The HSBC UK | National Women’s Road Series continues at the Otley Grand Prix, as the riders pay a visit to Yorkshire, the county that will play host to the 2019 UCI Road World Championships.
The Otley event will also play host to the opening round of the HSBC UK | National Circuit Series which takes place over six rounds throughout June and July.
About the races
Women’s race
The Otley Grand Prix is the sixth of nine races in the 2017 HSBC UK | National Women’s Road Series which runs from April until August.
Elizabeth Banks (formerly of SunSport Velo, now riding for Storey Racing) got off to the perfect start at the series opener, the Tour of the Wolds, before Wiggle High5’s Grace Garner was victorious at the Essex Giro.
Alice Barnes (Drops) topped the podium at the Lincoln Grand Prix before Team WNT’s Katie Archibald picked up the win at the CiCLE Classic in Melton Mowbray.
Julie Erskine (Cycle Team On Form) snatched the victory in the Curlew Cup in Northumberland at the halfway stage in the series, and will be for hopeful more of the same as the peloton takes on the Otley Grand Prix in West Yorkshire.
July sees the always popular two-day Alexandra Tour of the Reservoir, followed by the Newton Longville Festival of Cycling Grand Prix in Buckinghamshire.
The series concludes on Sunday 6 August with round nine, the Ryedale Grand Prix in North Yorkshire.
Men’s race
The Otley Grand Prix provides the opening round for the best criterium racers in the UK to blow away the cobwebs on the tightly cornered circuit.
The rest of the series is raced throughout July, starting on Wednesday 5 July with the Skipton Grand Prix and quickly followed by the Wales Open Criterium two days later.
The next two rounds take place over successive Fridays, sandwiching the 2017 HSBC UK | National Circuit Championships between them; first Stockton Town Centre race on Friday 14 July followed by Beverley Grand Prix on Friday 21.
The series concludes with the Colne Grand Prix on Wednesday 26 July.
Ones to watch
Women’s race
Chanel Mason has every chance of extending her lead in the Otley round of the series, as second and third placed riders Hannah Payton and Grace Garner will not start.
Mason led the breakaway that set the tone for the women’s HSBC UK | National Road Championships race on Sunday on the Isle of Man; the Storey Racing rider is clearly full of confidence and is in fine form.
Competition looks likely to come in the form of Annasley Park, who recently helped her team Drops to a runaway victory in the Tour Series and won the Otley Grand Prix herself in 2015.
Team Breeze will be fielding their two medallists from the under-23 women’s race on Sunday - newly crowned British champion Melissa Lowther and silver medallist Manon Lloyd; they too are bound to be in the mix.
Men’s race
Chris Lawless (Axeon Hagens Berman CT) won last year’s Otley Grand Prix, the overall series and the national circuit title before returning to top form in 2017, taking second in the men’s HSBC UK | National Road Championships and winning the under-23 competition; Lawless will certainly be one to watch if his scintillating form continues.
Madison Genesis’ Connor Swift, who also gave a good account of himself at the HSBC UK | National Road Championships this weekend, won the final race of the Tour Series and will suit the tightly wound Otley course.
Tom Pidcock (PH-MAS/Paul Milnes/Oldfield ERT), though still a junior, has been showing prodigious form, both in cycle cross over the winter months and latterly on his road bike - Pidcock loves to surprise so it wouldn’t be out of character for him to be found at the front of the race, mixing it with the big boys!
JLT Condor will make a strong showing at the HSBC UK | National Circuit Series and stalwarts such as Tom Moses, Jon Mould, and Graham Briggs will be doing their level best to get their jersey across the finish line first.
Course
Described by 2015 Grand Prix winner Dan McLay as having ‘the best last corner in cycling’, the Otley Grand Prix has been a fixture in the town for 31 years.
The multi-lap race encompasses Otley’s town centre, with the men racing 24 laps and the women 15, giving local fans plenty of chances to cheer on their favourite riders.
How to follow
- HSBC UK | National Women’s Road Series race starts at 6.45pm; opening round of the HSBC UK | National Circuit Series starts at 8.30pm.
- Follow the action from the Otley Grand Prix @BritishCycling on Twitter.
- Video highlights, reports, results, images and reaction will appear on the British Cycling website.
