Road Racing in the West Midlands

Rejuvenating Road Racing in the West Midlands Region – the future certainly looks bright for the sport in the West Midlands for 2022 and beyond.

Rejuvenating Road Racing in the West Midlands Region

After several difficult years for road racing across the country, the future certainly looks bright for the sport in the West Midlands for 2022 and beyond.

British Cycling West Midlands, supported by Fusion Media, the sports marketing agency owned and run by Adam Tranter, are announcing plans to revitalise both the men’s and women’s West Midlands Road Race Leagues with weekend events taking place right across the season, using both popular courses and some that had fallen into decline over recent years. With Fusion Media’s support, a website has been created that will keep riders, organisers, clubs and supporters fully up to speed with how the highly competitive league events progress during the year:

www.westmidlandsroadracing.co.uk

The men’s WMRRL caters for 2/3/4 categories with the women’s West Midlands Road Race Series (WMRRS) being for E/1/2/3 to ensure as many riders as possible have the opportunity to compete often and develop their skills. A great deal of care has been taken to ensure that calendar clashes with other events have been minimised. Each league/series event will of course have prizes on the day but there will also be a generous overall prize fund, provided by Fusion Media, with both men and women racing for the same Final GC prize values.

The agenda to revitalise road racing will also see the region:

• Hosting two rounds of the highly popular and well supported National Women’s Team Cup with the Halesowen A&CC and the Solihull CC each organising a round in which female riders from all over the country will participate
• Hosting a round of the newly created Men’s National Under 23 Road Race Series in late July. With a return to a longstanding circuit taking in the iconic climb of Clee Hill, we hope to create a memorable event!
• The creation of an innovative event organised by Holohan Race Team on the “Leighton 8” – a figure of eight circuit near Telford
• A return to racing at Cosford Aerodrome on Easter Sunday with events for both senior men and women and Under 16 boys and girls
• More racing planned on the Tudor Grange and Birmingham Business Park Circuits in Solihull
• BikeStow (www.bikestow.com) will be backing a three-day stage race for 2/3/4 in late June which brings a welcome return to stage racing in our region and which we expect to be a season highlight for many riders

This year’s WMRRL for 2/3/4 category men kicks off on Sunday March 20 with the Halesowen Academy road race at Aston on Clun – for which entries are still open – while the WMWRRS, for E/1/2/3 women, begins its second season on April 10 at the popular Birmingham Business Park circuit.

Adam Tranter, Founder and CEO of cycling marketing agency Fusion Media, said: “Having raced around the West Midlands as a junior, I know how important it is to have good quality and regular races in the region. We’re delighted to support the WMRRL and WMRRS, who are making sure that road racing remains accessible and sustainable in the West Midlands.”

John Ireson, BC West Midlands board chair, added, “This is a very positive development, and I would like to thank Fusion for their support. As a board, we work hard to support all disciplines within the region, so it’s good to see progress with the road racing calendar and new ways being found of promoting this discipline, in which the region has always punched above its weight.”

William Fotheringham, West Midlands board road lead, said, “we would like to thank all the clubs who have bought into this by promoting races, and all the officials, and volunteers who will make these races happen, particularly the Accredited Marshals and NEG. There are barely any gaps in this year’s calendar, but we would still like to hear from any clubs or teams or riders that would like to be involved either by promoting, or just by helping to run these races.”