ITV to broadcast British Cycling National Road Championships

The HSBC UK National Road Championships race will be broadcast on ITV this year, British Cycling has announced.

The broadcast will begin at 3pm, on Sunday July 1 - when the races take place in Northumberland, following the time trial on Thursday June 28.

The 106km women's road race, which takes place in the morning, will be shown in highlight form, and there will be live footage from the 185km men's event - both races will finish in the village of Stamfordham, around 20km west of Newcastle.

The village hosted the Nationals road race in 2011 - when Bradley Wiggins and Lizzie Deignan won, both through late attacks.

>>> British Cycling reveals 2018 National Road Race Championships courses

The men will be competing to take the national champions' jersey from last year's victor, Steve Cummings, whilst the women will race to take the title from Lizzie Deignan.

Narrow, technical roads characterise the course - and though it's not notably hilly, there is a signifiant incline on the Ryals ascent which the men will attack four times on their 34.5km long loop. There's two short 22km laps included - on laps one and six of the six lap race, and the men will visit the climb for the last time with 30km to go.

The women will complete three laps of the long route, and will therefore meet Ryals with just 10km to go.

The races form part of the 'Cyclone Festival of Cycling', which comprises of the elite time trials and road races, plus a mass participation 'Tyne 6 Bridges' ride on Friday June 29 and the 'Cyclone Challenge Sportive' on Saturday June 30.

“At British Cycling we want to inspire people from all walks of life to get on their bikes. The HSBC UK National Road Championships are the pinnacle of our domestic calendar, and ensuring that as many people as possible get to follow the racing is a key aim of ours," said British Cycling's CEO, Julie Harrington.

“The field for both the men’s and women’s races looks set to be incredibly strong, and it’s fantastic news that people from across the country will be able to watch the country’s best riders put on a great show and be inspired to attend another event or take up and be inspired to take up the sport themselves in the future.”

The footage will remain on ITV's Hub for 27 days after the event, for those who want to catch up.