British Cycling has revealed that this year's National road races in Redcar & Cleveland will be fought out on the tough climb of Saltburn Bank.
Route details for all the national jersey races in the North-East of England have been unveiled, including time trials, circuit championships and the headline road events.
Held on Sunday 25 June, both men's and women's road races start and finish in the coastal town of Saltburn. Riders will take on an 18.8km (11.7 mile) lap, for a total 132km for the women and 189km for the men. If they have a moment to look, riders will glimpse the historic sites of Skelton Castle and the old mining works at Kilton along the way.
However, all thoughts are likely to be on the challenge of Saltburn Bank, a short but sharp hairpin climb away from the coast that features gradients of up to 22% as it weaves up from the seafront.
One rider hoping to be there on the day, Charlie Tanfield, remembers the climb well from his early cycling days.
He said: “I’m so excited to be racing on home roads in Redcar and Cleveland. My first memories of riding on these roads were from when I was a young lad on the local club run, climbing up the local hills and trying to hang onto the older, quicker climbers in the group.
"I guess it hasn't changed too much since and it's a similar story in hilly races, I'm just the older rider now!
“Saltburn Bank is steep and it's over pretty quickly, but the drag out of Saltburn actually hurts me more. My first memory of climbing out of here was in the first Klondike road race in the National Road Series and I won the KOM prize!" he added.
In total, the women will tackle 2,408m of climbing, the men 3,441m. A tough day out.
In contrast, the mere 50m climbing on the time trial course makes it one of the fastest the championships have ever seen. The events against the clock kick the championships off on Wednesday (21 June), starting and finishing at North Yorkshire's storied Croft Circuit. Riders are sent out onto the fast and flat circuit around Dalton-on-Tees. The U23 men, U23 women and elite women will complete two laps for 27.4km, the elite men three laps for 41.
The Circuit Championships will be contested on Friday 23 June on what promises to be a picturesque town centre circuit in Redcar. Both men and women will race for 55 minutes plus five laps.
Entries are now open, closing on 28 May.
