Your Patch
Town prepares for cyclists to take over
by YourMailTricia
2 months ago
in
Beverley
Last updated 2 months ago.
from the Hull Daily Mail/East Riding Mail on Saturday, July 26
Entries are flowing in for next weekend’s East Yorkshire Classic cycling events in the town. Town streets will be transformed into a grand prix race circuit on Friday, when the British Cycling Elite Mens’ Circuit Race takes place. At 6.40pm, local riders will have the chance to show their skills racing over cobbles, before the elite race starts at 7.40pm. On Saturday, cyclists can take part in two leisure rides around the Yorkshire Wolds, with the choice of a 62-mile or 100-mile route. On Sunday, the flagship East Yorkshire Classic, which is one of nine events in British Cycling’s premier calendar, will start at 10am from New Walk. With the Olympic Games starting just days after the Beverley race weekend, Olympic team members will be unavailable, but a high-quality field is guaranteed with all of the top UK teams entered. For details of riders, routes and times, visit www.eastyorkshireclassic.co.uk/nationals
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Petal to the metal
from the Hull Daily Mail/East Riding Mail Friday, August 1
Pedal power will be rewarded with flower power in Beverley’s three-day cycling event, which starts today.
The winning riders in the East Yorkshire Classic cycling weekend will be handed white rose bouquets as they step on to the podium.
They have been created by Beverley-based Glenholme Florists and are designed to tie in with today’s Yorkshire Day celebrations.
Karen Holgate, partner in the Wilbert Lane business, said: “We have supplied the flowers for the race for the past six years and wanted to create something special.
“This year we thought it would be nice to connect it with celebrating the county.
“We always try to make them more masculine and striking in design as men don’t usually like extravagant bouquets.
“Coming up with new ideas always gets the creative juices flowing and it is fantastic to see our flowers on television.”
One of the highlights of the event is the National Circuit Race Championships, due to take place today. It has previously featured this year’s Tour de France hero Mark Cavendish, who became the first Briton to take four stage wins in the epic race.
Elite riders travelling at speeds of up to 50mph will compete in a 70-minute sprint through the streets of Beverley.
Olympic medallist and world champion Rob Hayles will join the field of 70 in a bid to reclaim the title he won in 2006 and take the £2,250 prize money.
Michael Boyle, vice-chairman of British Cycling Yorkshire and a member of the race-organising committee, said: “It is a cracker of a race. The circuit in Beverley is regarded as one of the best.
“Elite riders from across the UK will be racing through the town at incredible speeds. It is a fantastic spectacle.”
The following day, cyclists will get the chance to take part in two leisure rides, both starting and finishing in Beverley.
Riders have a choice of two routes around the Yorkshire Wolds, one route of 62 miles (100km), the other of 100 miles (160km).
The flagship East Yorkshire Classic, one of just nine events in British Cycling’s premier calendar, will be held on Sunday.
It will take 120 elite-category riders on a 98-mile tour of the Yorkshire Wolds, each chasing a share of the £3,500 prize purse.
The weekend is run and promoted by Hull Thursday Road Club, which is celebrating its 100th birthday. The races will be covered by British Eurosport.
East Yorkshire Classic www.eastyorkshireclassic.co.uk
Glenholme Florists www.glenholmeflorists.co.uk
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*Cyclists lap up Tour de Beverley *
from the Hull Daily Mail/East Riding Mail Saturday, August 2
Navigating the narrow medieval streets, cobbled roads and challenging twists and turns, dozens of Britain’s best cyclists raced around Beverley.
The East Riding market town played host to top riders vying for the British Cycling Elite Men’s National Circuit Race Championship title.
More than 50 of the country’s best cyclists pedalled around a 4,101ft (1,250-metre) circuit taking in both historic Wednesday and Saturday markets.
The competitors raced around the town for 70 minutes before picking up the pace for the final five laps.
