Cycle racing returns to Dawlish this weekend
The closed road circuit racing
Last updated 14 hours ago
Cycle racing returns to Dawlish this Friday - with organisers saying lessons have been learnt after last year's inaugural event.
The free-to-watch-event event sees professional male and female riders cheered on as they compete on a closed-road course around the town's famous lawns
Organiser and volunteer Travis Bramley said: "This is round five of the Lloyd's British Cycling national circuit series - it's the penultimate round and it goes into Sheffield after us.
"The fact that we've got the Rapha Super-League down here this time around is a real coup for the town as well.
"There's only eight rounds that have actually been selected and that's across the circuit series and the road series as well - so it's really quite a special thing."
Mr Bramley, a keen amateur racer himself, says there's lots of events across Devon including the Cream First series and Tour de Trago adding: "It's quite a short course and it's quite a small field of 60 riders which in the grand series of things is quite small but actually that encourages fast-from-the-gun racing and people competitors will have to get to the front."
The organiser says community feedback has been welcomed as part of the build up, saying: "We've had to work really hard actually with lots of different stakeholders to make sure that we minimise the disruption to the town.
"Last year obviously it was the first event and we've tried really hard to minimise that disruption this time around so we've got a couple of one-way roads, we've shortened the length of the road closures. We've worked better with Stagecoach hopefully, we've worked with GWR and Devon Highways and the local council as well - have all been fantastic."
Mr Bramley says the racing on the night will be competitive, reflecting: "These are professional athletes. Some of them are semi-professional, some are fully fledged professional athletes and this is their bread and butter. This is what they train for, day in and day out, to come and do."
The racer says 'circuit racing I would argue is even more exciting than the Tour de France' in terms of viewing experience, adding: "The Tour de France is long days and you're looking at 200 kilometers. This is super accessible, you can turn up and you can watch the race for 50 minutes - you can go and get a bite to eat and still come back and enjoy the action."
The full schedule can be found here
12:00 – 16:00 Well Being Market on the back Lawn promoting health & well being by local suppliers.
18:00 – Racing Starts
19:00 – Elite Women’s Race
20:00 – Elite Open Race
21:00 – Award Ceremony