British Cycling’s top-flight domestic road series head north east to Edmundbyers in County Durham for the two-day Tour of the Reservoir on 16-17 April.
JLT Condor’s Steve Lampier leads the Motorpoint Spring Cup Series after two of five events, while Casp Racing’s Kimberley Ashton heads the Women’s Road Series after a thrilling Manx International GP Feminin opened the series.
About the series
Motorpoint Spring Cup
The Motorpoint Spring Cup Series is a five-round series running from March through to May.
Action began with the Chorley Grand Prix followed by the Manx International Grand Prix before this weekend’s event in County Durham.
After Tour of the Reservoir Two-Day, Cycle Wiltshire is the penultimate round on Sunday 8 May before the prestigious Lincoln Grand Prix brings the series to a dramatic conclusion on the cobbles of Michaelgate.
Riders will race for the Motorpoint Spring Cup Series leader’s jersey while there is also the battle for the team classification.
Women’s Road Series
The Alexandra Tour of the Reservoir is round two of eight Women’s Road Series rounds running from April to July, following the inaugural Manx International GP Feminin which opened the series.
After the Tour of the Reservoir there’s a break of over a month before another new addition, the Lincoln Grand Prix in mid-May.
Sunday 29 May sees a further new event on the series, the North Bucks Festival of Cycling Grand Prix at Newton Longville before the Essex Giro 2-Day, Curlew Cup and Otley Grand Prix in June.
The series culminates on Sunday 10 July with the Ryedale Grand Prix in Ampleforth, Yorkshire.
Riders are awarded points for their finishing position in each race, with the rider amassing the highest points total winning the coveted title of Women’s Road Series champion.
The courses
Motorpoint Spring Cup Series
Day one
Day two
The two-day Motorpoint Spring Cup Series and British Cycling Women’s Road Series events exploit the majestic country around Derwent Reservoir in County Durham.
The Motorpoint Spring Cup Series event uses two circuits, the reservoir and Blanchland loops.
Day one sees the men take on seven laps of the reservoir circuit, totalling 90 miles, while on day two the Blanchland circuit, to the south west of the reservoir comes into play, with its climbs of Bale Hill and Meadow’s Edge combining with the area’s often challenging weather conditions to add extra spice to the 98-mile parcours.
Women’s Road Series
Day one
Day two
The Women’s Road Series event starts with a 12-lap, 60-kilometre circuit-based stage at the eastern end of the reservoir, followed by stage two on Sunday with five laps of the longer reservoir loop.
What happened last year
Unseasonal wintry conditions turned both the Spring Cup Series and Women’s Road Series events into an epic contest against the elements in 2015.
Erick Rowsell (Madison Genesis) was the victor in the men’s event, winning stage one and placing second on stage two, won by One Pro Cycling’s Marcin Bialoblocki.
It was double success for the Rowsell family in County Durham, with sister Joanna (then Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International) taking the stage win on Sunday while Dani King, riding for Wiggle Honda, took home the overall crown, as well as a dose of hypothermia.
Ones to watch
Motorpoint Spring Cup Series
Last year’s winner Erick Rowsell is part of an eight-man Madison Genesis outfit. Rowsell missed the first round of the series in Chorley, with the UCI Continental team splitting their efforts between the Chorley Grand Prix and the Tour de Normandie.
But he made the trip to the Isle of Man, at one point in a break with winner Bibby, eventually taking third place behind Ben Swift.
NFTO dominated at round one in, taking a 1-2 with Edmund Bradbury and Dale Appleby while also taking first blood in the team standings. Bradbury and Appleby both make the eight, along with Ian Bibby and Josh Edmondson.
Bibby produced a fine solo breakaway to win at the Manx International Grand Prix, similar to his Chorley Grand Prix win in 2015, and NFTO will look to maintain their 100% record.
Series leader Steve Lampier has Ed Clancy, Graham Briggs for company in the JLT Condor line-up, while Pedal Heaven’s James Gullen and Dexter Gardias both travel to Northumberland occupying spots in the top-10.
Women’s Road Series
Round two of the women’s series sees a bumper entry list of over 100 riders with some serious talent on show from across the cycling disciplines.
But notably, series leader Kimberley Ashton of Cusp Racing is not set to start at the time of writing, handing 2014 and 2015 series champion Nikki Juniper an opportunity to seize top spot, she brings a full eight-rider Team Ford Ecoboost squad to County Durham as her quest for a series hat-trick resumes.
Fresh from international action at the Energiewacht Tour, Danielle Khan, Megan Barker, Abigail Dentus, Emily Nelson, Annasley Park and Melissa Lowther will ride the event in Team Breeze colours, joined by Emily Kay.
The formidable off-road talents of Evie Richards, Alice Barnes and Ffion James will be deployed on the tarmac in 100%ME colours. Richards’ form has been superlative through the winter, winning the under-23 cyclo-cross world title and achieving podium finishes in her first elite international cross-country mountain bike races.
Other notables on the entry list include lone Podium Ambition rider Grace Garner and former para-cycling world champion tandem pilot Corrine Hall, the sole entrant from IKON-Mazda.
How to follow the racing
- Follow the action from the Motorpoint Spring Cup Series and British Cycling Women's Road Series on our live blog from 8.30am on Saturday and Sunday for race updates, images and social media.
- Follow @BritishCycling on Twitter for updates from both events throughout the racing.
- Video highlights, report, results, images and reaction will appear on the British Cycling website.
- Highlights of the Motorpoint Spring Cup Series will be shown on Eurosport.
