The News

Cycling Gold Rush

This week’s column comes from a smoking keyboard as the organisation of the Lincoln Grand Prix Cycle Race moves in to its final stages. But, before getting in to that, what a great time it has been for British cycling and in particular the superb haul of medals at the recent World Track Championships held at the Manchester Velodrome.

I was involved with the realisation of the velodrome which was part of the 2000 Olympic Bid by Manchester and provided a much needed facility. At that time I was the President of the British Cycling Federation and knew that the British climate never looked kindly on track racing which until then had been held on outdoor tracks. I have lost count of the number of major events, some with television coverage planned, which were lost to the elements. Fortunately Manchester recognised our dilemma and in 1994 the dream of a world class indoor velodrome came true. No longer were we to be the also-rans of world cycling where the sound of our National Anthem and the Union Flag on the centre pole were a rarity in a sport then dominated by Australia, Germany, Italy, France and the Eastern Europeans.

Everything changed and supported by the funding from the National Lottery coming on stream British Cycling seized the opportunity to develop a coaching system now envied by the rest of the world. It is now seen as one of Britain’s most successful sports and almost certain to bring back major medals from the Beijing Olympics.

But all this did not happen overnight and it has taken a while to build up a team of talented riders, coaches, sports scientists, cycle technicians and equipment developments to make all this happen. It can only be likened to a Formula One type operation with carbon fibre and lightweight alloys playing a major role in the development of the ultimate racing machine, so much so that the world governing body had to step in and implement regulations governing measurements and minimum weights of these thoroughbreds.

The riders themselves benefited from the best possible advice on training methods and realised these benefits in a massive haul of 9 gold and 2 silver medals from the 18 championship events to add to the 7 Golds won last year in Majorca.

The main contributors to this impressive result, in front of a full house every day and coupled with superb television coverage from the BBC and Eurosport, have become household names. Bradley Wiggins, with three gold medals in the individual pursuit, team pursuit and in the madison with Mark Cavendish; Chris Hoy, who won the individual sprint and the keirin; Victoria Pendleton, first in the sprint and in the team sprint with Shanaze Read; and Rebecca Romero, who dominated the individual pursuit, before taking the first world title in the history of the women’s team pursuit with Wendy Houvenhagel and Joanna Roswell. It could have been 10 Golds but for the unexpected narrow defeat of Victoria Pendleton in the women’s keirin, the last race of the Championships.

Chris Hoy has now become the only rider to win all four sprint style events, the individual sprint, keirin, kilometre time trial and team sprint and you have to look back 54 years to find a previous British Individual Sprint winner and that was the late, great Reg Harris in 1954. A full size bronze statue of Reg now looks down on the finish straight at Manchester and I am sure that he would have been proud to witness these achievements, half a century later.

It was a World Championships which saw the Australians, Germans and Russians leave Manchester without a single title. These countries have dominated track cycling for the past couple of decades and will certainly be going home for a bit of a rethink prior to Beijing.

This has shown what correct coaching can do and the Lincolnshire Sports Partnership has a major part to play in encouraging youngsters to take part in sport and to ensure that the appropriate coaching systems are available to them, be it in the schools or within the sports and recreation centres. Once talent has been recognised there are national systems they can progress to which will take them on to the highest levels. This system has served Lincolnshire particularly well and the success of sports like swimming are a testament to what we can do in our county.

I started this column with the Lincoln Grand Prix which will enjoy its 53^rd year on May 11^th when Britain’s best road cyclists take on foreign challengers in the country’s favourite one day race. The nature of this event brings top class racing right to your doorstep and within inches of your footstep if you join the huge crowd of supporters who gather in Lincoln for the 86 mile race.

The race is hugely popular with the riders who regard it as the event to aim for and with its road closures and traffic controls allows them the benefit of an experience they are only likely to see again in a World Championship or Olympic Games where a traffic free circuit is mandatory.

Naturally I am conscious that this does cause an element of inconvenience on the day but I am sure that most Lincolnians would accept and agree that a four hour interruption to the normal traffic flow is a small price to pay to have such a great event in the City. Not only does it bring a large number of visitors for the weekend but the publicity gained through the televised coverage on Eurosport and the thousands of words and pictures to be seen in the media and on web sites show our City off to the world.

