2017 Womens Road Racing Calender

With a significantly smaller race calendar than mens cycling, below are the main womens road races being held in 2017. 

Personally I'd like to see more stage racing being introduced alongside the Tour de France and La Vuelta, similar to that of the Giro D'Italia.  As the sport goes from strength to strength, with new sponsors and TV coverage this is something I hope we'll see in the future.  I'll continue to keep this updates as and when new information becomes available. 

March 2017

• Strada Bianche - (4/3).
• Womens Worldtour Ronde van Drenthe - (11/3).
• Trofeo Alfredo Binda- Comune di Cittiglio - (19/3).
• Gent - Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (26/3). 

April 2017

• Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) - (2/4).
• Amstel Gold - (16/4).
• La Fleche Wallonne Feminine- (19/4).
• Liege Baston Liege Femmes - (23/4).
• Tour de Yorkshire - (29/4).

May

• Tour of Chongming Island - (5/5 - 7/5).
• Amgen Breakaway from heart disease womens race - (11/5 - 14/5).

June

• Philadelphia International Cycling Classic (4/6).
• The Womens Tour - (7/6 - 11/6). 
• Giro D'Italia Internazionale Femminile - (30/6 - 9/7).

July

• La Course by Le Tour de France - (20/7).
• Prudential Ride London & Surrey Classic - (29/7).

August

• Crescent Vargarda TTT - (11/8).
• Crescent Vargarda - (13/8)..
• Ladies Tour of Norway - (17/8 - 20/8).
• GP de Plouay Lorient Agglomeration - (26/8).
• Boels Rental Ladies Tour - (29/8 - 3/9).

September

• Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta - (10/9).

2017 Mens Road Racing Calender

Before the TV gets booked up at home, here's a handy guide to when all the major mens road cycling races are planned for during 2017 including the classics season and the major grand tours.  Get that Sky remote in your hand and book your holidays at work before someone else does!  

Highlighted in bold are the three major grand tours - the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta plus the two major races in the UK calendar, the Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain.

January 2017

• Santos Tour down Under - (17/1 - 22/1).
• Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - (29/1).

February 2017

• Tour of Qatar (6/2 - 10/2) - NOW CANCELLED.
• Abu Dhabi Tour (23/2 - 26/2).
• Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite (25/2).

March 2017

• Strada Bianche - (4/3).
• Paris - Nice (5/3 - 12/3).
• Tirreno - Adriatico (8/3 - 14/3).
• Milan - SanRemo (18/3).
• Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (20/3 - 26/3).
• Dwars door Vlaanderen - (22/3).
• Record Bank E3 Harelbeke - (24/3).
• Gent - Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (26/3).

April 2017

• Ronde van Vlaanderen/Tour of Flanders - (2/4).
• Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco - (3/4 - 8/4).
• Paris-Roubaix - (9/4).
• Amstel Gold - (16/4).
• Tour of Turkey - (18/4 - 23/4).
• La Fleche Wallonne - (19/4).
• Liege Baston Liege - (23/4).
• Tour de Yorkshire - (28/4 - 30/4).
• Tour de Romandie - (25/4 - 30/4). 
  

May 2017

• Rund um den Finanzplatz eschborn - Frankfurt (1/5).
• Giro D'Italia - (5/5 - 28/5).
• Amgen Tour of California - (14/5 - 20/5).

June 2017

• Criterium du Dauphine - (4/6 - 11/6).
• Tour de Suisse - (10/6 - 18/6).

July 2017

• Tour de France (1/7 - 23/7).
• Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian - (29/7).
• Tour de Pologne - (29/7 - 4/8).
• Prudential Ride London & Surrey Classic - (30/7).

August 2017

• Eneco Tour - (7/8 - 13/8).
• La Vuelta - (19/8 - 10/9).
• Cyclassics Hamburg - (20/8).
• Bretagne Classic Ouest-France - (27/8).

September 2017

• Tour of Britain - (3/9 - 10/9).
• Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec - (8/9).
• Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal - (10/9).
• World Road Championships - (17/9 - 24/9).

 October 2017

•  Il Lombardia - (7/10).
• Gree - Tour of Guangxi - (19/10 - 24/10).

Junior Men’s National Road Race Championships 2013

A poster designed by one of the local school pupils in Lazonby

Seeing 80 of the best young riders in the UK battle it out for the National Champions jersey today was a great lesson in how grass roots racing is tirelessly supported by volunteers, parents and passionate people who want to ensure that the British talent funnel is well stoked.

As winner - Christopher Lawless - crossed the line on a warm day in Lazonby, near Penrith, I looked around to see around 100 people near the finish line.  Parents who had driven from all parts of the country to see their offspring compete, I spoke to a family from Bristol who had driven six hours to be there.

A blistering pace was set early on, the seven lap course, covering 120KM and around 1400M of climbing was shelling the weaker riders out early and a break away developed quickly with hot race favourite - Tao Geoghegan Hart - sitting back in the main peloton. 

I was lucky to be invited to ride in one of the British Cycling vehicles, where I could hear the race radio commenting that very few of the bunch were willing to work for Hart, so he broke off with a couple of laps to go to join the breakaway group.  

Conditions were warm and the route undulating, so it was tough going, some riders being black flagged as they dropped off the back of the racing group as the race progressed.  The result was decided by a sprint up the final climb, where Lawless crossed the line to claim the National Champions Jersey with four seconds to spare from second place rider - Gabriel Cullaigh.  Geoghan Hart coming in third place, seven seconds behind the race leader. 

Winners take the Podium

Speaking to Geoghegan Hart at race control, he was frustrated that no-one wanted to take up the chase and he said he had to bury himself to get across to the breakaway, which clearly left him depleted for the final sprint.  Unlike most races, here each rider is riding for himself, so there is little teamwork and it's every man for himself. 

In the Driving Seat

Whilst in the car with the race organiser, he spoke of the difficult of putting the event on, having to rely on endless volunteers and people letting him down at short notice.  It takes a lot of commitment to get this event off the ground.

Resources were scarce and they relied on sponsorship to get the event moving.  Major sponsor for the day was new British bike brand Beacon who treated the riders to an exclusive first look of three of their new to launch models.  Stunning bikes, more to come on them.

Summing Up

The whole day was organised really well, on limited budget and resources, race control was a school hall for example.  For the junior mens, it had all the attributes of a senior race.  I was able to get our two neutral support vehicles there, a fleet of British cycling commissaire vehicles were in the peloton aswell as some team cars.  It made for a good convoy for the spectators.  British cycling also provided their race podium and finish tower, which made a good spectacle.

Neutral Service - Sponsored by Brother UK

I was amazed at what quality bikes the riders had.  A real high end line up of hardware, that no doubt their parents and sponsors had invested a small fortune in!

It's obvious that the junior road racing scene needs even more investment at every level, financially and with human resources such as marshalls.  What they currently achieve with what they have is testament to the people who support the scene.  I came away thinking what more could I do to help at a practical level and with more riders coming into the sport, we need as cyclists to support this grass root development of future talent.  If we want another Wiggo on the podium at the Tour de France in the future, then this is where that individual is going to come from.

A thoroughly enjoyable day, with some great people, some great racing and some great insight into how an event like this gets pulled together. The full results can be found here on the British Cycling Website.  To find out more about junior road racing please visit www.britishcyling.org.