A number of British domestic races have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but racing is still scheduled to return to the UK this year.
British Cycling announced this week that two races on the National Road Series calendar had been cancelled, with one more event postponed as the organisers try to find a new date later in the season.
The men’s and women’s Tour of the Reservoir, set for June 5-6, have been cancelled along with the men’s and women’s Stockton Cycling Festival Grand Prix on July 18, at the organisers’ request.
The Rapha Lincoln GP has been postponed from its place on May 9, but the organisers are looking for alternative dates to reschedule the event to a later day.
The Klondike Grand Prix on April 18 had previously been cancelled.
British Cycling’s elite road racing manager, Erik Rowsell said: “There are clearly some sizeable challenges facing event organisers, who rely on the support of local stakeholders and communities in order to take place, and I know that the current uncertainty will be demoralising for teams and riders. However, British Cycling remains fully committed to providing the country’s best road riders with a high-quality, competitive series in 2021.”
“We fully support the difficult decisions which have been taken by the organisers of the Tour of the Reservoir, Alexandra Tour of the Reservoir and Stockton Cycling Festival Grand Prix, and I want to thank them for the considerable thought and effort which they put into ensuring that the events could return safely after being forced to cancel last year.
“We continue to work hard to find a feasible alternative for the Lincoln Grand Prix and will provide a further update in due course, while we also continue to provide additional support for those organisers whose races take place later in the year.”
The news follows the announcement late last month that the popular Tour Series, a collection of televised town and city centre races, has been moved from its traditional date in May to August 2021 due to the pandemic.
Organiser Sweetspot, which also runs the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour, plans to hold the series over the first two weeks of August, with free-to-air coverage on ITV4.
The confirmed dates and locations of each race are yet to be announced.
Announcing the latest race cancellations, British Cycling said the women’s National Road Series is set to start on Sunday, June 27 with the CiCLE Classic, while the men’s series should start with the Beaumont Trophy on Sunday, July 4.
