News: Top Teams Heading to Aberystwyth

Ceredigion Grand Prix in Aberystwyth (Wales) will feature many of the top British teams on Friday May 26th, and boasts a £2000 prize fund.

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News: Top Teams Heading to Aberystwyth

Ceredigion GP Pro Criterium

Featuring on TV’s Bike Channel, the new Ceredigion Grand Prix will benefit from British Cycling’s Major Events layout, on Friday May 26th, and boasts a £2000 prize fund.

The new race, which replaces the Aberystwyth Tour Series round will offer equal prize money to the two elite evening races – the Ceredigion Grand Prix & Storck Bikes Women’s Grand Prix with over 1000 riders expected to take part in seventeen criterium races during the day.

The town centre circuit will feature British Cycling’s major events setup, including their gantry and podium, coupled with entertainment from local DJ’s and MC for the day, Andrew ‘Work Hard’ Davies. Many local companies are donating prizes for the prime laps as the event recreates the atmosphere of continental kermesse.

Also offering a £500 first prize is May 27th’s EDCO Knockout HillClimb, a dual elimination race which offers a continental Grand Tour atmosphere in the village of Llanbadarn, as the riders tackle a 25% gradient straight climb over just 150 metres.

All of this, including the well-established Conquer the Cliff downhill MTB race (27th May) will be covered on Bike Channel (FreeSat 251).

The criterium riders will face a tough, technical circuit featuring landmarks like the 13th century Castle, 18th Century University and 19th Century Royal Pier along the Victorian promenade on what is a 1.2 kilometre circuit.

Having previously been won no less than three times by Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy OBE and another three times by his JLT Condor teammates Kristian House, Felix English and Jon Mould. Team Wiggins, Metaltek-Kuota, Team Raleigh & Catford-Banks are already confirmed to contest the £500 first prize.

With an uphill finish straight through Pier Street which is entered via an off-camber 90 degree right hand turn, followed by some tight twists and turns past St James Place and Seaview Place before a fast sweeping descent back onto the promenade, the riders will then need to carry just the correct amount of speed into the notorious Castle Point turn which has claimed many a victim in the past.

The race schedule kicks off at 1.30pm with Under 8’s races for local Ceredigion schoolchildren. In a county that does not yet feature a closed road circuit, this is many children’s only chance at racing on a traffic free circuit during the year.
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Organisers have teamed up with Ceredigion County Council and Aberystwyth Town Council to enable the races to continue as part of one of the counties biggest annual festivals.

As an added incentive, Aberystwyth University are offering discounted accommodation for competitors and spectators who wish to stay and enjoy the festival weekend which also includes a Hill Climb dual eliminator (knock-out), an urban MTB downhill event, won in 2016 by current World Champion Rachel Atherton, and also the Continental Welsh Wild West Sportive, covering four distances for all ability levels.

To book your accommodation, please contact the Conference Office on 01970 621960, email conferences@aber.ac.uk or www.aber.ac.uk/en/visitors/accommodation/

Full route details and online entry to the cycle events can be found at www.abercyclefest.com.

History
The first Aberystwyth Seafront Criteriums took place in 2010, some 19 years after the last ‘Round the Houses’ criterium and Tour of Mid Wales road race which were popular events throughout the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s.

The group collaborated with Sweetspot in 2011 to bring a round of the highly popular Tour Series professional criterium races to Aberystwyth, which to date has been the only Welsh round of the nationwide series which is featured on ITV4 each May and June.

The festival consists of many support events leading up to the evening professional Tour Series race, including races for over 250 local school children, a town vs gown cycle challenge and races for serious amateurs, along with an expo along Aberystwyth promenade featuring local and national exhibitors.

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