North Yorkshire is gearing up to host the National Road Race cycling championships on Sunday, writes Alex Reid.

Among the competitors will be elite road racers, including several Olympic hopefuls, competing for the coveted striped jersey.

Leading contenders in the men’s race will be riders from Team Sky, Ralpha Condor Sharps Olympic hopefuls Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant; as well as riders from other leading teams such as Endura Racing, Team Raleigh-GAC, IG Sigma Sport, Team UK Youth and Node4-Giordana.

In the women’s race, those to watch out for include defending champion Yorkshire’s Lizzie Amstead (AA drink leontien.nl).

She will be pushed all the way by Olympic gold medalist Nicole Cooke. She has won the race ten times.

However, last year’s men’s champion Bradley Wiggins, winner of three Olympic Gold medals, is not competing this year as he and Mark Cavendish, are concentrating on the upcoming Tour de France and the Olympic Games.

Sunday’s race will begin at Ampleforth College, from where laps will pass through the college grounds, Ampleforth Village, Yearsley and Gilling East. The race will finish in front of the impressive Benedictine Abbey in Ampleforth.

Race organiser Bob Howden said: “It’s great to welcome the National Road championships back to Yorkshire. Whenever the race has come to the region we have witnessed memorable racing and we expect this year to be no different, especially given the calibre of riders.”

Highlights will be broadcast on ITV 4 on Monday, at 7pm.

When they’re off

RACING opens with the women’s Elite and Under-23 race, which leaves Ampleforth College at 9am for seven laps of a 9.5-mile circuit passing through Ampleforth College grounds, Ampleforth village, Yearsley Moor and Gilling East.

The men’s Elite and U23 race will begin at 1.15pm with three laps of an 18.9-mile circuit that takes the riders by the ruins of Byland Abbey and the scenic villages of Coxwold, Oulston, Crayke and Brandsby before climbing to Yearsley.

The final six laps of the race will be contested on the same circuit used by the women, giving a total race distance of 113.7 miles.