The UK’s finest elite cyclists will be in Newcastle town centre in August as the town stages its first ever professional cycling race.
Newcastle Business Improvement District (BID) has teamed up with cycling events specialist RideStaffs to stage the exciting event on Sunday 11 August.
‘Staffordshire Cycling Festival’ will be a day-long celebration of cycling in Newcastle. The professional town-centre race will be the headline event and there will be lots going on throughout the day for the whole family. The day includes the Newcastle sportive, a mass-participation cycle ride that will see 500 amateur riders tackling a 78 or 38-mile route across the county.
Newcastle BID works to promote the town centre, develop a distinctive Newcastle experience, and encourage growth and development. Its work has seen footfall rise over the last few years – there have been an extra one million visits to the town centre this year compared to 2017. A thriving events programme has played a big part in this. Music festivals, Easter and Halloween specials, a Homecoming circus event, Christmas lights switch-on and more all attract people into the town centre.
An exciting addition to Newcastle’s 2019 events programme
Eddie Leligdowicz, chairman of Newcastle BID, said: “Our events programme is helping to put Newcastle on the map and Staffordshire Cycling Festival – with the spectacle of professional cycle racing – is an exciting addition as we look forward to an even more successful 2019.”
Staffordshire Cycling Festival has been staged in Stafford for the last few years, with thousands of people packing into the town centre to cheer on the riders, with Rory Townsend from the Canyon Eisberg pro team winning last year’s big race in the county town.
RideStaffs director Paul Rowlands is now delighted to bring Staffordshire Cycling Festival to Newcastle. He said: “The festival is a celebration of cycling for the whole family and I’m delighted to see it moving to Newcastle this year. I can’t wait to share more details of what we’ve got planned for the day and the unique features that being in Newcastle will bring.”
Entries for the Newcastle sportive go on sale on Friday 25 January at www.ridestaffs.co.uk, where amateur cyclists can also see the 38 and 78-mile routes. The sportive has a capacity of 500 riders, so early booking is advised. Details of the town centre circuit for the pro race, and the teams and riders who will be competing, will be revealed later.