The Lincolnshire Sports Partnership will also use the race as a platform to launch its ‘Lincolnshire Elite Athlete Programme’ (LEAP) LEAP is a programme designed to support talented sportspeople from Lincolnshire to develop and deliver on their ability. It will form part of ‘Lincolnshire 2012’ aiming to support Lincolnshire performers make the London 2012 Games and provide a legacy in supporting athletes being selected future Games.

The East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) will also support the race as part of their strategy to maximise the benefits of the 2012 Games. It’s ambition is to engage a new generation in sport, the arts and learning and welcome teams and visitors from across the world to the East Midlands.

I wish you all a great sporting weekend, and please remember if you have an issue you would like addressing in this column just write to sports@lincolnshireecho.co.uk

Ian Emmerson OBE

Chair, Lincolnshire Sports Partnership

and Organiser of the Lincoln Grand Prix Cycle Race

Soon after the Finish of last years! 

The 53rd Lincoln Grand Prix. Initial planning is taking place for the 2008 Lincoln Grand Prix which will be the 53rd edition in this classic race's history. Debriefing meetings on the 2007 race have already been held with both Lincoln City Council and Lincolnshire Police where this year's event was discussed in some detail.

The biggest problem faced is the ever increasing volume of traffic on our roads with traffic levels on a Sunday morning being as high as a weekday as shoppers take advantage of large stores open on Sundays. When this race first started using the town circuit back in 1984 the circuit actually travelled up Lincoln's High Street from Wigford Way, through the Stonebow and upper High Street to turn left to access the Michaelgate climb.

The finish line was actually at the bridge outside where the Waterside Shopping Centre access now lies. We also had a hill prime line in Castle Square and a separate King of the Mountains Classification. At that time we had two races on the circuit at the same time with the junior West Common Road Race also taking place but over a few laps less than the Grand Prix. The start of Sunday shopping put an end to that after a few years and the circuit switched to that used today, passing through Lincoln via Long Leys Road, Yarborough Road, West Parade and Hungate and on to Michaelgate with the finish line in Castle Square.

Traffic densities forced us to drop the junior race some years ago and we also now have to withdraw dropped riders in order to clear the traffic between laps. The Grand Prix is highly regarded as a safe race and one of the most popular in the country with large crowds every year, even in pouring rain as this year and last year. If we ever get the weather right the crowds will be huge. Unfortunately the traffic continues to increase and the police have asked us to look at ways of creating a larger time gap between the back of the race and the leaders reappearing in order to move the traffic held up at the major junctions. We are actively pursuing this line and may have a couple of ideas to put to them at the next meeting on October 11th.

The date for 2008 has already been set as Sunday May 11th, traditionally now the Sunday after the Spring Bank Holiday Monday. An event of this size and nature cannot take place without the support of every club member with the circuit needing around 80 marshals to ensure the safety of the 150 riders taking the start. At the moment we have to bring in around 35 marshals from outside the club but if the right number of adults can be enrolled from with the club and its friends this would be a great step forward and we could organise some training days for marshals in the lead up to the event. British Cycling are also talking to me about organising courses for accredited marshals who would then assist at other major events. This would go down well with the police who may then reduce or not increase their numbers on duty. We currently have to pay out around £10,000 for their services which is money that could be well used elsewhere to improve the event. A police free promotion would be Utopia on a circuit like ours but we will have to expect some payments to be made for officers on major junctions and the motorcycle escort. A club with around 150 members should be able to produce sufficient support to do this job without external support and we need to explore this requirement in the next few months.

19^th October 2007

A meeting was held with Lincoln Police on Thursday October 11^th to discuss arrangements for 2007. At a previous meeting that had requested that the distance around the circuit be increased in order to give a longer lap time which would give them more time to clear the delayed traffic in between laps.

An addition to the circuit was suggested to them which involved continuing an the B1398 past Burton to North Carlton, descending through the village to the Brattleby Cross Roads and turning left to join the A57. This would have added about 5 miles to the circuit or about an extra 10 minutes to clear traffic. The disadvantages would be the B1398 would need to be closed at the Tillbridge Lane Cross Roads, the roads from the B1398 to the A57 would need to have a one way order due to the narrow width and the A57 would need to be closed down longer in order for the outgoing traffic to clear the extra distance. The police accepted that this was a non-starter and agreed to keep the circuit as it is.

The meeting then turned to the subject of marshalling which had a few problems last year with some marshals not turning up and others not staying in position till after the last lap had passed. This does not concern the points marshalled by VCL members although the police also objected to the use of junior members on the traffic islands.

