or to enter, visit the website.
Where to Watch
Schedule: The time trials take place on Thursday, with the following schedule: Under-23 men: 10am start; Elite women: 12:20pm start; Elite men: 3.31pm start; Under-23 women: 5:55pm start. The road races will be contested on Sunday, with the men’s race starting at 9am and the women’s at 2:30pm.
Coverage: There will be a live stream of the finish line for Thursday’s time trials on British Cycling’s Facebook page, while the live timing data will be available here.
The road races will be shown via our Youtube channel on Sunday. British Cycling will be distributing a full report and imagery after racing is complete on both Thursday and Sunday.
