The British Elite Road Series Thread (and other British Races)

[Flying_Monkey]

British Cycling is starting on a major reorganisation of men's road racing. This year the British Elite Road Series will combine the Spring Cup (Tour of the Reservoir 2 Day, Cycle Wiltshire GP, Lincoln GP) and the Grand Prix Series (Stockton GP, Ryedale GP, Circuit of the Fens, Stafford Kermesse, Leicester Kermesse, and the Ipswich and Coastal GP).

Where's the Rutland-Melton and the Beaumont Trophy, you may be asking? Well, they aren't included because they've actually been promoted from NE to UCI 1.2 status - so for the first time in ages, Britain has some UCI-rated day races! Which is awesome. And I am particularly pleased for my old club, the Gosforth RC, who have run the Beaumont for 60 years... hopefully we will see a couple of others similarly promoted soon, the Lincoln GP in particular.

Accompanying this will and a new category of teams with 'Elite National' status just below the UCI's Continental level, and designed, I think to feed future UCI Continental promotion. It seems a bit thin this year with only 9 teams in total, 4 at Elite (Starley Primal Pro-Cycling, Catford CC Equipe-Banks, Haribo-Beacon and Wheelbase Altura MGD) and 5 at Continental (Rapha Condor JLT, the new NFTO, Team Raleigh, Madison-Genesis and Velosure-Giordana). The sharp-eyed will notice several names missing from this list, not least IG Sigma Sport, which folded at the end of last season following IG Markets' withdrawal from UK cycling sponsorship, and Team UK Youth, which also can't find a sponsor. I hope the 4 Elite teams will be added to, but I'm not sure that there will be any more before the beginning of the season...

Anyway, changing times... and this is the thread to discuss both the racing and the changes.

 

[lyn1]

Where's the Rutland-Melton and the Beaumont Trophy, you may be asking? Well, they aren't included because they've actually been promoted from NE to UCI 1.2 status - so for the first time in ages, Britain has some UCI-rated day races! Which is awesome..

Good to have more UCI races which is a start, but that's all it is. The British Conti teams do not come out well in the fictitious rankings which suggests there are many stronger Conti teams, particularly in Europe. A number of these teams need to enter otherwise we end up with races that are effectively Premier Calender standard with a UCI rating. In recent years the Rutland - Melton has been dominated by British Conti teams. Even the Ras has seen domination by Premier Cal. riders. Last year a number of the British Conti teams attended with weakened teams because of an overlap with the Tour Series. Nevertheless, they came away with the overall, 2 further jerseys plus the top 2 teams.Hopefully the efforts of the organisers will be rewarded with some high quality overseas Conti entries.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

lyn1, I agree, but I'm withholding judgment for this season because this is clearly the intended start of a longer-term process of change.

 

[oldroadman]

Well change has to start somewhere, and remember how the glass-half-empty brigade moaned how GB was concentrating on track and would never produce quality road riders from that programme? So let's hope this is a start on producing teams which are truly competitive and more high quality races.

 

[oldroadman]

Good to have more UCI races which is a start, but that's all it is. The British Conti teams do not come out well in the fictitious rankings which suggests there are many stronger Conti teams, particularly in Europe. A number of these teams need to enter otherwise we end up with races that are effectively Premier Calender standard with a UCI rating. In recent years the Rutland - Melton has been dominated by British Conti teams. Even the Ras has seen domination by Premier Cal. riders. Last year a number of the British Conti teams attended with weakened teams because of an overlap with the Tour Series. Nevertheless, they came away with the overall, 2 further jerseys plus the top 2 teams.Hopefully the efforts of the organisers will be rewarded with some high quality overseas Conti entries.

I'm not convinced that you are completely correct about Rutland-Melton, tere have been some strong Conti teams there, and they have featured when it mattered. Remember that as a UCI 1.2, ther is a limit on the level of teams that are permotted, and there's also the amount of budget the organisers have available to bring conti teams in. That stretch of water can be an expensive one to cross. It's not like on the mainland where you ust get in the team cars and buses and drive to wherever without all the tunnel/ferry crossings, never mind the ever helpful ()UK Border lot!

 

[lyn1]

Fair enough it's about opinions. In my view in recent years with the very obvious exception of Endura, none of the British UCI Conti teams has been near the top level of European Conti teams. The fact that riders from teams that focus their season on Premiers have won 5 of the 7 occasions that the R-M has been run as a UCI race suggests that the standard is around Premier level and certainly not significantly better. If overseas Conti teams travel, but are no better than the home based ones, or even as good, then that doesn't put up the standard. Perhaps the second half of your post offers an explanation of why this is the case. Hopefully this year may be different...same goes for the Beaumont.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

We've had the whole Spring Cup and the Rutland-Melton already, and no updates here... in brief:

- The Tour of the Reservoir was a 1-2 for Madison Genesis with Alex Peters taking the first stage and the eventual overall ahead of my old club-mate, Peter Hawkins. Yanto Barker was 3rd for Raleigh.
- Hawkins might have shot to the top of the standings in the Cycle Wiltshire GP but instead crashed out whilst in a select lead group. The podium was Marcin Bialoblocki (Velosure Giordana) and then two from new team with high aspirations, NFTO Pro Cycling, Dean Downing and Hugh Wilson.
- Finally, the Lincoln GP was won by Barker, with Mike Northey (Madison Genesis) 2nd and Bialoblocki, 3rd. Hawkins wasn't riding...
This left Barker as the winner of the Spring Cup, with Bialoblocki 2nd and Peters, 3rd.

As for the now UCI 1.2-rated Rutland-Melton, which took place in between the first two Spring Cup events, it was won by Rapha Condor's Thomas Moses, with Thomas Scully of Madison Genesis 2nd and Mark McNally of An Post-Chain Reaction 3rd (my man Pete was 7th).

 

[stuart goodliffe]

Im pleased to see strong rides from Team Raleighr in the Spring Cup-hopefully they'll go from strength to strength and push for pro conti in the next couple of years.

 

[oldroadman]

Remember there is a very big jump in budget to go from Conti to Pro-Conti, and sponsors are not falling out of the trees with cash bags at the moment.

 

[stuart goodliffe]

Im sure i read that they want to be back in the pro tour by 2019 though i don't know how feasable that is. I see they have Bernard Hinault as their european ambassador and a tie up with Derby county. Would be great to have another big team other than Sky, from the UK competing at the higher echelons of the sport.

 

[oldroadman]

To go pro tour properly and carry out all the obligations, budgets of around £6 million a year upwards to who knows how much are needed. Looking at the results so far, progression to pro-conti will mean buying in some quality riders alongside the existing squad, who are doing OK but not brilliantly. getting pro-conti by 2016 will be the first challenge and a big jump in cost, if only to strengthen the squad, as I've already mentioned.
At top (world tour) level today, rider contracts can be up to or above seven figures for potential world tour race winners, and what's the point if you don't have a couple of those, plenty of high quality support riders, and a full complement of expert backroom staff, sport directors, etc., who quite rightly command lots of money for their services.

 

[lyn1]

Start sheet for Beaumont Trophy
http://www.velouk.net/2014/06/18/news-beaumont-trophy

Feel for Peter Harrison who has worked hard to upgrade this race to UCI 1.2 and it has had no support from any of the foreign Conti teams, so its another Premier Calender level race, but with cheap UCI points. There is clearly a problem getting foreign teams over here as Rutland didn't attract any real quality either. Maybe its travel cost/access or better races overseas? There are regular comments about needing more UCI races to help our Conti riders develop, but that will not happen if they are still riding against guys no better than themselves. Not sure what the answer is short of paying teams to come, which may not be feasible.