There’s plenty of action, indoors and out the Britishcycling.org.uk website this week, with reports from the Ashes Cycle Speedway clash and the weekend’s Revolution Track meeting. Next week we’ll be reporting from the Eddie Soens Road event up in Liverpool. Go There >>>

Also on the site the classified ads – click the link from the homepage to access this free and effective member service, which we have updated with some new guidelines to protect advertisers and buyers. Go There >>>

This weekend's BMX races are taking place on Sunday at Braintree in Essex, Coppull near Chorley and Newton Abbot in Devon. All 3 events are open to any rider. On Sunday the 13th of March, Exeter BMX Club are hosting an Open race, while Leeds and Chesterfield are hosting round 5 of their respective Winter Series events. Details for all these events can be found within the BMX calendar on the website. Go There >>>

Riders wishing to participate in the 1st round of the European BMX Series starting at St Maxime in southern France on the 23rd and 24th of April can now go to http://bmx.maximois.free.fr for information. Closing date for entries (via Roger Wilbraham) is the 4th of April. Entry forms are now available for all Euro rounds and will be published on our website shortly. Riders requiring information relevant to the European Championships, can Go To >>> or Go To >>> for the World Championships.

Venues for this year's National 4X Series are nearly finalised. Confirmation of the final venue, which is for the National Championships, should come within the next week. Full series details are available on: http://www.nps4x.com or contact series organiser by email: mailto:chris.roberts@nps4x.com

Gary Fisher are to be the title sponsors for the first ever National Marathon Champs. This new event will be part of the MBR Big Welsh Weekend featuring 50k, 100k and 150k open events. Margam Park is the venue and 17th July is the date. Contact event promoter Martyn Salt for further information at: mailto:martynsalt@aol.com

Rounds 4 and 5 of the Elan Downhill series take place this Saturday and Sunday at Combe Sydenham. This is the final chance for riders in the South West to shake off the winter blues and prepare for the summer season. Entries are accepted on the day, but for further information, Go To >>> or email series organiser Dave Morgan on: mailto:dh05@npsdownhill.co.uk

This hugely successful Cross-Country series has taken place at Newnham Park over the winter. This Sunday's final round is expected to have a 200+ entry again. Race 1 commences at 10.00am for Juvenile, Youth and Fun 12+. Race 2 commences at Midday for the remaining categories. Cost to race is between £10 and £14. Add £2 for on day entries. Contact:

Beyond MTB have changed the date and location for their advertised XC race. It will now take place at Deepcut, Surrey on the 29th of May. Contact event organiser Chris Denham on 07860 126356 or Email: mailto:chrisjdenman@blueyonder.co.uk or Go There >>>

Plan-B Racing early season road races due to be held on April 3rd 2005 still have spaces in both races. The race over a new course on the edge of the National Forest near to Burton on Trent has a 4ths only race for novice riders followed by a race for 1,2,3 catergory riders. Two full fields will ensure a good prize list for the top ten in both events. Further information can be obtained by calling Carl Robinson on 07841481775 or 01283 536114 or via e.mail info@plan-b-racing.co.uk

This weekend’s Eddie Soens race has its own dedicated website – for those wanting a preview of the event, Go There >>>

In response to popular demand two Track Coaching Courses will be held at the Manchester Velodrome during March 05. If you would like to be qualified to coach at Manchester Velodrome or improve your track coaching skills then this is the course for you. The first track course will be held on the 12th/13th March 05 with another course being held on 19th/20th March 05. The track coaching course covers a range of transferable coaching skills, track drills and health and safety. You will need a British Cycling Club Coach qualification and a valid first aid certificate to attend the course. The cost of the course is £50 which includes lunch and refreshments on both days. If you are interested or would like any further information about the course please contact the Track Development Officer, Andrea Ingham on T: 0161 223 2244

Sports nutrition specialists Science in Sport (SiS) are to be the GB Cycling Team’s official supplier of sports drinks and sports nutrition products in a new four-year deal worth £250,000, which will take the team to the Beijing Olympics. With over 40 athletes to care for, the Team requires large quantities of nutritional products as it trains and competes around the worldGB Team Performance Director Dave Brailsford said: “SiS has a really strong background in cycling and their understanding of our sport, combined with their technical knowledge, will keep us at the cutting edge of sports nutrition technology.”

