(Image: Craig Zadoroznyj / SWpix.com)
After a year-long hiatus, when the Yorkshire round of the British Cycling Lloyds National Road Series moved to South Yorkshire, the event formerly known as the Ryedale Grand Prix returns to its historic North Yorkshire home of Ampleforth Abbey.
Now styled as the North Yorkshire Grand Prix, the event, on Sunday August 16, features the traditional rolling circuits through the Howardian Hills, the attritional nature of which always ensures worthy winners.
Two races will be played out on the day, starting at 9.15am with the Women’s Grand Prix, as it takes to the roads for a distance of 63 miles over two laps of a 16.6-mile loop through the villages of Ampleforth, Oulston, Yearsley and Gilling, followed by three laps of a shorter 10.5-mile circuit.
Each lap sees the race negotiating the taxing climb through the Abbey grounds, with the Benedictine Abbey providing one of the most photogenic backdrops of any bike race in Britain.
Following last weekend’s Curlew Cup at Stamfordham, the position at the top of the Women’s Series standings is close.
With 50 points on offer for the win, Morven Yeoman of Team DAS-Hutchinson leads Lily Martin of Loughborough Lightning by 18 points.
It could be all to play for not only in the Elite standings but for the Under 23 award, with both riders also featuring in that category.
There is also an exciting prospect in the Overall Team award with two teams, Handsling Alba Development and DAS-Hutchinson, both currently tied on 663 points.
The Open race concludes the day starting at 2pm over 101 miles, taking in three of the large laps and five of the smaller ones.
Here, the overall standings in the Elite race are perhaps easier to predict, with Thomas Armstrong of Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli holding a 45-point lead over his teammate Tom Martin, with third-place rider, the in-form Olympian Oliver Wood of Rapha CC having too much ground to make up, being 77 points behind the leader.
Much less easy to predict, however, will be the outcome of the Under 23 award with Lewis Tinsley of BCC Race Team holding an advantage of just 6 points over Alex Murphy of Stolen Goat Endurance.
Continuing a link of over 20 years, Grass Concrete Limited will once again be the principal sponsors for the race featuring their Grasscrete environmental paving system.
Joining them will be Active North Yorkshire, using the event to showcase the wide opportunities for leisure cycling in the area.
The events will also feature as part of the separate season-long Rapha League, which brings the innovation of a live screen at the finish to enable spectators to see the racing being played out throughout the day, as a free show spectacle within the magnificent Abbey Grounds.