The West Midlands will host one of the five rounds of British Cycling’s new men’s under-23 series, the Worcester Classic on July 31. The series will be Nat B races and are aimed at providing a stepping stone between Regional level and Premier Calendar level. The other races will take place in Yorkshire, the South West, Central Region and Wales.
It remains to be decided which circuit will be used for the West Midlands race. The Worcester Classic was run in 2021 on an undulating circuit at Welland, and initial plans were for the 2022 race to use a new, far more hilly circuit from the same start point incorporating the climb of British Camp.
But with a steam fair taking place over that weekend in the Welland area, and likely to cause traffic issues, organiser Richard Wickenden is exploring other options. The most immediate fall-back, the former Worcester News race circuit just down the road at Kinnersley, is currently off limits due to construction of a new roundabout.
The West Midlands will host two other national series road races, the Women’s Team Cup rounds at Astley on May 15 run by Halesowen A & CC, and at Inkberrow on July 10 run by Solihull.