Events: BikeStow 3-day returns in 2024

The third edition of the West Midlands stage race, the BikeStow 3-day, returns bigger and better in 2024 taking place from June 21-23

Events: BikeStow 3-day returns in 2024

The BikeStow 3-day returns bigger and better in 2024. The third edition of the West Midlands stage race sponsored by the Stourbridge-based manufacturer of home cycle storage systems with support from kit provider ProVision custom clothing, will take place from June 21-23 and will repeat 2023’s successful final stage criss-crossing the Welsh border, but with an even tougher summit finish to conclude the race.

Catering for 2/3/4 categories, the 2023 race attracted entries from London, Scotland and the Isle of Man, with riders clearly keen to get the chance to do something which is increasingly rare on British soil at any level – race a multi-day stage event. The winner was Jude Taylor of PB Performance from Joe Brookes of the promoting Halesowen Academy-Mapei club, with Brookes taking three of the four stages but narrowly missing out overall.

Stage one of the 2024 edition will take place on the 10km traffic-free circuit at RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury, which featured in the one-off 3-day Giro del Mon in 2018; the stage will last approximately 60km. Stages two, three and four are based just over the Welsh border in the market town of Presteigne. The short time trial on Saturday morning will cross the border from Wales into England on a rolling course with an uphill finish, while the afternoon’s road race will use a new rolling course which crosses the border twice, with the finish close to the village of Shobdon at the top of a two mile drag.

The final stage starts and covers four laps of a rolling circuit that repeatedly crosses the border between England and Wales, the same one used for the initial flatter part of last year’s final stage, again starting in Presteigne and using the same headquarters as Saturday’s stage. The finish, however, is new and will be one where both the Welsh and English riders can claim home advantage: police permissions permitting, it will be uphill on top of the two-mile climb from the village of Norton to the finish line located adjacent to Offa’s Dyke.

“The closed circuit stage on Friday evening worked brilliantly in 2022 so we have brought back something similar for 2024, at Shawbury rather than Cosford, but like two years ago, it has to be on a circuit that’s big enough for riders to actually race,” said organiser William Fotheringham. “Similarly, we had incredibly positive feedback from riders about last year’s experiment, which was to use a final stage circuit out on the Welsh-English border, so we have decided to double up on that, with the help of the Welsh Cycling Union CSAS marshals and NEG.”

“It’s great to be able to provide the riders with new venues to race; this is the fifth new circuit that we have pioneered in West Midlands in the last 18 months with the help of British Cycling’s risk assessment team and in cooperation with local police. Four of those are either on or near the border with Wales, where the lack of traffic is a game changer.” Other innovations for 2024 will include a hotspot sprints award, a jersey for best 3rd category rider, and a best young rider award for the highest placed first-year junior.

“We have a long-term plan for this race to become the best of its kind in the UK,” said Fotheringham. “In year one we stuck to locations we knew and tried to get the basics right. In year two we brought in the first cross-border amateur race in Britain for many years, with a summit finish. It looked a bit intimidating to try and work with the English and Welsh traffic management systems in the same race, but it was perfectly feasible and I’d like to thank Welsh Cycling for their support with CSAS marshals and NEG. Now we are settled on the format, year 3 is about being a little bit more ambitious again.”

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/295823/BikeStow-3-Day-2024