Hundreds of spectators lined the streets to cheer on the entrants competing for the gold medal, which brings with it the National Champion’s jersey and a £500 cash prize.
Race director and Hull Thursday Road Club member Andy Cawley said the event had been a resounding success.
He said: “We have 29 sponsors this year and the event is getting bigger and bigger all the time. It was a great night and was only a precursor to the big race tomorrow.”
Mr Cawley also explained after the downpour on Thursday night he feared the race would not be able to go ahead.
“Last year, because of the floods we had to cancel the racing,” he said.
“It was obviously for safety reasons but it was still very disappointing – a year’s work unravelled in less than two days so it was quite a blow.
“The rain on Thursday had me panicking, but thankfully it was a wonderful night, not too warm but dry.”
The race, held last night and entered by 51 riders, was a warm-up to tomorrow’s 52nd East Yorkshire Classic.
This forms part of the Premier Calendar – the Grand Prix of cycling – and is one of only 10 races in the country afforded such status.
Race entrants will start and finish in New Walk in Beverley, but will cover a circuit that takes in Huggate and Millington, near Pocklington, before finishing two-and-three-quarter laps of a five-mile circuit – covering 98 miles in total.
Also to celebrate the centenary year of Hull Thursday Road Club, which organises the event with East Riding Council and Beverley Town Council, hundreds of amateur riders from across the country were today taking part in one of two celebration cycle events.
Entrants set off in groups between 8am and 10am today to tackle either 100km or 100-mile events.
East Yorkshire Classic www.eastyorkshireclassic.co.uk
Hull Thursday Road Club www.hullthursdayrc.co.uk
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Cyclists eager to return to town
from the Hull Daily Mail/East Riding Mail Monday, August 4
World-class cycling could return to Beverley next year following a successful racing weekend in the town.
Thousands of spectators and hundreds of cyclists flocked to the town centre for three days of cycling, which began on Friday.
Michael Boyle, vice-chairman of British Cycling Yorkshire and a member of the race-organising committee, said he is “positively optimistic” that top-class cycling will come back to Beverley next year.
He said: “This is now the second time we have hosted this weekend and we have received nothing but wall-to-wall praise from British Cycling.
“We have already been approached by British Cycling to tender for one of their major events next year.”
The weekend of cycling attracted more than 550 race entrants from across the UK.
Some 6,000 spectators packed the centre of Beverley to see top riders racing along medieval streets in the British Cycling Elite Men’s Circuit Race Championship on Friday evening.
On Saturday, cyclists had the chance to take part in two leisure rides around the Yorkshire Wolds, starting and finishing in Beverley.
And on Sunday, the town hosted the flagship East Yorkshire Classic, one of just a handful of events in British Cycling’s premier calendar.
The race was won by Russell Downing.
Mr Boyle, who is also vice-chairman of regeneration group Beverley Renaissance, said: “It’s helping to put Beverley on the map.
“We reckon it generates in the region of £250,000 for Beverley’s economy in terms of business for hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, pubs and shops.”
Mr Boyle said the atmosphere in the town was “brilliant”.
“The town centre was chock-a-block with people on Friday evening, I have never seen Saturday Market so packed,” he said.
“It was brilliant. There were people all the way round the circuit in the central parts of Beverley, two or three deep.”
The town’s Pubwatch spokesman Brian Brooks said the event is a major draw.
He said: “It attracts people into the town. There were thousands in the centre on Friday night. It’s also televised on British Eurosport so it helps put Beverley on the map.
“I think any event like this which makes the town a focal point has to be a good thing.”
The weekend was run and promoted by Hull Thursday Road Club, which is celebrating its 100th birthday.
The winner of Friday’s 80-minute race around the town centre streets was Yorkshire rider Dean Downing, who beat Olympic medallist and world champion Rob Hayles to the title he took in Beverley in 2006.
British Cycling www.britishcycling.org.uk
East Yorkshire Classic www.eastyorkshireclassic.co.uk
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