News: British Road Champs Return to NE

The 2024 Road Championships return to North Yorkshire, Darlington and Saltburn for the time trial, circuit races and road races from June 19

News: British Road Champs Return to NE

The 2024 British National Road Championships will return to Tees Valley and North Yorkshire, as part of a new partnership with Tees Valley Combined Authority to grow cycling and tourism links in the region.

TIME TRIAL: June 19, North Yorkshire
CIRCUIT RACES: June 21, Darlington
ROAD RACES: June 23, Saltburn

This year’s event follows a successful first national championships in the region in 2023, which culminated in Pfeiffer Georgi and Fred Wright being crowned national champions on the iconic Saltburn Bank.

Time Trial podium for men – Fred Wright (2nd), Josh Tarling (1st) and Connor Swift (3rd)

The championships begin on Wednesday 19 June with the time-trial events in North Yorkshire, with further details on the route to be published in due course. In the 2023 events Josh Tarling was crowned our youngest ever elite men’s national time-trial champion, with Lizzie Holden delivering a stand-out performance to take the elite women’s crown.

The circuit races will then follow on Friday 21 June in Darlington town centre, which successfully hosted the start of two stages of the Tour of Britain in 2008 and 2009. Megan Barker and Ollie Wood will be hoping to retain their national circuit race titles after famous victories in last year’s event in Redcar.

The championships will then conclude with the road races, which will once again start and finish in Saltburn on Sunday 23 June. The sporting course that has been devised for this year’s event is a modified version of the 2023 route, with fewer climbs, and will pass through the picturesque seafront town each lap before heading out to take on the rolling terrain of the Tees Valley.

A delighted Pfeiffer Georgi winning the Women’s Road Race Championship in 2023 in Saltburn

The course for the Nationals Road Race is said (I’m told by an insider) to be the same except for a small change to the one used for the National Series race at Saltburn in April. Last year at the Nationals, the climbing was 4000 metres (mens race) and there were World Tour riders smashing it up the climbs but no such riders at the East Cleveland Classic (that I am aware of) and less climbing for them at the Road Race championships. The climbing is 2700m for the men, 1800m for the women.

Fred Wright won an emotional first elite national title on Saltburn Bank last year after a dramatic solo breakaway, while Pfeiffer Georgi delighted the local crowd by powering to her second national title in the women’s race.

Ahead of today’s announcement, Wright said: “To win my first elite national road title on Saltburn Bank was incredibly special and it has been such a privilege to wear the national jersey in the pro peloton. It meant a huge amount to win last year and I can’t wait to head back to the seaside and battle it out against the best riders in the country with some amazing crowds.”

Podium for the Women’s Circuit Championship in 2023; Cat Ferguson (2nd), Megan Barker (1st) and Maddie Leech (3rd)

Reigning women’s national road race champion Georgi added: “Winning my second national title last year on Saltburn Bank was just amazing, and wearing the national jersey on the world stage is so special. Women’s racing at the minute is so exciting and we had such a good battle last year. I can’t wait to race in front of home crowds again and try and retain my jersey once again!”

The 2023 championships will bring together the time-trial, circuit and road events for a fourth consecutive year, as part of British Cycling’s work to grow the profile of the sport and deliver a compelling racing spectacle for riders and fans alike.

Cllr Carrie Richardson, Cabinet Member for Climate and Culture and Deputy Leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, added: “To secure the national championships road race is incredible for our borough, especially following the huge success of last year’s event. We remain absolutely committed to attracting high profile cycling events which gives us the opportunity to boost tourism and showcase the area as a great place to come on holiday and cycle with some of the best coastal and country views in the nation. We’ve become a key area for major cycling events in the last few years and long may that continue.”