Pfeiffer Georgi, Stevie Williams and Lizzie Deignan are among the names aiming for glory at the British National Road Championships this month, as the start lists were released on Monday.
The road, circuit and time trial events will take place in the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire over 19-23 June, and mark the second year in a row that the championships are held in the region, with the road races starting and finishing in Saltburn, as they did in 2023.
Georgi of dsm-firmenich PostNL will be seeking to retain the bands she won for a second time in 2023 in the women’s road race, but will face stiff competition from the likes of Deignan (Lidl-Trek), and Anna Henderson (Visma-Lease a Bike), with the latter finishing second last year and also at the Tour of Britain Women.
Deignan won the mountains jersey at the Tour of Britain, proving her climbing prowess in the process.
“I am delighted to be back racing at another national championships, especially at home on Yorkshire roads,” she said in a press release. “The cycling fans here are the best in the world and it will be great to have people cheering from the roadside. Both the men’s and women’s fields are really strong line ups so it will be a great week of racing.”
“Winning my second national title last year on Saltburn Bank was just amazing, and wearing the national jersey on the world stage is so special,” Georgi added. “Women’s racing at the minute is so exciting and we had such a good battle last year. I can’t wait to race in front of home crowds again and try and retain my jersey once again.”
Other favourites for the women’s race will include Elinor Barker (Uno-X Mobility), former champion Alice Towers (Canyon-SRAM) and Claire Steels (Movistar).
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The men’s road race was won in 2023 by Fred Wright, who is on the start list for 2024, but it is unknown if he is set to defend his title.
Rivalling him for the British champion bands will be the pair who finished on the podium behind Wright last year, James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step) and Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech). Williams has had a sensational year, winning the Tour Down Under in January, before becoming the first British man to win La Flèche Wallonne in April. He will likely be the favourite.
Also challenging in the road race will be the Groupama-FDJ trio of Sam Watson, Lewis Askey, and Matt Walls, EF Education-EasyPost’s Owain Doull, James Shaw, and Lukas Nerurkar, and Visma-Lease a Bike’s Ben Tullett and Thomas Gloag.
The Ineos Grenadiers contingent contains Luke Rowe in his last National Championships, along with former champions Ben and Connor Swift, Ethan and Leo Hayter, Ben Turner, and Josh Tarling.
Josh Tarling celebrates with Connor Swift after winning in 2023
(Image credit: SWPix/Alex Whitehead)
Tarling, defending his title, will be the outstanding favourite for the men’s time trial, with the European champion regularly mixing it with the best on the world stage. He will face competition from Ethan Hayter and Connor Swift.
“I’m really excited to race at nationals this year,” he said. “The national championships are always really special and it’s been amazing to wear the national stripes in the time-trials this year. It will be great to be back racing on British roads and I’m looking forward to some top-level racing.”
The women’s time trial will be targeted by defending champion Lizzie Holden, but the field is stacked with talent, including former winner Henderson, Joss Lowden (Uno-X Mobility), and last year’s podium finishers Anna Morris and Barker.
The full start lists for the road races, circuit races, and time trials are available on British Cycling’s site.
