Cycling stars Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish coming to Lincoln for Championship

Cycling legends Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish will be among the riders in this year’s HSBC UK National Road Championships in Lincoln this October.

Earlier this month, British Cycling announced the route for the HSBC UK National Road Championship.

The time-trial, circuit race and road championship will be hosted together in the city in the same week, for the first time, between  October 14 and 17 – see more information, including spectator arrangements and road closures here.

Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome returns to the national championships for the first time sine 2011, where he will ride the time-trial. His only previous national championships time-trial came in 2010 in Wales, where he finished second behind Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Fresh from equalling Eddy Merckx’s record for the most Tour de France stage victories this summer, Mark Cavendish will ride for the national champion’s jersey. He won the road race at the 2013 championships and finished second behind Pete Kennaugh on the event’s last visit to Lincoln in 2015.

Reigning champion Alice Barnes will defend her title in the time trial, with sister Hannah also vying to regain the title she won in 2018.

Six coveted national champion jerseys will be awarded across the three days of racing, with the road and circuit races to be centred on the streets of Lincoln. The time-trials will be hosted in the Lincolnshire village of Tealby.

The time-trials kick off the championships on Thursday, October 14, with the under-23 women, under-23 men and elite women setting a time over two laps of the route. The challenging route includes 500ft of climbing in each lap in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

The circuit races will take place on Friday, October 15, on a 1km route around the city’s historic 11th century castle. Both the men’s and women’s races will be contested over one hour plus five laps, with the floodlit circuit passing through the cobbled Castle Square between Lincoln Cathedral and Castle.

The road races conclude this year’s championships on Sunday, October 17 and follow the route of the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, taking in the cobbled Michaelgate climb once every eight miles. The men’s race will be contested over 166km (13 laps) and the women’s race over 101km (8 laps).

British Cycling CEO Brian Facer said: “With Lincoln’s cycling heritage and the bringing together of the three championship races we always knew that this year’s event would be special, and so it’s only fitting that we now have a phenomenal cast of riders to match.

“I know how thrilled British racing fans will be to see world champions, Olympic gold medallists and Grand Tour winners all going head-to-head for the national champion’s jerseys, and I can’t wait to join them on the roadside as we watch another chapter in the city’s cycling story unfold.”

The city is also hosting the annual ITP Events Cycling Sportive on October 16.