Course for 2011 National Championships announced

The route of next June’s National Road Race Championships near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne has been announced, with the men’s race, following the same course as that used for the Beaumont Trophy, with some of the roads also being used in the Northern Rock Cyclone Challenge 24 hours before Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas defends his national champion’s jersey.

The 122.5-mile men’s race comprises three laps of a circuit including the climb of the Ryals ahead of a shorter finishing circuit which will be ridden four times prior to the finish in the village of Stamfordham, a few miles outside Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and the full route map can be viewed here, together with a link to Google Earth.

The women’s race, in which Emma Pooley defends the national title she won in Pendle earlier this year, uses exactly the same route, with a 64-mile route covering the larger loop once plus three laps of the finishing circuit.

The event website also includes full details of parking for those wanting to watch the championships – no parking will be allowed on the Ryals on the day itself – which form the climax to a packed weekend of racing in the North East.

Racing starts on the Friday evening with the Leazes Criteriums, followed on Saturday 25 June by the Northern Rock Cyclone Challenge, with three routes on offer of respectively 33, 63 and 104 miles.

Organisers say that demand for the rides is well ahead of that seen this time last year, with 500 cyclists already signed up, and as a result they have upped the field to 5,000 places. Full details of the rides plus details of how to enter can be found here.