The first Go-Ride Conference was held in Manchester last weekend. Over 50 representatives from Go-Ride school and community clubs from as far a-field as Cumbria and the Midlands made the journey to the Manchester Conference Centre to enjoy a day of interesting and informative workshops on a variety of club development issues.

These included: Activity Programme 2005, which outlined Go-Ride’s involvements in major events and programmes such as the Tour of Britain and PESSCL; Go-Ride Clubmark Accreditation, which looked at essential club development issues; Go-Ride Gears 5-8, taking a sneak preview of the forthcoming addition to British Cycling’s successful Go-Ride Coaching Workbooks as well as the development of the Go-Ride Award scheme for young people; ‘A Club for All’, which aims to show clubs how they can benefit from opening their club to all members of the community; ‘Funding and Promoting your Club’, which shows clubs how to raise funds and promote themselves effectively and; ‘Growing Cycling at Grass Roots’, which focuses on a successful Go-Ride club, Ribble Valley CRC Juniors.

Speaking about the conference as a whole, one delegate said, “A good day – a real feeling of enthusiasm and momentum. I was made to feel an important member of British Cycling.” The conference was part of a series of three events, with further conferences happening on the 5th and 12th March in Somerset and London respectively. For more information about the series of conferences, please contact British Cycling’s Coaching and Club Development Department on 0161 274 2070.

Prime Coaching is running a special Track training session at Reading Track on Saturday 19th March 1.00- 16.00pm. The aim is to provide training for riders aiming to be riding at the Good Friday meeting at Herne Hill. There will be Derny's as well. If it’s dry it’s Track bikes, if wet it’s Road bikes. £6 on the day- e-mail entries to keith.d.elliot@bt.com 07802 868158. Go There >>>

Cycle racing in the UK is set to receive a big boost in 2005 with the launch of a new domestic stage race. To be held over four days in September on roads in southern and eastern England, the Tour of the South should provide a useful late season test for many of the country’s up and coming riders. The race will cover a distance of approximately 500 kilometres (310 miles). Starting in Dorset, riders will head north-east to skirt west London before entering the eastern home counties and then crossing into Kent to head for a finish in Sussex. The field of eighty riders will be made up of sixteen 5-man teams, with preference being given to division and home country national squads. Already six of British Cycling’s twelve divisions have confirmed their intention to field teams and invitations are now being extended to commercial and club teams who will complete the line-up. Contact point for queries and more information is race co-ordinator Garth Staden on 01903 879037 or by e-mail to garthstaden2@aol.com - For more details on the race – Go There >>>

The Good Friday meeting to be held on March 25, is taking shape and the Prix de BPA International Stayers Race will be one of the highlights of the action packed programme. The legendary master motor pacer Bruno Walrave will travel to London to head up a field of internationally acclaimed pacers in the Prix de BPA Stayers race & will partner the British National Stayers Champion, Simon Cope (Pacific RT). Other riders include Ronald Schur from Holland and Jan Richter, the German stayers champion. Go There >>>

Salary Circa £25k -The Performance co-ordinator will be responsible for the delivery of excellence, and will work closely with the National Coach to implement all aspects of the performance plan. Key duties will involve line management and leadership of squad coaches and the performance management group – Go There >>>

Entries are still open for the Bike Show Cup and supporting races to be held on a new circuit at the Stoneleigh Show Ground on Saturday 2nd April. Refer to our Racing Calendar Magazine or the Website for Entry details. The main race is the First race in the National Elite Men's Circuit Race Series and carries a £1000 first prize. All entrants gain free admission to the Bike Show being run at the showground that day.

