Thousands of people are expected to line the streets tonight for the Barnsley Town Centre Races.
The event will be concluded by the penultimate race of the HSBC UK National Criterium Series, due to feature Barnsley-born Olympic champion Ed Clancy, after the same stage of the women's HSBC UK National Road Race Series in which Paralympic legend Sarah Storey is set to compete. National champions Connor Swift, Jess Roberts, Matt Gibson and Anna Henderson are also expected to take on the challenging course around the streets of Barnsley town centre.
It is the second year in which Barnsley Road Club have organised the event, taking over the old Barnsley Criterium, and they have managed to include it in the HSBC events after a first staging last August which ran smoothly but heavy rain caused low crowds. Race organiser Chris Lawrence is hoping for better weather and more spectators tonight.
He said: "If the weather is clear, we are expecting two to three thousand people. If it's as hot as it has been in the last few weeks then there could be even more."Last year we were very unlucky with the weather but you can't control that. Cycling fans will come from far and wide to watch this event and hopefully a lot of Barnsley people come out as well because it's the chance to watch high-quality sport in your home town.
"It's not like the Tour de Yorkshire which only comes past once. They will be going past again and again so you can watch the race develop. It's a similar standard to the Tour de Yorkshire. The prize money for riders is as good as it gets at this level.
"The economic boost for the town centre businesses should be enormous. I have spoken to business owners who say it is usually their busiest day. It's leaps ahead of last year's event. Last year was the first one so it was all about setting a template and proving we could do it. It went well and we got some really good feedback from British Cycling. We have had much more time to prepare this year."
Riders from France, USA, Israel, Spain and Italy have entered the race while a recording will be broadcast on Tuesday on Eurosport, with highlights available on YouTube.Lawrence said: "With the television cameras being there, it's a great opportunity for Barnsley to get coverage from all around the world."
There will be 312 cyclists in the main races including 100 elite men and 55 elite women. As well as that, there will be a free community ride from 4pm.Lawrence said: "Any child can enter with a parent as long as they have a helmet, a working bike and they are on Shambles Street for 3.45pm."
Lawrence and his team have been working closely with the council to stage the event, which he hopes will continue for many years. He said: "There's no end date. We want it to grow as much as possible and to keep doing it. It ties in well with the redevelopment of the town centre. Once that is complete, we may have to re-evaluate the format and the course. It's a very technical and testing course which is different to what most of the riders are used to."