As a result of these problems they have decided that volunteer marshals will no longer be acceptable to them and that we will need to bring in experienced stewards with an accredited organisation in charge of them. The alternative would be for them to substantially increase the police presence which would in turn increase the amount that they charge the event for their assistance. Based upon the numbers of police used in 2007 this will already be about £10,500 in 2008 – so that was not a road to go down either.

Following the meeting I have spoken with TSS Events who staff the Lincoln 10K run and the Christmas Market and I think that a satisfactory arrangement can be agreed with them. TSS will join us at the next meeting with the police and also take over the onerous position of Safety Officer, a role done very well by Rob Finegan from Rochdale last year. Rob feels that being from outside of Lincoln he is at a disadvantage when it comes to discussions on traffic flows etc.

This does not mean that we will not want some experienced VCL stewards but I’ll get back to you on how you can help in another update.

The police had also requested that we consider an earlier start for the race, currently 11.30 am, in order to finish before the Sunday shopping peaks. They asked for a 10 am start which I am resisting as it would mean having to start the Bailgate/ Castle Square/Michaelgate set up that much earlier which I am sure would not go down too well with the occupants of the White Hart Hotel at 6 in the morning. I have asked them to look at the traffic patterns with a view to a later start of 2 pm which is something they had not thought of. So no decision on that yet.

One of the major problems we experienced last year was the effect that The Race for Life had on the traffic flows in the area. This was held at The Lincolnshire Showground and despite my protestations was allowed to go ahead, starting at 11 am. The effect of some 5,000 competitors trying to access the Showground meant that the by-pass, the A15 and the B1398 were already in grid lock before the GP started which I had warned of repeatedly, but to no effect. I just knew that the GP would get the blame and have been proven correct. The date or venue of the 2008 Race for Life is currently not known but we are keeping our ears and eyes open, so if you hear anything about this before I do please let me know.

So that’s about where we are now and I’ll update you again as the event comes together but please keep Sunday, May 11^th clear in your diaries as your help will be needed.

The Grand Prix is our shop window on cycle racing bringing it in to the public eye, I wonder how many club members come to the VCL as a result of seeing the race ? A regular blog on the VCL web site and the Grand Prix's own web site (www.lincolngrandprix.org.uk) will keep you all up to date with plans for 2008 as they evolve.

November 28^th 2007

A further meeting was held on Wednesday, November 28^th with the police and City and County Council Officers to discuss arrangements for the 2008 event. This was attended by myself and Mike Griffin.

There was a positive attitude from all parties to ensure that the race is held under conditions as safe as possible both for the competitors themselves and for the general public. Following a request to review the race marshalling arrangements, local company tss events have been engaged to look after this most crucial area. tss are already involved in the Lincoln 10k Run and the Annual Lincoln Christmas Market and it was a natural move forwards to engage them in the Grand Prix. Previously the police had suggested that volunteer marshals should not be used in 2008 but this has bee relaxed somewhat in order to integrate some volunteers in to the arrangements but under the control of tss. This will also necessitate some advance training which would also benefit the club members involved for other club promotions on the highway. More news on this in due course but please keep your diaries free that day as it is hoped that as many as possible can be used. Circuit set up and close down volunteers will also be needed in the finish and Michaelgate areas. The course will not be changed and will be the same as last year and many years before that.

The other main issue revolves around the start and finish time of the race and the effect upon road traffic now that Sunday shopping has become as popular if not more popular as other days of the week. The traffic pattern now produces two peak periods, one in the late morning, and another in mid afternoon. The current start time of11.30 am means that the race affects both of these peak periods. In order to minimise disruption the police have requested a 10 am start which will give a finish time of approximately 1.30 pm. This has been agreed to as an experiment for 2008 with a review for 2009.

Obviously this will move all the pre-event plans forward by 90 minutes which means setting up the course that much earlier, briefing meetings earlier and an earlier start for all the competitors and enthusiasts travelling to Lincoln for the race. There are other issues involved with this change which we will have to meet, the primary one being the number of churches on the circuit and their morning services. However nothing is impossible so these challenges will have to be met and resolved.

So that’s where we are with advance planning at the moment, these now have to be refined to pass the Safety Advisory Group in the New Year and action plans prepared. More information will be posted on the VCL website and the Grand Prix website as it is agreed by all parties.

Ian Emmerson, Race Organiser, November 28^th 2007.