The Fiji Cycling Association would like to send three cyclist to participate in cycling events during June and July. This will help their team build up for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. Any promoter interested in accommodating these riders in their event is encouraged to contact the president of the FCA, Percy Navolo direct on mailto:navolo@hotmail.com

An invitation has been received for GB to send a team or teams to Grand Prix De Wallonie, Dames. 17th April 2005. Any interested Team Managers should contact mailto:paulwest@britishcycling.org.uk for further info.

New on the website is the 2005 Disability Cycling Event Calendar – access it via the main Calendar menu (look for the Racing Calendar button on the site homepage) or via the Disability homepage (link from bottom of site homepage) – or Go There >>>

British Cycling is pleased to confirm that there will now be National Junior Omnium Series for both Men and Women in 2005.The details of these series are as below-

In each category points will be awarded for the first twelve placed riders in each round as follows: 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Points will be awarded for the first twelve placed riders in each round as follows: 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The highest six placed Junior Women in each round of the JW/U16 Boys competition will also have their own classification with points of 6, 5,4,3,2 & 1. This is with the exception of the rounds at Portsmouth and Cardiff where the National Women’s Ominum Competition will be available to them.

The Road and Track calendar is online at britishcycling.org.uk – look for the “Race Calendar” button on the homepage. Also on-line are the MTB and BMX Calendars. All the calendar updates are included in this section.

Race organizers, please can you let us know about any event updates as soon as possible, so that we can spread the news. Send you road and Track Calendar updates to paulwest@britishcycling.org.uk or call Paul on 0161 274 2021.

Every season we publish a detailed list of Road and Track Calendar updates – these are changes to the calendar as published in the Racing Calendar magazine. They are all published in this newsletter and added to special “Calendar Updates” sections of the online Calendar. Simply go to the www.britishcycling.org.uk website and hit the “Race Calendar” button for the full calendar index page, which includes links to the Calendar Updates pages.

Official notification has been received today that The Celtic Manor International Grand Prix, a BC Premier Calendar Event, scheduled for Sunday 21st August has been cancelled. The World Cup Women’s Road Race based in Newport, South Wales on Saturday 20th August is still to go ahead.

Chris Ibbotson Memorial RR now known as - Fit -For Presents Chris Ibbotson Memorial RR

Please email all news and press releases to the newsletter editor Phil Ingham pressoffice@britishcycling.org.uk.

For all membership, result, ranking, insurance and event enquires please email the membership services team membership@britishcycling.org.uk.

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In this issue:

· REGIONAL BMX UPDATE

· INTERNATIONAL BMX NEWS

· FOUR CROSS (4X)

· MTB MARATHON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

· ELAN DOWNHILL WINTER SERIES

· SOGGY BOTTOM XC RACE SERIES

· NEW DATE AND VENUE FOR BEYOND MOUNTAIN BIKES CROSS-COUNTRY RACE

· PLAN-B LOOKING FOR ENTRIES

· EDDIE SOENS WEBSITE

· TRACK COACHING COURSE ANNOUNCED

· SCIENCE IN SPORT TO SPONSOR GB CYCLING TEAM

· GO-RIDE CONFERENCE – MANCHESTER

· PRIME COACHING READING TRACK TRAINING FOR HERNE HILL

· 4-DAY TOUR OF THE SOUTH ANNOUNCED

· THE PRIX DE BPA INTERNATIONAL STAYERS RACE - 2/3/05

· SCOTTISH CYCLING PERFORMANCE CO-ORDINATOR VACANCY

· BIKE SHOW CRITS

· FIJI CYCLING ASSOCIATION SEEKING INVITATIONS TO RIDE IN GB

· INVITATION RECEIVED

· DISABILITY CYCLING CALENDAR

· JUNIOR TRACK OMNIUM RESURRECTED

· RACING CALENDAR ONLINE

· ORGANISERS – PLEASE SEND US YOUR UPDATES

· EVENT UPDATES

· CELTIC MANOR GRAND PRIX OFF

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